Christmas 2008

This year Christmas ended up being a pretty quiet time in our home.  Due to the weather, Providence's Candlelight Service was canceled.  That was a bummer for our family.  Jesica and Justin were supposed to play their instruments, and several members of the family were in the choirs.  Next year we'll try it again!

Mom and Sara

Mom and most of her girls watching a movie in bed!

On Christmas Eve we went to Ming's for Chinese food. This is usually our New Year's Eve tradition, but hope to start a new one of those this year.  After Ming's we came home, started a nice fire, and opened gifts.  Daniel and I had bought our own gifts last month.  Daniel bought Ruger 10/22 rifle.  My Kitchen Aid mixer broke, so I bought myself a new Bosch.  The children had lots of fun opening their gifts.  Justin also received a rifle and Jesica got the camera she's been wanting.  Ashly has been wanting to learn how to decorate cakes, so she received some tools to do just that.  Josiah and Mathias had a "Camo" Christmas.  Camo outfit, PJ's, communicator watches, and rifles.  Cara and Sara both received new dolls from Vision Forum.  Cara also received a toiletry bag so keep all her hair stuff in order!

Our 7 Blessings

On Christmas Day we loaded up the van and headed north.  After a 3 hour drive, we arrived at Mark (Daniel's brother) and Kristi's home.  

There we opened more gifts and ate a wonderful meal.  The children then sat and watched Wall-e with some of the adults, while the rest of us sat around, ate dessert, and enjoyed a glass of wine.  Then it was back into the van for the 3 hour ride home.

All the Ryken grandkids

The day after Christmas, my parents came down.  Their arrival was a bit delayed due to the ice, but they made it in time for dinner.  After dinner we opened a few more gifts and then sat down and played games. Sara was having a really good day and even let Grandma and Grandpa hold her!  

Soon it was time for soup and dessert!  There's nothing like a good eclair and sherbet to round out the holiday season!  Dad and Mom spent the night and after a breakfast of cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs, got on the road.  It's so nice having family spend the night.  It gives us more time to spend together without having to watch the clock.

We took so many pictures during the holiday. Instead of showing each one here, I uploaded them to a photo album.  

Christmas 2008

Christmas Letter 2008

Here is the link to our Christmas letter - if you haven't already read it!

Christmas Letter 2008

Large Families

Being part of a large family has its blessings and frustrations.  One of the biggest frustrations is being out in public and having strangers ask you questions or just staring at your family. Some people really do want to know more about large families and how we manage everyday life.  Others though just can't understand why anyone would want lots of children.  To those strangers (and some friends and family) I dedicate this video:

Several questions were raised during this video.  Here are the Ryken Family answers:

1. "You've got your hands full"  Yes, they are and we would not have it any other way.

2. "Are you Catholic?"  No, we are not Catholic.  Just Bible believing Christians who strive to live our lives according to Scripture.

3. "How do you afford it?"  We buy in bulk, try to spend our money frugally and wisely, pass clothes down from child to child, cook most things from scratch...

4. "Are you having more?"  Well, we don't know.  We would like more, but it isn't up to us.  If the Lord has more children planned for our family, we will welcome as many as He will give us.

5.  "Are they all yours?"  We get asked this alot.  Yes, they are all ours - together.

6. "Better you than me!"  If people have such a negative view in regards to lots of children, then maybe it is "better us than you".

7.  "How do you manage?"  By prayer and the grace of God.  Every day we need to fully rely on Him for all our needs.

8.  "Do you know what causes it?"  We do, do you?  We can explain if you'd like!

9. "Twins?" No twins. Wouldn't mind having a set though. 

10. "Daycare?" Not a daycare.  Although we do drive a 15 passenger van!

11. "Wait until they are teens."  Our young adults aren't without struggle, but we actually enjoying being with them and they with us.  Our family has fun together and with other families. Therefore, we are looking forward to the next 5 someday being this age.

We view our large family as a blessing.  

Psalm 127: 3-5

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
         The fruit of the womb is a reward.
 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
         So are the children of one’s youth.
 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
         They shall not be ashamed, 
         But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

My first award!

