catching up

I feel like I need to catch up this week. We have been busy getting everyone bathed, vacuuming, sour dough, mowing the lawn, planting more vegies, watering everything, sewing a couple new outfits for Havilah and myself, having a camp out in our woods, new chicks and rabbits, getting sick, taking a day to swim in Spirit Lake, spending a day in the state forest, BBQ's etc. Thank the Lord for our brother and sister Claude and Rachel. I haven't been able to make the usual phone calls or emails or blogs. Here is my quick attempt to communicate to a few of you at one time.

Here at our home we are not waiting but, living in readiness and expectation. This is no tame God that we serve and have pledged our lives and very desires to.

Ephraim just past me in height! He is 13 now and our relationship is settling into a new normal. Leon helps me to relate to him appropriately for his age and maturity. He has bought the goats from us and is now earning income from selling the milk to me. I was overhearing a little impromptu speech that he was giving Leon the other day. He was saying that 'it's so much better out here for us than it was in the city. Out every window, we see God. We can walk out the back door and into the woods. Things seem easier here, slower, better.' He went on and on like that. I wish I could have had a recording of it. Leon agreed.

Havilah is 11 now. She has a chicken business in which she sells me the eggs. She has 15 laying hens and 15 more adolescent hens which aren't laying yet. She loves to be outside. I love having another woman to help me with the daily work and talk girl talk with.

Asaph is 9. He is the same handsome, outgoing, dilligent boy as ever. He can see a need and meet it before the needy even thought to ask. We are trying to teach him to say, "no" and not be taken advantage of. He likes to take care of his rabbits and build things with wood.

Zuriel is 6. She has become a different person lately. I love listening to here stories and ideas. She is a great bike rider.

Naphtali is a smart, adorable 4 year old. He is hilarious. We never know what he's going to say or do. He has us laughing every day. He is very snuggly but, at other times he wants to be considered one of the men. He brought load after load of wood of his own accord in a couple weeks ago and I didn't have the heart to tell him that we wouldn't need it because it's summer. It's still sitting down there waiting for the first chill.

Nehemiah is walking! He's one now. He walks like a drunken sailor, with his mouth open in a big wet smile. He loves kefir, green drink, Kombucha, and pretty much anything that he sees me eat or drink. His siblings play with him or love on him most of the day.

We have truly had the maturity and ability to enjoy each of our babies more than we could enjoy the one before. Of course we loved them all the same but, we had to learn how to be better mama's and papa's as we went along. That has been part of our path toward becoming more and more like our Papa Jesus.