Micah James Hayek, Age 3

Micah blowing out the candles on his birthday cupcake.

His new pillowcase from Mama.

The hood of his Batman towel from Dad. Doesn't he look cute?

The rest of his hooded towel - I think Jeremy did awesome!

His new quilt from Nana.

Micah is 3 years old today. Where has the time gone? I can still remember the day he was born - waking up with contractions and going to the hospital only to be sent home, Jeremy being sick in bed, my Mom and I shopping with the kids through my contractions, until finally going back to the hospital and having Micah an hour and a half later. Micah is the first and only baby so far that I have had to deliver without having my husband there. Jeremy mentioned today that maybe that's why Micah looks so much like me - because he wasn't there. He actually suggested that if maybe he wasn't there when the new baby was born, maybe it would look more like me, too! I told him to forget that one!

So Micah is now 3. We had homemade sugar free chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese peppermint frosting (I'm not sure it was my favorite - I like cream cheese and peppermint, just not together!). We also had homemade chocolate mint ice cream. I think Micah liked his presents. He got a new quilt from Nana and Papa, a new homemade train pillowcase from Mom, and a homemade hooded Batman towel from Dad. We also got to go to the movie store in town and pick a movie to watch tonight. Micah wanted to see Monsters vs. Aliens...again. So here they are, at 10 pm just finishing the movie. But they only get to stay up late once in a while.

I'm trying to think of some funny things about Micah to post, just to give you a glimpse of this cute little guy. When we get to go outside (when it's not raining), he loves to hang a light saber from his pocket, get on his trike and ride. It's very cute. It's just not the same without his light saber, I guess. He has this thing for shoes. He loves to switch in and out of them just because he can. He has a pair of church shoes that just slip on that he loves to play with. A few weeks ago, he wore them to church (hence the name "church shoes"). But after church, I saw him in the fellowship hall with his rain boots on! He must have slipped over to the house when Rob and Josh came to let the dogs out, and changed his shoes before coming over for refreshments! What a character! He loves to play playdoh, and destroy his brother's pictures. He loves to play with Thomas trains, but throws a temper (and the tracks) when the train track gets broken - even if he is the one who did it! But for all of his aggravations, he is a delight - especially when he toddles up to me with a wide grin, and outstretched arms and says, "Mommy, I love you!" There are no sweeter words to a Mom's ears.

Happy birthday, Micah!!!

No news is good news

Hello! I thought that was a good title since it seems like such a long time since I've written. But after looking at the last date, it hasn't really been that long. It just seems that way since so much has happened! Let me share....

On January 22, we drove into Redding with our trailer and stayed the night at some VM friends house outside of Redding. On Saturday, we picked my mom up from the airport. We were all very excited to have her come. But we were a few minutes late to pick her up. The boys couldn't wait to eat (her plane didn't get here until 6 pm), so we stopped at Burger King so they could use the gift cards they had been given for Christmas. But they were SOOO slow!!! It was unbelievable! However, I got to meet and visit with a neat Christian woman who also homeschools her 4 boys (that always seems to happen to me - people stop me to ask if the kids are all mine, then they ask if we homeschool, then they assume that we are Christians! We must look like a stereotype!).

After picking my mom up, we drove home to get ready for church on Sunday. Jeremy had to preach from the notes in his Bible, since he didn't have time to get his Powerpoint ready for the day. I think he still did a great job, and we have some people in our church who feel that his sermons are more Spirit-led when he doesn't use Powerpoint. Anyways, after church was our monthly potluck and board meeting. Since board meeting usually goes pretty long and it takes a lot out of Jeremy, there is no evening service on such nights. So we got to spend some time with my mom. Then Monday morning, we left for our couples retreat. We went south by way of Eureka instead of Redding, which we had planned on, because there was a woman from our church having surgery in Eureka. So we were able to stop by and visit with her and pray with her before her surgery. I think she really enjoyed having us both there. We heard later that her surgery went well, but she was in a fair amount of pain.