THE LEMONADE AWARD: The concept behind this award is that the blog creators have shown an uncanny knack for silver linings and making the best of bad situations (i.e., lemonade from lemons)."

Rules: Name ten blogs that reflect this silver linings philosophy.

My daughter Jesica, awarded me this award.  Thanks, Jesi!  I pass it on to....

Heather

Rachel

Laura

Stephanie

Whitney

Carla

Christmas Letter 2008

Christmas Letter 2008

Some of you may be wondering if we dropped off the face of the earth since we didn’t get any Christmas cards or letters sent out last year.  With everything that was happening in our lives, it felt like we had!  If you are interested, our 2007 letter can be found here.

Throughout 2008 the Lord continued to bless our family and lead us along the paths He wanted us to take.  The path was not always easy, but God was our guide and by trusting in Him, we made it safely through.

2007 ended with a job interview and 2008 started with follow up interviews and a job offer.  On February 4^th, Daniel started his new employment with Symantec Corp. out of OakBrook, IL.  However, job deals with pre-sales in computer security and his only customer was/is based in Bloomington, IL.  Those of you familiar with Illinois geography know that Sugar Grove and Bloomington and about 2 hours apart.   So Daniel began to commute the 2 hours, 3 days a week, to Bloomington.

This long drive gave us a bit of concern.  Our 7^th child was due February 19^th and we were planning our first home birth.  We thought of all the “what-ifs” , but God had everything in His control.  At 11:15 pm on February 9^th, labor began.  2 hours later Sara Elizabeth Ryken was born.  

The midwife made it with 10 minutes to spare.  All the other medical persons did not make it.  Having a home birth was such a wonderful experience!  There is nothing like snuggling up to your husband and newborn in your own bed just hours after birth….

The excitement of the year did not stop there.  The first week of March we put our home on the market.  It was a hard thing to do, but we felt that the Lord was calling us to move to Central IL.  With the housing market the way it was, we knew that He was going to have to sell our home.  Showing after showing, but no bites.  Summer came and went and on a day early in September, we finally got an offer.  We accepted and 3 weeks later were moving out.

During those 6 months we kept wondering why our home wasn’t selling.  We really felt that He wanted us to move and if He did why didn't our home sell?  The reason was because our new home just wasn’t ready for us yet!  The home we bought had been on the market for almost a year, but was out of our price range.  2 weeks before our home sold, they lowered the price into the range that we could afford.  God worked everything out in His perfect timing.

We have now been in our home for almost 3 months and for the most part are happy.  We still have moments of missing our friends and neighbors, but our new church community has welcomed us with such loving and open arms.  We have been truly blessed.  If you are ever in our neighborhood, we’d love for you to stop on by. Short notice is fine too!  (Right Trish?)

The children have taken it upon themselves to grow an exceptional amount this year.  Like a friend of mine says, “they’ve aged, but I haven’t”.  If only that were true!   

Justin is now 15 and 6’2”, which makes him officially taller than Daniel.  Being 15 also means driver’s ed.  It has been a good experience so far and we are looking forward to having another driver next summer.

Jesica is 13 and as tall as Mom.  She is continuing to play the violin and do a lot of sewing.  She is currently making costume dresses for her and Ashly.  Jesica also started an etsy shop to sell her handmade items.  Please visit her account at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6444468

Ashly is 12 and loves help Sheri in the kitchen and take care of Sara.  She also is a very avid reader and piano player.  Over the last year she has tried her hand at different crafts, but still hasn’t found her niche.

Josiah is 8 and loves to have boffer wars or sword fights with Mathias who is 4.  The two of them are such good buddies. They love to work hard along side Dad and Justin chopping and carrying wood.  They also worked hard at picking the apples on our property.

Cara (7) and Sara (10 months) we call our rhyming sisters.  Cara loves to help take care of and play with Sara.  Cara also loves to help Mom in the kitchen and always greets everyone with a hug and big smile.  Sara is crawling all over the place and loves to laugh with the rest of the family!

