the farm girl's churn

Mary did you know?

2010-12-07T10:00:00.001Z

Children...

2010-12-03T20:07:00.000Z

Some would gather money
Along the path of life;
Some would gather roses,
And rest from worldly strife.

But I would gather children
From among the thorns of sin;
I would seek a golden curl,
And a freckled, toothless grin.

For money cannot enter
In that land of endless day;
And roses that are gathered
Soon will wilt along the way.

But, oh, the laughing children,
As I cross the sunset sea,
And the gates swing wide to heaven -
I can take them in with me.

-Author Unknown

Jumping in with two feet....

2010-12-01T21:09:00.002Z

Many of you know that I am all about "real" food. Making it the quickest way and the way that our bodies will digest it the best and get the best nutrients. Many things that you buy in the store have numerous ingredients and really only need to have a few but in my case it has traveled from where ever in the US to Germany and then to the UK. Of course, it will have all kinds of stuff in it so it will last that long.

Today I have started the "starter" for sour dough bread. I am kind of excited. It takes a week just to do the starter before I can even bake with it. I will let you know how it goes..

Here are a few things that I make that really don't take much time at all....
Cream of Chicken Soup (or mushroom, celery)
Mayo
Whipped Topping (Cool-whip)
Tarter Sauce

Cheers to health!

Fall...

2010-11-29T16:22:00.000Z

Here are a few picutres of the children this fall. Sarah is very into legos right now and she is silly. Bethany is getting big and into everything. Cory likes his sports and knows how to hit a ball pitched by daddy. I also thought you might enjoy this picture of a very foggy English day.

Things God won't ask on that day...

2010-11-18T15:25:00.000Z

1.... God won't ask what kind of car you drove. He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation..

2.... God won't ask the square footage of your house, He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

3.... God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet, He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.

4.... God won't ask what your highest salary was. He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

5.... God won't ask what your job title was. He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

6.... God won't ask how many friends you had. He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

7.... God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived, He'll ask how you treated your neighbors.

8.... God won't ask about the color of your skin, He'll ask about the content of your character.

9.... God won't ask why it took you so long to seek S alvation. He'll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of Hell.

Generation to generation

2010-10-25T16:10:00.002+01:00

Over the past few years I have been studying health. I want to have a healthy family. I came across this video. I am very familiar with these people but have never seen something like this. How eye opening. Makes me think a little.

From the hand of God...

2010-10-13T12:04:00.004+01:00

We had a very busy summer of traveling and seeing friends and family. After things finally settled we went to the Dr and confirmed that we are expecting another baby! YEP! God really blessed me this time with very little sickness and it didn't keep me from all of my travels. We had an ultrasound this week and a little to our surprise we are further along than we thought. 20 weeks! The ultrasound was so much fun and this little bundle is healthy and doing well. This little boy, Jason Michael, will join our family the end of February and that will be here before we know it. Isn't technology great!

Captivating

2010-10-03T17:33:00.003+01:00

We just celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. Oh how we have grown together but also how the Lord has used us and grown us to do His works is amazing. I am thankful for my amazing husband and when we were in the Hohenzollern Castle in Germany, Mike took this picture of me. Sometimes I think about when he was perusing me and calling me to be his princess .I read this poem today and it made me think about how my husband does not see all my stretch marks from having children or the flaws in me but he sees the beauty in me the way that Jesus does. Sometimes I think that I need the reality of that Jesus loves me just the way I am. I love you Mike! Cheers to many more years together!

Captivating

To see a woman from my own eyes
is to look into heaven in a beautiful disguise
a heart so tender a love so strong
deep in her soul i know she longs
to be loved, wanted, fought for and treasured
the beauty on the outside is not to be measured
but the wonders of her love like the vastness of the ocean
a heart so captivating it hypnotizes like toxin
for to see a woman through God's own eyes
is to look past the beautiful disguise
to see her soul for what it is
a wonderful place where Jesus lives
a nurturing, caring, passionate heart
an awesome, capturing, alluring art
with eyes that pierce and lips that beckon
a force which man has yet to be reckoned
for the beauty of a woman is not discovered
by the outside wonders, a wonderful cover
but in her soul and in her heart
a true account for God's own art. - unknown

Where in the world....

2010-10-02T13:43:00.004+01:00

I don't know where all the words went that I typed before... well. We have been in 6 countries in the past 3 months. This is just a few pictures from our trip to the USA. We had a great time with our family. We hit the ground running when we landed in the USA. We got a space available flight from the UK to Spokane,WA. We stayed with my friend Sarah for a few nights to get over jet lag before we were in the car. Then we went to my parents in Missoula. The Frederick family reunion was in Wyoming so we drove there and had a great time with my mom's family and all (or most) of my cousins. We were in Bozeman for the 4th and then back to Missoula for a few days before going to Great Falls. We had a great time visiting our friends in Great Falls and seeing some people that we may not see again til Heaven because they were/are leaving GF. It was nice to worship and fellowship at GFCC. We went back to Missoula and then back to Spokane and a short trip to the farm before our long plane ride back to the UK. We stayed 9 different places and drove over 2000 miles in the 6 short weeks we were there. We did not get to see people for very long but we at least got to spend a little time. Our other journeys will be in my next post... TBC!!!! xx

A few of my favorite things...

2010-08-03T20:50:00.002+01:00

* Grocery shopping online
* Having groceries delivered, for free!
* My Honda Odyssey
* The internet... I don't feel so far way from my friends and family

Just a few facts...

2010-08-01T18:31:00.001+01:00

Population:
England 52,000,000
Oregon 4,000,000
Montana 968,000

Size (square miles):
England: 94,251
Oregon: 97,031
Montana: 145,552

Person per square mile: England: 551 Montana: 7

Cambridge, UK
Population: 123,000
Elevation: 50 feet

Great Falls, MT
Population: 57,000
Elevation: 3334 feet

Burwell, UK: 6046
Power, MT: 171

No wonder I feel so bombarded by people.

Wyoming with family

2010-07-08T05:26:00.003+01:00

We are in the good ol USA!! It is so nice to be home and do some shopping. We have been in the car a lot but here are a few pictures of the family reunion in Wyoming. I love the Fredericks! xx

Phones In Church

2010-06-08T17:31:00.002+01:00

A man in Topeka, Kansas decided to write a book about churches around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco and started working East from there.Going to a very large church, he began taking photographs and making notes. He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued with a sign, which read "Calls: $10,000 a minute." Seeking out the pastor he asked about the phone and the sign. The Pastor answered that this golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to
Heaven and if he pays the price he can talk directly to GOD. The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way. As he continued to visit churches in Seattle, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Reno, Denver, Oklahoma City, and around the United States, he found more phones with the same sign, and the same answer from each pastor. Finally, he arrived in Montana, upon entering a church in Deer Lodge, MT behold - he saw the usual golden telephone. But THIS time, the sign read "Calls: 35 cents." Fascinated, he asked to talk to the pastor, "I have been in cities & towns all across the country and in each church I have found this Golden telephone and I have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and I could talk to GOD, but in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute.. Your sign reads only 35 cents a call. Why?" The pastor, smiling benignly, replied, "Son, you're in Montana now.
You're in God's Country, It's a local call."

American by Birth - A Montanan by the Grace of God!

Learning...

2010-06-01T20:43:00.002+01:00

1+2=3

4+2=6

2+1+4=7

7+3=10

10-3=7

7-2=5
5-1=4
to grandma
I did mi work
Dade and Sarah

love from daddy and Sarah.

Sarah and I were working on adding and subtracting using different numbers of colored Legos. Sarah is learning the difference between the plus sign for adding and the minus sign for taking away.

Sarah wanted to send you a message that she was ‘doing her home school’. Her message originally read, “to grama I did mi wrk [with] Dade and sarah luve from dade and sarah.” Sarah noticed the crooked spell-check lines under some of the words and wanted to know what they meant, so I explained that those lines meant that the words were spelled wrong. So, of course she wanted to correct them. Spell check didn’t catch ‘mi’ or ‘Dade’ (daddy). So we learned how to spell grandma, work, and love. We also learned how to use the shift key to capitalize the first letter of a name.

Also of interest this week, Cory helped me unload groceries from the van, build a wardrobe, and he installed foot platforms onto their toy car with plastic screws by himself. Both kids are helping to set and clear the table, and load and unload the dishwasher – at least to drawers and cupboards that they can reach!

-Mike

Think about it...

2010-05-23T16:50:00.000+01:00

Lead your children, by your own example, to prayer and reading of the Bible.
Keep their consciences tender. Teach them gracious speech. Watch over their
behavior. Get them Bibles and Christian books, and see that they read them.
Examine them often as to what they learn. Especially spend the Lord's day in
this work, instead of sports and idleness. Show them the meaning of what they
read. Instruct them out of the Holy Scriptures. Keep them out of evil company,
and acquaint them with Christian friends. Especially show them the necessity and
pleasure of serving God. - Richard Baxter

The winner is....

2010-05-17T14:03:00.006+01:00

I was Skyping with Mike the other night and thought that I should draw. Mike took pictures of me.

Congrats Susie! I will get your goodies out soon...

churning...

2010-05-10T19:45:00.004+01:00

Churn is a container in which milk or cream is shaken to form butter. Churn may refer to:* Butter churn, a device used for churning butter.

I always have something stirring in this house of mine. Whether is cooking, cleaning, diapers, laundry, scrapping, sewing, parenting, or striving to be more like Jesus. God has shown me a lot since I have moved to England. He has shown me who I am in Him. I really am a farm girl at heart. One day I hope to make butter. It is not a simple process. There is a lot of stirring involved. I hope that this blog with a new flavor can stir you. I would love to be a part of your life. I hope that you will see Jesus in me and even can smell His aroma. I hope that you will feel loved and even sometimes challenged to be a better mother, wife, sister, chef, and daughter of the Living God. Just for fun and with creativeness in my bones post me a comment about one thing that you would love to do in your lifetime and I will do a drawing for a little something. God Bless <>< Kxx

Change...

