20 years of marriage!

 It's so hard to believe that Mike and I are celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary today!!!  My how the years do go by so quickly!!!!

Looking back, there's so much that we didn't know about each other.  We knew we were madly in love but as newly weds we had to work out those pet peeves.  We came from two different families with two different ways of doing some things.  We had to figure out how to save and spend money.  We bought our first home and did some renovations to it before our wedding day.  We were young and had to learn how to grow up together.  We started a family together.  Hadassah was born a day before our first anniversary.  ALL THIS HAPPENED IN OUR FIRST YEAR OF MARRIAGE!!!

Some of our differences would have been how to spend money.  Mike is the saver and I'm the spender type.  We had to talk out what was necessary and we had a house payment every month that we needed to pay.  My parents bought SO MUCH for us when we got married and that really did help with getting our house things in place and we are so grateful for their gifts but there were always things to improve around the house and projects that could be done.  Mike and I were both raised in Christian homes but some of our views were still different.  One of us didn't close the toilet lid or the shower curtain when done using them and that annoyed me!  There were many little things that annoyed my spouse back then too and it doesn't really matter anymore what those things were because now we would probably just laugh at them but most importantly was for us to bring our two different selves together and make one home!!!  Mike went to school in a one room school house and I went to a private christian school.  We had to decide what would be best for our children when the school days arrived.  We were both going to the same church and youth group so we had that going for us!!!!

Mike worked at the shop for his dad all his young working years.  When we got married, he bought his first shed hauling truck and was in the truck doing deliveries some days and especially on Saturdays.  I was still going to market on Thursday and Saturdays but that soon changed up when I got pregnant and had morning sickness.  Mike played baseball during the summer and I went along to cheer!  The older kids spent many nights at the ball park watching their dad play baseball!

Over the years, Mike's sports of hunting and playing baseball shifted into Hadassah playing volleyball and Matthew into basketball.  Mike took up golf and Matthew loves that now too!  So much has changed over the years and the kids are growing up so fast!  It seems crazy to think back of how young we were and now we are still feeling mostly young but I'm about ready to hit the big 40.

Our family of six is thriving and we try to balance out our time for the teenagers and for the little ones.  

I forever grateful for all the goodness and blessings that God had for us and our family over the years.  We've been over all healthy!  When we did need doctors, we always made full recovery!  God has protected us and watched over us!  God gave me such a wonderful man and Mike is my very best friend!!!  We did learn how to do life side by side.  Together.  We are still learning and by far don't have many good answers to tough questions but we believe in God and He is our Rock!!!

Happy Anniversary BABE!!!!  I love you so much!!!!  I dream of growing old together with you!  May the good Lord continue to bless us and we serve HIM together!

20 years ago!!!

Now ...

Cheers to many more years to come!!!!!

Virtual School.

 I would not have known what virtual learning meant a year ago.  I sure do now.  One thing that came out of COVID-19 is learning how to school from home instead of in the classroom.  The weather was calling for snow and icy conditions for last night and today, so school announced yesterday that we will be schooling virtually today.  

So when these two woke up this morning, they got right to their work.  The snow never showed up.  Only rain.  I was wishing they were in their classroom because I did have lunch plans at Lapp Structures Dealer Day but the kids got to spend time again at Lena's house.  (I'm totally spoiled with having them live so close to us and she never says no to having them stay there). 

After a quick lunch with Mike and his employees I picked the littles up again and came home to finish up some online school work.

Then we had haircuts.

Austin begged for a haircut like Patrick Mahomes.  The Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl and he loves to watch the quarterback Patrick Mahomes play football!  Ashlyn wanted a short haircut and four inches got cut off today.

The snow never showed up but the rains did.  I made a batch of Tomato Tortellini Soup from the Flour and Grace Cookbook and it was tasty!

Tomorrow we hope to back in the classrooms! I do appreciate our school teachers but even more so if I am the teacher of the day.  Im also reminded how I do love a few days alone here at home and the kids are in school.  Its amazing how fast I got used to this and actually love it!  

