February Fun Times

Well, it has been a busy but fun month this February. Today, in fact, has been no exception. We had a snow day, so outside we went to play in the white stuff. Surprisingly enough, we did not have more than 4 or 5 inches of new snow. We were expecting at least 8 inches in our area. They closed schools because the snow was wet and heavy coming down yesterday, and it was mixed with sleet. It made quite a mess of the roads. The trucks weren't out until late yesterday clearing what had fallen most of the day. We had a bit more overnight, but I am really surprised there was no school. Sleeping in is quite nice though! The girls and I headed outside to play. Emma started a snowman on her own. The snow was perfect, and it wasn't that cold outside. I helped Emma get the base done, but we were sure glad Daddy came home to help finish, since the snow was heavy. Here are some pictures:






Other fun this month has included:

*Emma's playing at our school's Friendship Banquet.



*My continuing Bible study on the book of I Peter. We have a great group of ladies meeting each week who are excited about studying God's Word, praying together, and enjoying true fellowship.

*Kris having opportunities to lead a 4-week study on the goodness of God in our Sunday evening Prime Time.

*My working with the children's choir and seeing them grow and develop with their voices but spiritually as well.

*Olivia learning her letters and telling us "P" is for peanuts and letting everyone know that peanuts grow under the dirt--very exciting to her! :-)

*Of course you already know my thoughts on Valentine's Day :-)

*This weekend I was able to be in a concert featuring selections from various Broadway musicals. My director was sensitive to my convictions in not being in part of the concert that just the chorale was doing. He let me sit on the end and leave the stage for that selection. God is giving me opportunities to be vocal about my beliefs. PTL! Doug LaBrecque (a former Phantom and many other characters) was our featured artist, and he brought in Diane Penning to sing with him. Long story short, my conductor requested that they listen to ME sing before they left (AAAHHHHH), and I was able to have a private audience with each of them at seperate times. They were wonderful and very encouraging to me. I was even offered to have a couple of lessons with Doug LaBrecque when he comes back to vacation in MI this summer (he is from MI and a U of M grad). Wow--they are both just amazing, and I am so thankful for the opportunities I had with them.

Fun Week

Well, I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day. While some of you have stated that you think the holiday is silly, when we should be celebrating our relationships all year long, I do have to say that I love special days like Valentine's. :-) It's great to have different opinions. It keeps life more interesting. Ha ha I do agree that love should be celebrated and cherished all the time, and I sure do like to be surprised and romanced unexpectedly, but I do make a big deal out of these special days during the year. Even Sweetest's Day (if you're from the North, you know what I mean) has been an important one to me. I just grew up watching my dad going overboard at these times, and I thought it was awesome. Guess it has stuck with me. :-) I am a hopeless romantic like my dad. Look what he did for my mom recently when they had a little wintry weather:



She didn't know he was outside "drawing" this message with his feet. He took her upstairs and told her to look out the window. I think that's pretty cool. No pun intended. :-) I also found out that for Valentine's Day, he stopped by their church on his way to work, and went to my mom's Bible study table that she would be at that morning. He left quite the display: Huge balloon, roses, a big chocolate "I Love You," and a card. He also got on the local talk radio station that was asking people to call in with special Valentine's stories or messages, and he proclaimed His love for her their too.

Okay, so anyway, in case you couldn't tell, I love all that kind of stuff, but I must say that I am so thankful for a husband that never lets me forget that he loves me and makes our relationship special all the time. We got to sing together ("All I Ask of You" from Phantom of the Opera and "O Wondrous Love" about God's love for us) on Valentine's Day for a women's Christian organization that was meeting at the Midland Country Club. That was fun but a bit awkward for Kris. ha ha Later that day, he brought me flowers and surprised me with one of the Willow Tree figures that I am collecting. It's the couple called "Together." I was so excited to add it to my collection. He found a really special card for me, and this weekend we went to a Japanese steakhouse that we love and had a great time! I surprised him with a professionally done picture of me and the girls I had done in Dec. I framed it for his office. Well, I hope you all had fun celebrating with your significant others and even your kids. Ours had parties at school and AWANA, so we have plenty of candy around that I need to stay away from! Don't forget to tell and show the people in your life how much you love and care for them everyday.