2010-04-30T23:35:00.002+01:00

I think that change is coming to this blog soon. I have some ideas but we will see what happens. Just want you to know that I am still here...

England thoughts....
I went and got my hair cut today. When I have called to make the appointment every time they ask me if I just want a "Wet cut". I say yes. I don't need anything fancy. I just needed a trim. So my hair dresser cut my hair and combed it strait and said well I think that I am done. My thought was what! You are just going to let me walk out of here like this. I asked her if she had time to quickly blow dry it. She said that I needed to ask for it to be blown dry. Humm... well here in England you pay for every thing separate. Nothing all inclusive. Well... I went home and washed it and did it myself. Just different...

There are also lots of cars that drive around with a few red "L's" on them. These people are learners. Learning how to drive. Honestly they scare me. I would not want to be learning how to drive on these roads but I also would not want to have that big sign on my car saying to everyone else that I was just learning how to do this crazy driving.

Most British don't have a drier. If they do it is in the garage and therefore they don't use it very often. Mine quit working this week. I have not been home to get this handled so that means that I am using my clothes line and changing my carbon footprint. I like this change. Very different. We will see how I like it in the winter.

Just a few more weeks without my husband. Maybe a trip to Spain. A family vacation to Amsterdam and then back to Montana for a few weeks. I am SO ready for a change in scenery. xx

Our trip to the grocery store...

2010-04-26T20:59:00.004+01:00

Here in England every grocery store has a rack of flowers right as you come in the door. They are beautiful! I love getting them and filling my kitchen with beauty. While Mike is gone I am religious about getting flowers. As we walk in the door to get groceries that week the kids ask if they can help pick the flowers this week. Sarah will ALWAYS pick pink flowers. Cory was looking at the orchids today. Ooo! I may have to get those next week. Today they got to help and here is what they chose. I always enjoy the flowers and getting something new and different every week. Thanks, honey!

Planting

2010-04-17T11:11:00.003+01:00

When I was little I always helped my grandma plant her garden. I have been wanting to plant a few things in pots for a garden here and so I decided that when grandma was here we were going to plant a garden together. This time it would be my garden. Here are a few pictures.

Thursday Thoughts

2010-03-11T10:15:00.002Z

I have not posted in a while. I was thinking I need a different plan. Tidbits of you seeing into my life in England... Here you go!

1. Its another cloudy day in England. Have I told you how ready I am for spring?
2. 6 more sleeps until my mother in law gets here!
3. Linda is coming because Sarah is having her tonsils out. If you think of her pray!
4. I am so sick and nervous about her having surgery.
5. Have I told you that Linda has also said that she is coming to give me a little break! I am SO excited! Some time to make some cards. To think. To organize. Some ME TIME!
6. Bethany is growing up TOO fast. She turned 9 months this month. Where did the time go? She finally caught on to the baby food and loves it. As long as it is something that I have made.
7. She is also crawling and now pulling up on things to stand. It won't be long now...
8. Cory! He loves Mario Cart!
9. Mike is getting ready to deploy again. No, I can't tell you when and to where. Single parenting stinks!
10. I can't wait to go home this summer. I think that Target is calling my name!!

Happy Thursday!

I don't think that it is coincidence....

2010-02-25T19:30:00.002Z

We are starting our first small group here in England and Mike is walking around like a mummy (and I am not talking about a British mother) because of neck pain. We are fighting sore throats. I have yet again another bout of mastitis and a yeast infection. Sarah is snoring so bad that it is disrupting her sleep and is due to have her tonsils and adenoids out on March 23rd. According to Wikipedia: Coincidence is the noteworthy alignment of two or more events or circumstances without obvious causal connection. The word is derived from the Latin co- ("in", "with", "together") and incidere ("to fall on"). I believe this is a test of faith. Not only do we have some young couples coming over on Sunday nights but me and a couple of my friends have started the study Believing God. So here is what I believe. It is bed time here at the Glathar house hold and I am asking you to pray for us. We will wake up healed in the name of Jesus! Pray that "no weapon formed against us shall prosper." I am calling on the elders... James 5:14 says Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. I am asking to you be like the centurion in Matthew 8:8. The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. We need God's healing touch but we also need his wisdom and protection. Thanks in advance. I pray that God would bless YOU and protect you!

Faith... I am challenged...how about you?

2010-01-29T23:41:00.001Z

Why Speak Your Faith? By: Dr. Bill Bailey

There has been a lot of discussion in recent years about the "Word of Faith Message", or "The Power of Confession", or maybe you've heard the term, "Name it and Claim it!" The question at hand is as to whether it is Biblical to teach that "profession brings possession" is a simple matter of checking the Bible, the Word of God, to see if the scriptures lend credence to this teaching.

An often quoted scripture is Romans 4:17, "(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." Note that God, it says, "makes alive the dead, and calls those things that be not, (are not in existence yet,) as though they were already in existence. This is the essence of what God did in Genesis when He said (in the Hebrew) "Light be!" and, light came into being! Before He said it, light "was not yet", but once He said it, light sprang into being. "Well, yes," you might say, "but, Dr. Bill, that was God!" True! I will give you no argument there! The question becomes then, does God want US to "call those things that be not as though they are?" Let's look at what Jesus taught the disciples in Mark Chapter 11.

"And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." (Mark 11:22-24) Now this is the King James Version, and I know that it can be a little "blind" to us sometimes, so let's look at the same scripture in the "Bible in Basic English" translation, "And Jesus, answering, said to them, Have God's faith. Truly I say to you, Whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and be put into the sea; and has no doubt in his heart, but has faith that what he says will come about, he will have his desire. For this reason I say to you, Whatever you make a request for in prayer, have faith that it has been given to you, and you will have it." Notice it says, "Have God's faith..." The Greek meaning here can be expressed, "have the God kind of faith," or "use God's kind of faith." Now if Jesus is teaching us that we should actually use God's Faith... which make no mistake, He is saying to do that... then, we should use God's faith in the same way that God uses it.... by speaking! Let's look at the rest of the verse... notice He says, "whoever will say." The promise here is not to EVERYONE, no indeed! It IS to anyone that will "say!" The qualifier is that you be willing to speak God's Word over the situation! And, note, He is not saying talk ABOUT the situation, He is saying rather to talk TO the situation, or thing! You must be willing to "say to the mountain" what you want it to do! A lot of people are simply not willing to "say!" They won't speak their faith! But, notice, as Dr. Kenneth E. Hagin has pointed out so many times in teaching about these verses, there are three "sayings," to one "believing!" Once you believe, you have to speak! 2 Corinthians 4:13 makes this clear as well, "We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak." We believe, therefore we speak!

Over and over again, the Bible makes it clear that once you believe, you must confess, or speak, the thing that you believe. Even in being saved, we follow the process of believing in our heart, and confessing with our mouth. Notice Romans 10:8-10, "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." The Word is near you, it is in your heart, and in your mouth! You must, it says, "confess with the mouth!" Notice, it is not enough to "think with the mind," you MUST "confess WITH THE MOUTH!" This follows the method that God used, He spoke, and it came to pass! We speak His Word, and it comes to pass! Whether it is in salvation, or, as the Greek makes clear in the translation of this word "salvation" used in this verse, "saved, healed, and made whole spirit, soul, body, financially and socially!" The word used here means all these things! It is literally "wholeness," or "complete restoration!" This Biblical principle of confessing God's Word to bring to pass what is true in the spiritual realm into manifestation in the natural realm is a key Biblical principle!

Speaking the Word brings God's power and authority to bear on a physical problem! Consider the fact that the centurion that Jesus marveled at (because of his faith) understood this principle. Matthew 8:8 says, "The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." Note, that he "was not worthy" because he understood that he had no covenant with God at that time, as he was not of Jewish heritage in the natural, but he understood that Jesus was walking in covenant, and in authority, with God. He said, "Speak the word only... and my servant shall be healed!" Then notice what Jesus said about him in verse 10, "When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Not even the Israelites of that day, though they DID have a covenant with God, had the faith of this centurion! Why? The centurion understood the principle of speaking the Word of God in faith! He understood that there is authority in God's Word! Beyond that, God's Word has the power within itself, to cause the Word to come to pass! This is a direct translation of the scripture in the Greek translated as, "For with God nothing shall be impossible." (Luke 1:37) Mary had asked the angel in effect, "How shall I conceive a child since I am a virgin?" The angel responded with the phrase above. Now, "with God all things shall be possible," is certainly true, but reading the King James translation, we don t get the full meaning! In the Greek, the angel was explaining to Mary the "how" of the situation, which is what she originally asked! "God's Word contains the power within itself to cause what it says to come to pass." Because God has spoken that she, as a virgin, would conceive a child, that Word spoken by God, alone, had the power within it, to cause it to become a material reality!

Jesus went on to explain the importance of words on another occasion. In Matthew 12:34-37, He said, "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." He said this to the Scribes and Pharisees, who were supposed to be experts in the Word of God, yet He says they were evil. How can they, being evil, speak good things? Notice, He says that one speaks, "out of the treasure of one's heart." The word "treasure" used here, means "deposit." So, out of what you have "deposited" in your heart, or spirit, you will speak out of your mouth! Notice that Jesus says that we will be judged for EVERY "idle word," again, the Greek rendering helps us understand, "every idle, inoperative, non-productive word that we shall speak" is what we will be judged for! We should use words carefully, as we would power tools! You don't haphazardly use a power tool, or you could get seriously hurt! In the same way, you shouldn't misuse, or take for granted, the power of your words!