So Monday night, we drove to Santa Rosa and stayed there for the night. Then Tuesday, we finished the drive to Merced, CA to attend the VM couples retreat. It was held at the the church in Merced that our DR attends. It was a wonderful conference. We were able to visit with many of our VM friends - a lot of whom we get to see on a monthly basis through our VM fellowships, but also many that are outside of the driving distance. Jeremy & I both really enjoyed the fellowship that we enjoyed. It was so refreshing! Also, the speaker that they brought in was a man who has started a ministry doing taxes for pastors and missionaries. We heard about him when we first came into the Mission, thankfully, so we have been sending our taxes to him for several years. But it was nice to have him there to ask our many questions to - he even talked about life insurance and retirement. That was nice for Jeremy and I to hear. We learned some things that we need to be doing now for retirement, and that it is not sinful to plan for the future, but good stewardship! I did learn something very interesting. I know not many of you who read this are pastor's, but it might help for you to know about your pastor. Did you know that if, as a church, you want to give your pastor a love gift (say for Christmas), and everyone gives personal checks to the pastor made out to him, that is considered just a gift and not taxable. However, if the church takes a collection for their pastor, and the treasurer collects all the checks (made out to the church) and writes one collective check to the pastor from the church, it is now considered taxable! So just FYI, if you feel like giving your pastor a gift, make sure to do it personally and not through the church!

The weather down in Merced during our conference was beautiful. The mornings were overcast, but the afternoons were sunny and warm. I don't think I wore a jacket at all. In the afternoons, Jeremy and I enjoyed some free time together. One afternoon, we got to go see a movie. We saw the Tooth Fairy. We found it to be pretty cute and fairly clean. Another afternoon, Jeremy wanted to shop for an electric guitar with some of the other pastors. One of our VM pastor friends from Redding area was teaching Jeremy a little bit of guitar (besides what he has been trying to learn from a book we have here at home). He ended up buying one for a very good deal from a dealer whom we discovered was a Christian. So now he is going to work very hard to learn the electric guitar to play at church. I will see if I can pick up the acoustic that we have here, too. And Rob is working on learning the bass.

Then we came back through Redding (my mom brought the kids and met us in Redding). We stayed in our trailer again Friday night, dropped my mom off at the airport Saturday, and drove down towards Sacramento with our trailer and the kids for two nights. We got home yesterday, and are very glad to be home after being away for a week. We were very refreshed from our conference, and now are excited to be back and thinking about new ministries at the church. We are thinking and praying about starting AWANA's this fall. And of course, we're thinking about what to do for VBS, too.

One more bit of news...we found out we are expecting baby number 7 at the end of August! We are all very excited - the boys were ecstatic when we called and told them. They all think it's hillarious, because when I was little I wanted 5 boys and 5 girls. They tell everyone that we have the 5 boys and now it's time for the 5 girls. We will see. Rob says if this one's a girl, he will laugh. We are thinking about Naomi Joy if it is a girl. Jeremy's not discussing boy names right now, because in his mind, it's another girl.

Thank you for reading my ramblings. I hope you were able to make sense of some of it!

Zeke's new quilt

I had to post a picture of Zeke's new quilt for Nana to see. She did a great job, and he is grateful to have a new blanket for his bed to replace the one that the dogs destroyed! :-( Grr!

Ezekiel David Hayek - our 4 year old!

The Flash hooded towel that Jeremy made for Zeke.

Zeke, in the birthday hat, with the pillow case that I made him.

