Ready to Carol

Outside!

Viviane took advantage of a beautiful day to express herself in art . . .
to do a little yard work . . .
and a little play.

We thank the Lord for the gift of beauty, energy, and life.

She's Here

We're still here!

We appreciate everyone who has been praying for us and who has contacted us about how things are going. Liz is still in labor. She's been very courageous and tough through some very intense labor. Presently, she is resting after having received an epidural. She wrestled with this decision, but the Lord guided us to the right decision. The epidural has allowed her to relax which has helped her progress really well. We look forward to our daughter's birth today (which happens to be a shared birthday with Tom Luttmann, Harry Musselman, and Zacharie Bixby).

The Lord has also blessed us by allowing Liz's mom to be here. She has been a huge help and blessing.

We'll keep you posted.

We're Here!

We checked in about 1 hour ago and Liz is now being questioned and prepared for being induced. As you can see, she can't stop even when she's been put into a hospital bed! :)

Really, she is just checking out my work on a birth announcement. We'll keep you posted throughout the day.

One neat thing is that the nurse in the background was involved with Viviane's birth. We appreciate the continuity at this hospital and the good service we're receiving.

Mommy & Daddy's Big Helper

Viviane LOVES helping with things around the house (for which her Mommy and Daddy are very grateful!). We're trying to include her in all kinds of things, and one of the things she most enjoys is putting the silverware away when we're (well, mostly Daddy right now) emptying the dishwasher.

Michael has a Mac (which means we are now a 2 computer family!!!)

The Lord graciously provided through a special gift from one of our supporting churches for Michael to purchase a Macbook recently! We're thrilled to be "crossing over" to the Mac world and look forward to someday being undivided in the Mac/PC realm--2 Macs, I mean. (Who knows when that will happen, but for now we have a united spirit even though a divided computer ownership :-) ). It really has been such a blessing, and we're thankful to the Lord for providing it!

Viviane's First Haircut...

...given by Daddy! Michael did a great job trimming up Viviane's hair to even it out and give it a little more bounce and "life." It looks so cute! (But, of course, I'm a little biased about my cute little girl :-) )

Did you know Mrs. Potato Head loans out her ear rings?

Thank you, God, for my Salvation!

For obvious reasons, I've been thinking the last couple of days about what I have to be thankful for. Every moment I live, I experience so many blessings from my Father above. For instance, as I'm sitting here typing this, Viviane is standing by the coffee table humming in her cute little way, and she just looked at me a couple of minutes ago and said, "I love you, Mommy." Now, THAT is something to thank my God for. And God has given me a multitude of things to thank Him for in my dear husband Michael. Like, just in the last 2 hours, Michael fixed dinner for our family and cleaned up the kitchen since I'm on bedrest at this stage in my pregnancy. That kind of servanthood exemplified by Michael is yet another blessing for which to thank my Heavenly Father. Yesterday, we had the joy of gathering with part of my family, and one of the wonderful people present was my dear, sweet Mom. God is graciously preserving Mom through chemotherapy right now. Thank you, God, for Mom's health.

Among a plethora of other blessings, I can thank God daily for clothing, shelter, food, good health, sunny days, Viviane's smiles, Michael's kindness, rain, Christian fellowship, a sweet baby girl on the way...I can't even begin to scratch the surface in thanking God for His rich outpouring of goodness to me!

But the major (does that word even do it justice?) theme of my thankfulness this year is my salvation in Christ. God has been graciously and faithfully unfolding before me the wonder of His love to me in Christ and the freedom I have in Christ from guilt and condemnation! He has powerfully used A Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent to awaken in me a deeper understanding of what it means to be clothed in Christ's righteousness and stand before God completely forgiven and free from the penalty of my sin. He has shown me that He loves me as much as He loves His own Son because, in His Son, I am just as much His child as Christ is! I can hardly say enough. "Wow! Incredible! Amazing!" seem too mundane to express the wonder of God's love to me. So, since words will never say enough, I simply say "Thank you, God, for my salvation!"

What a Man!

My dear husband is absolutely the BEST! Do you know what he lovingly did tonight that I could not do in my very pregnant state? He gave me a pedicure! That's right...a pedicure. And, I must say, it was a very good pedicure at that :-) He's one sweet fella, and I'm so thankful to the Lord for blessing me by allowing me to marry him. Thank you, Michael, for being so loving. I love you!

Pumpkins and Wagon Rides

Viviane got to experience lots of Fall Fun while we were in IL! Mr. Tom carved a beautiful leaf design into a pumpkin one night (sorry, no picture of the finished product, but I assure you, it looked great!), and Daddy took Mommy and Viviane on a wagon ride at one of hosts homes!