You might ask, "If words are so powerful, then why aren't they coming to pass instantly all the time?" You might say, "That scared me to death!" But, you don't drop over literally dead! True! Thank God! If so, we would have a lot of dead Christians to bury! No, the Bible teaches that the mouth, or the tongue, "sets in motion the cycle of natural events." It is, therefore, a process! What the Bible says in James 3:6 is, "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell." The phrase "setteth on fire the course of nature" in the original Greek, translates, "sets in motion the cycle of natural events." Satan therefore, tries to get you to speak contrary to God's Word, and set in motion a chain of natural events, or a cycle, that will lead to destruction. No, you may not die immediately by saying, "That scared me to death!" But, you ARE setting in motion a cycle of events that enforces fear ("scared me") and death in your life! In this way, satan can attempt to shorten your life! He uses the very power of your own words against you! The thoughts and temptations to speak those words of death and fear are the methods satan attempts to use to "set our tongue on fire of hell. Ephesians 6:16 says, "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." The "fiery darts" are designed to set your mouth against you!

What should we do, then? Whatever we want to come out of our mouth, we should deposit in our heart! Psalms 119:11 says, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." Hide the Word of God in your heart! Store it up there! Joshua 1:8, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." If you want to be "prosperous," and "have good success," then you should meditate on God's Word! Then, what you have stored in your heart will come out of your mouth... and that word, God's Word, will have the power within itself to cause itself to come to pass!

Speak faith!

Our trip to the sea...

2010-01-19T21:11:00.002Z

We left Saturday night for a 3 day trip to the sea (coast). We took our first stop in Canterbury. I am sill not very confident in driving my American van in the city so we took the park and ride in to the town centre (center). We thought that we had to get off at the second stop but the bus did not stop at the first one so we got a little tour of the town riding the bus route. We found our way to the Canterbury Cathedral.. We then found the little pub in the village where our cottage was. We stayed at a lovely cottage in a little village that my mobile (cell phone) would not get service. It was very spacious and the owners were a joy. Sunday it was off to Dover. On the way there we took some winding narrow roads and told Sarah and Cory to watch out the window. Well, we learned that Sarah gets car sick and we had a little detour to Tesco (like Walmart) to find another change of clothes. Getting back to the White Cliffs we did not have time to go through Dover Castle and take our time so we decided that we will make another trip. I always love the sight of the sea. Not to mention there were times that we could see through the fog to France on the other side. I did not realize how close it was. Maybe our next journey! Monday was a very fun day going to Leeds Castle and driving home. A fun weekend was had by all! Now back to reality.

Posted by a friend of David Hames' family who is still missing in Haiti. 3 best thing to do for David:

2010-01-19T18:44:00.000Z

Help find David! Today the three best things you can do for David and his family are: 1) If you believe in the power of God, SHOUT HALLELUJAH! FOR OUR LORD GOD ALMIGHTY REIGNS! at 10.53am MT, 12.53pm ET, 5.53pm GMT, asking for the release of David. In line with what happened with Joshua at Jericho, today is the seven...the day. So many believers will be shouting in unison, no matter where they are geographically. Join us! We're not talking about a yell, we're talking about a WAR CRY that will put the fear of God into the enemy. Why this time? It's 7 hours before the quake happened. If you have shofars, drums, any instrument, use them! Have your kids bang on pots and pans! We want to see these walls come down!

Judges 7:18 - "When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, 'For the LORD and for Gideon.' " ... For the Lord and for DAVID!

2) Pray!! Ask as many people as you can to pray for David and his family. His wife Renee is now doing media interviews - please pray for strength and pray the Lord gives her peace as she knows she's doing all she can to help find David. Pray Psalm 91: the Lord gave our church Vanguard this passage to pray and fast over weeks ago, we believe it's for David.

3) Get the word out about the following info (via Facebook, Twitter, email, etc). The more people who know the facts about where we think David is the more likely teams will focus on looking for David. We know exactly where he was last seen. Approx. 20 feet from the elevator shaft where Dan Woolley was rescued. Dan has provided us with the photo attached of where he last saw David (this is looking from the elevator shaft). David went right or left here. Because the ground opened, we are hoping he is in a pocket beneath these walls.

A Miami-Dade rescue team heard tapping yesterday evening at the hotel and their dogs have picked up scents of human life. Therefore they have returned to search and rescue efforts and will continue until there are no signs of life. We are told this is a priority for the UN, and they will keep working at this hotel.

PRAY FOR DAVID'S RESCUE TODAY!!!

Flower girls!

2009-12-30T21:46:00.000Z

These are just too cute not to share!

My creative mother

2009-12-29T23:10:00.001Z

Yes I have a lot to blog about with all my journeys here in England but I have to do this one...

Because of circumstances my mom was not working before Christmas this year and had some time to make gifts. I was so excited about this and asked her to make tutus for my girls. These will come a little later when I get my girlies all dressed up for this special occasion.

My mom had seen these purse organizers before but these are her origional. She looked at numerous and picked the things out that she wanted and then made a few of them for us for Christmas. I was very excited to get it. She also made me this necklace and earings. I did not post the other necklace that she made me as I am wearing it and don't want to take it off! Thanks, mom for the fun home-made Christmas. Love you!

PS Here is more of my mom's creativeness!

Sarah the British school girl...

2009-12-19T21:37:00.003Z

I have to tell you a couple stories about Sarah going to the British school. She is the youngest of her class by a few months. She turned 4 just over a week before school started. Not to mention that she is the only American. There are 27 children in her class. With such a big class they really do great things teaching each one of them creatively. Her teacher told me a few weeks ago that Sarah was not really participating in the small groups they were doing with the teacher but she would see in her play time that she would do it later so they decided to take her aside and do this activity one-on-one. They have since told me that she is doing well with that. Well, last week the teacher pulled me aside very excited because Sarah had done something really out of her character (at least at school). When the teacher needs to speak with all of them she has them sit on the carpet. To get them there she has a child yell at the top of their lungs a count down from 10. She asked for a volunteer that afternoon and Sarah volunteered. The teacher was very shocked to see that but very excited that she was coming out of her shell. She told Sarah to stand up and do it. When she stood up and saw all the other children staring at her she became very shy but then the teacher called on Sarah's best friend to stand up with her and the two of them did the count down very loud. Well from what I see of Sarah she is very capable of being a leader but if I were in her shoes I would also be a little intimidated and confused by all the words but she is slowly beginning to understand and come out of her shell. I am so proud of her.

Just a little bit about her best friend Emma-Jane. Emma is from South Africa and really does not know the other children either. Sarah and Emma really stick close. I think even with their very different cultures they stick close because they are both learning how things work, how to understand the words used, and that just being different from the others brings them together. Sarah and Emma have been getting into a bit of trouble at school so they must be feeling a little more comfortable.

Also, a little background on how they run the Reception classroom. They have different activities planned such as cooking or a specific art project that they take turns allowing the children to "have a go" at. The classroom is not 27 desks lined up in rows. I don't think that other than on the floor there are enough chairs in the room for them all to sit. They have a reading corner with some books and bean bags to sit at. They have an art area with boxes and "haberdashery" that the children can glue and tape or paint. There is a creative area where they can dress up. They have different costumes for the different seasons or holidays coming up. There is a computer where they can play games. They have smart board that they allow the children to draw on it and color with it and then they print it off and send them home. There is a lot more in that little room such as cars, dolls, or even a little question and answer table that will ask them such things as to which jar has lavender in it or they had the nativity scene there closer to Christmas. The other morning when I left the teacher was taking shaving cream and painting it onto the table and then sprinkled glitter onto it for the children to "have a go" at writing something or drawing in the shaving cream. They have a special fenced off area where the children can go outside and play in a playhouse or they have little trikes or water or sand. I was very leery at first about the children just playing. I figured that I could just do that myself with Sarah at home but somehow in the middle of all of that they are teaching Sarah how to count, how to write (small letters), to recognize them, and slowly she is trying to put those letters together to make a word. Soon she will be reading! She is only 4!!!

I will tell you all about the Christmas play later but I wanted to give you a little background. xx

Cambridge....

2009-12-14T23:10:00.000Z

To my beloved followers...

2009-12-07T20:22:00.000Z

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up... It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families.

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9. Here's a good one... There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest.

Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember:

I LOVE YOU,
JESUS

Merry Christmas

2009-12-01T11:27:00.001Z

Nottingham Castle

2009-11-15T23:21:00.003Z

Yesterday we had a really fun day with Sarah. She has had a pen pal since grade school that lives near Nottingham. We took the 2 hour trek (the British thing that would be a weekend trip not a day trip). It was a very windy day so we did not spend a lot of time at the castle but it was fun. Laura (Sarah's pen pal) showed us around Nottingham. We parked in a multi-story car park (parking garage) that I was not sure my van was too tall but we made it. PHEW! We got our pictures taken with Robin Hood. Sarah got to have tea with her British friend. We were exhausted after pushing strollers full of children around the city but it was successful.

Shopping in Cambridge...

2009-11-02T23:00:00.000Z

Since I have moved here there have been a lot of big events in our life. I have not had time to just really experience the English life without watching my children or having a mission. I was very fortunate to be able to go shopping with a friend a couple weekends ago and experience the British life. We did have a mission. Finding me some pants (trousers) because I have lost over 30 lbs since Bethany was born. I just wanted to share a few things while going in and out of dressing rooms and trying on British clothes.

