Brandon

This boy has had a week and a half this week....on Monday night he hurt his foot but we weren't sure...it looked like a prick in his foot and we thought is was a wood splinter.  We looked and saw nothing and soaked it.

The next morning we made an appointment and went to the doctors who also could not find any thing. She put him on antibiotics and told us to come back in 2 days for a recheck.

We went home, soaked it and brought out the crutches...it was still painful.

When we went back on Thursday, we had X-rays done.  He has a needle in his foot...yes, a needle as in sewing needle.

We saw the surgeon that night--  he extended his hours for us. He took X-rays too.  We were able to see the needle--eye and all.

The surgeon scheduled surgery first thing in the morning.  He had it yesterday early.....it is out!  He is so brave!

We were grateful to the Swist family for taking the other kids...they had a blast.

We were suppose to be traveling today to Dan's and Mitchell's celebration but are now on recovery mode at home.  We will miss you Danekers!  Congrats on the Eagle Scout and Phd.!

27 Years Ago Today I Married My Best Friend

Twenty seven years ago I married my best friend Louisa.

It's funny when I look back, I can't remember what my plans for the future were back then.

I do know that:

I never pictured myself getting out of the Army or giving up my commission to spend more time with my growing family...but God did.

I never pictured my bride home educating our children...but God did.

I never pictured myself with nine children (soon to be eleven)...but God did.

I never pictured my family being part of a home fellowship...but God did.

Maybe it's time I set my plans aside and let my Lord and Savior lead with His plan...because His plan is way better then any plan I could ever make.

Happy Anniversary Louisa it's hard to believe it's been 27 short years together.

Lets buckle up because I look forward to see what God's plan for the next 27 years will be. 

Love you Darrell

His Sweet Heart

We were doing some work for our adoption this morning when this sweet boy showed his heart for his new brothers by giving a donation of his hard earned money towards their adoption.

Love our children's hearts!

More Pictures from the Weekend

Spirit gets new shoes.... First a trim and then hot fit for her shoes.

Right outside our door this morning

Our farrier....also our daughter....got up with all her farrier wannabes to put shoes on our horses this morning.  We are natural horse people meaning less is best in our view but....

Our backyard is so full of rocks...after all we live in the Granite State...that it wears our horses feet to stubs.  They need the protection the shoe gives from the rocks so they aren't tender footed all the time.

So we had an awesome view right outside the door ....

This is Liberty being held by Jason.

This is Jess and her work crew....

Here Jess is welding borem on the shoe because last year we were slipping and sliding on the road when we went riding...no more slipping now!

Liberty getting her new shoes!

Life is always and adventure around here...so glad we are along for the ride.

Our Summer List

I am a list maker.

It is satisfying to check things off after some planning....we have a list for everything --meals, character traits we are working on, daily chores, weekly things to do, house projects, school projects....I am sure you get the idea.

One summer....when we had just our 2 sweet girls here....we got to the end of the summer when visiting friends and I heard them say we didn't do anything all summer.  I was surprised by this answer and went home to look back at our calendar.  I saw lots of things listed that were big things but noneof the  little things we had done.  So I made a note and the following summer we made a list of all the things the girls wanted to do to have an enjoyable summer.

Since then we have done this each summer.  Some summers I put a check next to the things as we did them....sometimes I wrote the date.  There are events that we have actually hit numerous times.  Their most extensive lists have always been easily do-able....it has changed since we had older girls and have now moved into boys being the oldest at home full time.

The events are less social and more doing but they actually haven't changed that much.  It is just that the boys don't necessarily ask to do it with their friends.  We will of course incorporate this factor in....after all I like being social!  And the younger girls love when they have older girls around to dote on them with painting their nails and braiding their hair.

So....here is our list....I normally would not put something like Plymouth Plantation on but this summer is a bit different.....we have canceled our vacation trying to tighten our belt for our adoption and another big family event coming up in the next year.  We are hoping to escape with friends to a local campground for a weekend getaway.  It has a star in it because although it was a request....I am not promising this one.  They were told it might have to wait. They were okay with this ....so here is our list

The last one is quite ambitious but doable with some planning....in New Hampshire you can pick any 5 fire towers and climb them and then submit to the state to get a patch.  They are excited about the possibility to add this to their blankets (an earlier post about this).

We also have a trail ride planned in August and are working on that goal.  That will also be exciting!

Looking forward to the summer ahead and the adventures it will bring!

Have you ever thought of this?

Ok...this is a totally random post...at least from the norm but after doing a bit of research....I think it will make you wonder in disbelief at first and then amazement...at least it did to me!

A few months ago, we visited Darrell's sister, Cheryl, in D.C. And she showed us something similar to this...

only small enough to fit into a shadow box....sorry for the not so great pictures.

Anyway, she asked us what we thought it was made of...we guessed lots of things in our creative group but did not even come close to the correct answer.

Any ideas?

Well, I think I will just let you know....flip flops.  Yes, flip flops!

I grew up near the ocean of New Jersey...and have found many interesting things in the ocean....expensive sun glasses, sea glass, bricks, great sand toys, drift wood and yes, even a flip flop.

But think about the expanse of the East Coast of the U.S. and the ocean currents times the number of flip flops lost ...where does all of that stuff go?

Here

The coast of Africa....yes, these flip flops cross the ocean and landed on the beaches of Africa.

The ingenious people there do this....

And this......

Sort by color....

Get to work....to create THIS!

And. THIS!

Pretty amazing, huh?  

I call that being given handed lemons to making lemonade ......and selling back to the American tourists...made from their own shoes that journeyed across the ocean and landed on their beaches!

Are you as amazed as I was?