Remember I said Elijah sold his truck, he went "truckless" for a few days but now the Lord has provided!!!! He thought he was going to get one locally, but it was already sold!! Soooo he found one right near his grandparents in Houston, so he and Terry and Andrew drove down today to get it!! Its a 2004 Dodge cummins diesel. Grateful once again for work provided, a young man who diligently worked and saved and is debt free, praise the Lord!! The picture is at the grandparents, I wish he could bring some of the warmer weather back.....only 20minutes from the coast!!!! (at least can ya throw some sand in the back of the pickup and give me hope!!!)
the little bit of snow we had last week....they figured out some fun stuff to do..... sled jumps!!!!! Josiah the brave!!
Hard to believe its Friday already!!! Today was grocery day so I did not get home until 6pm. Some had already hit the road to the NCR Rodeo in OKC. Terry and the guys are having to work tomorrow in Ada, so they did not get to come home tonight. Saturday they are pouring 20 foot walls, and it will take 15 trucks of concrete. The biggest pour yet! Its the school gym. Lord willing there is light at the end of the tunnel for the Ada job completion. Hopefully 2-3 weeks. It will be so nice to have them work OKC and local and have them home for dinner in the evenings.
20 foot walls, alotta concrete to fill these up!!!! you get on the walk boards at the top, hold the pumper hoses and fill the walls up with concrete!!!
Elijah sold his truck today. He has wanted to get a diesel for some time, so he has been saving, waiting and now the time has come. He has found one local and hopes to get it soon if its still there. Its a newer Dodge than he had. Twenty years old and he is working on his second truck. Major!!
Tonight I painted the floor where we tore out the wall and also re-painted the area by the cabinets as a quick fix until someday we can get tile. It looks better than concrete for sure. The cabinet guy is working on the island so hopefully not too much longer on that. That is going to be my favorite of all the cabinet stuff. A great place to bring all the groceries in and then put them away, and to roll out pizza, make cookies and serve meals.
Well, to be honest I feel like I am on a roller coaster of emotions. Hosanna's bd and Joel's heaven day on Sunday the 23rd. Plus just trying to figure out some things that need to happen in our home. More than ever life is just so busy, people coming and going constantly, which is not necessarily a problem, its just trying to keep things running smoothly in the midst of it. Our laundry system is probably the biggest burden. We don't really have a place to put all the clean laundry except on my bed which when its folded or not causes a great problem when I want to go to sleep!!! Haha! Sometimes too, I just get tired of cooking. But I don't want to eat out, so I need to be more organized of calling in the troops to have particular days that they cook on without asking me "anything" so my brain can be recover cells!!! I really love the season we are in, it just needs some fine tuning. We have never done this before, older children going places, baby sitting jobs, activities in the evenings, spending time with "courters." hahahah!! so I don't have the solutions at hand, its like learn as you go. So I don't want to whine, I just need to pray and ask the Lord for grace to do this and somehow be a joyful mother of children!
Well, like I said, trying to plan Hosanna's bd and also Joel's heaven day. It pains me to have to figure out how to incorporate this day with Hosanna's bd. But God is faithful to give "help." These last 4 years of coming up with a theme to include Joel has worked out so well and I felt good in my heart that his memory has been included in her parties. So I am going to give you a hint of her party this year with this phrase. "We are just the best of friends, don't ya think." So if ya wanna guess what kind of party she is having, go ahead and try!!! Hosanna and Joel were best of friends. They loved each other, they played so well together, she was always watching out for her little twin brothers. I love the picture below of Joel and Hosanna. I love his little boots, his little jeans that were sagging down and his little white underwear is sticking out. What a friend!
