Trying to get back to normal.....

It is such a blessing to be home. For some reason on this trip nothing felt “right.” I didn’t feel like I could get into a routine – and Jeff said the same thing about him and the kids back home.

Now that I am back I hope to get things back on track again. This includes my blogging, my exercise routine, my sleeping schedule, etc!!!!! One good thing.....I did lose 8 pounds while I was gone. That thrilled me!!!

Here is a picture of my beautiful granddaughter, Maddie, in the dress I got for her in India.

The other picture is just one of the many I took for Brett and Elisabeth ~~ that is Hope and Tennishead having breakfast in Germany.

Have a great day everyone!!!

TRAVELLING ABROAD

Sorry no pictures….I haven’t figured a couple of things out with my camera and this computer. Obviously this is when I need Jeff around to make it all work for me!!

I have been in India for almost a week now and things are going very well. I miss everyone back home though, and am praying that we will be able to cut this trip short. I would love to be home before Memorial Day.

One thing I promised Brett and Elisabeth was that I would bring TennisHead (yes that is a name) and Hope on this trip with me. They are two very special stuffed animals…currently sitting on the bed with me. While on this trip I am taking pictures of them throughout the trip. This is why I am very disappointed that I haven’t figured out the whole camera thing yet.

So far they have been photographed at several locations in Germany and India – but more locations will follow.

I must say that I am very thankful for technology, especially while travelling. Because of technology I get to talk to (and sometime see) my family twice a day. I also get to “attend” church (although, due to the fire, it is not my church.) While I’m here I get the privilege of hearing live services from Hope Baptist Church in Toledo, Ohio. This is a church where a dear friend attends. What a blessing to know that even be halfway around the world I can still sit in on wonderful preaching. It truly makes me feel closer to home.

Tomorrow I will try to get someone to help me with my computer and camera and get those pictures downloaded for my kids to see the WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF TENNISHEAD AND HOPE!!

TO MY FAMILY ~~ I love you and miss you very much. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!!

TO MY FRIENDS ~~Thanks for your prayers. They are very much needed and appreciated.

My Mooser

Nine years ago today I had a doctor’s appointment at 10am. At that appointment my husband, my doctor, and I had decided I had been pregnant long enough....(actually, I thought I had been pregnant WAY TOO LONG.)

She told me to go home and get my stuff together and meet her at the hospital in an hour. We got there around 11am and got all signed in. There was a lot of excitement and also a lot of emotion. The last eight months had been really rough for our family. This baby was our bright spot, our joy, and a feeling of hope.

At just after noon my doctor broke my water and then said she was going to grab some lunch and head back to the office for her afternoon appointments. Little did she know, she wouldn’t get to do either one.

About 25 minutes after my water was broke Jeff was finding the nurse and telling her, “It was time!!” Of course, they didn’t believe him ~ it hadn’t even been a half hour. The nurse finally came in and discovered we knew exactly what we were talking about. Our baby was ready to enter this world.

We hadn’t found out what we were having, so we were waiting for the moment of surprise, the moment we would not just meet our baby, but find out if we were having a boy or a girl. Jeff was absolutely convinced it was a girl. I had gone back and forth throughout the whole pregnancy.

45 minutes into my labor the doctor was finally there, the nurses ready, and my baby made his entrance into the world. God blessed us with a precious baby boy!!! He was the biggest baby I had ever had – weighing in at 8 lbs. 8 oz. Like his brothers and sister, he was born with a head full of thick hair too.

Jeff was so shocked to see that we had a son, but the joy was written all over his face. Actually the joy that filled the room that day was indescribable!! I think I saw tears from just about everyone in the room. Everyone there knew that we had lost Steven just 8 months earlier. Needless to say, there were a lot of emotions. But the most overwhelming emotion was the love we had for this little boy in our arms.

Brett Samuel was named by his brother, Steven. And the name was perfect. It just fits him to a tee ~~ although I must admit, I usually just call him Mooser!