Baby Zeke

Zeke is 4 today! I can't believe how time flies! It just seems like yesterday that he was born! I remember it so well - from having my water break at Wendy's (that was so embarrassing!), to him being caught by the nurse (the doctor didn't quite make it on time!), to Jeremy having to miss preaching on Sunday because that's when Zeke was born. I've had two of my children born on Sunday - Zeke and Anna. It was so cute this morning, when the boys all woke up and Micah remembered it was Zeke's birthday. He gave him a big hug and said, "Happy birthday, Zoodoo!" (that's what he calls him - we all call him Zekerdoo, and that's as close as he can get!) We let our kids pick the meals on their birthday - they all really think that's special. So our fare today consisted of blueberry coffee cake and scrambled eggs for breakfast, and spaghetti with garlic bread for dinner, followed by homemade, sugar free chocolate cupcakes, and chocolate ice cream. However, the ice cream didn't quite harden up enough, so we decided to save it until tomorrow or Sunday. So we just enjoyed the cupcakes tonight. All in all, I think Zeke really enjoyed his birthday. He got a new quilt from Nana and Papa, a homemade pillow case from Mom, a homemade Flash hooded towel from Dad and a color book and crayons from a woman at church who came over for dinner and cupcakes. After we finished our cupcakes, Zeke put on the hooded towel, and ran all around the house.

I am so thankful for all of our children, but today I am especially thankful for Zeke! Happy birthday, Zeke!!!

Field trips, earthquakes and such

Silas after jumping into the blocks at Flips for Kids.

Jeremy, Rob and Josh in our new trailer.

Ever notice how hard it is to get a good picture of everyone - especially kids? ;-(

Happy, happy new year! I hope you all are enjoying the refreshment that a new year brings. Kinda like a clean slate. I really enjoy the new year, and all of the opportunities that it brings, but I dislike making any resolutions. I have done so in the past, but have never held on to any for a long length of time. Then the guilt sets in because I have not followed through. So I try not to make resolutions anymore. But some goals that I have are to be more faithful in trying to teach my kids about the Lord. I've noticed that sometimes I get so busy, that when one of them brings up a question about God, or a Bible passage we've read, or something similar, I'm quick to just throw out an answer so they'll leave me alone to finish what I was doing. I plan to change that. Before Christmas, I also had Rob and Josh memorizing a verse or passage a week for school. They had to copy it so many times each day, and the goal was for them to have it memorized so they could say it in Sunday school. I have had so many people stop me, and tell me how much they love to hear my boys recite their memory verses in Sunday school. But with Christmas, we have slacked off on that as well. I plan to start that again this next school week. And I got frustrated this last year with running behind on making Christmas presents, and not even getting to make everything I had planned, that I'm starting Christmas presents already for next year. Call me crazy if you want, but I have 3 done already!

Sorry - I had to pause to go help my husband fill the bobbin on my sewing machine. Zeke's birthday is Friday (he'll be 4!), and Jeremy and I have decided to make him a hooded towel. I have made many of them for our children, and my nephews and nieces, and they turn out so cute - with big wooden eyes, and whiskers, and all. And the ones that I have made for our kids are many years old, and are missing button eyes, and the towels are faded and ripping apart. So we thought we'd make new ones for all of our little ones this year on their birthdays. But Jeremy's idea was to make it a little different than I usually do. He bought red and yellow towels, and is going to make one that looks like Flash (some super hero, in case you - like me - did not know who that was!). Instead of button eyes, he wants to cut holes out and hem around the circles so that Zeke can see through them. It should turn out pretty cute, and I'll have to post some pictures. Anyways, then we can see if we like how it turned out before we have to make one for Micah next month - he'll be 3. My babies are getting so big!

