Vacation time!

We just returned from a trip to Pigeon Forge Tennessee and Indiana. We saw some strange sites along the way (Wonderworks Museum).

It was fun to stay in a camping cabin in Pigeon Forge!

Our oldest daugher Anna relaxing at the cabin.

First stop--Titanic Museum, which we'll write more about in our next few posts.



Then we headed off into the Great Smoky Mountains.
Here's our youngest daugher Abby and myself.

We experienced the highest point of the Appalachian Trail.

We climbed to the top in half a mile's hike.

Picnics along the way were fun.

Stops at craft centers were colorful and inspiring!

Finally the joy of reuniting with Mitch's sisters and step-mother in Indiana.

Abby turned 10!

Thursday, the 22nd was Abby's 10th birthday! It was a full day with her choir concert that evening. She got many birthday wishes from friends and fellow choir members.

Like her 21-year-old sister Anna, she was a blessing to us after the trial of infertility. With Anna, we had tried for 2 years and after almost another year of testing, the Lord gave me a peace about it all in prayer one day. We found out we were expecting three months later!

After our 4-year term in language school and serving Bible translators in Benin, West Africa with no child on the horizon, would the Lord give us another? There was more testing with a doctor that seemed like we were spinning wheels and getting nowhere. Then, a doctor who cared and we knew the Lord was in it again. About 7 months later we found out we were expecting Abby!

We can truly say children are a blessing of the Lord! If any reading this are struggling with infertility right now, take comfort in knowing the Lord knows your pain. He knows how deeply it hurts, and He is the God of all comfort. Trust Him. The answer won't always be what we want it to be, but He knows what is best, and we have to trust that. Some of the scriptures that brought me comfort are: Prov. 3:5, 6--Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding... Rom 12:1,2 --that you may prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God...

Abby, may you see yourself as a daughter of the King and grow up to live in a way that honors Him! We were blessed when you joined us 10 years ago, and have had richer lives because you have been entrusted to us.

Joining the Gratitude Community

Ever since reading Ann Voskamp's blog, "A Holy Experience," I've been keeping my list of things to thank God for in a journal. Now I'm adding a list to my blog, so this is the beginning!



1-Of course the first thing is our Heavenly Father and His love for us in sending Christ to die for us!
2-His precious Word, in which He is revealed and through which we come to know Him
3-My salvation, becoming His child and having a right relationship with Him
4-My loving husband and two girls!
5-The small things for today that would easily be overlooked are the joy that comes from planting our flowers and bushes with our own hands and seeing them grow and bloom.
6-Crochet tutorials attentively followed today by Abby and me (we know how to knit, but not much crochet)


7-Fellowship of like-minded people
8-Health and strength


9-A girl's head bowed in intense concentration, oil pastel scratching and filling the page
10-Foreign language (French) computer program doing some of the teaching for this mom
11-Husband at the grill

Find out how you can join the Gratitude Community by visiting A Holy Experience.com

Our New Pets

Our latest homeschooling project has been a new bird feeder close to the living room window. All of us enjoy watching the show daily! Our bird book seems to always be on the coffee table as we grab it when we see a new bird.

This house finch visits regularly, usually with his wife who I would mistake for a sparrow.

Carolina Chickadees are very numerous here. We peeked in our bird house one year and saw five, little black baby chickadee heads. This year we had to repair the bird house and have rehung it too late, I'm afraid, for them to build their nest there.

We have two pairs of cardinals that dine regularly here. The mama is always more hesitant than papa. When we had some old indian corn ears laid out, he was the only one strong enough to pick off the kernels, and he would share them with her.

The tufted titmouse is shy and evasive. Anna, our oldest daughter, took these pictures for me with her nice camera! In almost every picture she took, the titmouse is peeking around the feeder.

We have this mama squirrel that always visits as well. She has a scar on her back that we recognize.

Her acrobatics constantly amaze us!

One scary incident that happened was when a hawk tried to snatch one of our little birds at the feeder. We were sitting on the couch and noticed a swoop of large, brown wings, and he landed briefly in the tree next to the feeder after failing to catch his prey. He didn't stay long when he detected our movements towards the window.

Now, it's the grackles that are a problem! They scare everyone away.

Our Favorite Pumpkin Muffins

We love this recipe from Pamela Smith’s Healthy Living Cookbook—lower fat and sugar and still delicious. One can of pumpkin makes about 3 recipes. This batch is shorter and denser because I didn't have whole-wheat PASTRY flour. In that case, I usually use only half whole wheat, but didn't feel like dragging out two canisters of flour this time!

2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
3 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup evaporated skim milk
3 Tbsp. canola oil
2 Tbsp. honey
2 egg whites (or ¼ cup egg substitute)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spray the bottoms of 12-well muffin tin with cooking spray

or line with paper baking cups.
Mix flour, sugar, spices, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl. In another bowl whisk together remaining ingredients. Add pumpkin mixture to

dry ingredients and stir until just moistened.
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, each about 2/3rds full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. (We found 15 to 20 minutes to be the right time) About 146 calories per muffin.

Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Lessons from the Potter

“But now, O Lord, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand.” Isa 64:8



Our youngest just finished a pottery class. The children began learning to shape clay on the wheel while also doing hand-built projects. I guess I didn’t realize how much practice it takes to shape clay into a usable vessel on the wheel. Here are some things Abby and I discussed about the potter and the clay. It warms my heart to think of how these apply to our relationship with the Potter, our Heavenly Father.

~Clay is not lovely to begin with, but has the potential in the right hands to be a thing of beauty.

~It must first be forcefully thrown onto the wheel and sealed around the edges so it will cling tightly and not be lost. These forceful movements yield to more gentle movements as the vessel begins to take shape.


~The Potter uses many muscles and movements of his hand to press the clay in just the right way at the right time, always keeping in His mind an image of the end result. Forceful movements give way to more gentle shaping as the clay begins to soften and yield. One forceful move when the clay is fragile or pressing too long in one spot would damage the work in progress.

~Sometimes the clay hurts the Potter as a rough spot brushes past his hands.


Father, may I learn to trust Your gentle hands to shape me into the image You have in mind. May I be moldable and yield to Your touch.

A Birthday Treat!

Tuesday was a day for celebrating! Our oldest daughter celebrated her 21st birthday. We sent her a little "home away from home" package to brighten her day. She trudged through 5 inches of snow to the post office at college to get it.

A thrift store tea cup filled with Valentine candies...

A tea bag cozy (look familiar?) with her favorite Peppermint tea bag and a sugar packet tucked in also...

A microwave cake to make for herself, and another for a friend--smile--so she can share her birthday. In the back of the first photo, a heart-shaped wreath and a small dog calendar (not pictured) her little sister picked out and bought with her own money.

We called in the morning to see if she'd gotten it, but she hadn't gone to the post office yet. She sent me an instant message after she went to get it. I could tell she felt loved and missed.