My girls...

Just hangin out..

We discovered Heritage Park a few weeks ago... great place to hang out.. very nice large park.. We went there a few weeks ago with the family and Jesse and Jen!! Fun !!

Maddie's first bath...

Aleeza was very excited about helping daddy do this.. don't worry ... her first bath was about 6 weeks ago.. I am just a little late in posting..

Day by Day...

"Day by day and with each passing moment strength I find to meet my trails here". This is the only song that I have been meditating on lately. Hard times are here but we know that with the Lords' help we can make it. We have to make it. Thanks for your continued prayers!

A recent one...

Family and friends I know always like an update... so here is the most reason one Brandon wrapped up... Closed out a few weeks ago. Way to go honey!!! We have one more that we are closing out this month so I will post pictures of it soon... Amazing job as usual!! We should start our own tour of homes..:)

My mom...

Please keep praying for my mom. She is in OK this week with her sister. She is still having pain with her back. Just keep praying for her. Thanks!

Lake Day

What do you get with 4 adults, two toddler, one newborn, and unbelievable amount of stuff and a gorgeous lake? A fun filled day at the lake! Yesterday we decided to head to the lake with our friends Jen and Jesse. It was a gorgeous day. Not too hot. Aleeza had an absolute blast. She was little miss bravery. The geese, fish and the little boat that she got to ride in were a huge hit. There was a big storm that was coming so we headed out in the afternoon. It was very nice just to get away for a litttle bit! Thanks to Jen for all her help with the girls. I need about 8 arms right now and well, I don't have them. We had to make a quick trip my Aunt Sues on the way home. Love Aunt Sues!

Jesse, Brandon and Aleeza enjoying the lake!

Mommy and my little Livvy!! What a cutie!

Aleeza and Jen enjoying the nice cool water!

Must have the paci!

Isn't this pretty?

Girls out...

My friend Jen and I were able to go out for supper on Friday night. It was nice. I have not been out with out the girls in well a long time. So in the meantime you might be wondering what the girls did do? Well Daddy took them swimming with Jesse. They had fun. Jen and I had a nice time to. We went to one of my favorites... Brick Street Cafe... it was nice to just sit and relax for a while. Of course then we ended the night with some Cold Stone. You have to end the night with ice cream!

Another girl.... not me...

My sister in law called.... we have grandaughter number 6 on the way... so the boy is still up for grabs... HA dont' worry not from us any time soon. :)

Praise

Thank you all for praying. We have been greatly encouraged the past few days with some very promising leads. We know that the Lord will supply. Thank you for your prayers!

Faith and Brandon

Pastor Minnick preached an amazing message last Sunday morning on faith. It is almost like he knows exactly what Brandon and I are going through. Actually, we know it is just the Lord laying these messages on his heart to preach to us. We have experienced some very difficult times latley and right now the future holds many more. We do not understand what the Lord has in store for us. This is just another shout out to my dear husband. He never really gets to read this so I can brag all I want on him and he will not be embarrased. He is an amazing husband, father, friend, worker, encourager... and the list could go on and on. I would like to focus on the father part first being that father's day is Sunday. He is a great father to the girls. They could not ask for a better dad. He works so hard to provide for their needs and mine. Times are tough right now because unfortunetly in this line of work he works so hard just get give people want and well the Lord has different plans for how things will wind up. Back to the father part. He is so loving to them, but yet firm, he cares for them like no other father. As far as the husband part, well, he is yet again amazing. The Lord has really been testing us lately. Our line of work has seemed to have slowed down but yet he has faith that things will pick back up soon. He comes home everyday from working so incredidbly hard just to make our ends meet and comes homes to four hormonal girls.. fun times for him. :) He never complains about the house or supper or anything for that matter. He just loves to be home with his wife and family. I am so rebuked at times by him because he can keep such a good face in bad times. As far as the worker part, well those of you out there who have ever had him do any work for you at all know what kind of work he does. He takes amazing pride in his work, quality is number one to him and getting the job done and right is his main goal. He will literally not have money to spend if it means getting someone in their house. For example, this past April we celebrated our five year anniversary. He had planned his trip to PNG about a year and half ago so we knew that would interfer with our plans, but at the same time we would have liked to have gone away for our anniversary but instead he stayed here to work on some clients house to get them moved in on time. Most builders in this line of work would have shoved everything else to the back burner. Now, I on the other hand am thankful that he did do this for our clients because it meant that he is a man of his word, plus I was practically 9 months pregnant and really didn't feel like going anywhere. :) so back to the faith part, Pastor Minnick ended his sermon with "stare impossibilites right in the eye and face them with faith". Wow very hard at times but exactly what we needed right now in our life. Brandon has strong desire and we feel like the Lord would have us to continue this buisness but we can't do that without His help. So if you know of any one out there that is looking for a great builder let us know, or need any side jobs done we can help. We are very thankful once again to have the Lord on our side during hard times. I am not sure how people can live with out knowing that the Lord is the only one who will provided for you and he will not let a righteous man go hungry. That is very comforting during this time. Thanks for your contiuned prayers!