Hosanna and Joel Oct 2006
Its late, I need to go get on the treadmill, get ready for bed!! Have a great weekend!!!!
we have two posts the guys are putting stone around and then a rough wood at the top of the pole.
to the right of the post is where the 8 by 4 foot island will go going east and west. (the french doors is west)
I am going to paint the concrete that was the old kitchen area like I did with the other concrete and someday Lord willing this whole area will have tile!!
on the old kitchen ceiling is still "popcorn" but it will stay for now because someday we hope to finish it with the wood ceiling like in the main area
in this picture, the whole wall to the right of the cabinets will have the cook top, a veggie sink and a coffee station and the refrig will be scooted down and then a double oven for now we still have our old cooktop and oven on a small portion of the remaining cabinets that hold them
Micah got a little pre-demo going on before the guys got here. He tore out some of the cabinets and the bar cabinets and surprisingly did it all with very little dust and mess. I was thinking, "this isnt going to be so bad," until Friday night came and Terry started busting out the bricks around the bar and it was major but yet it was not too major until Saturday morning and then......the real disaster started!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had decieved myself into thinking surely from all the previous stuff we have done, this could not be worse, BUT i was wrong!!!! This was by far the worst mess. In the midst I thougtht, I will not be able to get things somewhat back like they were. Of course having only concrete in teh new space has been a blessing in disguise because its not the real flooring so it does not matter how much it gets messed up!!! But I do like it to looks a little cleaned up. Oh, well, its all worth it. The wall is gone, we have tons of space. They could ride bikes in here!!! The guys all worked hard....ahem..... most of them, well all them at some point!! hahaha!!!! Dave helped with the electrical and got us some lights going over there, and we have plugs and dishwasher!!! So thanks to all!!!!!!
It has been enjoyable to work on the granite counter space and the huge sink! I can not wait to get the island, Lord willing in about 3 weeks. That will be alot of fun!! Four years of waiting to be able to stand and look out the window while I wash dishes!!! The Lord has provided!!
How's everyone doing out there???? All is well on the home front here. Just the normal "big" family stuff, laundry, cleaning, school work and a bit of fun outside with the few warm days we have been having!
The guys are in two crews, Ada crew and it is coming along. Sure hoping to finish by the end of Jan. and then they will back home and just working OKC stuff. Elijah has a crew in OKC or actually near Tulsa building a house this week. Hotel life for that crew this week. But Lord willing everyone will be home Friday and THEN its my turn for construction work!!!! On Saturday we are moving!!!!!!!!! Lord willing Terry will get the electrical/water going in the new area and I will be able to look out our beautiful window over the sink!!! We plan to take the remaining kitchen wall out and it will all be open space! Of course another huge mess, dust, dirt but I have to endure as we keep moving forward with the kitchen project. The cabinet fellow came out today and he is beginning the work on the island that will be 5x8 foot. I look forward to that space to work/ prepare on. It will have on one side a hangover so bar stools can go along side of it which the little ones enjoy popping up there and helping and watching! After the island we'll be on teh homestretch for the final cabinets on the north wall as far as cabinets go. Still lots of detail work and also reconfiguring the laundry area when you come through the garage. So back to Saturday, all Morris hands on deck!!!!