Chasing away the winter blues is something I love to do for the month of January!  Usually, it means putting a puzzle together and we do have one started but we are back to watching Matthew play basketball at his games that it keeps us busy enough on these long winter nights!  January is usually the longest winter month for me but here it is the end of the month already and we've got some fun winter vacations coming up!!!!  

 Get cozy!  Stay warm!  Sip on some hot coffee or tea!  It's what winter is all about!!!!

Happy 19th Birthday!!!

 Hadassah turns 19!  Unbelievable how fast time goes!  Last night I went down memory lane and remembered when I started feeling those first labor pains.  At 5 PM, I was sitting alone our old living room starting to count between contractions.  When Mike got home from work, he joined me in timing and we called our family doctor and they said to come in!  We grabbed our suitcase and off we went to the hospital.  I was admitted and got hooked up to a monitor.  

Labor went allllllll night long.  It was a Friday night and Mike was tired from the week of hard work but having him rub my spine with a dough roller was the only tiny bit of relief that I could find with my back labor!  It got intense and I had to keep waking him up to keep rolling that thing on my back!  My progress was slow and hard.  I couldn't do the hot tubs because baby had had a bowel movement already and they could see that when my water broke.  I was put on an internal monitor only allowing me to use the shower if wanted.  Sometime in the middle of the night, I asked for an epidural.  Relief came quickly after that and both Mike and I did actually get some sleep.  Labor was still intense but it only felt like cramps to me now.

By early morning, we were preparing to meet this little one!  We didn't know if it was a boy or girl.  Mike predicted a girl and we even named her Hadassah before she was born.  He was right and baby Hadassah came into the world as a cute, healthy baby girl!  It did take a a few seconds (which seemed like eternity at the moment) before she started crying but that was enough time for my doctor to suction her mouth and nose good before swallowing!  

Hadassah was a beautiful baby, as a toddler and even still today!

January of 2021 she is thriving in life!  She's got a cleaning business with her best friend Jess!  She loves to be with boyfriend Jeremiah the most is now dreaming and planning for her wedding day!

Thank you Hadassah for teaching me so many things!  I love being your mom!!!  You are special and I can't wait to see what God's got for your future!!!!  Keep serving Jesus!  Love HIM above all else!!!!  You are such a beautiful gift from God!

Happy Birthday!!!

~ Mom

Inauguration Day.

I'm no history buff.  I don't have much interest in politics and government but so much of our 2021 Presidential Inauguration just seemed like I'm living in history.  There are so many opinions about this whole election season and I'm not here to share mine.  Fact is, Joe Biden, JR is now the new president of the United States of America.

I sat and watched.  I sat and prayed.  God has shed His grace on our dear country for many years and we need Him more than ever today!!!!  So much wickedness and worldliness is mixed with unrest and not unified.  I know it grieves Gods heart.  It should grieve my heart too!  Like I said, I don't know too much about politics but the thought hit me this morning that when things are going OK, I forget to pray for those serving in the White House.  I must pray for our leaders!  For our government!  For those who are trying to stand on the very reason America was started ... to have God in all we do and worship Him!  To have spiritual freedom!  To have the leaders of our country fearing the God of our universe!  But you know what?  It starts right here with me!!!  There's a sign in the ladies bathroom at a little cafe in our town and it says, "Everyone wants to change the world but nobody wants to change the toilet paper roll."  SO TRUE!!!!  I want the benefits of Christian freedom but am I willing to fight for it to remain?  

We attended Ephrata Community Church last Sunday and really, really were blessed by the message!  You should go look it up online and listen to it too!!!!  Andy Bird was the guest speaker and he spoke of hope!!!!  There is hope in a world pandemic because God's spirit is still on the move!  There is hope for those who lost their jobs or income or even a family member to death because of COVID-19!  There is hope for our nation because the church of God needs to rise up and pray!  We do have leaders that still want what's right but we need to pray for them!  For wisdom!  Listening to this message on Sunday morning was like drinking a fresh glass of cold water!  It was refreshing even when our time in history is full of despair.  Andy had all the younger people, 26 and younger, stand up during the service and reminded them that we need this generation to "roar for Jesus".  To let their voices be heard!  Maybe that means to share Christ in our schools or to our friends!  Maybe it means for me to spread the gospel more than ever this year of 2021!!!  I got teared up a few times just to witness the songs of worship that were sung and seeing the excitement for Jesus!!!!  So much life was spoken and Mike and I left there refreshed and reminded that God is going to have the last word!  Jesus died for all sinners and already won the battle of evil and good.  However, Satan is still seeking whom he may devour!  He wants more than anything for us Christians to be afraid and fearful!  Will the church of God be challenged this year?  Will my faith grow even deeper?  I am living in a day where evil is heavy but God asks us to lay all our burdens down at His feet!  To surrender to Him!  To cry out for revival and expect miracles!!!!  I'm excited to watch God move!

