Trying to be brave ...

Hadassh had her 10th birthday yesterday.  I wish I could say it was her "happiest" birthday.  I can't.  It was a good day but not always "happy".

She is still very burdened about the "lost" and feeling like everyone she meets, she must tell them about Jesus.  This can be a big feeling inside of a 10 year old. 

She was happy to tell me that her bus driver asked her yesterday if she can talk to her a little before getting off the morning bus ride to school.  The bus driver asked Hadassah why she had asked if she knows Jesus.  Hadassah said she just felt like she should.  The bus driver told her that she is a christian and witnesses to people too.  (It's amazing what a few simple words about Jesus, but sometimes the hardest words I can ask someone, can bring in conversation.) 

After school, we left it up to Hadassah where she wants to eat for supper and what activities she wants to do.  She picked Chick-fil-A.  This was our first time there and really, we were not impressed.  (Sorry, if there are fans out there that like this place.)  It seemed like just another fast food place to us.  Fried foods.  Anyway, we ordered our food and soon I could tell Hadassah wasn't enjoying it.  Hadassah was offered free ice cream because it was her birthday and she said "no thanks".  (Funny because Matthew couldn't believe it!  He would take it!  He did get his ice cream but not for free.)  Then Hadassah asked if I would pray with her for the people sitting behind us.  We did.  We held hands and prayed right there in our seats.  Then she asked Mike if she can talk to him outside.  After some tears and courage, she came back inside and marched right up to the strangers that we prayed for and asked if they know Jesus.  They said "YES" too!!!  Then, she asked if they have Jesus in their hearts?  "Yes" again!  OK, she sighed with relief and returned to our table and picked at her food again. 

Then we headed for the bowling alley.  This has been our thing to do for her birthday the past couple of years.  Since her birthday is in January, that takes away all outside activities.  When we pulled in the parking lot, she sighed again.  It was packed out!!!  Tons of people!  Mike went inside and there were no lanes available.  Hadassah didn't care a bit.  Matthew was disappointed.  He wanted to bowl.  He couldn't wait.  Hadassah on the other hand was OK with moving to the next thing on her 'wish list' for the evening.  Instead of bowling, we rented movies and went home.  We watched, "Mr. Popper and his Penguins."  Hadassah and Matthew really enjoyed it!!!  It was nice to have a birthday end "happy"!!!

Please pray for wisdom and knowing what to say to Hadassah as she yields herself to the Lord.  Mike and I are trying hard to listen and help her deal with all these witnessing burdens.  Mike told her this morning that this is a test.  A test for Jesus.  (She's been so brave!)  She's trying so hard to be a light everywhere she goes.  If you think of us, pray that Hadassah will find the balance between witnessing and still living life with joy.  It seems to weigh heavy on her heart and it drains her really fast.

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On a lighter scale of thinking here ... today is our 11th Wedding Anniversary!!!  11 full, fun, and fantastic years of marriage with Mike!  I keep thinking back of how our wedding day went.  Perfect!!!  It was a cold morning for pictures.  We didn't care, we were in LOVE!!!  (Funny how that can warm your heart right up!!!)  Then during the morning service, it snowed as we promised our vows to each other.  It seemed so heavenly and pure! 

The reception was a blast.  Mike and I had so much fun!  Of course, after the wedding was over, we headed for Phillie and spent the night at a Hilton Motel before heading off on our honeymoon!

Cancun, Mexico .... here we come!!!  Two people madly in love.  Two hearts joined as one.  Two lovers that were enjoying every single minute together like it was our last!  We spent 10 days in Mexico.  So much fun and as we traveled back to our "new home", (not new as in new, new ... just a home where we would start living our lives together), we made the comment of returning back to Mexico on another anniversary.  We did not do this yet!  Hopefully, some time!!!

Our marriage has not been bump free.  We've had plenty of differences to work out.  Plenty of "self" to turn into "togetherness".  Our marriage grew like crazy and is strong!  Still growing actually.  We never want to stop growing more in love each day.

Thanks to all the many people that have been great examples for Mike and I to follow.  Making Jesus first in our marriage.  Our parents marriages next.  And then all our friends to take encouragement from.  You can read all the right literature about marriages, but we have come to realize that we must put it in every day practice.  "REAL LIFE" moments!

We are taking off for an anniversary trip this weekend!  I hope to post some found moments about this very soon!

Here's a picture that hangs on our bedroom wall!!!

Oh, young love!!!

 "Bievenour's Photography" took all of our wedding pictures.

 Awwww, so cute! 

My brother John Mike was the miniature groom with my cousin Jennifer being the miniature bride!!!

 Bridal Party ... great friends!!!

 This was my wedding cake ...

 Marriage license ...

 Enjoying each other in Mexico, 2001!!!

 A picture of the resort we stayed at in Cancun ...