Daniel and Sheri have each gotten a year older and hopefully wiser!  We just love spending time with our family and the new friends we have made here in Central IL.  Home educating is going well, with Daniel taking over some teaching at night.  Daniel has been doing a lot of yard work, wood chopping, and organizing in the shed. Sheri has been trying to get the house organized and filled with our family touches.  Our home is starting to feel more like it’s ours, but it will still need some extra special touches.

Several more things happened throughout the year.  This blog is a great way to keep up with the happenings in our family. The children also have blogs (Justin, Jesica, Ashly).  Daniel and Sheri can also be found on Facebook.

“The LORD bless you and keep you;

 The LORD make His face shine upon you,
      And be gracious to you;

 The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
      And give you peace.”

Numbers 6: 24-26

 

Keeper at Home and Submission

ed. note:  I have been battling sleepless nights with Sara, so I am posting a recent post from Generation Cedar.

HOME is More Than Dirty Laundry!

Willing submission to my calling and to my husband is not hard because it is nothing more than submission to my Savior.

And his heart beat while on earth leaves us with the answer to life:

"Let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done."

"I must be about my Father's business."

"And being in the form of God, He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant..."

Jesus had all power and authority in Heaven and earth. He COULD do what He wanted to do. He was important, smart and ambitious. But those traits were only utilized for the Kingdom when he submitted to the will of His Father.

Identifying with Christ in this way gives us a confident, freeing starting place. My calling as a helper and comrade to my husband was God's idea, not man's.

In Genesis, the dominion mandate was given to a man and his wife. They were to fulfill God's mission together, like a well-oiled machine.

As a woman given to the calling of keeping my home, helping my husband and raising a family for the glory of God, my heart leaps with joy that I have been entrusted with such a noble task! Yes it's hard, yes, some days I cry, but the truth of the mission remains.

One of the common stereotypes of biblical womanhood is that she is enslaved at home, receiving orders barked from her husband who is "in charge".

Contrary to that idea, a woman in a biblical marriage is the "queen" or manager of her home. She is actually the one "in charge" of the numerous duties of keeping a home and her husband is free to be the man God created him to be because "the heart of her husband safely trusts her". The two are on the same page--same vision--same goals. He doesn't have to micro-manage her time because he knows she is capable, smart and eager to fulfill their mission.

One of the feminist lies is that a woman can only be truly free in a career outside her home. But the irony is that she still submits to someone (usually another man). What's worse is that the man to whom she must obey doesn't love her, doesn't have her best interests at heart and doesn't feel any motivation to protect her.

She is given to another's schedule, another's agenda and another'sorders. She helps someone else fulfill his goals, convinced she is "free".

Wouldn't I rather do this for my husband? If I'm not helping him, doesn't he then need to find another helper? He gives me much more freedom than any other boss does!

Another stereotype asserts that a keeper at home can't make money. Hogwash! Let me mention my friend, Jennie, again. She startedSensibility.com years ago and has grown quite a successful business right from home! I think Crystal Paine has figured it out too! In fact, there has never been such opportunity as now for women at home to run successful businesses, helping with the family's economy.

Education is another misunderstood area. If your domain is the home, especially if you home school, learning takes on a whole new meaning. I have never had such opportunity to read research and study than now, alongside my children!

Many feel sorry for the lack of socialization a stay-at-home mom gets. And admittedly, this can be a challenge. But when the season is right, a woman given to hospitality gets to enjoy the richness of meaningful relationships and discipleship right in her home, where the love of Christ and the aroma of friendship envelopes all those who enter her home. This kind of interaction with others is, I think, a most meaningful and successful form of evangelizing. Whether it's having families over, or just other women with whom she can share, there is a whole ministry awaiting. 

(As a side note, being a "keeper at home" doesn't mean she can never leave home! Certainly her work requires her to spend the majority of her time there, but she isn't tied to the washer ;-)

In addition to these few things, depending on her season of life, when a woman understands the art in homemaking, the ocean can't contain the opportunities at her disposal. I have friends who have catering businesses--true food artists,who not only make money but bless others with their gifts. Friends who are photographers, even setting up their own dark rooms, seamstresses who make costumes and sell or display, artists so gifted in crafts they never buy a gift, women who can design, build or remodel a whole house, musicians...the list goes on.

