~Work on church foundation, Taylor's grad., Mother's Day, Wes & Ashlea & fam come for a visit, Easter, & Spring time fun with our fam~

WARNING:

This is a LONG post!

Our lives stay so busy, with many fun activities, ministry, family and friend time, Grand baby snuggles, etc., 

so this is a catch up post. :-)

You probably should grab yourself some 

sweet iced tea, 

iced coffee, 

or just ice water, 

and come on in!

~I got the privilege to make a very quick trip to NC for C, Kimberly, & baby Stella 

to buy a new-to-them family car.~

~We enjoyed seeing Chris' sister Heidi and her family, in-laws, and a student of Kimberly's.

~And we had a nice quick visit with Grandma Newton.~

Before we came to Strait Creek Church, the termites had been feasting on some of the main beams that hold up the dear old Strait Creek Church. 

Months ago we had someone come and spray for termites and put an end to their feasting. 

But now it was time to shore up the church.

So the guys spent the whole day jacking up the church and putting boards in there that will keep things steady until the new beams arrive.

Phillip had me order pizza for the working crew.

~Then Phillip ran back to the house, and quickly cleaned up and changed clothes and preached on line in Spanish to our Colombians and others that watch it.~

~Saturday morning found us leaving our house bright and early to drive to KMBC for our nephew Taylor's graduation.

It was such a beautiful morning!~

~We were so happy that we surprised Taylor and his family!~

~The rest of our children were at their Grandpa and Grandma's house.~

~This picture made me weep!~

~It was so fun to see Heidi and her Scott, and to finally get to meet adorable little Hazel!~

~Taylor received 2 nice awards for being a faithful witness for Jesus.~

~This was my first time to meet little Hazel Wren.  

She is a dolly.~

~Taylor's sweet Hannah.~

~Noah, Gideon, and Phillip.
One Christmas Taylor brought Gideon with him to our house and we all fell in love with him.
Our kids had so much fun playing board games with him.  He and Taylor are like brothers.

~Taylor & Hannah, who are getting married in August.~

~KMBC served us a yummy lunch.~

~MOTHER'S DAY!~

These are the gifts that I put together for the Mother's at church. I made a few extra in case we had guests.~

~Inside the gift bag was a Mrs. Meyer's soap, and a kitchen towel.

I kept the chocolate on a separate tray, so it wouldn't taste like soap.~

~I am not sure why blogger keeps having a glitch and moving my pics over to the left.~

~During church, Kimberly was playing her violin, 

and Chris had been leading singing, so Uncle Noah was holding baby Stella.
All of the sudden she fell sound asleep on his shoulder, it was so sweet.
Baby Stella is one LOVED baby in our Strait Creek Church!!

~Our family, minus Josh, Sarah, & Adelynn.

I have wanted to be a Wife & Mommy since I was 3!

I wanted 12 children, until I got older and realized the HUGE part that I would have to play in having those 12 children. :-D

So, I decided that 6 would be great. 

I Thank the Lord for the huge PRIVILEGE of being a Mommy to each of these children! Each of them are sooooo SPECIAL to me!  

I am in no way perfect, and often have to come back and say I am sorry, but God is faithful and I am leaning on Him for wisdom and strength to be the Best Christian Wife & Mommy I can be!

~Mrs. Fields brought yummy ice cream bars to eat outside after church.~

~Sunday morning I asked Kimberly to play and sing the sweet song that she wrote for baby Stella's dedication for our special.~

~Kimberly told Mary and Abigail that she would make most of the Mother's Day meal, 

and she wanted Abigail to set a pretty table,

And Mary to make the dessert.

It was super sweet of the girls to carry me that day!

They each did a great job!

~Abigail's sweet table.~

~My gifts from the church, and Cousin Laura gave me a sweet card and a yummy gift.~

~From Chris, Kimberly, & Stella~

~From Phillip and the younger children.~

~From Noah~

~Josh, Sarah, & Adelynn got me this pretty warmer.~

~Kimberly made our homemade Caesar salad, yummy Chicken Alfredo, rolls, and peach tea. Delish!~

~Mary made our delicious and beautiful chocolate cake.~

~Sunday night after church, we really enjoyed playing music together in our living room.

It was so cute to see Chris play the guitar, in between baby Stella's cute little hands.

~Last music lesson for the year.

We love Martha!!~

~I had a very Happy Mother's Day.
Besides what I got from the church, and dear Cousin Laura,
My family Loved on me a bunch!~

~On the way back home from IHC, 

Wes & Ashlea Kline, and family came by for a couple days!  YAYYYYY!!

Ashlea and I have been close since 1999 when we moved to AZ and they were at Montezuma!

I think that there are around 15 years between us, but we have LOTS in common and I love her to pieces!

Whew! Did we ever pack A LOT of fun in during those 2 days!  