Thanks for the 11 great years BABE!!!!

I love you so much,

Lori



Celebrations!!!

Oh, it feels so good to finally be sitting down for just a bit!!!  My life has been in a fast pace all week and so spending the upcoming weekend with my best friend, "husband", on an anniversary trip sounds heavenly!!!  Can't wait!

Yep, tomorrow we celebrate being married for 11 whole years.  I can't hardly believe it's been that long, really.  Oh, how the years just go flying by!!!

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Today, is Hadassah's 10th birthday!  Last night when I was tucking her into bed, I said, "I can't believe that you are almost 10 years old!!!" 

I remember so well when I took my very first pregnancy test and how I felt!!!  So excited to have a 'real life' inside me, yet so scared that I might not "do the parenting thing just right"!!!  Kinda funny now.  The past 10 years flew by with a blink and if the next 10 go just as fast (which I know they will), she could be dating, grown into a young lady, even married!!!???!!!  Yikes!

To celebrate her birthday, we did a school snack a day early.  Yesterday, I made a homemade cookie pizza and a panda cake.  Hadassah loves panda bears and so I decided to make a cake look like these cute bears.  I found the instructions online.  Not hard at all .... just time consuming!  When I walked into her class with it, everyone gave an impressed remark and loooovvved the cake and cookie!  (Chalk one up for me, right?  Ha!  The excitement of even fourth graders is a nice reward for my work!)  We have a family night planned for tonight.  It will most likely consist of some cheese fries, bowling and movie!!!

The "cookie pizza" ...

 Making the panda cake ...

 Getting ready to cut out the pieces ...

 The final project complete ... hence, the PANDA CAKE!!!

 Totally spoiled if you pose with "all your birthday presents"!!!

 Candles on creamed beef and toast???  Why not?

Every birthday the kids get one of these from my mom!

Delicous!  Thanks mommy!!!

All week, Hadassah has been dealing with "witnessing".  I'm not real sure how this all started.  They watched parts of "Courageous" last weekend (I did not know they were watching it.  When they paused it and took a break from watching, Matthew came up to me and made some remark about how they were beating up the kid so bad in the movie.  I firmly asked and told them to not watch anymore.  I think the movie is great, but not for our 10 and 6 year old.  Some kids are more sensitive and this was too heavy for their minds.  We had lots of questions to answer after that night.) 

So, maybe there was something from the movie that started all of this???  Witnessing is not a bad thing at all.  It's actually something really great!  Something I need to do better at.  A few days ago, Hadassah asked me if she thinks her bus driver is a Christian?  I don't know if she is (they have public busing for just their school kids).  I told Hadassah that maybe she should just ask her if she knows Jesus.  She took it right to heart.  Then on Tuesday night, Lena took Hadassah out for her birthday, just them two.  They went out eat and then to an indoor pool to swim.  While they were swimming, Hadassah suddenly felt like she should ask those that were also there if they know Jesus.  SHE DID!!!  She went around the room and asked each one.  Of course there were those who said, "Yes, I go to church and I know Jesus."  Then there was one man that said that he used to go to church and that as a young man, he moved out of the house.  He turned rebellious.  Hadassah was so broken.  After her and Lena left, she cried.  She felt like she should have said more or the "right thing" and then maybe that man would turn to the Lord again. 

Everyday since, she's not been her usual self.  Yesterday, she came home and said she asked her bus driver and she said, "Oh, yes!"  Now she wants to ask the middle scholars yet on her bus!  I keep praying with her and telling her that her SMALL words will make a BIG difference.  Even in that man's life at the pool.  Maybe her boldness of asking him if he knows Jesus, was another seed planted!?

 I gave this shirt to Hadassah today.  I thought it serves truth to what she's doing with witnessing!!!

You can really change the world girl!  (The panda was a plus!!!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HADASSAH!!!  WE LOVE YOU AND ARE SO HAPPY YOU ARE A PART OF OUR LIVES.

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Ashlyn turned another week older too this week and now she is 10 months old!  Amazing!  She is taking a lot of steps.  Anywhere she can go, she will.  She grabs tight and pushes her little car and toys all around.  She still loves cheerios and enjoys the foods we eat!  She's so happy and pleasant!  Love her!

10 months ...

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Matthew is loving school.  Every morning he gets up and is ready for the day after his soak in the tub!  Right now it's creamed beef and toast for his breakfast fuel and lunchables with lots of cheese curls in his lunch box.  I try to get the kids to eat more veggies.  They both love cucumbers, so that's what we have in our veggie draw in the fridge.  Lots of them!

He reads really good and I am so impressed at his progress so far in first grade!  He went from learning letters and sounds to reading quickly!  He does great with his spelling words too!  Math seems to be a strength!  Natural.  He brought his report card home the other day and was proud to see all of his "S" and "E" 's!