So ~~~~~~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY MOOSER. MAMA LOVES YOU VERY MUCH!!!!

Two Steps Forward ~~ Four Steps Back (Church Update)

We thought we were at the stage of rebuilding, but we are back to the demolition phase. The majority of the upstairs sanctuary had not been torn out because between the contractor and the insurance adjuster they were not sure it would need to be done. Well....when the temperatures warmed up this week, the smoke and fire smell came back full force!!

Due to all of this, they are now demolishing the entire upstairs sanctuary and attic area. This means all the wiring, heating, and plumbing also has to be redone. Below are new demolition pictures taken yesterday:

Day-to-Day life, A Fire, Grandchildren, & A Trip to India

What do those things have in common??????

They keep you too busy to blog!!!!

I'm going to try to make more time to keep this up to date ~ especially since I leave in 13 days and will need to update this regularly while I am away.

PROGRESS ON THE CHURCH

Slowly, but surely, we are seeing progress at the church. The demolition is complete. Windows have been replaced and most of the framing in the basement has been done.

It’s been over 3 months now. Back when all this started I don’t think anyone thought it would go on for this long. I can say that there have been times when we get a little frustrated by not having our own building – such as right now with everything going on with the flooding in our community. We know with our building we could be doing so much more than we are now. But, overall, our spirits are high. We are excited about the progress that is getting made and looking forward to our first service in the new auditorium!!

I don’t know how many people know, but I leave to go back to India on May 1st. I will be coming back June 3rd. There is a little part of me that hopes the church either gets done before I leave or does not get done until I get back. I don’t want to miss the first service.

GGGGRRRRRRR

I got up an hour and a half ago - looked out the window - saw at least 7 inches of new snow and more still falling.

I tried to keep a positive attitude......and do you know what I have positively decided??????

I'M GOING BACK TO BED!!!!!

WOW - What a week

As most people know ~ at least if you watch the news at all ~ North Dakota is experiencing a lot of flooding right now. This last Wednesday we were woke about at about 5am by the police, telling us we had to evacuate our home.

After two days in a hotel we were able to go home and, thankfully, we experience no damage. Here are a few pictures from the last 5 days:

This was a picture we took Tuesday - before we were evacuated. For those who know where I live, this is right across the street from us. Notice the tree going under water....that tree has now been washed away.

This boat is actually on my street, bringing in sandbags and helping people get things out.

This is about a mile from my house, an area called Fox Island. They got the worst of it.

Again, this is looking across the street from where I live, just looking in the other direction. This was also taken on Tuesday. By Wednesday the waters were flowing over the road we were on when we took this picture.

Madison is 2 weeks old today!!

I can’t believe how hard it has been to find time to get here and post new pictures of my precious granddaughter!! She is doing great ~ as is her mommy, daddy, and big brother.

I can't believe how much she looks like Nick....(and like Elisabeth!!) She is such a sweetheart.

Does she look so peaceful?

You have no idea how hard it was to get a picture of the two of them together!!! By this point I was getting desperate!!
Elisabeth finally helped me get this one - and as you can tell, Braden was not cooperating.

OK - I admit it.....I just love this picture!!!!

Braden had just gotten up from a nap and came into the livingroom where I was holding Maddie. Elisabeth got behind me to take the picture. I had to laugh, but he wasn't really happy about the fact that Grandma's lap was occupied by "baby."

LITTLE IS MUCH....

PROVERBS 15

Proverbs 15:16 Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.

This verse really spoke to me today. When you look at how our economy is going right now ~ businesses going under, foreclosure rates at an all time high, and on and on and on ~~ it makes you realize that having what the Lord provides for you (which may seem like little in the eyes of the world) is far better than having all the toys, gadgets, and extravagent things of the world and all the debt that goes along with those things.

PROVERB FOR THE DAY ~~ THE 14TH

Proverbs 14:1 Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

Jeff and I were talking about the progress being made at our church building. It seems like the tearing down and destruction of it went very quickly ~ and with little effort. There was no real expertise needed in that part of it.

