Past few Months

A crew from Kirksville and Columbia went to Arkansas Family camp together. It was a wonderful time of fellowship!! We stopped in Mammoth Spring, AR to stretch our legs and enjoy the scenery.

Meghan decided to do Allison's hair... and toes, and ears. Allison enjoyed every minute of it!

Meghan doing Allison's hair again. This time taking advantage of the stickiness from the meal and her hands.

Ryan's first time of fishing. He caught a baby pirch.

Kaitlyn's first time of fishing too. Her pirch was a little bigger.

Amanda started a new job at an optometric office, something she has desired for a while. She also just turned 18. It's been a big year for her.

Be Still

"Be Still, My Soul"by Catharina von Schlegel, 1697-?Translated by Jane Borthwick, 1813-1897

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;Leave to thy God to order and provide;In every change He faithful will remain.Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly, FriendThrough thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertakeTo guide the future as He has the past.Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake;All now mysterious shall be bright at last.Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still knowHis voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul, though dearest friends departAnd all is darkened in the vale of tears;Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,Who comes to soothe thy sorrows and thy fears.Be still, my soul; thy Jesus can repayFrom His own fulness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul; the hour is hastening onWhen we shall be forever with the Lord,When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Celebrating a year of life!

It was a year ago, today, that little Allison was born. Time has gone by so fast!! What a joy she has brought to our family; we praise God for her!
An update on her health: several months ago, the doctor wanted to do an CT scan on her chest to see what was going on. She coughed when crying and grunted when I held her a certain way, unlike the other kids. The tests revealed that she does have a cyst, but it's not in her lung tissue - which is a tremendous blessing! It seems to be about the same size as when they first discovered it. The doctors said that as long as she grows and is showing no symptoms (which she shows absolutely none now) and as long as the cyst stays the same, nothing needs to be done and she should be fine.
She's been the most laid back of all our children and is quite patient with her siblings who love to hold her, carry her, feed her, "help" her. They have been a tremendous help to me!
We do continue to thank God for filling our quiver and for blessing us beyond measure! To Him be ALL the praise and glory!!

Finally an update

Grammy (Deann's mom) decided to move up to Missouri. Yay!! It's been such a joy to have her here! She is full of many talents. She made Kaitlyn's apron and bonnet and then made Kaitlyn's birthday cake.

Allison in her little bonett.

Meghan made this hat for Allison for Christmas.

This gives you an idea of how much snow we got. I've never seen this much snow in my life! We had shoveled the driveway twice before the final shovel and it still was the hardest time of shoveling in all my 10 years of living here!

Kailtyn and Ryan were playing Noah's ark.

Meghan was a shepardess for school...

then she was a sports fan.

Grammy thoroughly enjoying her grandaughter and little Sophie (the white dog) all together. (and they were enjoying her too)

Grammy and the kids made this snowman. She's been enjoying all the snow we've been getting up here! We knew those broken glasses would come in handy somewhere!

Allison LOVES splashing in the bathtub!

Kaitlyn made Allison a baker's hat.

Each of these baskets is attached by a jump rope. The train, that traveled round and round the house, kept the little ones entertained for a long time!

Dress up time with Amanda.

School and Stuff

Allison loves her Johnny-Jump-Up! Kaitlyn wanted to dress her up and take pictures- hence the scarf. As you can see from the drool, she's been teething. Her first tooth broke through two days ago. She's growing up so fast!!

Meghan is now going to a private school in town. While Aunt Jenny takes her and Marcus in the mornings, Carson and Cole hang out here. Kaitlyn and Ryan love it!

Amanda's first day to classes at the community college here. She started the same day as Meghan. She's growing up so fast too!

Meghan on her first day of school. She was SO excited and still loves it! She's pretty tired by the time she gets home.

Ben came to town for a visit. It didn't take long for the kids to reconnect with him! Once they went to bed, we finally got to visit with him. : )

Meghan holding her little cousin, Daniel. They get along quite well!

Brian, Becky and their four boys came up to help celebrate David's 30th birthday. They enjoyed my new big cozy chair together. : )

Meghan's turn to dress Allison up. : )

Allison really enjoys lounging with Amanda.

Big brother reads his little sister a book. He's a great brother!

Death is Not Dying

For those of you who haven't watched/listened to this, I HIGHLY recommend it. It is life changing! Rachel was 37, a wife and a mother dying of cancer; this is her testimony.
Just click on this link http://deathisnotdying.com/ and it will take you to her website. The testimony is on that page, just click play.

So teach us to number our days,That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Texas Vacation

This past June we spent 2 weeks in Texas. Below are several pictures of the time. The time was wonderful every where we went. We are so thankful for all the safety on the road (we drove through the night on our trip home). The Lord was very kind to give us such a wonderful, relaxing time with family and dear friends!

Time at the Greene's:

While at the Greene's we all enjoyed several dips in their pool. No heater was necessary as the water was basically like bath water. Some got a little sun burned but it was worth all the fun that we had.

Meghan in her swim gear.

Kaitlyn enjoying her time on the raft.

Ryan enjoying swimming with John.

David "supervising" the kids. (i.e. having fun in the water.)

John holding Allison.

John having fun with Allison.

She's be ready to read, when she wakes up. :)

Michelle and Allison bonded during our visit.

The kids with new friends in Texas.

Amanda with some of her good friends from Texas.

Playing in the back of Jay's truck.

While at the Greene's, Rachel took some pictures of our family.

Nothing all that special about this one but it's fun to see natural smiles on everyones faces.

At the Lake:

While in Texas we spent 2 days at lake Palestine with Deann's brother and family and Deann's mom Chris. We all stayed at a lake house during the time. It was a wonderful time. The house was perfect for hanging out visiting. The lake provided plenty of opportunity of fun for the kids.

This sign was on the front door of our house.

The cousins enjoying dinner on the porch.

Wading in the water the first evening.

3 Generations.

The house came with a kyak. We all enjoyed taking it for rides.

Grammy with the Kellys.

The whole crew.

At the Farm:

We spent the second week with the Steptoes at their farm. The kids enjoyed riding the horse. They also got to ride on Papa's 4 wheeled "donkey". (They call it the donkey since it is a cheaper version of the Kawasaki Mule.) It was Father's day weekend and Shelby's birthday so everyone enjoyed a joint party. It was very relaxing and very enjoyable stay.

It was Ryan's first time to ride a horse. He did very well.

Kaitlyn with Uncle Jeremy leading the horse.

Meghan got to take the reins by herself.

Shelby and Meghan.

Granny reading to Kaitlyn and Ryan.

Papa and Allison.

Visiting Aunt Lonnie & Uncle Vernon:

Deann and the kids enjoyed an evening visiting her Aunt Lonnie and Uncle Vernon. The kids all enjoyed swimming together and meeting new cousins. While there they brought out old prom dresses and they all enjoyed dressing up, Amanda included!

Queen Amanda and her attendants.

Ryan wearing Uncle Vernon's Harley boots.

Meghan and Samantha.

Uncle Vernon, Aunt Lonnie and all the kids.