KEEP WORKING HARD BUDDY!  YOU DO GREAT WITH SCHOOL WORK!  GOOD JOB!

Never enough of cheese on a cracker right?  Seriously!!!

More snow and more great fun!

By 4:00 PM, on Friday, I had the kids dropped off at the sitters, ALL my scrap booking things loaded, my personal bags packed and I was off for a night of scrap booking and laughter!  This was my first over night crop and what a blast!  There was 18 dedicated croppers smushed in a small basement at a guest house.  Yep, you can just imagine all the chatter from all the ladies and sometimes if you just paused and listened ... it was chat, chat, chat!  (Only something a groups of ladies can accomplish without even trying it!!!)  Anyway, I cropped till 2:30 AM and then bundled up and went to bed.  It was snowing a lot outside and the bedroom I slept in, the heat didn't work.  (I didn't know this or I would have chose another room!!!  Sleeping with your thick winter jacket on, and only a small blanket, and very cold, after I did finally fall asleep, I woke up stiff.  I fell asleep cold and woke up cold.  I went downstairs and it was nice and cozy there, so I snuggled on a recliner and slept for another 1 1/2!)  I cropped till 11AM and returned back to my "well taken care of family!"  (Thanks Lena and Hubby for caring for them!)  Thank you so much to the ladies who planned this fun night and for all the yummy eatin'!

Saturday afternoon, the kids played in the snow.  Ginger was running in it too and loved it!  Ashlyn was watching from the window and it was great entertainment for her!

(On the way home from cropping, I just had to stop along the road and take a picture of this scene!)

 I still have a few Christmas greens setting around, including this on the back porch. 

It looks so nice with that fresh snow on top!

At church, the song was mentioned "Whiter than snow". 

I asked my family on the way home, "How could our sins be 'whiter' than snow?  Snow is very white.  WHITE.  What could be whiter than white snow? 

Hadassah commented, "That would mean pure.  Pure, clean hearts!"

~ This is her and Ginger sitting out in the white, white snow. ~

 Enjoying the first snow for January, 2012!

 Ashlyn watching from inside!

Sunday morning was church.  Matthew was so proud when we pulled onto the clean church pavement, because he helped Uncle Matt and Mike scrap off the snow!  The message was on "Cheap Grace" and "Brokenness".  Sometimes we seem to be OK with messing up in life and think "Oh, God will forgive me."  Yes, He will but ... sin is sin and we don't ever want to take sin lightly.  Another thought from yesterdays message is, "Have we become like the prodigal sons brother?"  Has the returning of the lost become 'boring' to us?  Are spiritual things 'boring'?  Do we rejoice when the unsaved met Jesus?  GOD IS NOT BORING!

I had to ask myself, "Am I excited about "God moves"?  When prayer is answered, do I get excited and make it yet another reminder that the God we served  is ALIVE!

Words I heard yesterday at church are challenging me this morning ...

Mike went for a run and then we all went down to Dave and Suz for supper and Acquire!  We bought a ticket at our church missions auction for this event and the men could not wait to play Acquire again!  The guys played lots of games while us ladies tended to the kids, chatted about life, and made supper.  (The food was great Suz and Marie!!!  Thanks!)  The kids had a real blast too!  Justin had the four wheeler out and was pulling the kids on snow sleds.  Hadassah and Matthew loved it!  The night got late, and so this morning I left the school kids sleep a little longer and then I took them to school at 8:30!

What a blessing to have friends to hang out with!!! 

"Thank you, Lord, for another weekend of safety and fun!"

Excitement!!!

I am excited! I can't wait for tonight and tomorrow! There is an all night crop that I am going to! Because the kids only have school till 11:30 today, I am hoping to get there early! Thanks to my awesome husband and sister in law ... they are watching the kids for me while I am out! It seems to be a great night to be up and maybe even get to watch it snow! The forecast is saying some snow and freezing rain tonight and tomorrow morning.

Another reason to be excited is Mike and I are planning an 11th anniversary get away for next weekend. I have been saying for years that I would love to go to New York over the Christmas holiday and just take in all the sights, sounds, and music on Broadway. We again didn't get there over the holidays but we want to go for our anniversary! If anyone knows of a really cool place to stay close to Central Park, Times Square, etc. please let us know! We were browsing the web last night and there are lots of options! We hope to go to Times Square for church too! I heard so much about this church and really am looking forwards to experience in 'REAL LIFE'!

