Keep Calm and Bake On

I saw some cute little spatulas this week with this phrase on them...love it!  I think the saying is appropriate for this time of year...KEEP CALM and BAKE ON!

So, we started our baking tonight and I picked something that was very interactive...I saw these really cute melted snowman cookies, but my family loves oreo truffles, so we altered the cookie idea and made what I really want to call snowman melt-aways...they are so cute, I really hated to eat one of them...well, "hated" is a pretty strong word :P YUM!  Here are some pictures from our fun evening!

Trying to smash and mash oreos until it looks like a mud pie...my hand was sore.

 The girls making the snowman hats with mini oreos and rolos

 Karly was thrilled to be in charge of the frozen oreos

 I was in charge of the slushy mess...poor Frosty! 

 Kassi, Danielle, Vannah, and Kenna added the faces and hats...so artistic!

 I love how they turned out!  I have peeked at them a couple times in my freezer just to smile at them!

Love Came Down

It really happened....love came down!  God's love for us is the only perfect gift we can encounter.  As parents, spouses, children, friends...whatever our roles in the relationships God has given us, we can and will fail, for many reasons, to show His perfect love.  

I was out Wednesday night to try to finish up my Christmas shopping and I was thinking about all the people out and about...scurrying to find the perfect things for their loved ones.  I like to call them "squeal" gifts....the ones I always hope will elicit some kind of audible wow response. I think I have a few this year and that is exciting!

God had a word for my heart and maybe it will touch you as well.  There really is not a perfect gift I could give.  Even though I love my family and friends dearly, and I think often of how knowing them well leads me to certain gift ideas....my gifts are not able to give a deep lasting joy....they cannot love unconditionally....and they cannot offer anyone a second chance for reconciliation, an opportunity for redemption, or salvation and eternal life.

The gifts I give can only be an expression of the joy I find in God's perfect gift of His son, Jesus. HE KNOWS ME...He knows me so well...HIS gifts are always perfect and timely!  If I am HIS child and wait on HIM...I will see gifts everyday in terms of HIS provision for me, protection over me...gifts of HIS pleasure in me...gifts to give me HIS purpose...and sometimes, even reprimands are gifts.  I want my eyes to be open to these gifts daily and my heart to accept them willingly!  

Hopetown, Here We Come!

I am happy to announce that Village Hope Church was able to raise the $80,000 in 40 weeks for the next phase of our building project.  In fact, they really missed the mark : )  They missed it by going over by $10,000... (10,000 reasons? weird!) I know that was totally God showing off! I am so excited to begin planning for the kids area, Hopetown!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to put some serious thought into the ways God has blessed your life.  I know one of the biggest things that struck me as we all sat down to feast...was that the only concern we had at that moment was if all the food was warm at the same time.  Isn't that crazy?  I am not putting anyone down that thinks about that...I would certainly have the same concerns...but, I was just so overwhelmed by that this year. I am still thinking about it in terms of really how blessed I am. Sometimes our life of abundance clouds the reality of our utter dependence on Christ.  That's all I have on that for now as I am still working out what this means and why God would so strongly impress my mind with it.

We are beginning to prepare for Christmas.  Every year I pray we do not miss the true meaning in the process of all the plans and presents. I have been enjoying helping Brad find information to prepare for his sermons each week.  He just started into an Advent Series and I was reading some articles that talk about how Christmas is not our birthday...most of the time we act like it is, right?  Anyway, I thought this was an interesting thought to consider...what gift would Jesus want for His birthday?

Here are a few new pictures from our little photographer, Vannah.  She saved some money to buy a camera and then daddy took her shopping for it.  Needless to say, they went over her budget and I am jealous of her new toy : )  Well, I can have fun editing them and, maybe if I am good, Santa will get me one too.  Right, Santa?

Mini Kooper is hoping to join in some reindeer games : )  Not really...see my hand...I am basically holding his neck there for this pose.  After we put him down (on the floor), he attacked the antlers.

Kenna did a great job as Glinda the Good Witch in her 5th grade production a few weeks ago! I thought I would add a picture of her from that night...she was so sparkly!