But now we are at the rebuilding stage....and let me tell you....it is slow going.

Those trained in specific areas have to come in to do the electrical, the flooring, the plumbing, etc.

Think about it....it doesn't take much to destroy our homes ~~ mean words, bad attitudes, an unfaithful testimony, setting a bad example instead of a good one.

But there must be effort put forth to BUILD our homes. We need to show love, be a Godly example, be consistent and compassionate.

Make sure that each day you're BUILDING a stronger home, not doing damage to PLUCK it down.

MADISON HAS ARRIVED!!

Sorry it has taken me a while to post this - but things have been a bit hectic around here the last few days. Sunday morning Nick and Aundrea called and said they were bringing Braden over because it was time to go to the hospital. We got there around 8am and at 4:53pm my beautiful granddaughter came into this world!!

There were some scary moments, but both mommy and baby are now home and doing great. Here are a few pictures.....more will come later.

A FEW PICTURES OF HOW THE CHURCH LOOKS TODAY

Not much has changed (visibly anyway) since the last update. Most of what has gone one has been between the city, the contractor, and the insurance company. That should change starting next week though.

As you can see ~~~~ WE HAVE LUMBER NOW!!! YEAH!!!!!
The only thing that has changed from this angle is the doors on the right now open and close. Before they were unuseable. We will be putting the sound and recording room back there now and that will be the entrance to the room.

Jeff likes this picture. He is actually up on a ladder in the attic looking all the way down to the basement. The plywood laying on the boards is the main level. Then underneath that is the basement floor.

This is part of the main steel beam that had to be reinforced before anymore work could be done. This was taken on the main floor, then you can look down into the basement.

More shots of the lumber. Hopefully next week these boards will be walls!!

ARE YOU WELL READ?

I love it when my friends put cool things on their blogs tha I can pass on to others. Terri, over at Nana's Faith, gets the credit for this one. I must admit I was surpised at how many of these I have read (67, I think)....but then I would read a cereal box if that was the only thing around!!!

The BBC has reportedly named these the top 100 books a well-read person will have read, but estimated most people have only read about 6 of them. I've colored the ones I read in BLUE....and it is way more than 6!!

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
How many have you read?

WE HAVE LUMBER!!!!

It’s exciting to know that something is finally being done on our building again!! All the plans have been approved by the city, the insurance, and the contractor ~~ so.....CONSTRUCTION IS UNDER WAY!!!!

I will try to take the camera over there one day this week to get some pictures taken and posted for everyone. I’m still praying for our first service to be April 12th. Sometimes I think that can’t happen when I see how much needs to be done , but then I remind myself that all things are possible with Our God.

Simple Woman's Daybook ~ February 24th

Outside my window... It’s a bit foggy and 17 degrees.....snow is on the way again.

I am thinking... that I have a lot to be thankful for.

I am thankful for... wonderful doctors that are watching Aundrea and Madison very closely.

From the kitchen... Is the smell of my morning coffee ~~~ and a perfectly clean counter and sink (which always makes me smile first thing in the morning.

I am wearing... my pajamas.....will get dressed here in just a bit.

I am creating... a cross-stitch quilt for my hubby ~~~ over 15 years in the making.

I am going... to a basketball game this evening! It should be a lot of fun.

I am reading... My Bible ( in Joshua right now) and a book by Jeffery Deaver ( I love reading in the bathtub.)

I am hoping... That my granddaughter will be born this week. We are all very excited to finally see her face!!!!!

I am hearing... the sound of the furnace and nothing else. Mornings are very quiet at my house.Around the house... There isn’t a lot going on. Just the normal school and work stuff right now.

One of my favorite things... my hours of quiet first thing in the morning. I am the only early riser in my house and I think God did that just for me. He knows how much I love this uninterrupted time.

A few plans for the rest of the week... It’s hard to make too many plans when you’re waiting on a baby. I do have some taxes I need to finish up for people today and tomorrow and it is close week at work so Thursday and Friday could be pretty busy.