In signing in tonight to update this blog, I was dragging my feet. I told Jeremy that I couldn't think of that much to be able to update about, but things keep coming to mind. For those of you who didn't know, we lived through our first California earthquake last week. The coast was hit with a 6.5 earthquake on Saturday afternoon. We felt it here, too, but not sure if it was a 6.5 here - we are 45 minutes from the coast. But I was going through material to make some pillow cases for Christmas presents (see above paragraph), and the lights started to flicker. That's not too uncommon out here. The power does go out occasionally - but I could feel the ground moving under my feet. It only seemed to last a few moments. I had a moment of indecision. I didn't know if I should go yell at my children to get under the table, or what to do. But about that time, it stopped. Then I stood wondering if there would be any more movement or not. I honestly didn't think it had been that bad, and didn't know until Sunday at church that it was a 6.5 (and then again when my mom called to let me know on Sunday afternoon!). We even had some friends from The Dalles call to make sure we were okay, because they had heard about it on the news! One of the ladies from our church had been in Eureka (or on her way), but didn't notice it, until she got to one of the grocery stores in town. She got up to the door and was told they were closed. When she asked if they usually closed for the day at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the person told her that there had just been an earthquake and they had to clean up. We went into town yesterday for Jeremy's day off, and noticed many stores that had boarded up parts of windows and storefronts made of glass that had shattered. I guess many of the grocery stores had big messes to clean up as lots of things fell off the shelves. As far as I know, no one from our church was injured, nor lost any material possessions. I haven't heard about any injuries out on the coast, either. But while I was in Joann's yesterday, I overheard someone telling someone else that the epicenter had been 60 or so miles out in the ocean. But our family is okay, and I don't think that any of the kids noticed we were in an earthquake until we told them afterwards. They noticed the lights flickering, but I don't think they felt the movement.

And we have a praise to share as well: God has provided us with a travel trailer! We have been praying, looking, talking and researching about trailers for over 6 months now. We noticed on our trip here last February that we were not able to stay in hotels anymore. When we stayed in Grants Pass, OR, there was only one hotel that we could stay in that didn't charge us for two rooms. Apparently we have too many kids for that anymore! So we began thinking about and researching trailers. After some extensive research, we decided that what we would need would be one with double bunk beds. But they are hard to find. We checked a few times at a dealer in Eureka, but their comment was if we wanted to be able to go inside and see one, we would probably have to go to Utah - or somewhere that actually stocked trailers with double bunks. We kept checking on Craig's List and online at RV stores for used ones. We finally found a place down in Santa Rosa that had one on their lot. It was a brand new one, but they quoted us the same price that another lot had quoted us for one that was 3 years older. So for the same price, we decided to go with the brand new one. Anyways, we were looking for one that, like I said, had double bunk bed, a wrap around table (for more seating for the kids, and it makes into a larger bed for sleeping), a separate main bedroom with a queen sized bed, and a sofa that pulled out like a hide-a-bed, (that didn't pull down like a futon). The trailer that we found had everything we were looking for. So we drove down to Santa Rosa on the 4th, stayed at the fairgrounds down there with our new trailer that night, and then drove home the next day. Our plan is to take it into town with us on Jeremy's day off, even if only to find a day use area and enjoy family time away from the church. We've discovered that when we stay home on our days off, inevitably we start to get phone calls, and sometimes visits, too - before too long, it's not really a day off. So we go into town, but end up shopping when we don't want to, etc., simply because we have nothing else to do. Then of course, one meal for all of us gets pretty expensive - even if it's Taco Bell. So we plan to use it when we go into town to just hang out together, without having to shop, and to fix our own food. Also, once a month we drive into Redding for our VM fellowships, and it will be nice to take with us there, too, to put the younger ones down for naps during the long day in Redding. We are sure, also, that it will be used for ministry purposes. Some ladies from our church have already talked about maybe using it for going to women's conferences, etc. And several have talked of having a church family camp now that the pastor's available to go! We felt apprehensive at first about owning a brand new trailer, even if we got it for a great deal. But when Jeremy brought this up to one of the board member's wives, she questioned why pastors should feel bad about owning nice things. Jeremy said that we felt bad because we were in ministry. She asked Jeremy whether we thought they should start voting on our shopping lists as well. That was encouraging to hear that they agreed with our decision. We have showed it to many people from the church, and they all love it, and think that we made a wise decision.

