Summer 2010!

I'm catching my breath this week and looking back with wonder over the past weeks. Summer has come and gone and our blog has been utterly silent! It's hard to quote to you just what has been preventing me from updating our blog, but let's suffice it to say; we've been busy.

I've contemplated which method to utilize in order to re-cap the summer and I decided to cram it all into one long post.

For the past 2 years we've alluded more than once to the fact that we were treasuring the time we had together with the 12 of us home together. We knew that God had big things on the horizon and changes for our family, so we purposed to enjoy the season to the fullest!

God brought two big changes to our home within a week!!

Our summer began with the beginning of Esther & Micah's courtship!! It was a delight to observe the leading of the Lord in their lives. You can't imagine just how far up on Cloud 9 this couple was!!

At the same time, God provided land for Seth!! Seth has been searching for land in our local area for over 5 years and has spent this time saving to purchase the land debt-free. God provided a chunk of land for him only 12 miles from our home so we are thrilled to have him close by!! His property needs quite a bit of work, so he won't have anytime filling up his time!!

It was a quick change, and a big adjustment, and we sure miss him! We are so grateful to see the Lord's direction in his life and watch how God will use him as he forms his own household. It's fun to have him stop over for supper or join us for a game of volleyball.

This was a very successfull year for our chicken adventures!! We started out with 700 and experienced very few losses! Moses & Micah did a fantastic job of keeping up with the feeding and watering and we all pitched in to help with the butchering. But, oops, no pictures of butchering!! :(

In mid July- we harvested and froze 260 quarts of sweet corn. Our friends the Meyers graciously shared the bounty of their corn crop with us this year and we were happy to spend a day helping pick, shuck, wash, chop, blanch, cut and bag the corn!

This summer we celebrated 10 birthdays in our family. There is nothing like a birthday to remind you of the blessing of life! We are amazed at God's goodness in each year we have together!

One BIG project was the complete remodel our dining room! Our dining room has been in dire need of a make-over for a couple of years now. With the help of dear friends (thank-you, Stangls!!) we were able to start and finish the project before Dad returned home from Africa!! Suprise!!! :)

Each summer we enjoy a special treat when Grandma prepares a shrimp boil for us!! Shrimp, new garden potatoes, corn on the cob, sausage and carrots boiled in spices and dumped out on newspaper for convenient picnic-style eating. Yummy! This year the Ansons were visiting and the boys loved it despite the spicey flavor!!

Other tasks from the summer included;

Making sauerkraut, digging a new trench so the carport will accommodate our bus, canning several dozen quarts of beets, making freezer pickles, making and canning salsa, walking bean fields for an organic farmer, Moses & Micah spending a week working construction for Andrew and Dad spent two weeks in South Africa.

Those projects sprinkled in among the daily tasks of hanging out laundry, ministering in our community, making bread, mowing yards, swimming, washing dishes, playing volleyball, gardening, working, and sewing.

On top of all that, we've had some computer difficulties of late; one computer with a crashed hard-drive, 2 laptops with viruses and one laptop that won't function with the internet. So when we did have time for blogging, a functioning computer was a bit rare!! :)

It's a season of blessings and we are overwhelmed with the things God is doing in our lives and His provision and direction for our family. Each day holds new challenges and trials and gives us a new appreciation of God's abundant grace. Without Him, we are nothing. We are so grateful that He chooses to be involved in our lives on a daily basis!

Stay tuned for more updates!