A picture to share this morning... This is my sister and my best friend. Welcome Home, Margaret!!

It's Almost Time

I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve right now!!!! My granddaughter could be here any time!!!

Last night they admitted Aundrea into the hospital trying to determine if they were going to induce her. She has been sick off and on for quite a while now. They were worried that she might have preeclampsia.

The good news is SHE DOES NOT. The not-so-good news is that because of the pregnancy she is having gallbladder attacks. They are thrilled that baby Madison is fine, but need to determine to best way to take care of Aundrea.....and one of those options is to go ahead and have her deliver the baby.

Right now Braden is staying with us while mommy and daddy are at the hospital....of course, there is no complaints from me about that!! Now we just wait and see what the doctor decides.

Please pray for Nick and Aundrea. They were both worried last night that Maddie would be born too early or that something was seriously wrong with Aundrea. (For those who don’t know, she is only 21 and has already gone through chemo for other health reasons.)

Because of the chemo she was on they really don’t have an exact due date for her. They are figuring she is about 36 weeks along ~ maybe a little further. One thing they did tell them last night was that even if Maddie were born today they did not expect any complications with her. I know that made them both feel a lot better.

I’ll post another update as soon as we all know more.

CHURCH UPDATE

There isn’t really much to update at this moment. We have been at a stand still while we waited on all the permits and paperwork. I think the last of that should be done today and ~ Lord willing ~ construction could start as soon as tomorrow!!

We did go over to the building yesterday and I was excited at the fact that I did not smell the fire as I have every other time we have gone over. They have be using a sealant and primer throughout the building to kill the smoke smell and I think they may be winning the battle.


Some of the lumber has been delivered and chalk marks have been added for where walls need to be built, so now it is just a matter on getting the final approval to let the work begin. Our prayer is that everything will go smoothly and timely so that we could be back in the building by April 12th ~ Easter.

ARE YOU SALTY??

Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

In ancient cultures salt was extremely valuable. Not only did salt add flavor to food, it was also used as a preservative. By drying meat and salting it the food would not spoil. It would actually be preserved until its life-giving nutrients were consumed.

When Jesus told His disciples that they were the "salt of the earth," they would have immediately recognized the significance of that.

Think of the importance and implications of being told such a thing. The flavor they were to add to the world speaks of the abundant life Jesus came to give (John 10:10). Their role as a preservative required deeper understanding.

Without the spiritual presence of God in this world, darkness would quickly overtake everything. After the rapture of the saints from the earth, evil will have its way (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12). But as long as Christians are on earth, the Holy Spirit is working through them to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11)

By living for Christ today, you add abundant flavor to this world and hold back the darkness so that more might believe.

We are the salt of the earth . . . not the sugar. Our ministry is to truly cleanse and not just to change the taste.

Today ~ February 10th

Outside my window... it is very dark ~ and we are still waiting on a storm.
I am thinking... that I love the early morning hours when the house is perfectly quiet.
I am thankful for... Our temperatures staying above freezing the last two days. We have had rain and once the temperature drops everything will be ice.
From the kitchen... I can smell the morning coffee and hear my dishwasher running (I forgot to latch the door last night before bed.)
I am wearing... my PJ’s!!!
I am creating... a peaceful and content home. I am amazed at how much clutter and stress built up while I was finishing school. Now my home isn’t just tidy ~ it is CLEAN and we are all more content.
I am going... to work today...as long as the roads aren’t icy.
I am reading... my Bible (the whole family is ~ we are in numbers) and some novel.
I am hoping... that Brett’s cough is better today.
I am hearing... The dishwasher
Around the house... everything is done ~ even the laundry!!!
One of my favorite things... playing with my Grandson, Braden
A few plans for the rest of the week . . . not making too many plans. The doctor told Nick and Aundrea that the baby could come any time, so we are just taking each day as it comes.
Here is a picture thought I am sharing...