Catching up...

 Grab a cup of tea and have a seat - let's chat since it has been such a long time!  "Where have I been?" you ask?   And many of you did...so thankful for good friends and faithful customers who checked in with me from time to time when it appeared I had dropped from the face of the earth...bless you...and thank you for caring!

Let's see...so many wonderful things this last year!

I'm a foster mom and normally I don't take sibling groups.  But two little toddlers had no where to go in the middle of the night. I felt the Spirit prompting...and  I said yes.  It was one of those times you later ask the Father "what were you thinking?".  I knew something was wrong within days but I just didn't know what.  It took some time to get them physically healthy - lots of doctor visits, some surgeries - but we got there.  It took much longer to learn about Autism and Sensory Processing Delay Disorder...among a host of other things.  I learned so much over the many months they were here. I don't normally take special needs kids but I truly believe that my Father sent them here because he knew that my family was just what these little boys needed.  I'm so proud of my own sons for investing so much of themselves and their time into these little ones.  Eternal investment! We spent hours each day in therapy, traveled hundreds of miles each month to therapists, doctors and specialists and did reams and reams of paperwork.  They improved so much!  We were blessed with the very best therapists and doctors...people who truly cared. They were placed into an adoptive home recently and life is beginning to return to normal in my house.

Joshua and his wife had their first baby, my grandson, just about a year ago! I so love this little one who looks so much like his Daddy did at this age.  He has his mama's eyes and often his expression changes until he looks just like her!  There is no greater joy on earth than to see his smile when he sees me and to feel his arms around my neck...or to rock him to sleep and just sit and enjoy his sweet face, long lashes and to snuggle him while he naps.

It's been an exciting year watching Jeremy enter into courtship.  He prayed a long time for and about this young woman.  She felt like family from the very beginning. They set high standards and kept to them.  I never doubted that they would...they are both young people of integrity who desire to serve their Father. They shared their very first kiss after being pronounced husband and wife!  Our families and our whole church celebrated with them!  Here is one of my favorite pictures from the wedding - taken by their amazing photographers Andy and Erin!

Now, I have two daughters - could life be more wonderful?

Josiah is fulfilling his dream of working with wood.  His goal is to become a master carpenter and he is well on his way and loving every minute of it.  He works a good bit from home so we don't see him near as much as we wish but we enjoy the time we do have with him!

Elijah, my "baby", will be in tenth grade this year - three more years of home schooling! He stands a good head taller than me now and amazes me with his talents, sense of humor and love.  I am so enjoying spending time together with all of his big brothers off and working.

I've made the difficult decision to put our farm up for sale.  After much prayer, I believe it would be better to have less land and no mortgage.  That is my goal.  We have begun the preparation for moving by packing a good bit of our clutter and working on selling the things we will not need.  We are hoping for a small homestead so that we can still have bees, chickens, animals and continue to garden with the goal of being as self-sufficient as possible. My mama will be joining us in our new home, once we move, and I am looking forward to spending more time with her! Anyone looking for a farm with 2 homes?  Email me for all the info :)

Now that the preliminary packing is out of the way, I've been busy with my soap pots, salves, lip balms etc.  It is time that my little hobby started to look more like a business!

Speaking of business...we've been throwing names around from our second contest - so MANY wonderful names...I may have to make more soaps so that I can use them! If you find a bar of soap in your mailbox one day....

Hope this catches you up on the busy, busy, year we have had!

Blessings,