Generally speaking the British are much quieter than Americans but girls still talk in the dressing room. It is so funny to hear them say words differently in their "accent"

All of their "trousers" the buttons and zippers are opposite of American jeans. I was having a very difficult time with that and did not know what was wrong. I finally figured it out.

I still have not had "tea" at a very posh tea shop but that will happen soon...

Scones....

2009-10-22T23:31:00.003+01:00

So I am having a small group over in the morning and decided that I would try my hand at scones. So here is the recipe. With a preserve from Lady Jay's called Strawberry Champagne these are delish! Just have to say that I think that it was a sucess. We will see what the ladies think in the morning...

Likes and dislikes

2009-10-21T17:49:00.003+01:00

I like the fact that all of the fruit and veg is labeled where it is grown.

I don't like the fact that I had to back my minivan out of the "school car park (parking lot)" (its really just the parking for the locals who live there) for over a half a block with a wall on one side, cars on the other, 5 cars waiting on me, and one tire on the path (side walk) and one on the street.

I like the fact that I am at home more with my children. I did not know that I could become a home body and like to be home. I really think that my children have a lot of security in being at home.

I don't like the fact that when I go shopping for clothes and look at the rack I do not know what size I am in British.

I like the fact that I have lost over 30 pounds since Bethany was born.

I don't like the fact that all of my pants seem to fall off of me and drag on the ground in the water.

I like the fact that the British eggs don't have to go in the fridge. Saves room in my tiny fridge.

I like the fact that I can get cheese from all over the world. It is really my goal to try as many different types of cheeses. Even ones with mold on it :)

I like the fact that I live in an exciting place where my friends and family want to come visit. We would love to have YOU too!

I don't like the fact that I am far away when I need a coffee date with a friend.

I like the fact that I can keep up with my friends online.

I don't like the fact that when they are online is when I should be going to bed. Good night!

My brother...

2009-10-06T19:30:00.002+01:00

For those of you who do not know my little brother he is living in LA and for almost a year now is a full time musician. They are doing a show tonight and here is a video. Have a great time tonight Zac & Cam! xx

Flu vaccine....

2009-10-06T10:00:00.000+01:00

Very interesting....

The Sea....

2009-09-26T21:06:00.001+01:00

Its all about Bethany....

2009-09-22T20:31:00.003+01:00

Yep the youngest. They probably will not get as much attention as the other two at this point because Sarah and Cory are way more active than Bethany but Mike and I both have been taking lots of pictures of her. She is such a joy. We are so blessed by her. She is growing so fast. I need to measure how long she is because every time I grab something out of her drawer it is too small for her. She is so long that I am having to put her in 6-9 month clothes. She will be 4 months on Oct 5th. It is so nice to have a few hours in the evening and not be worn out from a screaming baby. Bethany has been so much better in the colic area than the other two.

I was thinking the other day how cool it is that my daughters are sisters. I didn't have a sister. I think that sisters are cool. I know that they have their struggles but I think that more often than not they are really good friends. Bethany will watch Sarah and just coo and make all kinds of faces and noises when Sarah is talking to her. It is so amazing how they have bonded. Cory is too busy and quick to keep Bethany's attention.

We love you Bethany!

Life in pictures...

2009-09-15T21:38:00.002+01:00

Sarah goes to Exning primary school...

2009-09-03T14:01:00.002+01:00

Scenery...

2009-09-01T21:44:00.002+01:00

Just a few pictures of the way it looks around here....

Sarah's 4th Birthday!

2009-08-24T21:10:00.003+01:00

Yea my Sarah turned four on Saturday! She is turning into such a little girl. We had a wonderful weekend celebrating Sarah's big day. We had some friend over for a BBQ and they decorated their own cup cakes! Sunday we went to a farm and got to brush some donkeys and watch a goat being milked. In another week and a half she will be starting school. I am very nervous but excited for her.

Wednesday Wonderings....

2009-08-19T13:24:00.002+01:00

Just thought that I would share a few pictures.

Lets see....

One week until Sarah starts school. YIPES! Is she really old enough to go to school?

Cory is in the biting phase. Not sure what to think about that.

Bethany is growing so fast. Now if we could just get out of this fussiness we would be great!

Nap time is almost over....

Have a good week!

Another cute birth story

2009-08-07T10:29:00.001+01:00

The 'Middle Wife' by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back.
When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they're welcome.
Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.
She holds up a snapshot of an infant. 'This is
Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday'
'First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.'
She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my
camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.
'Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. 'She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)
'My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like
the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.' (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)
'And then, pop!
My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!' (This kid has her
legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)
'Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, (placenta) so there must be a lot of toys inside there.'
Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another 'Middle Wife' comes along.

A REAL post will come soon.

American - British Translation Dictionary

2009-07-25T14:10:00.002+01:00

So my neighbor, Shelley comes over quite frequently. She will say something to one of my children and they will look at her with a blank stare trying to figure out what she is talking about. She and I now sometimes argue which word is better. I thought I would share a few of those words. American:British

stroller : push chair
trash : bin, rubbish
diaper : nappy
pacifier : dummy
couch : sofa
bathroom : toilet, loo
pants : trousers
underwear : pants
purse : hand bag
wallet : purse
wallet: male purse
dump : tip (a place to take trash)
parking lot : car park
zucchini : courgettes
pickles : gherkin
soccer : football
camper trailer : caravan
trunk : boot
hood : bonnet
garage sale : boot sale
drug store : chemist
2 weeks : fortnight
vaccume : hoover
baked potato : jacket potato
7-up, Sprite : Lemonade
Dr office : surgery

Here is a few that they spell funny...
tire - tyre
color - colour

"Z" is pronounced zed

Now I just have to teach my children all these crazy words!

I got my post done for the week! Its progress. Where is yours, Debra!!!!!

Who needs toys when you can play in the kitchen....

2009-07-13T16:08:00.003+01:00

I am always trying to find ways to entertain the kids when it is the end of the day and I am trying to get dinner ready for when Mike comes home and we seem to be fighting. The other day I was doing dishes and Cory was sitting on the counter. He started playing with the coffee beans that I have on the counter as decoration. He was dumping them into another cup, stirring them, and using every gadget in my tool turnabout. This was a fun game. It has become hours of entertainment over the past few days. Cory was playing with them on the floor the other day and I just had to take some pictures. Now it has gone from coffee beans to dried kidney beans and they are still happy!

My life...

2009-07-02T23:18:00.001+01:00

...Enough said

Thursday Thoughts

2009-06-25T20:26:00.002+01:00

1. Nursing is not for whimps
2. Why can one day with little kids be so hard and the next day so much better?
3. I love tea! Too bad I can't drink it right now
4. Photography: I love it! I just can't get my pictures to turn out like I see them. UGH!
5. Why am I not in bed?
6. Good Night!

