Baking day

Today was baking day! Ashlee came over so we could make a batch of keeflies. We probably made about 100 of those so far. We also made around 170 chocolate spoons. After she left I made some brownies, was going to make cookies as well but I ran out of time (had to do dishes and laundry and such in the mean time).

It was a good day, but I did way more than I should have. I'm pretty sore now!

Crunch

On our way home from church today... okay, we weren't going straight home, we were going to the pizza buffet because I didn't want to bother with cooking.. we were stopped at a sign waiting for our turn to cross Clinton Street in Goshen, and a GREAT BIG GIANT ENORMOUS Hummer came sliding quickly into the little tiny itsy bitsy Buick that we were driving. The guy said he was trying to stop, but the impact he made said that maybe he wasn't trying quite soon enough.. granted, there was some ice, but yikes! Anyway, we got crunched.. in my dad's car. We drove it home, but I think it'll probably get totalled. We ended up switching into our new Pathfinder and driving to the ER. I wanted to make sure and have Manasseh checked out (he isn't big enough to tell us if he's hurting, AND I remember that they've said any time a little guy gets jostled a lot, he should be checked out as far as shaken infant stuff goes). Also I got myself checked out, I was pretty sore from my neck to my lower back. I got Xrays, the doctor didn't like what she saw I guess and ordered a CAT scan. Turns out it's whiplash, nothing broken. So I'm on pain medication and on rest and ice. What a time of year for that.. I had so many plans for today and for Tuesday. I'm hurt, but will recover sometime in the next week to couple months. We're thankful, it could have been much worse.

Layoffs

Randy's factory had lay-offs this week. We were fortunate that he was not among them.

I have to quit my job in January, but already have a little bit of income lined up for that month, maybe beyond that.

I'm feeling blessed.

Whirlwind!

Wow it has been a ride this past year and a half. God has blessed Randy and I again and again. We have had good health, a healthy baby, jobs, vehicles, even when ours haven't worked, and a puppy.. how can you not feel blessed with a puppy? (Okay, honestly, that puppy is glad that Randy lives here because she wouldn't still be here if he wasn't... )

Manasseh is now 5 months old, that means we've been married 14 months now. He is strong and loves to be active, he also loves to study things, he will sit and stare at people and objects for long periods of time appearing to be studying. Manasseh rolls, when he wants to. He sits, when he wants to... he thinks he can stand and walk, but he's wrong. He's a joy to us.

We have again been blessed and are expecting our second child. AND, this one comes without morning sickness or stretch marks. He's practically a teenager already. We're looking forward to working through the foster care system as an adoptive foster home so that we can have our next "bundle of joy" in the late spring!

Windows, Doors, Cielings, Floors

...are all parts of the house that need some sort of improvement. We're going to keep working on this stuff through the winter while we're stuck inside, in the spring we plan to make a "container garden" on the driveway, turning it into a patio. Can't wait to see what this place looks like by next summer (if we're still in it)!

Fallen Angel?

No, just human leader. Yesterday Randy and I attended one of our churches and heard a small part of the story about one of our leaders. He resigned to the church yesterday, and shared that he had engaged in sexual flirting with someone other than his wife. We are sad for him, his family, and the other family that is involved. We are praying that he will be restored to his family and to the church. We will pray for the church in its healing from the wounds that have been and will be caused through this. How easy it would be for any of us to do the same, and how difficult to stand in front of a room full of others and admit it.

I see this man as one of great integrity. More than I realized before yesterday, I really admire him in ways he will never know. I'm sure he does not see himself this way right now. Lord bless this man, his family, the other family, and the church.

Babies

Well, we did it. We deliberated for a while, all kinds of reasons not to get a puppy - we want to move, we have a baby, stuff like that... but we kept looking and thinking about it. We found this puppy on Craigslist. She is 6 weeks old and a husky mix. Mom is full blooded husky, dad is... something. We call her Berlap - because it's NovemBER and she was from LAPorte. She's a pretty sweet little gal, Manasseh seems to like her pretty well too!