When I was at the grocery store this week, Brad and the girls surprised me by putting up a Christmas tree in the Beach Bedroom.

I have to post some of these weird tooth pics while I can...I know once we start with all the corrective mouth work ahead of us, we will be paying for braces for a while :)

Enjoy your Christmas preparations!  If you are like me, I will remind you to take a deep breath and relax.

Are you full?

I am home on a Sunday with a sick little girl.  I so wish I were at church because I am excited to see what God will do today for HIS glory.  This is the last Sunday in our Forward in Faith campaign to raise $80,000 to begin the next phase of construction on our church building....a children's wing and more adult small group rooms. I have to admit, when Pastor Scott passed away at the end of June...I struggled with my doubts and fears for the future of our church.  I wondered if we would make it through to accomplishing our goal to start this new project...let alone what would happen to the unity of our church family through such a time of grief and uncertainty about the direction, vision and leadership of our family. BUT, God has been faithful even when my faith has wavered.  He has reminded me that a church is not so much about the building as the hearts of the people to live out their faith and the compassion for our community to be reached. I know reaching $80,000 by today was not an easy goal (by any means) for the members of our family...but, I came to realize if God wanted it to happen...there would be some way.  I am in expectant joy that we made it there today!  And now I am having some trouble with my patience (again!) as I wait for Brad and the other girls to get home to tell me about today's service.

We celebrated Thanksgiving this weekend with the Foster side of our family and had a great time going around the table and naming our blessings.  Sylvia told us a lady from our church was trying to count 1000 blessings.  She originally thought it would be hard to do, but she was realizing as she began counting them that she had more things to be thankful for than she even imagined.  I had my own time of worship today and listened to 10,000 Reasons since her thanksgiving idea was such an inspiration to me! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtwIT8JjddM .

We often talk about how full we are after our thanksgiving dinner :)  Brad and I saw a funny skit/video on Sermon Spice where the actors were joking about how full they were and then, later, the mom invites everyone to dinner and you realize they have not eaten yet...they are just so full of God's goodness in their lives. I am praying that you are full before dinner too! Blessings!

Bah! Humblog!

Back in August, when we were all starting to think about our fall schedule, McKenna and Kassi were interested in being in a drama.  I looked to see what was going on in Jackson and saw there was an audition soon for "Scrooge, The Musical".  I tried to talk Brad into trying out since everyone knows he is the dramatic one, but he didn't think he could manage being involved in the production with his current commitment level at our church. The girls were after me to try out....so, at the second audition date, I did...I knew if the girls made it into the show I would be there for all the practices anyway and I probably would be sitting there acting like I was reading a book or something, but really watching everyone practice and kicking myself that I was not a part of it.  I am so glad I decided to audition...it was such a fun and exhilarating experience for all of us! I know the girls made some new friends in the process and so did I.  Sometimes God surprises me with His gifts along the way!  I am sad it is over, but extremely grateful for the experience, new friends and the memories.  Now my evening schedule will be free for Christmas decorating, baking, and whatever else God has planned for me next.  What will I do with all my free time?...ha! Here are a few pictures from our show...

Me, as Mrs. Cratchit, with my lovely stage family!

Kassi as a townsperson in Scrooge, The Musical.  

This week Kenna has to transition from a townsperson in Scrooge to Glinda the Good Witch for her 5th grade production of The Wizard of Oz.  That's Showbiz, right? Blessings!

True Riches

At the end of June, Brad and I had planned to vacation in Montana.  He had made the mistake of telling me about a real-life treasure hunt in February hidden by Forrest Fenn somewhere in the Rocky Mountains several years ago with a poem/riddle to solve in order to find the treasure. I became a little obsessed with the poem and trying to solve the clues over the months that followed.  I believed I had solved at least a few of the nine clues and I had never been out west...so, Brad and I decided to follow my findings to Montana near Yellowstone National Park.  Brad wanted to take the trip so I could put my obsession to rest...but, I was just thrilled to be going on a real treasure hunt.

