A Little Bragging on Josh

I don't brag on Josh enough, in fact, I don't give him enough breaks sometimes. I wanted to tell a little more about his life. Joshua saved and bought this drum set in Missouri while we were on vacation. It has been a loud but valuable asset to the musical activity in our home. My favorite sound is Joshua's voice as he plays his guitar. He has now saved enough to buy an electric acoustic guitar. We are all thankful for his seemingly effortless ability to improve. He might disagree and say he practices but I am clueless when it comes to musical ability. Joshua works part time for his Uncle's business doing office work such as bidding jobs, dealing with clients over the phone, E-mails, etc. He is very fortunate to have this opportunity and I know the confidence and skills he is acquiring are priceless. He takes great care of the kids and house when Kenny and I are away. He is also blessed with a love for reading and is serious about his education. Golfing (and improving in the sport) with Kenny and Paul is also a huge part of his life. Because high school homeschoolers don't seem to have team sports opportunities in this area we have let him work out at a boxing gym with some great guys a few times a week. But most importantly he seems to have a love for his family and Creator so..... I couldn't ask for a better son!!! (sometimes I don't hesitate to send constant correction to the kids and while that can be good, I know they need to be told all the good and how much they are appreciated so I am announcing to all that we are grateful for what God has given us. God spared his life on that sad day when his brother went on to eternity. At three years old he became an even more precious gift to us. We told him then and we tell him now ..... You are here with a purpose.

Joshua and Hope hang out often and play music and sing together. Hope is a talented, God-fearing friend and cousin and we are grateful she lives right next door. I am looking forward to the day when many others will have the opportunity to hear the songs she has written.

I ask friends and family to pray for our teens as they are up against so many lies being yelled out to them in every direction. I don't hope for perfect teens, nor expect it but I hope they can through the power of God in their lives ....Do Hard Things.... like the book Josh just read by the Harris twins. They can rise above low expectations not for the purpose of their own glory but to the encouragement and uplifting of others. How can others know of the love of God unless we are confident in showing it? Josh just told me today of his disgust when he sees Christians come across like they are better than others. While we should never be ashamed of the righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, others need to see that it's only through our allowing Him to live in us. Our pride is smellier than blatant sin. Jesus seemed to portray this as he dealt with others. Lord, humble us and help us to glory only in the cross......Let our Christianity be relational (as my friend Tina says) and not religious. Anyway, please pray for Josh as he will be seeking direction in the next few years.

Just a note: Lily has had a tough week with close to 200 seizures in 5 days. Her seizing was worse at night and they would come in clusters of 10 or so. She is better now and on a third med. She is glad to be sleeping better and she handles it so well but please pray this does not become a common week in her life. So far this only has happened twice before. Both times she was hospitalized but this time it was manageable at home since we had all the meds we needed. Thanks for praying. She is amazing.

Fun with John

All our boys are ramping lately especially now that they have a track around the lake. I will post pictures of that later.

This is my favorite picture of the day. John was laughing so hard as he threw leaves into my face. His laughter was contagious.

John enjoying making huge bubbles. Taking the day to play was good for me and even better for John. The weather was perfect and I told Kenny it was one of the best days I have had with the younger kids all year. I am so glad to still have young ones who get so much satisfaction out of the simplest things like blowing bubbles and playing in the leaves. It is so nice to have a way like blogging to keep record of the good times.

For whatever the reason we have a surplus of hickory nuts and acorns. My mom had a bowl of hickory nuts sitting on her counter one day and I thought they were delicious so I started to help her dig the meat out of the intricate shell and before long I became addicted to the picking. They taste similiar to walnuts yet sweeter. Yes, I am a picker. You either hate it or love it. Before long I was collecting my own stash and not feeling one bit guilty about robbing the squirrels ( we have zillions of acorns this year). If I woke in the middle of the night I started digging at the nuts and soon I had enough to make a whole chocolate cream square dessert for Thanksgiving. I only had one complaint of a tiny piece of shell in the whole thing! Was it worth it? I don't know, it was fun eating something I didn't have to grow or buy.

Good Stuff

If you are a parent then go here....http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2861 This is a good reminder and heartbreaking to see the ill effects on relationships everywhere! Let's not just go with the flow and fall into the trap.

Lily is a good sister to little Joe

Sarah and John attacking the mom

Japanese Maple is beautiful no matter what season we are in.

Fall has been a bright and cheery season for us here in Tennessee. The most brilliant colors seemed to last just a couple of weeks and I am glad we took advantage of a few of these nice days and just played. When the chores seem endless indoors and the stress is mounting, we need to run away to the woods and fields where we will feel energized and on our return home we will be ready and able to tackle those jobs a little more light heartedly!! Try it!

October 10th

Grandma helping Sarah

Sarah Faith

Birthday Breakfast

It's hard to believe our baby girl is already 3! She had her special breakfast including a pancake man , an idea I read in the Little House Books. Evening time brought on the typical cake and ice cream party with neighbors and family. She is on the rowdy side so she had a ball with the golf club set and punching bag from Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks to all the out-of-state grandparents for making her day special.

A trip to Middle Tennesee

burning bush - noticed on the hike

" best way to hike", says Joe

Joshua and Priscilla

the waterfall was just a trickle due to the drought

a big tickle

Paul in front of the beautiful bridge at the state park in Crossville

We had a nice weekend break a few weeks back designed for hiking and relaxing. My sister and husband are wonderful enough to invite us on some mini-vacations even though we live next door. On the way we stopped to hike down to a 100 ft waterfall,which seemed like a trickle because of the drought but it was still a unique sight to see. The rest of the time was spent playing basketball at the community center or swimming.

September 27...12 years ago

Isaac was often called "little Kenny" by family. Here they are together on Monte the old 27 year old horse.

Isaac and Hope sharing a rare Coke at a special get together.

Isaac finds Hope a hat. In so many of our pictures he is wearing a bright blue one that was his favorite

It's sad but worth mentioning that Isaac died on his cousin Hope's birthday. They were only 3 months apart and great friends. Lisa mentioned how amazing it is that every year on the anniversary of his death we think of Hope by celebrating her life. Her name "Hope" was no coincidence.

Isaac, age 3 in front of the horse farm we lived on during the last 2 years of his life

October of 93. Isaac was 16 months and Josh was just 6 weeks old

As most of you know, our oldest son passed away at the age of four in a car accident as we traveled from Springfield, Mo.( our home then) to Tennessee for a visit. I wanted to share a very precious time of our lives by posting a few pictures and comments. Isaac had something that our other children have never seemed to portray at the age of three and four. He had a very tender heart toward spiritual matters that comforts us to this day. Making up his own songs in the back seat with the words..."You are an awesome God. Mercy and Truth come out of you" at three years old shocked us when we had never sang such a song to him before. He was also beautiful.. wouldn't you agree? After his death, we had a true experience with the awesome grace of God and really felt as if we were carried through those first few months as the well known poem "footprints" states. There are times now I will wonder...How do we function and live normally when such a hole remains in our hearts? It's because our heavenly Father helps us as we believe the truth He says!! Yet it still hurts and we miss him so much. Eternal life....now that is a wonderful thought. Looking forward to seeing all of creation set free!!

This year we will be on a weekend getaway celebrating Hope's birthday but keeping a candle lit for our sweet, smiley, Isaac. (I don't remember having a picture of him where he is not smiling)