Onto different things: Does anyone know what a "blue moon" is? We just found out that it is when we have a full moon twice in one month. They don't happen very often - I think I heard once every 30 years or so. Anyways, we just had one on New Year's Eve. Interesting, isn't it? Well, now you know!

My mom comes in less than 2 weeks! We are all looking forward to her visit! And Jeremy and I are getting excited for the couples getaway in just a couple of weeks.

Yesterday, we took the kids to a homeschool field trip/play day. They rented out Flips for Kids for an hour. It is a children's gymnastic center - including trampolines, beams, rings, etc. There was no formal instruction or anything, the kids just got to play around with whatever they wanted. Our kids had a blast. And last night, in Eureka, Rob and Josh finally got to use some free movie passes they had won at a fishing derby back in June. They went with Jeremy to see Alvin & the Chipmunks 2. They really enjoyed the movie, and also really enjoyed their time with just Dad.

I think that is all the news I can squeeze out of my little brain. If you haven't noticed yet, or read my past blogs, I am posting the Village Missions prayer spotlight on my blog. I post the picture, and the couple's name and location. If you want to read more about them, including some prayer requests, just click on their picture.

Gold, Frankincense and Goggles?

Annalee loved the fleece blanket I made her!

Rob's favorite gift - his Leatherman! (a very handy tool!)

Josh's favorite present - this church jacket (he has been asking for one for months!)

At the airport, seeing Auntie Amy off! :-(

Auntie Amy opening her quilt and goggles!

Merry, merry Christmas, dear reader! I hope you and your family had a wonderful celebration, and that you were drawn closer to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Our family had a fun Christmas. Jeremy's sister came to visit us the week before Christmas. And we, being the very unconventional parents that we are, allowed our kids to open presents while she was here - being that we wouldn't have any other family here during Christmas to open presents with. So they got to open their presents 4 days early. But we still saved stockings for Christmas morning. We had Amy this year for Christmas, and I have been working since May on a quilt for her. I should have taken a picture to post on my blog, but forgot about it. I didn't want to before Christmas anyway, since the possibility that she might see it early was pretty great. But a funny thing happened when she opened her quilt. Apparently one of the kids had put their snowmachine goggles (from in Galena) in the box with her quilt, and they were wrapped with it. We all had a good laugh when she went to pull out her quilt, and the goggles fell out. Too funny!

Last Sunday, the boys had their Christmas play at church. It went really well. I was in the very front, and could hear most of it, but I'm not quite sure how far back their voices actually carried. But they were all so cute! The wigs were a little too big, the masks didn't stay on too well (and Silas kept trying to take his off!), and a little bit of the myrrh (or olive oil!) spilled on the floor. But all the kids remembered their lines, and I was proud of all of them. I was in the front, in the corner by the piano, and I couldn't see Zeke. I wasn't too worried, since he didn't have any lines, but wanted to find him nonetheless. I looked in the back to where the nursery worker was sitting (she had brought our two babies out to watch the play), but Zeke wasn't with her. But when the play was finally over, and the kids started to file down from the platform, Zeke was the last one to come down. I was so surprised to see him up there. He hadn't moved a muscle or made a sound during the whole thing - which is pretty hard for a 3 year old. I had been told by the woman in charge that he was having some difficulty during practice, so I was very surprised that he had been so good!

For Christmas Eve, we went to the service at the Nazarene church here in town. Our church didn't have a service, and it was very nice to be able to just go to a service, and not to have to plan one! Most of the time was spent singing Christmas carols, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The pastor then shared a message. After the service, the kids all enjoyed some cookies and hot cocoa in their fellowship hall. Then we drove up to Hoopa to look at some Christmas lights that some women at our church had told us we had to go see. Christmas day started with the kids all opening their stockings. Annalee even got a couple of new hair barrettes. Then after getting dressed and ready for the day, we started getting everything cooked for our Christmas dinner. We only ended up having 4 people from church over here. We had invited several others, and had expected to have more than that, but we enjoyed the fellowship of those that came. Rob was sick most of the day. He was so excited when he went to bed Christmas Eve, and I think he worked himself into it. He just had a headache most of the day, and he said his stomach hurt. He was still able to eat, and never threw up, but did end up taking several short naps throughout the day. And today, he is perfectly fine. I mentioned this to my mom last night when we talked on the phone after the kids had gone to bed. She told me that when she was little she had the same problem, and that her mom couldn't tell her anything exciting that they were going to do (like vacation, etc) until 2 days before they left. So maybe that's where he gets it from. But other than that, we had a very enjoyable day.

