Caleb's 8th Birthday!

February 12th was Caleb's 8th Birthday!! We celebrated by having homemade pizza & cake and ice cream. The neighbors (McCarley Family) came over to celebrate with us also. I am SO very thankful for the 8 years we have had with Caleb!! His birthday is the most precious to celebrate of all of my children, due to the fact that he was born not breathing (due to the cord being wrapped around his tiny neck) but God was merciful to us. Today he is a happy, healthy, smart, talkative boy!!

Pro-Life Rally

On Sunday, January 18, 2009 we attended the Roe vs. Wade Memorial Rally in downtown Portland @ Pioneer Square. The rally was a memorial to honor the 50 milliion babies killed by abortion since the Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973. It was the largest pro-life event in Oregon's history with an estimated 7,000 people! Here are some websites to find out the truth about abortion & how you can help the pro-life movement:

http://www.abort73.com/

http://www.standupgirl.com/

http://www.abortionno.org/

http://www.portlandprc.org/

Joey's 2nd Birthday

Today was Joseph's 2nd Birthday. He had fun opening his presents, blowing out his candles & eating cake.

Christmas 2008

Our Christmas this year was small, simple & relaxing. We had fun decorating the tree & making cookies the week prior to Christmas. We tried to keep the focus (as always) on Jesus' birth. We celebrated Advent nightly by lighting the candles & reading the devotionals for our "Jesse Tree". We had our annual birthday party for Jesus in the evening.

Jesse Tree

Jesus' Cake

Rosettes

Giving Thanks

Psalm 118:1 "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for his steadfast love endures forever."

I'm always trying to focus on my children's hearts during the holidays - pointing them towards Jesus, so this year we made a "Thankful Turkey". We wrote on the feathers of our turkey the things we are thankful to God for. Scipture tells us to be always thankful, not just one day each year.

Rick Job/School Update

This is a long overdue update, since we have not updated the blog concerning Rick's Job situation since he lost his job in August... In September, Rick had another bout with Viral Meningitis & was VERY sick for 3 weeks! He recovered & Praise the Lord, his migraines have been less frequent & not as intense!!! :-)

The Hynix employees were granted TAA retraining benefits, which means that Rick has the opportunity to go to school for up to 2 years! He will be paid unemployment benefits for those 2 years & will not have to look for work. He is VERY excited about going to school & getting out of the semiconductor industry (after 17+ years).

Rick is going to retrain in the medical field to be a nurse. After weeks of researching nursing programs in Oregon & Washington, he has found ~3 schools that he is interested in. He is in a time crunch to choose a school & turn in a "retraining plan" for approval.

He asks for prayer that:
1) He will get accepted into a school
2) The paperwork from the government will process quickly
3) Continued provision while he is going to school
and simply that God's hand will guide and lead us in accordance with His plan for our family.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

~~FALL~~

Fall is here, the crisp mornings, leaves turning colors & falling out of the trees. The garden is now finished & we're preparing for the winter here on the farm: making sure children have warm clothes & rubber boots, repairing fence, breeding animals, purchasing winter feed, butchering animals, etc

Here's some fun pics (taken by Valerie) of Noah & Caleb jumping in one of the leaf piles after they raked up the yard.