Our plan was to take a couple of our daughters to camp for a week with some of their friends, the others to Grandma and Grandpa Fosters and to go for a few days....but, the very day we were taking the girls to camp we received a phone call that our pastor had a serious heart episode at our church.  It wasn't even an hour later while we were dropping all the girls off and hoping to hurry home to be with him that we had a second call that he did not make it.  We felt so helpless being up north at Camp Barakel and knew it would be a very long trip home and would take our church family through quite a time of grief as we all loved Pastor Scott so much.

Pastor Scott absolutely loved eagles and we found a beautiful picture and verse we were able to use for his funeral.  I don't think I have ever attended a funeral that was so spirit-filled and so well attended...our church was filled way passed capacity.

Since then, God has used the eagle and this verse to show our church He is with us!  We had a chalk artist come to our church shortly after Pastor Scott passed away...he did not know the connection between Pastor Scott and eagles and he started drawing a picture while he was talking to us about his message.  He was drawing this gorgeous mountain scene with a waterfall and talking about how God is the artist...it was pretty amazing and then all the sudden I thought..."HE IS ABOUT TO DRAW AN EAGLE!"  It was one of those goose bump moments! God actually told him to draw an eagle for Village Hope Church....how perfect is HE?!  I don't think there was a dry eye, but I couldn't really tell since my vision was blurred :-)

 My heart still is saddened when I think of the loss of our pastor.  Brad and I had Parent/Teacher conferences last week...we were given a story to look over that McKenna had written about Pastor Scott and how she felt when she found out he had passed away.  It was a beautiful story of how she will always remember him...I had that huge lump in my throat and thought I may just start sobbing in front of her teacher. We miss him and I am so thankful that he had such a meaningful influence on our daughters.  Brad is currently serving as interim pastor as our church search committee looks for our next pastor.  It has been a tough road. People grieve in many different ways and Brad has had a lot on his plate as he seeks God's direction for our church and depends on God for addressing all the needs and healing. I know God has great things for the future of our church.

Our trip to Montana in June needed to be postponed so we could be with our church family for a time of grieving, but in August we decided to make it happen...it was a good time to get away and we needed some rest.  I don't know about Brad, but I loved being on a treasure hunt and I appreciate that he went with me...even though I know he thinks I am crazy.

I feel like we were really close to the treasure...seriously...I even have some emails from Mr. Forrest Fenn himself! I think it is fabulous that he will respond to hunters and I had fun relaying my ideas of his riddle/poem to him.  You can't really fish any additional clues from him, but it is still a little fun to try.  When, in history, could a treasure hunter actually email the person who has hidden the treasure?...CRAZY!

This was our very favorite place to search for the treasure...it was on Quake Lake just after Ghost Village.  Doesn't every great treasure hunt need a Ghost Village?!! 

A beautiful bend on the Madison River...I can imagine this was one of Forrest's favorite fly fishing locations.

Fire Hole Falls in Yellowstone...I don't think this is far from the place Forrest mentions in "The Thrill of the Chase" where, as a kid, he loved to swim in the river because there was a hot spring entering the cold river and he loved that he could just move ever so slightly in the river and change the temperature to his liking.

I am still a little obsessed with the riddle....don't tell Brad.  I have been trying to analyze the poem when he is not around, so he will not get irritated with me that I am still working on it.  When someone finds that thing....I would love it if it was within a couple miles of my search locations!

One of my favorite things about the trip was seeing the osprey and eagles.. I felt so blessed to be out in such beautiful country!

Cabin Creek provided for a gorgeous hike!

We came home without the treasure chest in August, but Savannah reminded us our treasure is right here...She had prepared a treasure hunt for us to go on.  I know that sounds a bit cliche, but it is so true. Everyone we love and each moment we have with them is a treasure.  It is always good to remember that!

PS...if you get obsessed with Forrest Fenn's treasure poem (as I have) and want to take a trip out west to find it, let me know and I will give you the details of the places I checked out and why...blessings!  Here's a link for you http://www.oldsantafetradingco.com/the-thrill-resource-page .  I hear Forrest Fenn mentioned something about Grayling Creek recently :) .

Don't know where to begin

I have really waited too long to even try to blog...but, I have to start back somewhere and let you know what has been happening with us...so here goes.

