We are headed "home"!

Back home again in Indiana is where we will be, come Monday! We are thrilled to be able to go visit with family and friends! We are actually having a family reunion for John's family while we are home. The main reason we are going this time of year is two fold. First, we haven't been in Indiana in the fall since the fall of 2002! This is my favorite time of year so every time I hear my family back home tell me the leaves are just starting to turn, I get a little homesick! Secondly, we planned this time around The Mississinewa Battle of 1812! I have been wanting to take the children to this for a couple of years but have went home in the summertime instead of the fall for family reunions and my dad's surprise 60th birthday party. So when John was going to be planning our year I sent him the dates of this re-enactment and asked if we could go. My sweetie put it on the calendar and so we are now getting packed up and getting ready to leave Monday morning. John is also going to take us all to his favorite place . . . Purdue University, and show the children around his old campus. They have been there before but were so small they barely remember any of it. Then we are also going to take them to Connor Prairie. I haven't been there for years! We did field trips there in school. We are so looking forward to this time with family. Some of our family members are going to join us on our outings so that makes it even more exciting to me! This will be a hard time as well. This will be my first time back "home" since my dad passed away. It will be hard walking back up to the house where he had his accident that bitter cold day in February. It is still so fresh in my mind. I miss him terribly. I plan on visiting his grave for the first time as well. Please pray for me if you think of me. As much as I am looking forward to going back, part of me just never wants to go back there again. God has been so very kind to remind me that His plans are perfect and that my dad is in Heaven with Jesus, his Savior! It is really hard to continue to be sad when I think of that! I can't wait for the day when I too can be with my Savior and worship him forever!

I write all of this today because this weekend will be a busy one for us and I will not be able to post before we leave. I am not sure if I will have internet to be able to post while in Indiana so have a wonderful week! Thank you for your prayers!

Chrissie turns 18!

This Sunday my niece Chrissie will be an adult! Hard to believe! She was just two years old when I got married. Boy, time flies! She has become such a lovely young lady and loves the Lord and seeks to Glorify Him in all she does. She is a joy to be around and so funny!!! She has quite the sense of humor. She came by today to borrow a baking pan. So I snapped a picture of her with her new haircut. I also gave her the apron I made for her for her birthday. I love that she loves to learn more about cooking and keeping a home. She will make a wonderful wife and mother one day . . . . hopefully soon, right Chrissie? God knows the plans he has for her and I can't wait to see how God works out all the little details of her life. I love you Chrissie, bunches and bunches! Happy Birthday my sweet one!

What's for dinner?

We were over at the Day's home for dinner a couple of weeks ago and Shelly made this recipe for us. It was delicious! I am thinking we may have this for dinner tonight! :o)
Just thought I would share it with you incase you were wondering "What's for dinner?"

Shelly’s Chicken with Mushrooms
This recipe is for 4 servings.

2 ½ cups fresh sliced mushrooms
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
2 T. butter
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced
¾ cup chicken broth
2 cups cooked rice (or noodles)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place half of the mushrooms in a 13x9 inch pan. Dip chicken into beaten eggs and roll in bread crumbs.
3. In skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Brown both sides of chicken in skillet. Place chicken on top of mushrooms, arrange remaining mushrooms on chicken, and top with mozzarella cheese. Add chicken broth to pan.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve chicken over hot cooked rice or noodles.

What a week!

If you have been wondering why I haven't posted this week . . . . well, we had a little visitor that stayed with us and kept me busy! His name is Benjamin and he is two years old and his parents adopted him from Korea. His is such an adorable little boy! His parents have done a wonderful job at training him. He has been very obedient and just a joy to have here. I have to admit that he has been super easy! The kids have enjoyed him as much as John and I have. It is fun to have a toddler around . . . . especially this one! He loves to eat! Everytime I was in the kitchen starting to even prepare for a meal, he wanted in his high chair. We have had such a fun week with him. Sadly, his daddy is coming to take him away from us tonight! :o( And even more sad news is this wonderful family who we have come to love, is moving to Orlando soon. (sniff, sniff) But we thank God for this week with little Benjamin. He is a joy!

God is so good!

What a joy it was to see Chrissie and Cassie be baptized by their Uncle John! They have desired for this to happen for a few years now. God in his sovereignty has placed them here with us and we couldn't be more happier! Lynette was also baptized but requested her video not make the blog! :o) You can go to The Smith Girl's blog to read what Chrissie posted there about being baptized. She tried to upload the video's to her blog but for some reason they are not showing up. www.GodsFaithfulnessContinues.blogspot.com

I am reminded of this quote by C.J Mahaney:

"What am I? Well, here is what I am. I am the worst sinner I know. And by the grace of God I am doing better than I deserve. For I deserve the righteous wrath of God because of my sin. I deserve to be punished eternally. But in the mystery of His mercy, God sacrificed and crushed His Son on the Cross--as my substitute--so that I might be forgiven of my sin and know God as my Father rather than my Judge. What am I? I am truly amazed by the grace of God. That's what I am." ~ C.J. Mahaney Together for the Gospel Blog

