~Swapping Howdies~

Here are some photos from the last week and a half. The weekend of the 22nd I watched my sister's children while they went to Dave and Regina's cabins (see below post) for their anniversary. (She had watched mine when we went to the cabin.) So I was a mother of 8 that weekend. We had a lot of fun, including a huge water fight. =D Then we left to go to Tennessee for a week. We had our last deputation service there and had a great time with family and friends. We went to the Great Smokey Mountains and had a picnic (Elijah slept in the van while we ate so that is why he's not in the family picture) and our kids had a fun time playing in the creek. We were praying that when we went to Cades Cove in the Smokey Mountains that we would see some animals like some deer and bear...and Noah was praying that we would see an Alligator, a Crocodile and LOTS of snakes. THANKFULLY God only answered our prayers...and let us see some deer, some turkey, and a Mamma bear with her cub. =D Elijah is doing well, and getting bigger each day. He's 6 weeks now, and is Mommy's pride and joy~along with our other 3 children too. =D The last picture is my niece Natasha doing my hair. =)
~Take care...and fair well... until I can post again.~

~The link to the Serenity Log cabins.~

Here is the link to Dave and Regins's cabins that I posted about a couple post ago. We had a wonderful time there. I'd highly recommend their cabins for a nice get-away: www.SerenityLogCabins.com

~Father's Day, Eljiha pics, and more~

I'm back. After leaving Illinois last Friday we went to my parents house for Father's Day weekend. We had a lot of fun visiting with them, my Grandma who will soon be 101, and with my sister Laura and her family. Our precious Elijah is now one month and is growing great. He scored very well with his growth at his one month check-up. He is a tad on the collicky side, so your prayers would be appreciated that he will sleep well at nights so that I can get my rest too. =D I'm sure Elijah can feel our stress as we are trying to get everything done before we leave to go back to Colombia. PLEASE HELP US PRAY THAT WE CAN GET OUR KIDS' PASSPORTS SOON! THANKS~ Enjoy the photos that I have posted.
~While with my parents over Father's Day weekend...My Daddy wanted Phillip to help him hang a bear skin from my brother Andrew...so before he hung it, Phillip put it on and went out and had fun chasing our kids and their cousins.~~While we were at the cabins in the Amish country, we bought these pinafores and bonnets for our girls to play dress us with.~
~Elijah smiling while he sleeps!~

~Our girls and their cousins dressed up old fashioned and had a blast playing outside together.~

~Our 4 generation picture: Grandma Bryan 101, Daddy, Myself and Elijah.~




~Kimberly holding her "baby doll" Elijah, and Sarah holding her baby doll Ethan in church.~



~Laura my sister had a birthday and so we went to the park and had a fun picnic to help celebrate her special day.~


~Uncle Daryl has the touch when it comes to calming baby Elijah.~

~Noah's hurt head, Our Date at the cabins, and... Is there going to be a tornado?~

I'm back again. Thanks for all the nice comments and for checking in with what is happening in our lives. This first picture is where our Noah fell at church and hurt his head...but thank the Lord he is just fine now. Since Friday, June 6, was our anniversary, we took a couple days this week and went up to some very NEAT cabins that our friends Dave and Regina Eckert own. We stayed in their cabin that was decorated in bears. Normally children are not allowed, but they made an exception with baby Elijah. We had such a great time enjoying our time together, the NICE cabin, the pretty country side, the mennonite country, and the town of Hillsboro, OH. If you and your sweetheart are looking for a fun place to get away, I would highly recommend our friends' cabins. Here is the website address: www.SerenityLogCabins.com
After we left those cabins we ran back to Cincinnati and got our other children and drove to Moline, Ill and had a deputation service on Wednesday night. We got to spend a couple nights with our dear friends the Boardmans. Luann just had foot surgery on May 22nd, but she didn't tell us that over the phone, for she knew that we wouldn't stay with them if we knew that. So between her not being able to walk, and me having a new baby, we were quite the "crippled" pair. =) But we had a GREAT time visiting with them, and with their friends that they had over while we were here.













The cabin has a nice private hot tub and fireplace on the back porch.




Luann is the one that taught me how to scrapbook. =) (So I did some while I was at her house. I got 11 pages done.)

On Thursday night after our dinner, the guys left to go somewhere, and just after they left we heard the tornado warning siren go off. So this is a picture of us hanging out in the basement waiting to see what was going to happen. There was lots of lightening, thunder, hail, wind blowing, and then later rain. Thank the Lord that there was NOT a tornado!!! (and I was able to go back upstairs and continue scrapbooking.) =D
Our guys weren't so fortunate...they got SOAKING wet while they were out. The poor Boardmans...water poured into their basement from the window wells. =(

Have a wonderful day. We are headed to Westfield, IN to spend the weekend with my parents and Laura and Daryl and their family. To any Dad's that might be reading my blog...Happy Father's Day! =)