And let me add, I don't want any women reading to feel underachieved. I certainly don't want to suggest you have to be some supermom. That is NOT the point of this post! You know my heart. I only want to turn over some of the stereotypes and say to women that being a keeper at home doesn't mean enslavement and misery.

Far more important than these things is the work she does in teaching her children about the Lord. Right there, given as gifts from heaven, is an army of God being prepared to march out and continue the mission. On the weary days, I try to envision a family gathering when I am old. Hoping to see throngs of people around me, my children with their children with their children--the heritage of the Lord, the fruit of our labor!

Some people can't fathom *HOME* as anything more than a building with lots of dirty laundry. But it's so much more!

Farewell for Garrison

On Saturday evening, we attended a graduation/farewell party for a young man in our church.  Garrison will be leaving for the Marines next week.  We had a wonderful night of food, fellowship, dancing.  The men of the church prayed over Garrison and gave several moving charges to him.  Garrison will be missed.

Part 1 of the skit

part 2 of the skit.


Here are some photos of our family from the night.

My Sweet Mathias who is very ready to go home

Emil, Garrison, and Justin.  3 young men who commonly get mistaken for eachother.  They are also the tallest young men of the church!

Justin dancing with his Mother

Garrison and Justin - good friends who will miss each other

Josiah being a gentleman while dancing

The Providence Youth (well, not all of them, just the ones at the gathering)

Daniel and Sheri dancing.  We were tired!

In the background you can see Jesi and Dad waltzing.

Ashly and Josiah prominading

The effects of a static balloon on Sara's hair!

Mom and Sara preparing to dance.  Sara is a very good dance partner.  She laughs and giggles with all the turns.

Sheri and Mrs Riggenbach chatting.

Mathias and Daddy

Jesica's Etsy Shop

Jesica has opened her own Etsy shop.  This shop has some of the handmade items that she has been working on.  So far she has some journals, shawls, baby afghan/s booties, ornaments, afghans and ponchos.  To visit her shop click HERE or the link on the side bar.  Please share the link with friends and family.

The Call to Dunkirk

EXODUS MANDATE

Thanksgiving

Our family has so much to be thankful for over the past year. From a new job, Sara being born, a new home and church family, health...the list could go on and on.  However, these events were not things that we did.  Everything comes from God's hand.  We are thankfull for all He has done for us.  1 Chronicles 16 8-36 put is so well.

8 Oh, give thanks to the LORD!

      Call upon His name; 

      Make known His deeds among the peoples!

 9 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;

      Talk of all His wondrous works!

 10 Glory in His holy name;

      Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD!

 11 Seek the LORD and His strength;

      Seek His face evermore!

 12 Remember His marvelous works which He has done,

      His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,

 13 O seed of Israel His servant,

      You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!

 14 He is the LORD our God;

      His judgments are in all the earth.

 15 Remember His covenant forever,

      The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,

 16 The covenant which He made with Abraham,

      And His oath to Isaac,

 17 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,

      To Israel for an everlasting covenant,

 18 Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan

      As the allotment of your inheritance,”

 19 When you were few in number,

      Indeed very few, and strangers in it.

 20 When they went from one nation to another,

      And from one kingdom to another people,

 21 He permitted no man to do them wrong;

      Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,

 22 Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones,

      And do My prophets no harm.”

 23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth;

      Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

 24 Declare His glory among the nations,

      His wonders among all peoples.

 25 For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised;

      He is also to be feared above all gods.

 26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

      But the LORD made the heavens.

 27 Honor and majesty are before Him;

      Strength and gladness are in His place.

 28 Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples,

      Give to the LORD glory and strength.

 29 Give to the LORD the glory due His name;

      Bring an offering, and come before Him. 

      Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!

 30 Tremble before Him, all the earth.

      The world also is firmly established, 

      It shall not be moved.

 31 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;

      And let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”

 32 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;

      Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.