Our adoption of Savannah and Danielle was finalized on March 15th...YAHOO!  We had a big party and enjoyed a fun Spring Break trip together a couple weeks later.  All the girls are doing very well with the transitions...considering the major changes and challenges of an adoption.  We have been told that a year together makes a huge difference and I am seeing things getting better as we are approaching a year (May 29th) since we all first met.  I feel as though the finalization of the adoption has helped to give Savannah a little more peace and security with us.

Danielle made the decision to ask Jesus into her heart following one of her AWANA'S meetings at the end of April.  She came home and told Brad she wanted to pray to accept Christ.  Brad and I talked with her for a while about what it meant just to make sure she had a good understanding about what she was about to do.  We prayed with her and then were able to celebrate her decision with all her sisters.  She has been so aware of her decision since then, she often talks about Jesus being with her.  I enjoy the sweet spirit and trust  she has toward her new faith.

McKenna just turned 10 years old and she has really grown up so much this year...it is hard to believe she is getting so big and growing into a young lady.  She has such a sweet and considerate personality...and she is so goofy....I just eat her up.

Kassi has still been having eye appointments just to make sure her eyes are straight and she doesn't start to develop the same problem she had before that caused the lazy eye.  So far, things have been going very well.  Yesterday, Brad took her to Grand Rapids for another appointment and while they were at the appointment they met someone from the hospital's PR or Marketing Department and they may want to use Kassi's story as a testimonial for the Ophthomologist.  It is so funny to me how our experiences...even our traumatic ones...or maybe I should say especially our traumatic ones can often give us great rewards once we are on the other side.  Kassi is excited about the possibility to be asked to share her story about her eye surgery.  How cool is that!

More on that subject...I was driving home from work one day after just studying a chapter in Crazy Love by Francis Chan and I was struck by the fact that I often want to save my children from things that hurt them or could potentially cause them pain.  In reality, we all have our own spiritual journey and the things that hurt us a little bit or a lot can be huge benchmarks or turning points in our faith when we learn to rely on God. So there is a balance to consider when raising children.. in how much to allow them to struggle through experiences so they can come out the other side with a stronger faith and a definite experience with Christ.

Karly had an appointment in Grand Rapids today as well.  She has had a spot on her side since she was about 3 months and we have had to watch it because if anything rubs that spot she gets an immediate almost allergic reaction to it....it is kind-of weird, but that one spot on her body has too many Mast cells...usually they are much more dispersed in normal skin and they work very well to create scabs and protect people from cuts...stings...stuff like that...but Karly has too many in a tiny little area and they freak out when they are disturbed.  Anyway, we finally decided we need to see if we can have this spot removed since it is not going away on its own and it is getting bigger as she grows.  We were told our insurance may not cover the surgery because they may consider it a birthmark and just a cosmetic surgery...so we were concerned about that and how much we would have to pay out of pocket...BUT, we had a huge praise today when the doctor that will do the surgery took a look at it and agreed with us that it was a medical issue and not just a cosmetic issue...so our insurance will cover it.  We would have gone through with it anyway, but I can't help but think how loved we are that God has this detail covered for us.

We are very proud of Savannah...she is doing well in school, excelling at learning how to play the flute, learning how to be a good friend even when it is hard (middle school can be really tough these days) and a good big sister even when little sisters can be annoying...and she is thinking about these things in terms of her faith.  She started attending a Bible Study...Experiencing God for teens, and it is a treasure for me to see her reading and studying her Bible to be ready for the meetings.  She also just got a perm...I had to laugh as I thought I had my first perm as a 7th grader...then, Brad told me he had a perm in 7th grade....HAHA!  People always say things come back around...it is so true...when you are old enough to see those things come back around...you are really old, right!? :-)  (I like my life)...After she got a perm, I kind-of wanted one again...haha!  How do you think she would like it if I got one just like hers....that is a thought that will make me laugh for a while.

What have Brad and I been up to?  The usual...trying to keep our heads above water...no, really, my thoughts have taken me to the point of considering these two alternatives to our busy life...I can either be trying to keep my head above water or I can be focused on Christ and walking on the water....right?