Introducing Madison Kae....

Well the story goes something like this.....:) My scheduled c-section was for May 24. On May 20, Tuesday evening something very odd happened that has never happened before. My body decided to go into labor a week early. My acutal due date was May 31. Well, naturally as I have been called the past few days, I was stubborn. I didn't want to think that I was actually going into labor. I had not even packed the girls things. They weren't suppossed to be leaving until Friday night. Well, the Lord had other plans. My contractions didn't even give me a fair warning. They just started right in at 7 pm and around 10 pm I told Brandon I had had enough and he called the doctor. The doctor pretty much scolled him for not bringing me in as soon as it started. He was wondering if I thought they were going to go away. Well, we called my parents and they quickly made it over here. In the mean time I couldn't wait and the contractions were about 1-2 minutes apart and I was "dying". We called Marrissa and K.K my life saver girls to come over and wait here till my parents arrived. In the meantime it was off. How unprepared I was. I was throwing necessity things into a bag and making sure Brandon had packed what little things the girls could get by with for a few days. Well, we were off and I mean off. This was the most intense labor of all. When I did arrive Dr. Ellison was all ready to preform the c-section but in the midst of all the excitment the lab lost my blood work and I had to sit there for almost 2 hours while they scurred around looking for it. In the mean time I have no pain medicine and I just keep trying to fall asleep to get through. We can hear them talking in the hallway about how they can't find it and they don't know what to do. They can't preform surgery without testing my blood first. Well, around 12:30 it finally shows up and I am off to the surgery room. As soon as the spinal started working I was thrilled. 50 minutes later we have baby Madison Kae. We are thrilled at the Lord's timing. I came home late Friday afternoon and so far so good. She looks nothing like her sisters who look nothing a like. :) We are so thankful to the Lord for another safe delievery of a wonderful daughter and looking forward to having a few more children if the Lord wills. We are so blessed and have so much to be thankful for!

I am so thankful also at this time for my parents. Please pray for my mom though. She took a nice fall on Friday while swinging with Olivia. She is in a lot of pain. Thanfully my dad is there to help with the girls. We both seem to be out of commission at the currrent moment and the men are taking care of their girls. Brandon has two on this end that he is doing a great job of taking care of, and my dad is doing a wonderful job with his two granddaughters!! Thank you to both of them. We couldn't make it through this time without you both!!!!

Another birthday bash...

We had another birthday party with our good friends Jesse and Jen. Jesse's birthday is close to the girls so Jen made a cake with all three of their names on it. It was a very special time for us. Dont' worry their dogs couldn't hurt a fly and Livvy absolutely loved them. Aleeza was warmed up by the end of the night. Thanks again Jen!!!!

ok here goes....

