Thanksgiving memories

The Boyle's in the back of the pickup

"Hay", this is fun!

having a "swinging" time!

Pilgram girl Lydia & Indian Princess Caraline

This Thanksgiving, we went to Pawnee to my grandparents house. My Grandparents live on a farm. My girls are "city girls" so we are not used to farm life...but they LOVED it!
It was a beautiful day to go outside & with 8 great-grand-daughters, it was good to get out of the house!
First the fun started with playing with the barn cats, then swinging on the gate, jumping haybales & riding in the back of the pickup to feed the cows with Grandpa.

I'm so thankful for my crazy loud family! They are so fun & wild. We always have a laughing, great time together!

I'm so thankful that everyone was healthy & strong & for the beautiful day to play outside on the farm!

It was a day to remember!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever." Psalm 136:1

Spontaneous praying!

The girls & I always pray in the car before we go anywhere. We will pray for others when they are hurting or when they come to mind.

The other day, while driving Lydia to preschool, we saw an older lady walking. We had seen her a few times before. I said, "There is that lady we sometimes see walking..." & Lydia said "Mom, let's pray for her." So we said a little prayer for her. I don't know her name & we haven't seen her since.

I love Lydia's heart! She is so sensitive to other's needs. I pray that God will use her to serve others & interceed for people who are in need.

"When I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me the strength I need."

Psalm 138:3

Happy 4th birthday, Lydia!

What a blessing Lydia is to our family! She is a great big sister & a joy as a daughter. She started Peace Preschool is year & has come out of her shell. She loves it!

We love her so much. She has such a sweet spirit.

She prays "Thank you God for taking away my sins"

Her favorite bible verse is Galatians 5:22, "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace , patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control." I love to here her say that & I know God loves it even more!

I pray that God will help me teach her about His love for her & she will accept Him as her Lord & Savior.

Happy birthday, Lydia! We love you!

Angel Addy

It has been a year since Addyson Barrett went to heaven to met Jesus. I think that when she met Jesus, she wasn't scared. She knew Him & she knew He loved her. I believe Jesus held her and she was at peace. Lydia likes to say that Jesus is holding baby Addy & rocking her in heaven.

Addy has been in the presence of the LORD for a year. I wonder what a year in heaven feels like? I know that a year on earth without a loved one is very hard & can seem really long. I know God's timetable is not the same as ours. I think that Addy is busy praising God & loving Him. I think she is enveloped in God's love & light. I think she knows her family in heaven like Grandma Nancy & yet everyone in heaven around her is her family too, her heavenly family.

In heaven, there is no pain, no tears, no suffering, only joy, love, light & basking in the awesome presence of our LORD & Savior, Jesus Christ!

I bet Addy is having an amazing time with God & she will know us when we join her in heaven.

Addy, we love you & miss you, but we are happy that you are in heaven with the LORD! We will see you again someday & join you in praising our God who is loving & His grace is amazing.

"This world is not our home; we are looking forward to our everlasting home in heaven."
Hebrews 13:14

FALL FUN!!

The hay ride
The tire swing

Caraline feeding the goat

We had a great Fall break!

The girls & I went to the Parkhurst Pumpkin Patch with some good friends. The kids had a BALL (& the "photo opps" were amazing!) When you go to a cool pumpkin patch with girls who are serious scrapbookers...you end up taking 100's of pictures!

Caraline LOVED the petting zoo! Lydia's favorite part was the hay ride. I loved each smile on my little angels' faces.
Caraline had a hard time deciding on which pumpkin she really wanted. She would carry one around until she found a cooler one. She would DROP the one she had to pick up the other. At one point, she was trying to pick up two!

Saturday was OSU homecoming! My girls love the parade! It is always a fun-filled day.
That day we went to another pumpkin patch in Perry. It was different than any pumpkin patch I had been to. You actually cut your own pumpkin off the vine. It was really cool!

What a great weekend! One that will not be soon forgotten!

"And you will always give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20

Caraline's eye surgery

Meeting "Besty" the puppet
Holding my "hospital bear"
Drinking juice after surgery
Do my eyes look red to you?

Scott and I found out that Caraline needed eye surgery in September. Her eyes were turning in even with her glasses on & she didn't want to wear them anymore. Her glasses were "too strong" for her eyes, her eye sight was getting better, but with her eyes still turning in, that meant more of a muscle problem than a vision problem.
Caraline's surgery was the morning of October 7th at Baptist Hospital. We didn't sleep well the night before! We all tossed and turned all night! We had to be at the hospital at 7:15am. Caraline was scheduled for surgery at 8:45am.
Caraline was playing on the chairs in the waiting room & met "Besty" the puppet. (Lydia met "Besty" in May 2007 when she had her eye surgery.)
She sat realy quitely with her hospital gown on as we read books to pass the time. I felt better once I saw Dr. Scott & he said "There's my cross-eyed patient!" We laughed because we sometimes call her our "cross-eyed girl".
Caraline was not real happy when the nurse took her back without us. (With Lydia, they gave her some meds to make her loopy & she didn't care when they came to get her.)
30 minutes later, Dr. Scott came out & said her little muscles were wound tight like Lydia's were. She did great!:)
When we went back to see her, she was a little fussy, but not as bad as Lydia was after her surgery. Caraline really wanted that IV out of her arm!
We were home for 11:30am & Caraline was running around the house like nothing happened! She was hungry & talking away!
Caraline hates her eye drops, but other than that, she is doing great!
Thanks to everyone who prayed for Caraline!

"He renews our hopes & heals our bodies." Psalm 147:3

What every parent wants to know from the teacher...

Every parent wants to know if their child has friends. Every parent prays that their child has friends & knows HOW to be a friend. They want their child to be friendly & well liked.

Today when I picked Lydia up from school, she told me "Ashley said she doesn't like me."

She stated it. She didn't seem upset, she said it every "matter-of-factly".

At first I wanted to tell her teacher, but I thought "What was she going to do? These kids are 3 or 4 years old."

I asked her "What did you say when she said she didn't like you?" Lydia said "I said nothing."

I asked her if she was in her class & she said no, she was in a different class. My heart broke!!

I thought, "This is why I didn't want her in public school!! I wanted to protect her from that."

I cried a little, hoping she didn't see me. Then I said "Well, Ashley just doesn't know you. Once she got to know you, she would like you!" Lydia said "I just played with Annie."

I said, "There will be times that people say things that aren't nice, but you know someone who will always love you & like you..." She said "I know, GOD!" "And me, your dad, sister, your family," I added.

Lydia looked at me & said "I know, thanks for telling me, mom!"

I know that in reality, not everyone is going to like me, Scott, Lydia or Caraline, but God is ALWAYS going to love me & like me. What God thinks about me is more important anyway.

" There are 'friends' who destory each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother."

Proverbs 18:24