Proclamation of Thanksgiving

This past year has brought forth numerous reasons to give the Lord praise for his gracious work in our lives.

I could list countless answers to prayers, unexpected blessings, and amazing displays of the Lord's character in our lives.

I think Abraham Lincoln said it well in his Proclamation of Thanksgiving when he said, "No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy."

I also wanted to share another excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation of Thanksgiving. This proclamation that made Thanksgiving 'offical' tells us a lot about America's history and the Charachter of Lincoln. It highlights the purpose of the Thanksgiving Holiday as not just a day to be thankful, but more specifically, a day to be thankful to our Lord and Savior. He humbly stated, "It has seemed to me fit and proper that {blessings} should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience."

The reason Lincoln was so amazed at God's goodness was because the Lord was Merciful to a nation that was very much imperfect and fallen. While being thankful for the Lord's mercies, Lincoln humbly asked beleivers to consider, with humble penitence, the disobedience of people, and the nation, against the Lord.

It is a perfect analogy of the Gospel. In reminds me of Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God has always been a God of great mercy. He demonstrated it by dying for our sins on the cross and he still demonstrates it today by his work in our lives even though we don't deserve or earn it.

Please join us in offering praising and adoration to GOD today and everyday this upcoming year, for who He is and what He has done.

Fall Family Pictures

I absolutely adore my family! I am so excited about sharing my family pictures with all of you. My incredible husband & precious children make these pictures priceless.



Aren't these three boys so cute! Luke, Leighton & McCabe are so incredible. They are such a blessing to my life and I cannot fully express how much I love them.

Brothers!

Leighton and McCabe are so cute. It can be hard to get a picture of the two of them together, but this morning we had a little bit of success. McCabe loved the camera!
Leighton, as you can see in the picture below, would rather have been exploring the new christmas decorations. He rebelled against the idea of a photo shoot but I was able to get a few good ones.

Viking Horns

You might have to look really closely to see that Uncle Jake put Viking horns in McCabe's hair!

PlayDough

As the weather has started to get cooler and cooler, I got more and more nervous about how I would keep an active little boy entertained all winter. My neighbor suggested playdough. Leighton loves playing with it. He doesn't understand how to use cookie cutters yet, but he likes to put dinosaurs and farm animals in.




For those of you who don't get the priviledge of hearing his precious voice start to say words, I thought I would share how he says some of his favorites!

Die - Sa = Dinosaur
Dow = Cow
Ho - Dow = Holy Cow
Peacheese = Peaches
Flowey = Flower
Hammey = Hammer
Baaa = Ball
Waaa - Weeee = Water
Ju = Juice
Mill = Milk
Nack = Snack
Pho = Phone
Babe Seep = Baby is Sleeping
Paci = Pacifier
Bot - Ball = Football
Pee - Sa = Pizza
Nuggie = Chicken Nuggets
Peas = Please
Noo - Noo = Noodle

There are several more too! And there are some that he says correctly too! It is so wonderful to hear him communicate and begin to understand us as well.

Luke the Leader

Luke is the leader of our family. He is a great servant leader! Unfortunately this means we all had to wear Iowa gear!

First Hair Cut

Angela cut Leighton's hair this afternoon after Sunday morning church. It was sad to see his long locks get cut off but he is still just as handsome!
Thanks Angela! (And thanks to Rick for sweeping his hair off of the church floor!)

Update on the House

We are getting very excited to move into our house. We have been renovating for a couple of months now and are reaching the end of the process. We have learned so much and Luke has gotten to help with all the projects. We have encountered so many blessings along the way that remind us of God's goodness and his faithfulness in our lives.

I wanted to post some updates on the house. I wish I had pictures to share ... but I don't!

Here are some of the projects that we/others have completeled or are almost finished with:
1. Painted 2 bedrooms, the hallway, the kitchen, the living room and the dining room.
2. Drilled holes and blew insulation into all of the outer walls (Yes that means re-painting!)
3. Gutted Kitchen, laid kitchen floor, hung kitchen cabinets, installed some of the appliances, got the countertop put in.
4. Bathroom gutted, cement coard hung, tub surround and floor tiled!
5. Textured the upstairs attic/bedroom
6. Installed new windows
7. Cleaned and extended gutters and other various outdoor projects.

Still to Come:
1. Painting the upstairs bedroom, the bathroom, the entryway, all the outerwalls that were insulated, some ceilings and the doors.
2. Kitchen Lighting
3. Chair Rail installed in living and dining room
4. Get a railing for upstaris
5. Rip out carpet and re-carpet upstairs
6. Massive cleaning of the house from walls, floors and corners, to sinks and tubs
7. Massive cleaning of everything in the house from furniture to clothes.
8. Setting up and decorating! (I cannot wait for this one!)

Any guesses on how long that will take? Our guess is 2 more weeks. But anyone who knows us knows that we have been saying "only 2 more weeks" since we got the keys on August 28. That statement will eventually be true, so we are sticking with it!

Thanks again to all those who have helped and are still helping.

Thanks to Luke for being an incredibly hard worker and provider.

And thanks and praise to God for allowing us to have a place of our own!

Gardening Shovel

Leighton would not put down his gardening shovel when we were playing outside today. I am amazed at how much he explores and digs and gathers. It was a fun fall day and I enjoyed spending it with my sons.

Raking Leaves

Leighton helped grandma & grandpa rake and fill the bucket with the leaves.Then he would carry the bucket to the space behind the fence.
Then Leighton dumped the leaves out of the bucket.
And then Leighton run back for more raking and more buckets full of leaves.

These pictures don't even show how amazing Leighton was at raking. He really did help rake leaves for about 30 minutes. He loved carrying the leaves, emptying the bucket and returning for more. He was such a hard worker.