Bethany Kay's Big Day

2009-06-09T15:11:00.001+01:00

Katie woke up on Friday morning at 4:20, having to go to the bathroom, which is standard procedure for the 40th week of pregnancy. When she took a little while to return to bed, I groggily asked her if she was okay. She said, “I think I wet my pants.” Waking up a little more, I asked, “Did your water break?” “I don’t think so,” was the reply. “Okay,” I said, believing her, and rolled over to go back to sleep. After a couple minutes, Katie said to me, “These contractions are getting stronger.” Contractions? She didn’t tell me she was contracting! I hopped out of bed and hurried to the bathroom to put my contacts in so I could see what was going on. “We gotta go!” I told her. So we began trying to get dressed, find phone numbers, and round up essentials all at the same time.
I called Pastor Tony and his wife, Jan since we had planned for Jan to come over and stay with the kids should we have to head for the hospital in the middle of the night. A sleepy Tony answered the phone and I asked for Jan. “She’s in the loo,” he replied. That’s odd, I thought. It’s 4:30 in the morning and she’s up getting ready for work already? We came to find out that as soon as the phone rang, Jan shot like a rocket out of bed to get ready exclaiming, “It’s Katie, it’s Katie! I’ve gotta go!” Since Jan had to leave for work at 7:30, we also called Carrie to come and relieve her, not knowing how long we would be at the hospital.
So after I was dressed, the car was loaded, and the calls were made, I went back to see how Katie was doing. I found her bent over the edge of the bed in a contraction, still not dressed yet. So I tried to help her as she fought me off until the contraction let up. So, finally we were ready to go, but Jan had not arrived yet. I took Katie out to the car to get her in, and James, our neighbor, came jogging across the road. Katie must have called him! Thank goodness, I thought. We gotta go!! So I put Katie in the front seat of the car and James went in to watch the kids as we zoomed off to the hospital. I didn’t put Katie in the back seat, because of course we weren’t going to deliver a baby in my new car. That only happens in movies.
I thought it wise to take the A-roads instead of the back roads. I didn’t think that bumpy roads, stop and go, and frequent turns were going to help our situation at all. As we set out, Katie called the Labor & Delivery ward to let them know that we were on our way and that we were about a half hour out. “My contractions are about two minutes apart,” she told them. It might just have been the rush of getting ready in a hurry, but I’m sure they were more like 45 seconds to a minute apart. I’m driving as fast as I dare, without paying for an ambulance ride in speeding tickets. Katie is praying, mostly in tongues but I caught a “Please, Jesus, calm these contractions down a little!” here and there.
As we were coming up on five ways roundabout (over halfway there), Katie’s water must have broke. I heard, “Oh, Jesus!” and Katie later told me that she thought that is when Bethany crowned. I’m glad I didn’t know that at the time, because I wouldn’t have known what to do. The next thing I knew, Katie said, “She’s here…” and I asked her if she wanted me to pull over. I looked at the shoulder, which was about a foot wide on the side of a 70mph highway. No, it was too dangerous to pull over here. I looked up and saw a sign for the rest area at five ways roundabout. I guess we could stop there to have a baby. But when Katie didn’t answer me, I looked over, and she already had a baby in her lap! I glanced at the clock in my car: 5:12am – that made labor only about 30 – 45 minutes. I turned on my hazard lights and sped up a little as Katie scrambled to pull a newborn out of her pants! I heard Bethany crying as Katie cranked up the heat in the car and snuggled her up to her chest. Good, she was crying, and that meant she was breathing, so there was no sense in stopping. Off to the hospital!
We dug our IDs out so we would not have to negotiate with the gate guard once we got to Lakenheath. I pulled up to the gate and handed the gate guard our IDs. “Alright,” was the reply, she handed back our IDs, and we were on our way. That’s odd, we thought. She didn’t even notice Katie had a newborn on her lap. Oh, well. Off to the hospital!
I pulled up to the door of the hospital, and left the car running as I ran inside. I ran up the stairs to the Labor & Delivery ward, thinking that they’d be ready since we called ahead. “We had her in the car,” I said. There was an awkward silence. They must have thought I said “I have her in the car,” referring to Katie, because we just stood there looking at each other. “Is she coming up?” one of them asked. “We had the baby in the car!” I clarified. All of a sudden, the three of them began scurrying about, grabbing gloves and towels and such, and they ran off ahead of me down to the car. They told me to get a wheelchair from the ER.
I went in to the ER and asked if I could borrow a wheelchair, and briefly explained what had happened. The captain working in the ER asked me if I helped Katie deliver the baby. I replied that I was driving and couldn’t have helped without pulling over. He then asked if I at least held her hand. No…I was driving. He then proceeded to give me a hard time for leaving my poor wife to deliver a baby by herself. Then the ER tech came out with a wheelchair and we were off to get Katie. Poor Katie then came out of the toasty warm car into the chilly spring morning air. She sat down in the wheelchair, and the towels weren’t going to keep her warm. Fortunately, I had brought her blankie (heart quilt made by Sarah) with us, and I wrapped her up as best I could in that. So the hospital crew took her up to a delivery room as I parked the car and hurried up behind them.
We obviously threw the L&D staff out of their normal routine, and chaos ensued. A nurse tried urgently to get Katie to birth the placenta as one of the techs attempted to get an IV in her arm. Katie probably didn’t need either one of those things to happen immediately, but I guess they thought that we were a big emergency, and that they had to hurry up and do everything they could. Katie finally convinced them to leave her alone and let the contractions continue. The second attempt got the IV in, which they used to give her pitocin, which she didn’t want in the first place, but there wasn’t any communication about that. And when the on-call doctor arrived, Katie was able to birth the placenta. The doctor cleaned her up, and did not need to do any stitching! Meanwhile, another tech was taking care of Bethany, cleaning her up and helping her breathe better. When things settled down a bit, they brought Bethany over to Katie to let her nurse.
By this time it was just about 7am, and Katie wanted me to go and get Sarah and Cory. When I got home, the kids were still sleeping. I thanked Carrie for coming to watch them, and she and Will left for home. I decided to let the kids sleep a little longer, and I went to post messages on Facebook. Of course, I couldn’t just post a couple posts and be done, and I ended up chatting with my cousin, Sarah for a little while, telling the story of our exciting morning. Katie called and said that they were going to wait to give Bethany a bath until I got back with Sarah and Cory. Since they were not awake yet, I got them up. Cory got up willingly, but Sarah pulled her blanket over her head, wanting to keep sleeping. But when I told her that Bethany wasn’t in mama’s tummy anymore and asked her if she wanted to go see her, Sarah went from sleepy to excited instantly. She was bouncing on her bed and chattering up a storm. So I got them dressed, fed, and back to the hospital we went.
When we got to the hospital room, Katie was showered, dressed, and not hooked up to any medical equipment anymore. She was walking around, and Bethany was asleep in her bassinet. Both kids wanted to hold Bethany, so we let them take turns until the staff came in to give Bethany a bath. Sarah was very excited to help with the bath. After visiting for awhile, I took the kids back home for a nap. When I got home, Katie called and said that she would be ready to be discharged at 6pm – after only 12 hours in the hospital! So, after naptime, I took the kids to collect the rest of my family from the hospital, and we came home at the end of a very exciting day.

Bethany Kay Glathar

2009-06-07T11:07:00.002+01:00

Bethany was born June 5th at 5:12am in the car on the A11 in England. She weighed 7lb 12oz and was 20 inches long. Mike is writing the full story to be posted soon.

Tea for Two

2009-06-03T10:44:00.002+01:00

We are in a waiting time in our lives. Waiting for this baby to face this world. Last night Mike and I decided to have tea. The British use the term "tea" very loosely. A traditional British family's three meals with be breakfast, dinner and tea. Dinner being their main meal of the day and tea being a lighter meal but is a meal and doesn't always include tea. They also will feed their children tea earlier and then the couple will have tea together later in the evening. I have decided that they call it tea because they (like us) are so busy living life that they really don't take the time to sit and have tea. I think that we need to take the time and enjoy a good "cuppa tea" once in a while. Mike and I put some British influence in our time by having "biscuits" (they are a wafer cookie that is a lot like our graham cracker). We Americanized it by putting peanut butter and chocolate on top! CHEERS!

Here I am...

2009-06-01T23:01:00.001+01:00

Faith

2009-05-29T21:45:00.001+01:00

Sometimes it is our faith that stirs us. Lately with the situation I am in I am really stirred in my faith. I was hanging the laundry on the clothes line yesterday evening and I thought to myself how surreal it feels to be in England. When we drive in the car and do not have a cd or my morning alarm is classical music. I don't know that I have ever listened to classical music on a regular basis. It just makes this adventure that much more unreal. As I look back at the past couple years I think about the difficult things that God has taken me through; colicky babies, a 9 month deployment, a miscarriage, and now a move away from everything that I have known. I have always had people around me that I could run into at the store that I would know. Here there is no one. God has been faithful and increased my faith through these times. Now as I anticipate the birth of our third child I really just have the faith that through all of this that there might be some challenges with this baby but I really am praying and having faith that it will be easier than my other two. God has moved us across the world and I just don't believe that He would put me here and not help me. I am really praying in faith that Bethany is not a colicky baby and that really she is a fairly mild tempered child. I know of people that have been blessed with these children and I just can't help but pray for that for myself in this situation. As He stirs your faith allow Him to encourage you and love on you but also have hope not only through the difficult times but that times of refreshing and peace would come to. And faith for those times.

Tea anyone?

2009-05-20T16:30:00.001+01:00

This is a place that I heard about today. Anyone interested in going to High Tea with me in London?

Cambridge University

2009-05-19T00:07:00.002+01:00

We had a friend come visit us from Ireland. It was such a blessing to have her here and have some excitement in the middle of this stressful time. Here are a few pictures!

I have two weeks til my due date and frantically trying to get my house unpacked and in some kind of order. We got our shipment on Friday and we are slowly getting there. With no closets it is not like you can just organize it and close the door. We have to figure out another way to put this stuff away. We have an Ikea fairly close but I should not be traveling that far so close to my due date. This move has truly been an experience. We are hoping to get settled and be able to enjoy and see the country around us.

CHEERS!

God's Chisel

2009-05-11T21:49:00.001+01:00

You need to watch this. Oh how we need to be reminded of what God thinks of us.

Pictures galore....

2009-05-04T09:25:00.004+01:00

I have been meaning to do this many times and have forgotten about it until recently. Tammy Huntting took tons of pictures of my baby shower while I was still in Montana and so I thought that I would show you where they are so you can take a look.

Also, when Montana was getting all the snow it was beautiful here. Not to rub it in but I got some adorable pictures of my children playing in the park here in Burwell. We walked there and I am not sure that I can handle that walk any more right now but the kids sure had fun! Enjoy!

Please pray that my household goods come in soon. We are very ready for our beds. It has been two months since we have slept on our own beds or had anything that resembled home.

My job description...

2009-05-02T19:43:00.002+01:00

PARENT - Job Description

This is hysterical. If it had been presented this way,
I don't believe any of us would have done it!!!!

POSITION :
Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma
Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION :

Long term, team players needed, for challenging,
permanent work in an
often chaotic environment.
Candidates must possess excellent communication
and organizational skills and be willing to work
variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends
and frequent 24 hour shifts on call.
Some overnight travel required, including trips to
primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities!
Travel expenses not reimbursed.
Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

The rest of your life.
Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily,
until someone needs $5.
Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.
Also, must possess the physical stamina of a
pack mule
and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat
in case, this time, the screams from
the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.
Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges,
such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets
and stuck zippers.
Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and
coordinate production of multiple homework projects.
Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings
for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.
Must be a willing to be indispensable one minute,
an embarrassment the next.
Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a
half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices.
Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
Must assume final, complete accountability for
the quality of the end product.
Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and
janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :

None.
Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills,
so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :

None required unfortunately.
On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :

Get this! You pay them!
Offering frequent raises and bonuses.
A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because
of the assumption that college will help them
become financially independent.
When you die, you give them whatever is left.
The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that
you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS :

While no health or dental insurance, no pension,
no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and
no stock options are offered;
this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love,
and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right.

Funny Kids...

2009-04-30T10:00:00.000+01:00

This is how I found my children this morning. They like their "wellies" and always wear them around. Even in their pjs! Cory had some juice and there is still some on his face. Sarah wanted Cory's hat on and Cory insisted that he wear Sarah's Easter hat with the bow in the front. You never know what you are going to get with these two!