More Highlights from our Month in Illinois

We had such a good time with friends and packed lots of exciting adventures into our month in Illinois! Here are a few more fun things we got to do while we were there:

At the home of one of our Sunday dinner hosts, Viviane got to hold precious little kittens for the first time! She LOVED it! The biggest challenge was keeping her from squeezing them to death :-)

We visited a still-functioning grist mill in a little town called Franklin Grove with the Luttmanns one Saturday.

Our trip to Chicago with the Luttmanns and several people from their church was a definite highlight. We enjoyed taking a train ride from Aurora to Union Station, using double strollers all day, visiting the aquarium and planetarium, and taking in the views of the city as we walked and walked and walked :-) It was a fun day for all!

And our dear friends, the Scotts, took us on a day trip to Wisconsin where we (especially Michael and Jeremy) thoroughly enjoyed a used book store called Resurrected Reads. We also visited Maranatha Baptist Bible College. I hadn't been back since I graduated in 2000, and the campus has changed quite a bit since then. Also, Michael had never seen where I spent 4 years of my academic life, so it was an adventure for all!

Ode to Joy

In the previous post, "Fall Fun!", I failed to include a picture of dear Joy, the woman who made the orchard trip possible. Thanks, Joy!

Fall Fun!

Saturday morning Viviane and I got to enjoy a fun time at an orchard in Rockford with Joy McCarnan, Jenny and Elijah Thompson, and Bonnie Ruth Farmer. We had a blast! There were animals to feed, grain to play with, pumpkins to look at, and of course, donuts and apple cider to partake of :-) Thanks, Joy, for getting us all together and treating us to a fun time!

A Day with Our Dear Friends, the Hansons

Yesterday we enjoyed a beautiful day with Brian, Johanna, Stefan, and Baby Girl Hanson in the quaint town of Galena, IL. We got to tour one of Ulysses Grant's homes, eat a delicious lunch at Vinny's Italian Restaurant (yummy garlic bread!) and Johanna and I window shopped in several neat little shops along Main Street. We topped the day off by hitting 2 chocolate shops (yes, 2, and, yes, you're dealing with 2 pregnant women :-) ) and enjoyed our ride back to Rockford. The day was filled with great fun, lots of laughs, and wonderfully refreshing fellowship with our dear friends. We love you, Brian and Jo!

Fun in Indy!!!

On the way to Rockford, IL, a couple of weeks ago, we got to enjoy a few hours in downtown Indianapolis, IN (I grew up about 40 miles NE of Indy, so I was feeling a little nostalgic about the whole thing :-) ). We walked around Circle Centre Mall and then toured the Capitol Building. We topped off our time by getting Steak-n-Shake to go (one of my favorites!!).

Play Date in Rockford

We're currently having deputation meetings in Illinois, and some of the moms from Morning Star Baptist Church here in Rockford were so kind to invite Viviane and me to join them for a play date yesterday. We started at Barnes & Noble for a story and craft (necklaces made out of pasta and fruit loops :-) ) and then made our way down to a spectacular play place for kids in the mall. Viviane had a blast playing and I really enjoyed the fellowship with the ladies!

At the Zoo!

Viviane and I thoroughly enjoyed a trip to the Wichita Zoo with Jenny and the kids today! (The men stayed home and worked while we played:-) ) I think the funniest thing Viviane said from her stroller was "Come here, Parrot, and sit on my lap" as we walked through the South America section. Thanks, Aunt Jenny, for treating us to a fun time at the zoo!

Fun at the Kansas State Fair!

We had tons of fun with Jenny & Lance's family at the Kansas State Fair on Monday! Viviane LOVED the rides in Kiddie Land, and her cousin Micah was sweet to ride with her on the ones Daddy was too big for :-) We enjoyed seeing the winning pumpkin (I think it was over 800 pounds), having a picnic lunch, riding rides, and eating funnel cakes--YUMMY. Jenny and Lance spoiled us by treating us to all of it, and we thoroughly enjoyed the day! Thanks, J&L!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!!!

Happy 33rd Birthday to my sweet husband Michael and wonderful Daddy to Viviane and "Baby Girl on the Way"! This picture was taken just 2 days ago at the Kansas State Fair--Viviane and Daddy rode the carousel together :-) Viviane, Baby Girl, and I all hope you have a wonderful day, Daddy! We love you!!!!