Not a whole lot to report with our new adventures with courtship. All is going well. Lucas is either out here each night or he and Bethany are in town with his Oklahoma family. His parents do not live in Oklahoma and he works and lives with the neatest family in town. They all go to our church so its so wonderful to all be in one place to fellowship together! I guess a few of you were wondering about the "story." Well, of course they met at our church here in town I guess about 4 months ago and so he, Caleb, Daniel, and Elijah became good friends right off the bat. They started hanging out together, volley-ball, having bon fires together, going out to the land, coming out here and hanging out, dirt bike riding and doing things together in OKC and all along Bethany, Anna and Micah were going along with them, so Lucas was getting to know Bethany and our family by just being with them/us. It wasn't long till Lucas began talking with Bethany's brothers, as he figured he better check it out and see if they were ok with him liking Bethany:) They were all super excited! Of course I think as Bethany has said she had been praying as well just on her own about Lucas and was just asking God to guide and His will be done. Middle of Dec. Lucas went to Terry with all his buddies, Caleb, Daniel and Elijah to talk to Terry about Bethany! And it was at Mcdonalds!!! hahah!!! Terry goes there and does computer work while he is in Ada. So here comes Lucas and Elijah walking in which they were not even suppose to be in Ada, so Terry was surprised and was asking what are yall doing here? Lucas then told Terry he wanted to talk to him about one of his daughters! Terry being a layed back dad said, "which one?" I think Terry knew but he had to give him a hard time! Anyways they talked and Terry shared his expectations as far as courtship and all and as Lucas told him he had been praying for quite sometime to see what God would have him do and this was it! Sooooo, things have been rolling since!! They spend alot of time talking, texting, and being together, sharing goals, hopes, ideas, and figuring out somethings that they have different perspectives on but I think they are coming up with some happy mediums. I shared a scripture with Lucas and told him it was one I was praying over them. I Corith. 1:10, Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. God can take two people from two different backgrounds and join them perfectly together and make them one, make them a stronger light and testimony than staying as two individuals. The Lord did that with me and Terry!!!!! and I am confident He has the ability to accomplish that with Bethany and Lucas! He has won the little ones heart, he brought them a surprise last night, a Toy Story movie!!! Its fun, I am blessed to see my daughter begin her adventures with Lucas and really what God has created a woman to do, be a help meet to the one God gives.
I dont really have any pictures to post, its too cold to go outside much (besides these few days) and inside, well Anna doesnt pic up the camera much. I told Lucas and Bethany I want to go outside and get some good pictures, so hopefully soon on that. Thats one thing Lucas has to get use to, not be camera shy!!
Hope you all have a happy evening. We got Davey Crockett going right now!
I guess I will throw some kitchen demolition pictures up next week, not too exciting as far as subject but documentation nevertheless!!!
Please pray for these. I do not know either, but I do know of the unbearable trials they are walking. this family and Jacob
This day four years ago was Joel's last night to sleep in his little bed. His last time to play with his twin brother, Josiah on the floor, in his own house. In the morning, it would be his last breakfast, his last time to see his farm as we would be on our way for his second round of chemo and then the dreadful "midnight hour," the seizure, the coma on Jan. 3rd. How could I not re-play the nightmare, yet how can I not as well speak of His great grace that has carried me through. On poignant dates as I have said before, it does all crash back, the scenes, the urgency, the unbelief that all transpired that night. I guess I like to recapture the details and try to remember that last night, the last morning here at our house. I remember as we were getting in the van and he was giving hugs to his siblings outside, someone had a BB gun and he went over and gave it a shot. He had a the cutest snow hat on. He had helped pack his suitcase and wanted to make sure his new flashlight was in there as we were going to turn all the lights off in the hospital room and "play." That never happened. I guess the thing that hurts so much is he had no idea what was to come and so innocent thinking we were just going to the hospital and would soon return to his favorite place, his farm. That never happened. My soul is still so crushed, I weep even now! But I can also say within my soul, that all is well because I trust the integrity of my Saviors heart, His plans are far higher than I can know and I just have to keep laying it there. But I still miss him, I think of him everyday.
Well, how could I not say anything of this day, and time that has come once again. How could I not say too......marvelous grace, so much has been given though so much has been taken. My whole being desires 3 things from this trial, one; that it bring God glory, two; I be made more like Him and three; that Joel would never be forgotten and his story bless and encourage others.
Hope this New Year finds you all desiring God more, aspiring to love others as Christ has loved us and loving life as it is a gift! I am looking forward to this year of "new beginnings" with the older children's futures and all that God has for them. I want to relish and savor every moment. I am blessed by what God is doing and excited as he guides and directs their paths.
Somehow we gotta get back to school, any kind of routine and maybe getting up a little bit earlier....hint, hint!!!!
Happy New Year to all, thank you for being with us. I know on the 3rd, so many of you cried out on our behalf as we begun our darkest hour and you have hung with us as he has made our days brighter and brighter until the full day..................I love you all!!