Easter 2009

2009-04-28T13:49:00.001+01:00

I want to show you all of our Easter festivities. We wanted to take the kids to an Easter egg hunt (our stuff was not here yet to do our own) and we found out that the museum here in Burwell was having one. We decided that it would be fun to check out the local museum that is literally in our back yard. Unfortunately, it was not the kind of egg hunt for a two and three year old but we had fun anyway. Our new friends, Rob & Mandi and their daughter Makayla joined us. We only have a set of dishes and a few pots and pans. Cooking is a bit of a challenge but I made a ham and potatoes. I did not have tin foil yet so the ham got a little over done. The carrots that I put in with it were burned and the jello just wasnn't right but it was Easter. We will never forget our first holiday in the UK on a card table!

From the Hands of the Creator

2009-04-23T15:34:00.000+01:00

God moved the placenta! Bethany is sitting with her head down ready to go in a few weeks. I am no longer high risk and we can just let God finish the work He has started. He created this child in me, He will walk me through the rest. When I left Montana my placenta was 1.2cm from my cervix. Now it is 3.5cm. It needed to be above 2cm. Thank you so much for your prayers. We have so much to be thankful for!

When it rains it pours...

2009-04-22T09:31:00.003+01:00

As if this move to the other side of the world isn't enough there are always things that happen back on the home front. The week that we left for England my dad was in the ER for kidney stones, my grandparents were in a car accident (not injured just minor damage to their car), my grandma's (who has a mechanical heart valve)went out of rhythm and they had to jump her heart back into rhythm.
This week has been another story. Of course with my ultrasounds and Dr appointment we all are on our knees asking God for a miracle. Now my brother has taken an emergency trip to Montana to be with some friends who lost their mother tragic situation. Now I get an email from Mike's mom (Linda) and they have had a horrible fire in their shop on their property. Linda's husband, Wayne, restores old cars. Mostly Packard vehicles. He does this for a living. Now this shop had 4 Packards (including their coupe and a fire engine), a 77 Camero, and a Lexus. The shop is gone and some of these cars were just being stored by other people in this shop.

Our status is that we still do not have any of our shipments. We have been told that our small shipment is in country waiting to go through customs and they will call us when they can deliver it. We are looking for a right drive car for Mike to drive back and forth to work. I am SO ready for our household goods to be here. I am ready to cook with my pans and put things on the walls and make it home.

2009-04-20T10:40:00.000+01:00

Life....

2009-04-20T10:17:00.002+01:00

What more can I say... this is life. This is the life that God has placed me into. I wanted to give you a few snipets of life here. Since I cannot "nest" in my home I have done a little nesting with flowers. For those of you who know me very well, know, that I love hydrengeas. Here is the plant that I found here. It needs to be repotted but it loves my very humid laundry room because it does not vent outside it goes into the room and then there is a small fan to vent it out. This beautiful plant loves this humidity. Here are the couple planters that I found and planted a few flowers in my front 'garden'.

The bugs here are really big, thankfully not dangerous. I had to share this lovely spider that I found on my kitchen wall.

Each village here has its own sign. Here is the Burwell sign. I will be sharing more of these as we travel around. They are very cool how they show their heritage.

Belly pictures!!
I really need a lot of prayer. In Montana I had a few ultrasounds and they found placenta previa. When I left Montana the placenta had moved and so I just have a low lying placenta but the doctors here are still saying that I cannot deliver naturally that I would have to have a c-section unless it moves more. I am at 33 weeks this week and we still have time but I really need a miracle. I am praying in faith that this will happen. I have an ultrasound again on Tuesday and will see a doctor on Thursday. Please pray with me!

Our home in Burwell, UK!

2009-04-04T20:38:00.002+01:00

So we signed the lease on our house today! How exciting! We are ready to stay there and get out of your tiny little TLF. We have really seen God's hand in it all and we are very excited to see how He is going to use us in Burwell. It is about 20 to 30 minutes from RAF Mildenhall which seems to be the only downfall about the home. We really like the location. The town of Burwell we have fallen in love with. I have not had a chance to take a picture of the roads around here but they are very narrow with no shoulders. There are trees or brick walls on the side of the road. When we first got here and were driving around I was sure that we were going to either hit a tree or someone in the other lane. Ok so about the house. It is a 4 bedroom. Typically the washer is where your dishwasher would be in your kitchen. This one fortunately has a laundry area. It also has a fridge and a dishwasher (I am so blessed)! It has two large rooms downstairs one to be the dining room (which we are going to use as a play room) and the living room. There is also a half bath. There is also a tiny room right as you come in the door of the house that Mike says gets to be my scrapbooking room. YEA! A Hide-a-way for me! The bedrooms are small by American standards but for homes around here they are quite nice. We are going to use one as a closet, Sarah & Cory's room, Bethany's nursery, and our bedroom. There are two bathrooms on that floor with one only have a bathtub and one only having a shower. Here are a few pictures. Also, check out my "Life in Pictures" on the right for further pictures and details. Mike even gets a garage! Check out our HUGE yard!

Love you all!!

BTW! - no complaining if your refrigerator is too small. The ones in the UK are TINY!

Home

2009-03-31T13:30:00.003+01:00

Here are pictures of the tiny place we are living. It is a one bedroom and it is about a 20x20 room. We are very crammed and all we do it step on each other. It is very hard getting over jet lag in this tiny place. When one of us is awake we are all awake.

We landed in London!

2009-03-27T11:13:00.001Z

We landed in London. Got off the plane and knew that we had to find all of our luggage. We found where our luggage was and Mike creatively stacked our 10 bags plus our few things that we carried on onto two carts. We got to the customs counter and we showed them our passports and their really wasn’t any issues there. Then we went and found our luggage. Now we were really hungry and I wanted to find food but we were not sure how far we were going to have to travel to get there (we had 2 hours). We also had learned that because the kids were walking that it takes a lot longer to get places because of their little legs and them getting distracted by all of the people and scenery. We started walking but the kids were not being cooperative and wanted to be carried. That was really challenging since we had to push these carts. It would have been one thing if we would have just pushed the carts on a level surface but we had to go from level to level through these tunnels (Mike sometimes had to duck with Sarah on his shoulders it was so low) pushing and pulling these carts. So we put the kids on our shoulders pushing these carts that you could not see over with one hand hoping that people would just get out of your way. We had many comments about how we pack light. J Little did they know that I was moving here and what I had on those two carts was all I had to live with and have lived with for a month. My first observation of the London airport was that there wasn’t stores and dining places wall to wall. There was lots of long hallways with little to no advertising. They would have little areas with an information desk, maybe a restaurant or two, some bathrooms, car rentals, and maybe a gift shop. We walked down lots of hallways or mostly ramps. We got to where Mike was told that our bus would come and we just prayed that we would be able to find it. There was another family there (she was very anxious and was very glad to see another military family) that it was obvious by all of the luggage that they were going the same direction. Their sponsor met them at the airport. While we are waiting for the bus Mike and Sarah left to go find some lunch while Cory and I sat with the luggage. There was this older gentleman in a wheelchair surrounded by 3 police men (the police wear these black and white checked hats with a brim). I could not really tell what they were doing with him other than he kept opening and closing this briefcase and one of the officers was on and off the phone. Then they would pull each other aside and talk about the situation. This made me a little nervous. Then they moved closer and by the door. I could hear then that they were asking this man about the prescription drugs that he had in his briefcase. Then there were some other authorities that came and they were discussing the situation and eventually they took him out. Not sure what that was all about but a little scary. I definitely felt like a homeless person walking through the airport. There was not a lot of windows and natural lighting in the whole building and we really stuck out with our mounds of luggage. The bus came and there was another gentleman and his wife that was riding the bus home from a day trip from London. They were very helpful. We found out later that they do Military Ministry for Campus Crusade for Christ. I have since emailed her and have gotten some wisdom from them. How awesome the hand of God putting Christians around us from the beginning. I met another Christian today and we also ran into a guy that rented one of our houses in Great Falls. It truly is a small world.

Sorry no pictures. There were signs everywhere saying "No Photography!"

Prayer for Andrew Brown

2009-03-13T16:44:00.002Z

Hey blog friends!
I saw this bulletin on My Space from Suzanne Brown. Will you please join me in prayer for Andrew?

Hello everyone, I am writing to ask you all to pray for our little Andrew. On Monday, the docs were having trouble pulling blood from his central line. They decided that we should return Wednesday to have an echocardiogram done. Dr. Garrington called today and told us that Andrew has a blood clot in his superior vena cava. That is one of the veins that brings blood to the heart. We are going to Denver tomorrow morning to have a catheter put in a muscle in his leg, so that we can give him twice daily injections of a anticoagulant at home for as long as it takes for the clot to go away. He told me today that he isn't scared of doing this as long as he doesn't have to feel the needle two times every day. All of this makes me think back to a few days ago when we were in Texas at Grandma Busker's (Jeff's Grandma) funeral. We were on our way to the cemetary and Andrew was laying sideways in the backseat. He suddenly said look mom, a heart in the sky. I looked up and there was a perfect heart drawn in the clouds. I truly believe that the heart was from Grandma Busker sending her love to all of us, but I am beginning to think that maybe Andrew was the one who picked it out of the sky for a reason. There is a picture of the heart that Andrew saw that day in my March 2009 album. Please pray for our little boy, that God will dissolve this clot and that he won't need these injections for long! I know that God is AWESOME and he has healed Andrew once. I am praying for another healing, and I am asking you to pray for that too.
Love to all of you, Suzanne

UL Promotion

2009-03-10T22:28:00.000Z

Just wanted to let you know about a special promotion that Uppercase Living is having right now.

Buy One, Get One ½ Off!
Just when you thought Buy One, Get One ½ Off was just for shoes!
Purchase any item from March 4 – April 6, and you’ll get ½ Off any
additional item of equal or lesser value.*
Choose from any of our fabulous accessories, exclusive expressions, or
even a MyDesign™ — there’s no limit to the ways you can enhance your
home, or the number of ½ Off items you can get!