Wow talk about a busy past month.. I am not sure where to start.. except to first give God all the glory and praise on how He has miraculously brought us through another tough month and we have seen Him truly glorified. Brandon's buisness is slower than it has ever been but seems to be that way for many builders right now. The Lord has contiuned to bring in work for him and has supplied our every needs. It is amazing. I can't list the many many times we have seen him work over and over and over again.

Well, first off we had a combined birthday for the girls before Madison was born. We had a house full of people but had a blast. Aleeza was totally into her party this year and Livvy well like usual just into the cake. Aleeza turned 3 and Livvy turned 1. I can't believe how quickly they have grown up.

Aleeza in her new apron from Aunt Judy and Uncle Claude... we are teaching her early!

Prayer..

I have pictures to post but don't have much time right now. I am just asking that everyone be praying for Brandon and I during the next few weeks and months. The Lord is doing some amazing things in our lives and teaching us to trust in Him every day, every minute, every second. The Lord is good, He is faithful and He will not fail His children. We are seeking His face daily. We are all doing well, and the girls are getting so big and ready for Madison's appearance into this world. (as well as Mommy). She is quite the active one and likes to get really active at night. What a blessing to have children. They truly have been a comfort and joy to us. I thank each of you who faithfully read this blog and pray for us!

Funny monkeys

Brandon and I seriouly do have two funny monkeys... They are constantly changing. Olivia is still just scooting around on her rear end, no desire for crawling, or pulling up on anything. Aleeza....well...her vocab is developing at a drastic rate. The things that she says just will make your head spin at times. She is fully potty trained now.. well, for the moment. That was a huge deal, but I never felt like pressuring her. I knew when she was ready she would do it and she has! We could not be happier right now with these two! They are adorable.

Then back to reality.....

Brandon did return to us safely and we are so happy for that. After returning we were able to talk again but how much we have to be thankful for, but then again how much we would have to be thankful for even if we had nothing. We would still have our Lord and our family and what more do we need? We both have been to PNG once and he has been twice since then and everytime it just amazes us at how these people literally have nothing except what they carrry in a little pouch around their neck and the thatch roof they live underneath and how thankful they are. Amazing. The Lord was truly good while Brandon was gone. We were able to get lots done and the girls and I had a nice safe time. He is back to reality now. There are some new possibilities opening up for him and the buisness everywhere right now we are just seeking the Lord's face as to what He will have for our lives. In the mean time we are still busy with the buisness, making bows, (well I am) raising the girls and getting ready for girl number 3 in about 6 weeks. Wow!!! We both can't believe it. We are still doing the Dave Ramsey stuff as many of you know. I was so proud the other day when I was in Target and had my three seperate transactions because the money was coming out of three seperate envelopes and the man checking me out said you must doing the Dave Ramsey book. I gave him a big smile and said YES. Usually the cashiers just sort of roll their eyes when I am checking out one thing at a time. I just keep telling myself, who is saving the money here. :) Everything else is good and we trust that all of you are doing well also!

Soccer

Brandon could never go to PNG without a little game of soccer....

Here are some pictures of the local people. As you can see from the pictures the land there is very beautiful but extremely hard on the people. They age very quickly there.
Here is Matt Crain teaching his Sunday School lesson in the school house.

Brandon is ready to go to war.

The kids love to have their pictures made. They are so adorable.

Brandon made this treasure box for this little boy there. He has cerebral palsy. Brandon has realy heart for these people and their need of the Savior.

Here is his "best friend" Samuel. He met him last time when he was there three years ago. Samuel has really changed a lot. He is all grown up now.

Brandon playing jacks with the kids.

And of course the babies.... so cute.

Here are some of the huts/ houses the people live in. Check out their view!!!! Amazing.

The only way out.....

They were left with no choice but this way out. The reason they don't use this all the time is expense. It is very expensive to fly. It is not owned by the missionaries. But instead of driving for 8 hours it took 25 minutes... very nice.