Our One Year Anniversary of being at CrossWay Community Church

It was one year ago today that we came to CrossWay Community Church! We can't believe we have been here one year, but at the same time it feels like we have always been here. We love this church and this community that we are in. We feel right at home. God has been so good to us! Today 9 people from our church were baptized, three of those being our children! What a joy to see John baptize Johnathan, Nicholas and Kristen! I am overwhelmed at God's love for us. Click on each video below to view a small clip of each of them being baptized. The neighbor was mowing his yard so hopefully you can still hear John over the mower! :o)

Fun at Downtown Disney

We love going to Downtown Disney! Here are a few pictures of the kids pin trading. They have been doing this since 2003. Their Grandpa Dale and Memee introduced them to this. They LOVE it! We thought it may be a passing thing but they have continued this and really have fun trying to get all the pins in a certain set. While we were in Orlando we got to have fellowship with four families who are very dear to us. The Ripley's were so kind to open their home up for us to come a day early and stay with them. We then had them come to Old Key West and have dinner with us and go for a swim. It was so good to spend time with them. Then we went to Grace Church and the Baer's invited us over for lunch along with the Segalini's. The Segalini's were our first care group leaders and the Baer's were in that care group as well. We had some great times in this group and that is where we really started to understand what Biblical Manhood and Womanhood looked like, by watching their example as they lived out their lives in front of us. We miss them so much! Then we were able to invite the Moran's over for dinner, a a swim and then we all went to Downtown Disney. Mike was John's boss in Orlando. We are forever grateful to the Moran family for hiring John so he could provide for us, his family, while God was working out all the details of our lives and growing us in so many ways! We are so thankful that we have such great friends and that God was so kind to give them to us. We are so blessed!

Disney's Old Key West

We were so blessed by John's mom for allowing us to stay at Disney. Thank you Meme! We had a great time, even though Kristen was so sick. But as you can see from the pictures, Kristen and I didn't have it so bad hanging out in the room! Plus we were able to take advantage of their free movie rentals while we were stuck in the room! We love this place. We have so many great memories of it with John's parents. John's dad LOVED Disney and went there every year since it opened in 1972. He passed the love for Disney not only to John but to his grandkids as well. We miss him!

Kristen update

Thank you all so much for your prayers and concern for Kristen. She went for a follow up doctor's appointment today and he said her lungs are sounding good. He prescribed some cough medicine with codine to take 3 times a day. I have to say . . . she is doing MUCH better and is a completely different little girl than she was Friday and Saturday! She is eating and drinking more now and she is resting a lot too. So thank you again so much for your prayers. We love you all!

We're Home!

We got home last night and I then decided to take Kristen to the ER and she has pneumonia! So her and I are home from church today. They were going to keep her but I told them I could take care of her and we would go to the doctor on Monday so they can check her again. They gave her IV antibiotics and fluids, gave her two breathing treatments, took and xray of her chest, took blood and urine and gave her oral Zithromax and she has to take that at home for 5 days plus an inhaler. Thank you all for your prayers!

at Animal Kingdom Lodge

Update on Kristen

Well, Kristen is still sick today so John and the boys went to Sea World without us. There was no reason for all of us to sit here all day. It was their last day to go play! I went over to the General Store here at the resort and bought Kristen some yogurt and apple juice. She finally ate the yogurt and drank some juice but she still is coughing and is not feeling well. Thank you all for your continued prayers for Kristen. We will pack up and head home tomorrow morning so we appreciate your prayers for travel as well. I am going to get all the laundry done up and get what I can packed up. Here is a picture of Kristen and I at MGM and one with John and the kids at MGM as well on Wednesday. Have a wonderful weekend!

Water Slide

These are pictures from Tuesday. We pool hopped to Saratoga Springs. I stood on a bridge and took these pictures of the kids on their way down.

Poor Baby!

Well, we are having a great time here at Disney! I have lots of pictures to share! But, ever since we arrived, Kristen has not felt well. She has a terrible cough that makes her chest hurt. She coughs so bad she sometimes throws up. Needless to say, she has not had the best week. But she has been a trooper and did go to MGM yesterday. But last night when we got back to our room, she was wiped out. She didn't sleep well through the night, from coughing, and woke up very tired. So Kristen and I decided to just hang out today in our room so she could rest. We went over to the Community Hall here and got free videos so we have been watching Disney movies all day long. We both fell asleep during Mary Poppins so I even got a little nap in! John and the boys went to Epcot today for a fun guys day out! If you think of Kristen, please pray for her. We plan on going to Sea World tomorrow and her and I really want to go! We may still attempt it and if it is too much, then we will just come back. Here are a couple of pictures of Kristen. The first one is her on the boat yesterday at Disney, on our way to the transportation center to catch a bus to MGM from Magic Kingdom. It seems every chance she would get to sit down or lay down she took it! The second picture is where she has spent most of today . . . . on the love seat . . . . freezing cold. We have been giving her medicine and it has helped but today she seems to be coughing even more! Please pray she gets better soon! We know God is able to heal her! Thanks for your prayers!