Now that Christmas is over, Jeremy and I are getting very excited about our trip next month. My mom will be coming at the end of January (our retreat is the 26-29). I'm also getting a little nervous about leaving Anna home. I know my mom is capable of taking good care of them all, and Rob and Josh are very big helpers, but there's just something about leaving the baby home. I had a hard time when Jeremy and I flew up to visit Alaska before going there, too, and we even took baby Micah with us (but Zeke was only 13 mos at the time). So if you think of it, please pray for us that we will have a wonderful time, and not spend all of it worrying about the kids. And that my mom and kids will all do well together.

If you haven't noticed, I have started putting the Village Missions prayer spotlight on the side of my blog. Each week, there is a different couple that we pray for. I have included a link to the Village Missions webpage that tells their name, field, and a little bit about the community and church that they serve, as well as some things to pray for. We pray for these dear couples in our church every week, but I wanted to put them on here, so you could be aware of them, too. This week, the spotlight is a couple just out of Redding that we really enjoy fellowshipping with at our VM fellowship days in Redding. They are a really neat couple. If you think of it, please lift them up in prayer.

Thank you for reading my blog. I wish you and your family a wonderful new year!!!

Twas Weeks Before Christmas....

Everyone in front of our homemade tree - they are proud of their accomplishment!

Our homemade wreath - made out of everyone's hand cutouts. We stapled them to a paper plate with the middle cut out. I think it turned out very cute!

Annalee with her new hair barrette - doesn't she look so sweet? They're magnetic and stay in very well - as well as they can with but a wisp of hair. We highly recommend them!

Do you ever get to the end of your day and realize it was a whirlwind? Today was like that for us. It started out as a normal day off. Jeremy and I rented Night at the Museum 2 last night, and let the kids watch it this morning before we had to return it. But by mid-morning, we realized we would have to be travelling into Redding. We order our bulk food from a co-op that delivers in Redding, and the pick up was today. We had arranged it for another VM couple to pick it up for us, and we would pick it up from them at the VM fellowship next Monday, but got an email this morning saying that this woman's mother was very ill, and she had flown to Minnesota to be with her. Then we got another email saying that the VM fellowship was cancelled for this month. So we decided the best thing to do was to go in and pick up our own stuff from Redding. We didn't leave here until around 1pm and got back around 9pm - and each way is about 3 hours. And since the highway between here and there is pretty curvy, we had complaints of headaches and tummy aches - topped with Rob getting sick in the car on the way home. I told all of the boys before bed that we would not be leaving here for Redding again without everyone having taken something for car sickness - some Dramamine or ginger or something. . . And on top of that, I think I have caught a cold and am stuffy and pretty much miserable. Oh, and the dogs ripped Silas' hood on his coat (am I glad it's a zip off one!), and the front of Anna's pretty brown and purple coat. Jeremy was not happy at all about that one! Boy, am I glad to be home!! Moving on...