We took a chilly picnic and let the guys play disc golf, 

The kids played pickle ball,

While we ran to Marshall's,

played games, 

baked a ton of fun recipes, 

the kids went out for coffee, 

while Ashlea played "barista" and made a yummy coffee for her and me, 

and she and I relaxed on our front porch.

It was so happy that they also got to go to our Strait Creek church with us on Thursday night.

Ashlea and I both Love Dollar General!  

So, we took a DG run, and got some things for our kids for Easter.

Enjoy the pics of our fun days together.

(These will probably not be in order, because I have my pics and their pics combined, and my computer didn't keep them together.)

~I'm so GLAD that our kids are close as well!

love Addisen, and all of them. 

~Pickleball in Hillsboro at Sunset!~

Ellie serenading Baby Stella.~

~There were so many recipes made in that kitchen that day.~

~Ashlea made a yummy maple brown sugar iced coffee for herself and me...~

~And then we spent some fun time having a heart to heart on our front porch.

Let Time Stand Still...~

~The girls had a blast baking up yummy goodness for us to enjoy.~

~And Ashlea and I ran to Dollar General...

DG is the "mall" when you live in the corn fields. ;-) 

~We were so happy that Wes, Ashlea, and family could attend church with us at Strait Creek.

When we arrived, there were the cutest little ducks that said things like, 

"God bless you" or "You are blessed" sitting on the railing outside the church.

We have asked everyone we can think of, and we still have no idea who put them there.

~Mr. and Mrs. Fields holding Stella.~

~The night that the Klines were going to leave the next morning, our kids and their kids stayed up nearly all night long!  

#youareonlyyoungonce   

#wedon'tgettoseeeachothermuch

 

~My Friend Susanna posted this adorable pic of my Elijah on your left and her Levi.~

~And this is probably 2021 at IHC, Elijah on your right.

~2024 Elijah on your left.

This year, 2025, Elijah on your left...he has basically caught up to Levi. :-) 

~Resurrection Day (Easter.)~

~Chris, Kimberly, and baby Stella's basket.~

~We gave Baby Stella and Baby Adelynn one of these stools and 10 good stories that FEA was selling while we were at Sea Breeze camp.~

 

~Mrs. Fields brought yummy treats to church for everyone.~

~I brought these treats for everyone.~

~Baby Stella listening.~

to Grandpapa tell the Bible Story.~

~The Lord's sweet presence was so close that morning.~

~Mrs. Fields got this cute headband for Stella.~

It was fun to have Heidi and her boys in town.

But sadly little Logan got sick.

~Dear Cousin Laura and I.~

~My Easter Tablescape~

I used A simple Rose colored plastic table cloth, used as a table runner, 

and cute little paper plates that coordinate.

Center Piece: A bunny, 

Our Fresh Eggs...I love all the colors, that totally matched my color scheme, 

and a picture and vase from DG.~

~Dollar General (I Love Dollar General :-) 

sells Orange and white M&M's, sold exclusively at DG.

So, I took the white M&M's and used them to put on my heart dishes.~

We missed Josh, Sarah, and Adelynn, but are thrilled that they are shining for Jesus in Crooksville.~

~Adorable Baby Adelynn!!~

~I went to Christopher and Samantha's beautiful recital.~

~Chris & Kimberly got these yummy vanilla straw cookies for us for Easter.~

~Baby Stella cracks us up.  She must be double jointed, cause look at her thumb laying on the table.  

She does this all the time.~

~Rainsboro Church was in revival, 

so we went and got Mary's friend Alayna and she spent a couple hours with Mary, and then we attended their revival that night.~

~CNC~

~Elijah has his license now, so it is common now to see the kids leave for events by themselves.
It is bittersweet! 

It is happy, because we live SO far out, that I get tired of driving everywhere, but it is sad that the kids are getting so big!

~God is marvelous!  I stand amazed at how many different skies that He lets us enjoy!

Not to mention, Jesus dying on the cruel cross to save us from our sins!

~So, with Noah at work each day, it was just Abigail and Daddy and Mommy!

Abigail has 3 older sisters that are phenomenal with doing hair!

So, she has decided that she has to start doing her hair too.

She is doing a great job!

~I made "Hobo packs" in 9x13 dishes, so we didn't have the aluminum touching our food.

Quick and yummy!~

~Found this pic on IHC's FB of my Sarah and I at WOW.~

~Baby Stella in her little sweater outfit that I found for her for .5 at a thrift store.~

~Daddy building Mary's raised garden box.~

~Our boys and girls are such a blessing around home.~

Like Patch the Pirate's song, "Do your part! ...Carry your load with a happy heart!"

~I enjoy making my fun coffees at home...

inspiration....

while I am a Busy HAPPY Homemaker!!~

~Throw back to VIP day years ago.~

~I wrote and sent out Thank you notes to our dear supporters.  

Their Prayers, Love, and Support mean the world to us.~

~A coconut sugar / maple iced coffee with fun cups and straws. 