Check out my web site at http://livingwords.uppercaseliving.net

Looking...

2009-02-26T14:39:00.002Z

Looking at the natural this move to England is really scary. A week from today all of my belongings will be packed up. Lets just hope that sometime between now and then I figure out what is going into storage and get it set aside and also have time to get our suitcases packed. We are going to Missoula this weekend and I am excited about that. I need time for a physical break but sleep has been very minimal because there is just so much on my mind to do and being away I am sure that I will just think about what I should be at home doing. This pregnancy has been very uneventful other than the ultrasound is showing that I have partial placenta previa. Sarah and Cory are wild children these days. Mike told me last night that when all the packing and organizing is over that he would take me to London!! :)

Looking into the spiritual I am on the adventure of faith. I do not know where I will be living in a month but God knows and I have peace in that. I do not know who will care for my older children while I give birth to this child that God has knit together in my womb but God knows and I have peace in that. I do not know if I will be able to have this child naturally but God knows and I have peace in that. My placenta will move and I have faith in that!!! God has called us to a new mission field and I am very excited about that. I cling to His word that says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Off to packing!

Fleming Fun

2009-02-09T20:46:00.003Z

Well this is actually the Superbowl party. I had to share pictures! I am so blessed to have spent this season in my life with the Flemings and I hate to leave but I know that God has something big for us. I am sure there will be more time together with you, Steven & Christel but you have blessed our live so much! I truly love this picture of Emily and Sarah. My plan is to put it up in her room when we get to England. Emily, you have the most adorable personality and you are going to be a powerful woman of God because you have parents that will show you the way. Noah, I just can't get enough of those sweet cheeks. You are going to rock the world for Jesus!
Christel, thanks for sharing your kids with me. And to all the fun times! CHEERS!

Kyla was so adorable falling asleep on Rebecca's lap. What a doll!

For the love of ribbon!

2009-01-28T04:26:00.000Z

No Tammy it is not the pictures of Cory's Birthday yet (I still can't find which card they are on....

Packing, orgnaizing, packing.... that is all that I seem to do these days. I have been trying to figure out something to do with all my ribbon. With a little inspiration from Ali I grabbed these two Uppercase Living boxes and cut some slits in the slides. And..... there you go. Ribbon organizers! Some day I will have time to paint them and make them look all beautiful but it is function and organization over beauty these days!

Eliana Cotto

2009-01-28T04:16:00.004Z

I had the privilege of watching Eliana last weekend while Debra & Josue were at Base Camp. We got all dressed up for church and I just could not resist a photo op of this beautiful girl. She is such a precious little doll to have around. I will truly miss you Elie!

American Hero

2009-01-23T18:19:00.005Z

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

Mike reenlisted on Tues. What a day to make another commitment to serving our country. 11 down now only 9 more until retirement. How crazy is that! I am so proud of you, Mike. What an honor it is to be your wife.

History of the Oath of Enlistment

During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress established different oaths for the enlisted men of the Continental Army.

The first oath, voted on 14 June 1775 as part of the act creating the Continental Army, read:

I _____ have, this day, voluntarily enlisted myself, as a soldier, in the American continental army, for one year, unless sooner discharged: And I do bind myself to conform, in all instances, to such rules and regulations, as are, or shall be, established for the government of the said Army.

The original wording was effectively replaced by Section 3, Article 1, of the Articles of War approved by Congress on 20 September 1776, which specified that the oath of enlistment read:

I _____ swear (or affirm as the case may be) to be trued to the United States of America, and to serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies opposers whatsoever; and to observe and obey the orders of the Continental Congress, and the orders of the Generals and officers set over me by them.

The first oath under the Constitution was approved by Act of Congress 29 September 1789 (Sec. 3, Ch. 25, 1st Congress). It applied to all commissioned officers, noncommissioned officers and privates in the service of the United States. It came in two parts, the first of which read: "I, A.B., do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be) that I will support the constitution of the United States." The second part read: "I, A.B., do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be) to bear true allegiance to the United States of America, and to serve them honestly and faithfully, against all their enemies or opposers whatsoever, and to observe and obey the orders of the President of the United States of America, and the orders of the officers appointed over me." The next section of that chapter specified that "the said troops shall be governed by the rules and articles of war, which have been established by the United States in Congress assembled, or by such rules and articles of war as may hereafter by law be established."

The 1789 enlistment oath was changed in 1960 by amendment to Title 10, with the amendment (and current wording) becoming effective in 1962.

Friends: real or fake?

2009-01-13T04:44:00.001Z

FAKE FRIENDS: Never ask for food.
REAL FRIENDS: Are the reason you have no food.

FAKE FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr / Mrs
REAL FRIENDS: Call your parents DAD/MOM

FAKE FRIENDS: Never seen you cry
REAL FRIENDS: Cry with you

FAKE FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back
REAL FRIENDS: Keep your stuff so long they forget it's yours

FAKE FRIENDS: Know a few things about you
REAL FRIENDS: Could write a book about you with direct quotes

FAKE FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that is what the crowd is doing
REAL FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowdsʼ butts that left you

FAKE FRIENDS: Would knock on your front door
REAL FRIENDS: Walk right in and say 'I'M HOME!'

FAKE FRIENDS: Are for a while
REAL FRIENDS: Are for life

FAKE FRIENDS: Will talk bad to the person who talks bad about you.
REAL FRIENDS: Will knock the person out that talked bad about you

If you were killed today, I'm sorry I wouldn't be able to come to your funeral.
I'd be in jail for killing the person who did it to you.

"A friend is someone who reaches for your hand . . . and touches your heart."

Tagged!

2009-01-09T20:27:00.003Z

This is a picture of the Missouri River here in Great Falls. The water was really coming over the dam last spring and it was very awesome to see.

So here is what you do:
Open the 4th picture folder in your computer.

Open the 4th picture folder in that folder and post it on your blog.

Explain the picture.

Tag other bloggers to do the same (you can notify them in their comments section).

so I will tag:

Sarah
Heather
Abby

Looking for wisdom...

2009-01-05T05:30:00.002Z

So I am calling out to blogland because I need some wisdom. We are getting ready to move to England in March and unfortunately we have a lot of STUFF! You know all the stuff it takes to live and a lot of things that you just don't want to part with because you "Might" need it. Well, beyond that I need some help. I am trying to make my lists of what needs to go in our "Quick Shipment" and what should not go at all. Everything else will just go. So questions for the quick shipment are... How likely is it that I am going to have my house (not living in TLF) and not yet have my big shipment? Should I pack pots, pans, cleaning stuff, kids sleeping bags? I know that they do not lend us pillows or sheets so I will be shipping that in the quick shipment. What about the new baby stuff? Should I sent it in the quick shipment or do you think I will mostlikely get the big shipment in time from March to the end of May (I am due June 4th and usually go early)? I am hoping that talking to TMO will answer some of these questions but I feel like a real dummy when it comes to this. So for instance, I think that I need to send my toaster oven (I don't even know what small appliances to send because of the electricity conversion, anyway) in the quick shipment but that means that I will not have it here for how long trying to make things before I get there and "might" need it again. I know this really sounds like selfish dumb thoughts because I think that I need this stuff and that the military should just ship is ASAP because I cannot live without it. I really just don't know what to expect and trying to get me (and Mike) and my two children over with what we will need to live for a month or so in a suitcase or maybe a few just overwhelms me. I know that some of you have done it and I just need to pick your brain if you will allow. Off to try to sleep! Thanks for loving me!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-21T22:28:00.000Z

I just had to post this picture. My grandma bought the kids outfits this year and so at the last minute I decided to grab the camera on the way to church and take Christmas pictures. Summer was our photograper.

We are very excited about this Christmas. The kids, especially Sarah, are really getting into the season. We are having my parents, brothers, grandparents, and lots of family over for the occasion. This will be our last Christmas in Montana for a few years. We are moving to England in March rather than May because there is going to be another Glathar in June. There is a lot that God is preparing ahead for us and we are excited about the plans that He has for us on the other side of the world. I pray that your Christmas is filled with blessings.

The Glathar's

Another purse

2008-12-08T05:54:00.000Z

Another one that I did for Eliana Cotto. The little girl that started me making these silly purses. Love you, Eliana!

Drawing

2008-12-07T21:13:00.003Z

I had my kids do the drawing for the purse. Sarah drew first and it was to Carla. Cory wanted to draw too so I had him draw another one. That one is for Tammy. I am sure that Abie will enjoy it.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Give away!

2008-12-03T05:45:00.004Z

So I have not blogged in a month and now I have blogged three times in one day. Well here it goes...

I was in this adorable little shop in Missoula this weekend and saw purses for little girls similar to these. I really thought that they were adorable. I thought of a few little girls I know and love that I wanted to buy one for (not to mention Sarah) but was shocked when the price for this little 9 by 6 inch purse with a little ribbon handle was $30. Yes $30! Since I have inherited the craft genes from my mother and my grandmother I just have things like this laying around my house. I went into my scrap fabric and found a couple cute buttons and of course I have some ribbon laying around. So I decided since I of course have made a couple I should give one away. Post some little comment on my blog and on Sunday I will draw for the winner!

PS - the inside is bright pink!

PPS- Sorry to those of you who have boys. Cory feels left out too! :)

Pumpkin Carving

2008-12-03T00:55:00.000Z

Before all the guys went on a hunting trip together. The Rhodes invited us over for a bowl of soup and apple cider while we carved a pumpkin.

My mom on Halloween

2008-12-03T00:45:00.000Z

I am very behind on my blogging but i took these pictures of my mom on Halloween and thought I had better share!