Hearing this encouraging message didn't take any of the darkness around us away.  It doesn't change the fact that there is a virus.  A world pandemic.  Our nations leadership just got changed and many changes will take place but God knows that!!!!

Stand for truth friends!  Don't fear the evil because our light shining for Jesus chases away darkness!!!  "Submit to God.  Resist the devil. And he will flee from you!"  ~ words from the bible!!!!

I'm preaching to myself here because there are so many times that I do want to run from strife, from stressful moments or from all things not pertaining to peace.  I wish the world would really be a place of unity and no strife!  That day will come when I meet Jesus face to face but until then I will pray for God's will to be done for America, for my family and for myself!!!!  If I want to see a change for the good, I must begin with my heart!

Pray for America!!!!!!

This is a quote from Marin Luther King, JR and I like it!!!!  He said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."  It's true!  Let's be that light and love other's as ourselves!

I love the song from Selah that is called "No Sweeter Name"!  Go listen to it!  It may be the encouragement you need today!

the beginning of JANUARY, 2021

The New Year is here and we are starting with the January things!

 

First, we start with a fresh new calendar.  I am a paper calendar kind of girl.  I like the ones with one month on each page and simple.  Not the kind with each day and making a fat calendar.  I take my calendar with me at times and so I like it to fit in my bag or just easy to carry along.  This is the one I ordered from Amazon and I love it!

I made a fresh batch of gingerbread biscottis and tried another new recipe from Pinterest.  I like this one better than the other recipe.  Actually, we just love gingerbread flavor so any recipe would probably be good but I like the lighter color ones better!

I just can't get over the sunsets and sunrises on these cold winter days!!!!  Just stunning, God!!!!  What a beautiful sky of color.  So many times I'm quickly hollering for the family to come on the front porch for a sky view!!!!  Everyone comes running and they look and then go play again.  I have to stand there for a moment and take it all in!!!!

Sunset ....

Sunrise ...

We welcomed in the New Year with a dinner at Matt's.  His brisket with Lena's side dishes and dessert were so delicious!!!  Cheers to a good year of 2021!

Our Christmas tree was drying out so much.  I wonder if we need a new tree stand or why does our tree always dry so fast!?!  There are so many needles on the carpet and I'm usually ready to get rid of the mess!

We tried a new way and stuffed it out the window.

This little miss has our whole hearts!!!  Zayla is Lena's baby and we love her so much!!!!  She loves us too because when she see's us, she lights up!  Ashlyn begs to go see her almost every single day and often Mike takes these two out to pay a quick visit to her!  So cute!!!

We had fun when we got to babysit Zayla for the entire day!  Ashlyn can feed her and burp her but when it comes to pamper changes and nap time, I take that part!

XOXO!!!

I decided to do the Chronological Bible Reading Plan for 2021 again!  I did this the whole way through last year and loved it!!!!  It takes dedication and there are a few chapters to read each and every day of the year but I love how reading it in the time line of when things actually happened long ago, makes more sense to me!  You should try it!!!

January is the month for major clean outs around here!  I go from room to room and closet to closet and clean out!  Organize.  Though out the things that we don't use or need and have a fresh clean look!

The first day when all the school kids were back to school, I spent the entire day at home cleaning.  I'm so amazed at how much a I collect when I do this.

The collection of things are ridiculous.

We have a drawer with cords and media things and it's most times a mess.  This looks better. And all the winter themed books got put at arms reach and ready for reads!