(From what I understand, Coconut sugar takes longer to get in your blood sugar, so in my coffee it tastes similar to brown sugar, but is more healthy.) ~

~Little Stella holding the song book with her Mommy.~

~Little Stella styling with her jean jumper.~

~Playing kickball after CNC church one Wednesday.~

~Abigail got inspired to make "cookies" one day.  So she grabbed a bowl and threw in a little of this, and a tad of that, and tasted it, then added some more of the other, stirred in some choc. chips and M&M's and these were pretty tasty!!

Pretty impressive for a 10 year old.

~Mrs. Fields made us some delicious fried hominy the other day.  

We loved it.

~A cute little sticker that Abigail made.~

~Cousin Laura telling a Bible Story at Strait Creek Church.

She did an excellent job.

~We were delighted that Josh, Sarah, & Adelynn came to church one Sunday night recently and got to hang out for a few days!

It felt like Christmas: 

2 babies to snuggle

worshiping together, 

eating lots of fun foods,

Singing together,

Sipping yummy coffee,

Catching up on what the babies can do now,

playing pickle ball,...

just hanging out with those we love the most.

~Taco fries~

~Sarah and K's baby Stella.~

~We played games.~

~Elijah and Abigail got some new fish.~

~On Monday we were all going to hang out together, except for Noah & Chris, since they were at work.

(Phillip was in and out, busy running here and there getting supplies to fix the foundation of the church.)

My heart was so SAD for Noah, 'cause his sister, brother-in-law, and baby girl niece were here and I knew his heart wanted to be home that day.

So, I was busy in the kitchen making a meal, and Praying for Noah!

When, all of the sudden, Mary asked what Noah's car was doing outside?

We all went to the garage to look, and here, Noah had gotten off work early, due to the rain!

I SQUEALED WITH JOY AND CLAPPED MY HANDS!!!!!

He told his boss something like, 

"You can chalk this up to my Mommy's Prayers!

When Mommy prays, things happen!"

I write this, not to pat myself on the back but, 

to REMIND US MOMMIES, myself included, 

to keep taking time each day to spend with Jesus, and Pray much and OFTEN for our children, families, churches, neighbors, country, Revival, etc.

God is LISTENING, AND OUR CHILDREN ARE WATCHING!!

~Sweet Baby Adelynn~

~Kimberly "Mimi" holding Sarah's Baby Adelynn~

~Sarah, holding Kimberly's baby Stella.~

~When we decided to go play pickle ball, the girls decided to bring sunglasses for the babies.

We were SO HAPPY for the beautiful sunny evening God gave us to play pickle ball!!!

THESE ADORABLE OLD NAVY SUN GLASSES THAT KIMBERLY'S BABY STELLA IS WEARING...ARE 27 YEARS OLD!!!

Uncle Michael and Aunt Beth bought these for Kimberly when she was a baby.

~Such a beautiful and fun evening together!!~

~This pic makes me melt!

These babies are so adorable!~

~This was Kimberly and Sarah's first time to play pickle ball.

And they did a great job!!

~Noah & Elijah are patient teachers and carry us while we learn.~

~We took turns playing pickle ball and holding babies, or pushing them in their strollers.~

~We don't get to see Adelynn very often, so when we do, it takes her awhile each time to warm up to her Grandpapa!  She is constantly checking him out. ;-) ~

~Youth Night Out at Skyline Restaurant.

They surprised Andy & Brittany and celebrated their birthdays!~

~Irises from my GG's property!~

~Mary playing prelude for our church.~

~Baby Stella looks pretty WHITE, next to her uncle Noah's tan hand.~

~One night Mr. Fields couldn't be there at church to ring the bell, so Elijah rang the bell.

Later I asked him to pose with little Stella, to send this pic to the Fields to tell them that we missed them!

~Elijah, Mary, and Abigail went to be with Josh & Sarah for a weekend.~

~One day this older couple showed up outside our Strait Creek Church.   Phillip and Josh Stamper were there unloading some beams for the foundation.

The couple said that this was the 2nd time that they had arrived in our parking lot and loved this old Church.

Phillip and Josh had a nice little visit with them, and they mentioned how disappointed they are that so many churches are changing now-a-days!

Phillip then asked if they wanted to come and see inside our church.  

They hesitated because the wife had just had hip surgery and was in a lot of pain, :-( but then decided to come inside.

When they got inside Phillip and Josh said that they said, 

"There's something here" and immediately raised their hands and started praising Jesus, getting blessed, and praying to the top of their lungs.  

Holy Spirit, you are ALWAYS welcome Here!~

~Adorable Baby Stella~

~She loves the dolly we got her.~

~If you are still with me....through ALL of those pictures, you are amazing!!!

THANK YOU!

Today, is our Elijah's birthday, so I must go celebrate him, and I'll post about it all later.

Please pray for our Family! At the end of May we are heading to South Dakota to sing for the Faith Missionary Association Camp meeting.  How we need God's help, and long for more of His presence.

~HEATHER~