We have been having a little trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year. We had to sell our fake Christmas tree in Galena last year. We were blessed to be able to bring most of our Christmas things that had meaning to them - like my collection of Precious Moments ornaments, the boys' ornaments from past years, and my Christmas village given to me from my family. But we weren't sure what to do about a tree. We didn't feel like paying over $100 for a fake Christmas tree when we could wait until after Christmas and get one half off! (call me cheap, I know!). And we weren't too keen on paying half that for a real tree. So Jeremy decided that we would put up a paper tree on the wall. No, really, it ended up turning out a lot cuter than I thought it would. He put some white art paper on the wall, and cut green construction paper to make the tree. Then we used all sorts of different colored construction paper to make ornaments to decorate our tree. Jeremy made a beautiful star out of cutouts of the boys' hands, and we even added a popcorn string to our tree. The popcorn turned out to be not a good idea, though. The bottom of it ended up being in Anna's reach, and she has since pulled that portion of the string off the wall, and eaten the popcorn! But it was beautiful nonetheless. Shortly after we were finished with this (on Saturday), one of the board members and his wife showed up here at the parsonage with a real Christmas tree! They had gone to cut one down for themselves, and got one for us as well, too!! Not only did they bring us a tree, they brought a stand, and three boxes of Christmas lights! We cut it to size, and set it up in the stand, ready to decorate on Sunday after church. Then we headed up the hill to the Bigfoot Museum to attend the tree lighting/Santa arrival there. Santa arrived half hour late, and we got pretty chilly, but the hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies helped us bide the time. At the close of the service on Sunday, one of the board members came up to the front with a bag, and said that they had all collected and got us some new Christmas ornaments, because they had heard that we had to leave most of ours behind in Alaska! It was so sweet! Then today in the mail, we got two Christmas boxes from our home church in Colville. They send us these every year - with such goodies as granola bars and hot chocolate, even to hats, gloves, scarves, and Adventures in Odyssey! We were thrilled! It was a good way to pass the time to Redding today, with some new Adventures to listen to. We are so excited to see the way that God is caring for us here. We still have some days of frustration that our ministry there ended so abruptly - like when we pulled out our Christmas ornaments and saw the ones that we had gotten in North Pole, Alaska right before Anna was born. But all of this helps us to see that God was in control of our ministry in Alaska, and He is in control of the ministry here as well. It helps us to see God's hand in bringing us to where we are - even if we don't understand the whys.

We are opening our house this Christmas to a few people from church that we know of that don't have anywhere else to go. They have family, but not here. They have been fairly faithful to services - even Sunday night and Wednesday. They come and hang out with us often, so they are beginning to feel like family. We also just found out that Jeremy's sister will be coming to visit right before Christmas. She can't stay for Christmas, but we will enjoy her company anyway. In January, Jeremy and I will be going down to Merced for a VM couples getaway. We are really looking forward to it! The church is not only paying our way, they are sending us with gas and spending money! It will be about 2 weeks before our 13th anniversary, so we are considering it an anniversary trip. My mom will be coming down to take care of the kids for us. Please be praying for her! Six children are a lot to care for when you're not used to doing it everyday! But she is willing, and for that we are very thankful! And Rob and Josh are getting to be such big helpers.

For Thanksgiving this year, we helped out at our church's community Thanksgiving dinner. Or should I admit that I helped serve while Jeremy babysat our kids at home? I had signed our whole family up to help serve, but it is difficult to do that with so many little ones. Rob and Josh would have stayed to help, but they really weren't needed. We had plenty of help. It was a nice time, though. We expected more people than actually showed up - I think we served 80 or so. But all in all, I think it was a success. I got to visit with the two ladies that clean up afterward. Apparently they have been doing this now for several years. They come to eat, then stay and do all the cleaning and dishes. But they don't come to our church. I enjoyed getting to meet them, and talking with them, and will be praying that they come to church.

I think the other thing I wanted to share with you was that I never got sick with the flu. In my last post, I talked about the flu that went through the whole family - Jeremy included. But I never got it. I think the Lord knew that I needed to be able to care for everyone else. I figured I would just get it after everyone else was done, but I am so thankful that God kept me healthy!

Merry Christmas, dear reader! May you discover and celebrate the true heart of Christmas this year - our Savior, Jesus Christ! Much love from our family to yours...