 33 Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the LORD,

      For He is coming to judge the earth.

 34 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!

      For His mercy endures forever.

 35 And say, “Save us, O God of our salvation;

      Gather us together, and deliver us from the Gentiles, 

      To give thanks to Your holy name, 

      To triumph in Your praise.”

 36 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel

      From everlasting to everlasting!

   And all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the LORD.

Encouragment for Parents of Young Children

Earlier this week, one of our elders sent this blog post through our church email.  It was such an encouragement to me, that I thought I would share it.

Toddlers on Your Lap
Topic: Exhortation

Many years ago we made the decision to disband our children’s church and nursery, and go to a system of parents training their little ones to worship with us. We have cry room, and so on, but the intent is to have our children grow up into the worship of God. We have had many reasons to rejoice in that decision, and we don’t regret it at all.

At the same time, the point of this exhortation is to let you parents know that we know how much work you do, and to encourage you in it. It is good work, work that will bear fruit for many years, over many generations. It is sometimes easy to lose sight of the long view, especially if you have five children under the age of seven, and all of them are squirmy. It is easy to lose sight of that when you haven’t heard more than ten minutes of a sermon at a time in three years, and you wonder if you will ever be able to listen to a sermon again.

But the life of Christ is not best represented by listening to a lecture, undistracted by anything. The life of Christ is pulled in many directions, just like you are being, and you are willing for this to happen so that your children may come to worship the Lord. Laying it down for someone else this way is our glory. It is a sacrifice to bring them to the Word, to the psalms, to the wine and to the bread.

So don’t measure what you get out of these worship services with carnal balances. The weight of glory you are carrying is far beyond the weight of toddlers in your lap.

Posted by Douglas Wilson - 11/22/2008 5:18:37 PM 

You can read and print this by clicking HERE

Afford to stay home?

The other day I was at the dentist.  The tech and I sat talking while Mathias had his teeth cleaned.  This was our first time to the practice and she asked a few questions about our family.  I talked about how we had seven children and her first response was "you must home school".  Her second was "you must not work outside the home.  You couldn't afford to."

The "you must home school" comment didn't surprise me.  Comments like that are common place when you have a large family.  Everyone just assumes that you are Catholic, Mormon, or a homeschooler if you have a large family.  Obviously this isn't always true.  We don home school, but that isn't why we have a large family.  (You can read more about that in this previous post )

Her second comment though, got me thinking about stay-at-home moms.  I know several families that have 1 or 2 children where the mom works outside the home - either full or part time.  In my mind, they would be the ones who could more easily afford to stay home.  A family of 3 or 4 should cost a lot less money than a family of 9, 10 or more.  Food bills and clothing bills should be less.  Smaller families don't need to be driving full size or extended passenger vans.

Now if this tech was thinking that we couldn't afford to send our children to day care, she may be correct.  With most large families, there will be a wider range of children.  By the time the younger ones come around, the older ones would be in school.  So realistically, a larger family really wouldn't have any more children in day care than a family with fewer children.  So this argument really wouldn't work.

So, my question still is how can a family with 7 children afford to have a stay-at-home mom any more than a mom with 1, 2, or 3 children (assuming of course, that their income is similar)? With the way that our society thinks, they cannot.  Our culture says that each child needs to have his/her own room, this fabulous new toy, name brand clothes, play this sport, and attend this certain school.  Parents have to drive certain types of cars and own homes with so many square feet of space, and so on.

Larger families tend to be more frugal with what they spend.  Name brands don't mean as much, and many of the clothes are from a discount or second hand store, hand-me downs from older siblings or church family, or sewn by Mom.  Meals tend to be simpler and made from scratch.  Vehicles tend to be large vans that aren't traded in after 100,000 miles.  Large families also tend to home educate.  This is what leads to the first comment the tech made.

I would like to clarify that the above paragraph does not hold just to large families.  I know several smaller families that also are very frugal.  I have a friend who has a few children and her husband only works odd jobs when they are available.  She does some online selling and what they bring home is all their income.  She could go out into the work force and probably find a good job, but she has chosen to be frugal and live on what they can to be home all day with her children.  What a testimony she has.