We finally sent off Matthew's money for the "little boy" and that's exciting!  If you remember from one of my posts a way back, Matthew has been praying for this "little boy" and wants to send money to him.  I thought that we would do this over Christmas because Mike's family didn't pick names for this year and instead went together and gave money for a needy local family.  I meant to send Matthew's money to Christian Aid over that time, but have just today got that accomplished.  This is the letter I wrote to send along with Matthew's card.
.....................
"Dear Christian Aid Ministries,
We have a request. A plead.
I few months ago, you sent out a little green postcard that had a picture of a small, black boy sitting on the ground (or a bucket?). He was so thin from a lack of food and the look of him really turned my stomach. To my shame, I tossed it into the trash.
A little while later, this “little boy” was on my mind and heart. I went to the trash and got out the postcard. I looked at it again and just thought of how terrible it is in some other parts of the world. So needy for food and Jesus.
I took this picture and showed it to our children (9 & 6 years old). They were so sad. So sad for the “little boy” and for all the other children that have to be like this without their choice. We talked about how we need to be grateful. Happy for what we have. Noticing the blessings around us and not taking for granted our abundant supply of daily food. It turned into a conversation of much thought and prayers days later.
Matthew, our 6 year old son, was moved huge by this picture. He immediately looked so sad and wanted to help the “little boy” in any way he could. He prays for this boy. He prays for his soul. He wanted to know how much money it would take to feed this boy. (At the time we had a newborn baby girl. I told him that one can of formula costs around $27.00 here in America. That lasts for about two weeks for a newborn. His eyes got big and said, “Wow. That’s a lot.“ It is a lot, but not too much for our big God that can provide all this “little boy” needs to eat and survive!) He prays that he will get food … somehow! He prays believing that this “little boy” will be helped. He earned some money and wants to give it to the “little boy”. Here is a card that he has signed and even drew a picture. He wants to give his $7.00 to this boy.
Matthew is thinking that the “little boy” lives in Haiti.?. We don’t know, but ever since the earth quake in Haiti, he has a passion and prays for the Haitians. I guess if this “little boy” lives in Haiti, he gets all those extra thoughts and prayers from Matthew.
If there is any way of sending this to the “little boy” or even knowing that it went towards his country, Matthew would be thrilled!!!
If you have any feed back as to where this boy lives, is located, or how his physical situation is, we would love to hear!!!
Thank you for all you do to help the hurting world!
Believing Christ can do miracles for this “little boy”,
The Lapps
~ Michael, Lori, Hadassah, Matthew and Ashlyn Lapp"

I don't mean to post this as a bragging thing we have done.  It's honestly the first time we have done anything like this.  Kinda like taking a step of faith and we are hoping something God glorifying can come out of this whole project!
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And because love is in the air at our house, here's a picture I took to help spread it!  I have an anniversary and Valentines coming up!!!  Yippee!

9 Months plus a few weeks ...

Ashlyn is 42 weeks old today.  She is doing great.  Healthy.  Starting to say words.  Very cheerful and happy!  Loves to play on the floor with toys!  Walks along furniture and if she gets distracted she even lets go and stands by herself for a few seconds.  Takes two naps every day.  Sleeps all night (early to bed and early to rise!).  Loves green beans and cheerios!  Water only in her sippy! She is down to just a few bottles of formula a day.  (Hoping to stop buying formula soon and start with regular cows milk.)  Patty cakes, waves, gives kisses!  Nuk and blanket are a fav!

Ashlyn is such a delight and we just can't get enough of her happiness and laughter!  Last night, I sat her on Matthew's back and he was giving her a 'horsey ride'.  She loooovvvved it!  Laughing so much!  So cute!
(I am trying to download a small video I took of this, but I am not figuring it out.  When I do, I can post this.)
I got these little fruit drinks for Ashlyn at Walmart the other day.  She seems to really like them too.  I am not usually one that buys all the 'new and latest' baby foods and snacks.  I do most of my grocery shopping at Costco and the local Amish stores and they don't usually have the newest items on the market.  But because I went to Walmart this week, I grabbed a few of these ...

Baby is enjoying her drink and her every morning piece of toast!!!

 This was yesterday.  She started going into my cupboards and just starts pulling things out. 

I now have to store my cleaning products in the closet where she can't get to it!

 Beautiful Girl!!!

 Still loves mirrors ... she crawls up to my floor length mirror in our bedroom. 

She makes faces, waves, and even kisses herself!

 Celine and Sophia came for awhile yesterday.  These two girls are only a few months apart but so different.  Sophia has those deep, piercing brown eyes!  She's got a solid figure and your heart just melts when she smiles!  Ashlyn's got her daddy's pure blue eyes.  Petite figure.  Baby girls are so darling!

 The other kids did this too so why not her?  Yep, Ashlyn comes crawling over to me every time she sees that dishwasher door down.  Hadassah and Matthew did the same thing.  I put the silverware into the dishwasher to be washed and she pulls it right back out!

 The minute she sees Mike walk in the back door home from work, she starts smiling and whining for him to pick her up!  Mike gives me a kiss and then gets her.  She gives him a kiss right back.  Big, wet kisses!!!

Mikes has no choice but to kiss her back!  So precious!

This is Ashlyn this morning ...

Have a great mid - week!!!