The Frozen North

Yes, it is COLD here in Michigan. When Kris left to take Emma to school this morning, the real temp was -5 with a wind chill of -20! Schools all over the state have closed. Midland didn't get the memo. We follow what the public schools do, so we have had school these last two days while most other surrounding counties have not. I was surprised anyway that they would close the schools for it being cold in MI, but I guess with kids walking and taking the bus, it can be really dangerous. We are staying indoors as much as possible, to say the least!

Here are some pics of Kris being silly over the weekend. We had quite a bit of ice outside hanging down around the house as you can see:


Pan pipes


Ice Oozie


Queen of Narnia

Yes, he keeps life fun and exciting!!!

It's Been A While

Okay, so life has just been a little crazy. I have heard from some of you that you wondered if I was ever going to get to my blog again. :-) Well, I am back. Unfortunately, we had a lot of sickness at the beginning of the year here. It actually started with Olivia while in SC. I got something when we came home that lasted for almost two weeks, and then poor little Emma got it worst of all this past week. She has never had something wipe her out like that in her life. Two Sundays ago I took her to Urgent Care in the morning and found out she had acute bronchitis that just came on pretty suddenly the day before. We got her on an antibiotic, but her fevers were still going over 103 degrees at times. She would hardly eat anything either. She had to have lost a bit of weight last week. Finally her fevers were gone after a few days, but her cough seemed worse. :-( We were up every night from Sat. until this past Fri. night with her during these "episodes." Thankfully they realized she was probably having reactionary asthma with this and put her on an inhaler and then a prescription cough med. with Codine. That started to help better than anything over the counter. This past Sat. night, she finally didn't need any meds of any kind and slept well all night. Yesterday she was finally able to go out for church and do well. Praise the Lord! She missed a whole week of school last week, but Kris kept bringing papers home from her teacher, and we got them done here. Whew! I am so glad she is feeling better. I must say, although it was hard to see her so miserable last week, I had some really precious times with her. I haven't held her like that (all curled up on me for long periods of time) or had so much snuggle time every day since she was itty bitty. I'll take those moments!

I've been reminded a lot about life and it's tough times but how we have an amazing God, Who is always doing things for our good and working to conform us to His image. These sicknesses we've had are just little bumps in the road, nuisances really. In the past month I have had a friend lose a baby in her second trimester, had my friend, Laura, who I have requested prayer for in the loss of her daughter, Lindsey, lose her father to cancer just two weeks ago (it was found just before Thanksgiving and just weeks after Lindsey died), had my Aunt Carolyn struggling while going through chemo out in AZ, heard recently of other extended family members in and out of the hospital, and been reminded of how much we miss Kris' mom. His sister, Karmen did a tribute to her on her blog. On Jan. 30, Mom would have been 64 yrs. old. She died just five days before her birthday seven yrs. ago.

Kris just got a book by John Piper in the mail. It is entitled When the Darkness Will Not Lift. On the back of the book it says, "It is utterly crucial that in our darkness we affirm the wise, strong hand of God to hold us, even when we have no strength to hold Him." I have gone through most of the book. He addresses Psalm 40 in the beginning as well as Psalm 30:5. So many other passages of scripture are given in the book to remind us that it is not in us to be able to make it through the struggle. We have to look to God and trust Him with no reservations. I definitely recommend the book. I also have been encouraged in reading the book of I Peter lately. Talk about reading of struggles. Again, the answer is God! A song that has gone through my head regularly through all of this in the last month is "By the Gentle Waters" by Cindy Berry. I guess it is against copyright to put the words on here, and I can't seem to get a link for you on the internet, but it is based on Psalm 23 and has been a favorite of Kris' and mine to sing together. It talks of God's leading us through life, whether it be calm or "rough and rugged," the rest that God gives us and will offer even if we've gone astray and will turn back to Him, His leading "til I'm safely home," etc. I am so glad we serve the God of all comfort as II Cor. 1 states and that His grace is sufficient as found later in II Cor. 12:9.

Well, these are some of the thoughts that have most been on my mind lately. I have much more I'd like to post about, so we'll see what I can get to.