There is a room in the basement that stored most of our home items when we remodeled five years ago here at this homestead.  It was packed from floor to ceiling with stuff.  Books, kitchen gear, furniture ... just as much as we could fit in this room we did because the rest of the house went under construction.  It still has a few boxes of books that we never put on a shelf because we never replaced our old book shelves.  We dream of one day making a small library upstairs.?.

Toy bins were organized.  And here's how the storage room in the basement looked before I started organizing.

I tried another new recipe from the cookbook I got from Christmas, Flour and Grace.  The energy bites are delicious!

We are getting close neighbors.  Ever since we moved on this property, almost twenty years ago, we were surrounded only by farms and fields.  I love it like this but this week the farmers just over the fields began building a new barn and house.  Their land joins ours and they are moving next door to us because they sold the farm.

More granola .... we love this stuff!

Puzzles happen during the winter months here at our home!  This looks like a fun one!!!!

Winter time is the time to bundle up and stay cozy!  I love the lazier nights and extra family times.  We often play Memory, make a quick trip to say hello to Zayla, watch a movie or read.

Winter seems to be the longest season but we have some fun trips planned to help chase away any winter blues!!!!

Stay warm!!!!

Happy New Year!!!!!

 We counted down the New Year with friends right here at home!  Mike was wanting to play his favorite board game, Acquire, so he did the inviting.  

We ordered pizza and wings and the ladies added to the menu!  Ruthie brought a platter of macaroons and brownies that they serve at Agape!  Anna Ruth brought lemonade.  Suz brought fruit pizza.

At midnight, we turned on the news and counted the New Year in!!!!

Welcome 2021!!!

So much could be said about the year of 2020.  Looking ahead at 2021 can be both exciting and nervous.  We don't know the new challenges that we may face, but we've never been able to see into the future.  I take rest in knowing that God has a good, good plan for His children and whatever we may face, HE WILL BE WITH US!!!  

I received two of these cookbooks for Christmas.  That must mean it's a good one!!!!  The first recipe I made from it is fish tacos.  I grilled cod on the grill and heated up our tortillas on the grill rack with the fish was done cooking!  So good!!!!

Matthew asked if I can make an Agape Haystack ... well, here's how it turned out.  He liked it so it must have been close to a similar taste!  Mommy D. always gives her grandchildren a roll of baloney.  I sliced it up the other day and stuck the bags in the freezer!

Costco croissants are delicious!  I love them with some Nutella, yogurt, granola and fruit!!!!  It makes such a yummy breakfast!  I was thrilled to restock our fruit dish the other day too!!!!

The sunsets have been prize winners lately!!!!!

Winter is here.  The holidays are over.  The Christmas tree went out the window yesterday, literally, and the fresh greens that are now all dried up got thrown out and replaced with some winter decor.  I love the smell of fresh greens but I also love the fresh, cleanness of when they get thrown out.

I think a puzzle is calling me and we might get a new one started over the weekend???  January is a time to organize, clean out corners, donate or throw out things we don't use or need anymore and get cozy around the fire place!!!!  I can't wait to read the book Jody gave to me and make some more wedding plans for this summer.  

God has been good to us in 2020 and I am anticipating this new year with joy and peace!  I've not set out goals yet.  Maybe Ill get a chance to think about this a little more when the children are back in school next.  Cheers to a wonderful 2021!!!!

Lapps Christmas Day.

 We drove home from the cabin Sunday morning and then went to Mom Lapp's for the Lapp Christmas gathering!  Mom always has such a nice table and after we ate, we sang some Christmas carols and then each child received a gift from her.  How special.  It's times like these that we still really miss dad!!!

And here's the crew that makes us adults parents!!!!  There are a few little ones that didn't make it on the photo but boy do I love these people!!!!

Then the adults played Now you have it, Now you don't.  It's always a fun way to give and receive!  

John Ervin cooked us up some fried oysters.

The children played all afternoon and into the evening.  We sat around playing Occupation and group games.  After dark, we started cleaning up and played one game of Four Up and Four Down.

Families are special to us and are growing.  Thanks to Mom for inviting us all to her home again.  It's not an easy feat to host this crowd anymore!  Merry Christmas to all the Lapps!!!!