Quotations from Viviane

After our singing and prayer time tonight before bed, Viviane sat on the ottoman, looked straight at Daddy and said, "We're going to do your devotions now. Can you say I Corinthians 13:4?" I'm glad she's listening during morning family devotions and actually remembering some of what we do :-)

Then, after we tucked her in and I said "Goodnight, Babes," we headed down the steps from her attic room and she said "Goodnight, Babes Daddy. Goodnight, Babes Mommy."

She cracks me up :-)

Greetings Tim and Ruth

The Double-Daters, the Party Animals, and the Babysitters

On Tuesday night, we had a wonderful double date with our dear friends and coworkers, Tim and Ruth Bixby. We enjoyed dinner at Olive Garden and then dessert afterward at Panera Bread. This was one of our last hurrahs with Tim and Ruth before they leave for France next Wednesday, so we were grateful to the Lord for the time with them. Here we are, the Double-Daters:

Meanwhile on the homefront, Micaiah, Miriam, and Viviane partied themselves out! When we got back home, they were having a blast running all over the place. At one point, I heard Miriam and Viviane thoroughly enjoying themselves in Viviane's bedroom and went in to find them both snuggled up in Viviane's bed. I told them to stay there so I could get the camera and then heard Micaiah say, "Wait, I'm coming!!" When I got back with the camera, they were all three in the bed! Here are the three Party Animals:

And, last but definitely not least, our dear friends the Hursts were the gracious babysitters for the evening. They were so kind to provide a pizza dinner complete with sugar cookies to frost for dessert! Thank you, Hursts! And, for our final photo, here are the Babysitters with their "subjects":

Viviane's (and Mommy's) MegaBloks Creation

Hmmm--what would you call it? A resort? A palace? Not sure, but we had fun building it!

Baby Cole #2!

Here is one of the promised pictures showing our exciting news!!! God has blessed us immensely with the news of Baby Cole #2 on the way. The estimated due date is December 19. We're grateful to the Lord and trusting Him for safety for both Liz and Baby.

Sorry for the delay in posting the pic. We had technical difficulties with our scanner, so I actually had to take a picture of this picture (not the best quality). We MAY be able to post a few more in the future if our scanner will cooperate!

We have some exciting news....

Pictures are coming soon! Hopefully tonight :-)

Viviane and the squirrel

Shaun and Pam have a good bit of wildlife in their backyard. Viviane has been especially thrilled with the brown squirrels (she calls them squirlts). One day this past week I took her outside to let her run off some energy. We noticed a squirrel in the next yard over. Viviane called for the squirrel to come over--and it did. She vacillated between interest and fear as it drew nearer and nearer, but her excitement won out. She pulled up her shirt (I think that is a nervous action) and called out: "Come here squirlt! The funny thing is that the squirrel actually took two bounding steps toward her just after she called out. Viviane responded by whipping her shirt back down and shouting out to the squirrel: "Don't get my belly button! She then turned and ran back to me. I wish I had been thinking to get that on video. The photos in the collage will have to do, however. If you follow the shots from left to right/top to bottom, you will see a little bit of the squirrel's progression.

Shaun and his "parrot"

Just taking a quick break from the work of the day to post this funny photo. Tally loves to sit on Shaun's shoulder. She'll even sit there as Shaun walks around. Although I can't really picture Shaun as a pirate, this photo makes me think of a pirate with his parrot on his shoulder. It has been great to be around Shaun. His enthusiasm is refreshing and we've had some really good conversations. Leaving will not be easy.

Moraine State Park

On Saturday, Shaun and Pam took us to Moraine State Park for a picnic and fun time in the sun. The weather was gorgeous, the company was great, and the park was gigantic. We ate our supper with the lake in view. The lake gleamed in the sunlight and provided us with a constant breeze. To Viviane's great delight, we also ate within sight of the playground. The thought of playing stole her appetite, and after a futile struggle to get her to eat, we let her loose. She had an absolutely great time.

After a bit, we all took a walk down a scenic trail. We were able to talk, exercise, and enjoy the beauty of God's creation. Viviane especially enjoyed giving Sophie a walk. As the sun began to set, our families parted ways. We headed for Kittanning and they headed back to New Castle. All in all it was a wonderful trip that provided us great memories with our dear friends Shaun and Pam.

At the Park

On Friday, April 24, Liz and I took Viviane out to a park near Shaun and Pam's house. The Lord has given us beautiful weather, so we decided to take advantage of a little spare time that we had.

Viviane had a ball on the playground equipment. She surprised us with how adventurous she was. She went through the tunnels all by herself and slid down a pretty tall slide (with Mommy's help of course).

We are so grateful for little joys like playgrounds. Viviane really enjoyed herself and we had a wonderful time enjoying each other in God's beautiful creation.