Enjoy!

My Family

2008-10-27T02:08:00.001Z

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

I just think this is so cute I had to post it!

Shotgun wedding...

2008-10-07T04:43:00.002+01:00

Congratulations Seth & Ginny! Isn't this wedding so beautiful? Thanks for letting us share your day with you. Many years of blessings to you.

Pictures

2008-10-02T20:45:00.000+01:00

My grandma has been up north from Texas since the beginning of August. She spent a little time in Wyoming visiting my cousins and aunts and uncles there and then we had a family reunion over Labor Day. She came home with me and spent a couple weeks helping me. Falling more in love with my children and then spent a couple weeks with my parents. Last weekend they came and visited and we had to take some pictures. Here you go Grammie!

Proud Mamma!

2008-09-25T01:23:00.002+01:00

Children's Name(s)?
Sarah Faith
Cory Wayne

How long did labor last?
Sarah - 20hrs
Cory - 32 hrs

How long did you push?
Sarah - an hour
Cory - under an hour

Did you go all natural or drugs or c-section?
drugs!!

Boy or Girl?
1 boy, 1 girl

Weight?
Sarah 6lb 13 oz
Cory 8lb 1 oz

Inches long?
19,21

ANY HAIR?
no hair!

how much weight did you gain while pregnant?
25 with both

Did you lose it all?
yea right!

Was baby early or late?
2 weeks early for both

Who drove you to the hospital?
Mike

Did you breastfeed?
yeah...Sarah for 4 months....Cory 6 months

Who keeps your baby the most?
ME!!!!

How did you pick the name?
They are both names after friends. Cory's middle name is after my dad. God just knew that Sarah would need faith

Who cut the cord?
Mike

Where was the baby born?
both at Benefis in Great Falls

Did you video tape the birth?
no

Who was in the room with you?
Just Mike

Do you want to have another?
yep maybe after we get to England

REPOST IT AS :::
*ALL PROUD MOMMIES FILL THIS OUT

I've been tagged!

2008-09-09T04:49:00.002+01:00

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE: nope
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED: thursday
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING: not at all
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT: turkey
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS: yep two adorable ones
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU: I hope so
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM: not usually
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS:no
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP:not at all
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL: oatmeal
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF: yea
12. DO YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE STRONG: yea, strong enough to live through a deployment
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM: vanilla with caramel topping
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE: their hair
15. RED OR PINK: red
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF: wanting everything to be right
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST: Sarah
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU: only if they want to
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING: blue sweats and barefoot
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE: dinner
21. WHAT ARE YOU listening to RIGHT NOW:my mom talking
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE: RED!
23. FAVORITE SMELLS: wood stoves in the winter
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE: my mom
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU: David! YEA!
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH: volleyball, football
27. HAIR COLOR: strawberry blond with red
28. EYE COLOR: blue
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS:no
30. FAVORITE FOOD: chia seeds
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS: happy endings
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED: Snow Buddies
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING: brown
34. SUMMER OR WINTER: winter....let it snow let it snow let it snow
35. HUGS OR KISSES: kisses
36. FAVORITE DESSERT: cobbler, crisp or cheesecake
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND: I don't know
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND: Laura Beth.....she should be in labor any day now!
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW:the Bible
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD: nothing
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT: nothing
42. FAVORITE SOUND:my husband's voice
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES: neither
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME: TX until May when I will be in England
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT:scrapbooking!
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN: Worland, Wyoming
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK: I tag Vonnie & Sarah (so she will post something)

I did it!

2008-09-04T06:37:00.001+01:00

I just want to thank you all for your help with my web site. I changed it to http://livingwords.uppercaseliving.net

Help! I am in a quandary

2008-08-24T06:07:00.002+01:00

I have been debating this for a while and just decided to ask my creative blog friends to help me. Uppercase Living has given us web sites to post our business on the web. We have known about this for a while but I was on vacation and did not take a lot of thought to think about the name f my web site. Right now it is http://lifeexpressions.uppercaseliving.net. I have a few problems with this now that I have created it. 1. It is long! If I want to put this on the side of my car it would take the whole side of my van! 2. I don't like having the two "e's" together. I need your help in deciding if it is worth changing and if there is something better that is not already taken. Here are some of my thoughts: 1. katie is taken 2. katieg is taken 3. Glathar more often than not gets misspelled. 4. I just can't think of a fun creative word that has not been used already. Please help me out! Ideas....

Happy 3rd Birthday, Princess!

2008-08-23T04:46:00.003+01:00

I always dreamed of being a mother but I never expected that it would take me down this road. My Sarah has grown up so fast. I can't believe she is 3! Her birthday is going to be spread out over a few days. Wednesday we went out to dinner with family and she got her own dessert. Today she had a fun trip to the park with Abie. Lord willing, we will have a trip to Wyoming and we will celebrate there too with all of the other Frederick's that are celebrating in August and September. What a joy!

We are back!

2008-08-14T02:57:00.001+01:00

We are back from our vacation to the Oregon coast! We had a good time but after 4 days in the care to get home we are ready to be here. I put some new pictures up but I will tell the stories later.

Off like a herd of turtles....

2008-07-22T15:41:00.003+01:00

Vacation has finally come. We are doing the last bit of packing and then we will be off to Missoula. We had a fun weekend with my parents and even floated the Missouri. I am VERY sun burned (yes I used sun screen)! From Missoula we will be in Spokane then to Portland and then a week on the coast! YAHOO! Can't wait! Love you all!

Thanks 'Sister!'

2008-06-26T19:16:00.001+01:00

I got this from a dear 'Sister' and I am sending it to you blogland 'Sisters!'

A young wife sat on a sofa on a hot humid day, drinking iced tea and visiting with her Mother. As they talked about life, about marriage, about the responsibilities of life and the obligations of adulthood, the mother clinked the ice cubes in her glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance upon her daughter
'Don't forget your Sisters,' she advised, swirling the tea leaves to the bottom of her glass. 'They'll be more important as you get older. No matter how much you love your husband, no matter how much you love the children you may have, you are still going to need Sisters. Remember to go places with them now and then; do things with them.'
'Remember that 'Sisters' means ALL the women... your girlfriends, your daughters, and all your other women relatives too. 'You'll need other women. Women always do.'
What a funny piece of advice!' the young woman thought. Haven't I just gotten married?
Haven't I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a married woman, for goodness sake! A grownup! Surely my husband and the family we may start will be all I need to make my life worthwhile!'
But she listened to her Mother. She kept contact with her Sisters and made more women friends each year. As the years tumbled by, one after another, she gradually came to understand that her Mom really knew what she was talking about. As time and nature work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman, Ssters are the mainstays of her life.
After more than 50 years of living in this world, here is what I've learned:
THIS SAYS IT ALL:
Time passes. Life happens. Distance separates. Children grow up. Jobs come and go. Love waxes and wanes. Men don't do what they're supposed to do. Hearts break. Parents die. Colleagues forget favors. Careers end.
BUT.........
Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you. A girl friend is never farther away than needing her can reach.
When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the valley's end.
Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you...Or come in and carry you out.Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters, daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers, Grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended family, all bless our life!
The world wouldn't be the same without women, and neither would I. When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other.
Every day, we need each other still. Pass this on to all the women who help make your life meaningful.
I just did. Short and very sweet:
There are more than twenty angels in this world.
Ten are peacefully sleeping on clouds. Nine are playing. And one is reading her email at this moment.
Send this to all the the great 'Sisters' in your life, including the one who sent it to you!

Spring?

2008-06-11T20:29:00.001+01:00

Most of you are enjoying nice spring weather. We here in Montana have a few inches of snow (enough to cover the grass and rip the trees of any leaves they had). I am going to take some pictures and will post them later.

Bio

2008-05-30T06:04:00.003+01:00

I had to write a Bio for my Uppercase Living Newsletter and I thought that I would share it with you. We all need to see on paper that we actually have accomplished something not just doing the monotonous tasks of laundry, meals, and cleaning.

Raised on a farm in rural Montana near Power, Katie Glathar knows hard work first hand. She attended Eastern Washington University for a few years before returning to Great Falls working as a Flex Plan Administrator. Shortly thereafter she met her husband, Mike at Great Falls Christian Center. In 2003 she began her challenging career as an Air Force wife. Her passion is helping people have a deeper connection to the church through small groups and encouraging other mothers through hard years of motherhood by coordinating MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). She currently has a 2 year old daughter, Sarah and 1 year old son, Cory. Being a mother is her most time-consuming task but very rewarding. She enjoys the outdoors and is very avid about nutrition. Her creative spirit is contagious as she enjoys scrap booking and blogging. For her, Uppercase Living has been a tool to express herself through words and an excuse to have a night out with the girls!

Uppercase Living

2008-04-22T07:07:00.001+01:00

I am so excited about this piece that I just finished. This picture really does not do this frame any justice but I thought I had to share. It says, " This is my beloved and this is my friend." The picture in the center is a picture that I took of a waterfall on our honeymoon. This is how easy it is to transform a picture into artwork with Uppercase Living.

Jump

2008-04-22T04:53:00.000+01:00

As most of you have probably heard we have a lot of snow here in Montana. I decided that we needed pictures. Summer came and took pictures for us and I could not help but get jumpping pictures for Susie! Keep warm!

Scrap booking...

2008-04-20T05:23:00.003+01:00

Sometimes I will find a pattern and think this would be really cute background for a page. No I am not pregnant and looking for bedding (especially on Gap) but I was looking for clothes for pictures on the beach and this came up. I might have to duplicate this pattern and make a card or a background for a scrapbook page.
Somet