So the comment that the tech made should really be applicable to most moms, not just us with large families.  Most moms, should they choose, should be able to stay home, and logically those this fewer children should have an easier time of doing so than those moms with more children.  

Of course there are always variables.  Income, cost of living, and our family's resistance to cultural demands are just a few.  Despite those, I do encourage working mothers to examine for yourself  why you are working and is there really a way to live on one income.  

For those mothers who do stay home with your children, do you grumble and wish for more money and things?  Being frugal isn't easy and takes work.  Or do you have a heart of thankfulness that you are able to stay home and be a keeper at home? 

Recently two of my favorite blogs, A Holy Experience and Generation Cedar, had excellent posts.  "A Strange Disappearance" and "A Time for Truth".  I encourage all moms to read them and evaluate themselves in light of it.  I did and wept, because my attitude of staying at home is not always where it should be.  It is all put into perspective.  

 I am not a stay at home Mom.  

I am a God’s worker. 

I have a full-time 24/7 career, working for the King of the Universe. 

I have work orders. 

I am sent. 

I am on assignment.

Some Evening Rambings

Posts have been very sporadic lately, and for that I am sorry.  Many of you use this blog to keep up on what is going on in our lives.

Lately a lot has been going on that has disrupted our usual schedule.  Driver's Ed is the big culprit.  It takes place 2 days a week over dinner time.  So that means that 2 nights a week we do not eat dinner as a family and I have to have a dinner prepared that can be eaten at 4:00 and 6:00 without going bad.  So far I have been successful!  Even though the class time takes a lot away from the family, it is only for a couple more weeks.  Justin's driving ability has really improved and I actually was able to sit back and nap while he was driving the other day.  I'm really looking forward to next summer when he can get his license.

Other things that have disrupted our usual schedule are church activities, starting music lessons, chiropractor, dentist, orthodontist, eye Dr....you can see what I mean.  At lot of different things that are calling us out of the home.  Some of them, like music lessons and church activities are going to have to be worked into the schedule and become the norm.  Dr appointments are just for this season as we meet new doctors and get established here in our new home.

Now that the holidays are upon us, changes in the schedule are inevitable.  This week we will only be focusing on school work 2 days.  Wednesday my sister, Kathi, her 3 children, my brother Mike, his wife Steph, and their little boy will be coming over for lunch.  Neither of the families live near here and it has been 9+ months since we have seen either of them.  

Thursday we are getting together with my dad's extended family for Thanksgiving dinner.  There will be around 65 of us.  Should be an interesting day!

Friday and Saturday will bring some work around the house.  No, we do not hit the stores for the "Black Friday" deals.  In fact, I am pretty much finished with my holiday shopping.  Farm and Fleet is my last stop, and Daniel has 1 stop left to make.  Then we are finished.  

Sunday is going to be our Thanksgiving Feast at church.  What a blessing it is going to be sharing one of my favorite holidays with those who have become so dear to us.  We have so much to be thankful for over the last year, especially for the Lord bringing us home to Peking and for providing as church family at Providence.

So that is what has been and will be happening in our home.  We pray that each of you will have a blessed season of Thanksgiving with those you love.

15 things I'm not Afraid to Admit

It has been a very busy week and some of my faithful readers have been calling the house to see if everything is alright.  I guess I really am missed when I don't post!  Life has been insane lately with driver's ed, Dr appointments, chiropractor, and just the everyday things that need to be taken care of.  A slow down is in the future and I can't wait!

My dear daughter, Jesica, has tagged me and wants me to share the top 15 things I am not afraid to admit.   Hmmm....that is a lot of thinking for the morning, but here I go......

1.  Everyone else has used this as their number one.  It is true, so I will use it also.  As the Heidelberg Catechism states, "I am not my own, but belong body and soul to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ".

2.  In high school, when my guidance counselor told me I was wasting my intelligence by not going to college, I just told him that all I really wanted to be was a wife and mother.  To this day it is still my highest calling.

3. There are days that I get frustrated with Daniel and the children.  Really, we are not the perfect family and don't have it all together all the time.  Really.

4. I am not a morning person.  I really dislike mornings.  Coffee does not help.  

5. One of my favorite parts of the morning is having Sara waking up next to me and be so excited to see me awake that she plants a big wet kiss on me and giggles.  I could just lay in bed with her all day long.

6.  On the other hand I love falling asleep with my dearest holding me tight.  My favorite hours of the day are sandwiched between #5 and #6.  That is as long as Sara sleeps!

7.  I am a very organized person.  Clutter bothers me.  Unfiled papers bother me.  *hint, hint honey*.

8.  One of my favorite comfort foods is frozen pizza.  Particularly Tombstone.  Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips from the freezer with a Cherry Coke is #1.

9.  I love body sprays from Bath and Body.  Moonlight Path is my favorite.

10.  I love to quilt.  Machine piece and then handquilt the top.  What better way to enjoy a fall or winter evening than to curl up with a good handmade quilt.....my favorite designer is Lynette Jensen and her Thimbleberries line.  Need to get working on my runner...

11. I love southern gospel and country music.  Hymns are still my favorite though.

12.  This may shock some of you, but I am not a people person.  I don't like being in crowds and find it difficult to initiate conversations.  I prefer the written word if I need to communicate with people.  

13.  Along the lines of #12, I am very content to sit a room full of people and not speak to anyone. So don't think that I am rude or unfriendly, as some do, I just am quiet.  Really.

14.  Along those same lines again, I love to just sit and watch people.  It is enjoyable to sit along the side lines and watch how people interact with each other.  You can learn so much from body language without hearing a word.

15. And last but definitely not the least...I LOVE my husband and my family.  They are so precious to me and I love watching the children grow.  My husband is a gift and I will "ALWAYS" love him

Elections and the education system

Food for thought in regards to the election results and its relationship to our country's education system.

http://www.worldmag.com/articles/14571

We voted...

After hearing about the long lines, we decided we'd try and beat the crowds this morning.  So we got up early and were at the polls by 6:10 am.  We ended being voters #11  & #12.  We did our part and are now watching the returns via MSNBC on the computer while we paint....

A Visit with the Grandparents

Yesterday Daniel, Justin, and Josiah headed out for a Father/Son camp out.  This is their second year going and they were looking forward to it the whole year!  I'm anxious to hear all about the canoeing, shooting, speakers, and other activities.  We have several friends who also attend, so it will be fun to see who they met up with also.

The girls, Mathias and I decided not to hang around the house, so we headed out yesterday to see Grandpa and Grandma.  Since it is a 3 hour drive, we decided to spend the night and come back today.  

When I was planning the trip I had forgotten that I was heading toward the city.  As we got closer to our destination I remembered why we moved to the country.  Traffic.  I really don't like city traffic.  Unfortunately, if was even worse heading home.  It took us almost 4 hours to get home. 

In between the times of sitting in traffic, we did have fun.  Last night Grandpa took us all to Cabelas.  Well, actually, I drove our 15 passenger van while everyone sat in the back!  I looked like a chauffeur.  The worst part was that Sara screamed the whole way there!  Grandpa was sitting next to her - he ended up driving home while I sat next to her!

While we were there we found the cutest little dress for Sara.  What do you think Daddy?

When we got back to the house Cara opened a late birthday gift and we had some ice cream and yogurt pie....YUMMY!

This morning Grandma made pancakes and the girls even talked her into making them with chocolate chips!  Then we headed to the park.  The weather was beautiful and we has such a nice time with the children running around and climbing.

Then we headed over to Walt's for my absolute favorite food on the face of the earth - Holland Creme filled coffee cake.  Grandma bought us 2 and I can't wait for Sunday to get a nice Holland Creme sugar high......MMMmmmmmmm  The Dutch sure know how to make their pastries...

Now that we are home we are getting ready for a big project tomorrow.  Jesi is calling it a party.  I'm not sure if that will be the case, but it will be the first big step we are taking to make this house look more like us.  Stay tuned for pictures next week!