The Move - Part II

Well, we have not had our computer up and running for several days now.But,as you can see, we're back online again. We had the cable/internet technician come over today and hook us back up. Yippee!

We rented a u-haul trailer for our initial move for smaller,easy-to-handle items. I believe we had the trailer from Friday thru Monday. Sebastian and I were able to use that to get most of our things during several trips. Craig and Sebastian rented the large u-haul truck yesterday and brought back everything from our storage units, except for two, HEAVY items (piano and wood stove).They have the truck again today and plan on getting those two items and the rest of what is left at the house in Jackpot.

This morning they were finishing up their unloading, before heading back to Jackpot and it began to snow. It came down as if we were going to have a blizzard! It stopped after a couple of hours and the sun came out and melted most of it. The clouds are back and it is snowing again.Strange..... But, it didn't stop the guys from working! They are back in Jackpot now with major work ahead of them,Craig's fighting a cold, he has a meeting at 4:30pm, and then it's back to work again. They will be home way past dinner time and bed time again. Days of rest are ahead!

Yesterday, the girls, Oliver, and I spent the day together for Jade's Birthday. We took Jade to the hair salon to have her hair done. She had it highlighted and layered, a new style. She looks so grown up and more beautiful! Matthea and I hardly recognized her when she was done. When Craig and Sebastian came home, they too were shocked at the "new" Jade! It's hard to believe that she's 11 yrs old now. What a lovely lady she is turning into!

The Move....

Moving is and can be exciting at times.I love the newness of things, the changes it brings in our lives.I do dread, however, the packing and


unpacking.Which, I'm sure, is not on any one's "favorite things to do" list. Ughhh..... The joy in unpacking some of the things that have been away for some time,is the recollection of memories. We started our moving process almost right away and yes, we are tired. But we all have had an exciting experience going through boxes that had been stored away since March 2007,almost 2 years in storage. The kids have found their Christmas presents from December 2006, that they could not open and play with (because of the move). We have found things that were completely forgotten about. It's been Christmas all over again for them and us. Finding something and remembering that item from "way back when".... is nice and comforting at the same time.

Ever since we moved here I have been in storage looking for my favorite red,teapot. Craig has gone several times looking for it as well and found other things instead. Actually, he did find the whistle that went on top of it.But, that was it. Well, Jade and I were unpacking one of the boxes yesterday and wouldn't you know, as I was unfolding the packing paper, there it was, all red and shiny!!! I looked at Jade and said," NOW, we are home" and she smiled and said,"Yes,finally". Something as simple as a teapot gave us comfort and a feeling of "HOME".
There are plenty of boxes left for us to go through and discover lost memories. We are anticipating what we will uncover next.

Everyone has commented on how comfortable and relaxed they have been since we have been staying at the new house. Sebastian says that he feels like we have gone away on vacation to the condo in Sun Valley. Everyone has slept well at night. With the exception of those of us that are still up and moving/packing.ahemm.... But,even Oliver has been sleeping better. For the first time ever, he took a 4 hour nap yesterday and then did the same today. Craig was thinking that he was coming down with a cold. But, I told him that he is sleeping because he finally has a bedroom with a door and it's quiet in there! I'm sure he's thinking exactly what Sebastian is thinking, about being away on vacation!
Well I will have more on our moving later.

Praise be to our God, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3

With another new addition to our family soon
approaching, we will need a little more elbow room. We have been praying that God will help us in our search for something a little bigger. We have been in the home search mode for several months now,(since Nov.)and have been looking to rent as opposed to buying.Only because we really did not want to incur such a huge debt as a home loan would have us do. It has been such a relief not to be in debt this last year and a half. No loans, no credit cards etc.. and not worrying whether or not we "had" enough. We were able to pay "Cash on the barrel!" LOL. We almost got our hands on a place to rent that had some small acreage to go with it, but, someone beat us to the punch. We had totally worn ourselves out in search of another home. Almost every day we had been out looking at new places.We would usually get home in time for Craig to get ready for work or if it was his off day, after dark. At the same time we had been finishing all of the other projects in our current place.

We had really been praying for direction in this area. Do we keep looking for a rental,stay here or should we go ahead with a home loan?? The Lord was leading us more and more towards purchasing as opposed to renting. We initially did not want to listen and kept up with the rental search. The doors kept closing on us and the door for purchasing was there. Craig and I knew that this was where we should go...dragging our feet:) We have to remember that, we may have "plans" for our life on how it should be, what we want,how we want it, but, God's plan may be completely different. Our plan to live debt free, until we could save enough to purchase the home that we wanted and pay for it in cash, was not God's plan for us. He allowed us to live debt free for a season, and we are thankful for that.

We thought we were tired and worn out before!! Now we have been "officially" looking at homes to buy since the first of January. There have been several homes that have caught our attention, but, there was always "something" that we didn't like. You name it; location,storage,square footage,acreage,outbuildings,upgrades and the audacity that some of these sellers had, to price their homes as if they were move in ready ....ughhh!

Well, there was this home that we kept coming back to, over and over again, we call it "The Snake House" (more on that later). But, we thought that we shouldn't rush into it and we should keep looking. It was one of the first homes we looked at. We just told ourselves that if God wants this house for us then it will be there. So, we kept looking and kept on finding problems with other homes. I shouldn't say that they all had "problems", they just were not for us. I don't know about you, and I know "someone" will kill me for using this word, but, I have to "feel" it. Some of you know what I am talking about, when you just "know" or "feel" that this is it! And I must say, that, we all, every one of us in this household, "felt" this way about "The Snake House". It's funny because we even have our real estate agent calling it "The Snake House" too. Okay...I should probably explain now......

The "Snake House" went on the market last year and a lady bought
it in October. This lady is deathly afraid of snakes. She saw several
garter snakes on the property and freaked out. She had her husband
seal any cracks that he could find outside. I mean everywhere! They
killed the ones they found and she wanted out of there, could not live
there if she was going to see any snakes. So 16 days later,they put the
house back up for sale. She said that she was actually only in the house

for four days!

Can you imagine? Now,don't get me wrong, if there were poisonous snakes on my property, I wouldn't want to be there either. These are "water" snakes, garter snakes. There is a water canal/creek that runs along the northern property line. You are going to have these snakes with water. Having a few snakes and having an overpopulation of these snakes depends on how you manage the property/land. Keeping the canal area clear of low lying brush etc... would definitely help.

Anyway, we loved the house so much that we decided to put an offer on it, the sellers accepted it, had it appraised ( it appraised @ almost $20,000 more than the asking price) Woo-Hoo!,and we are closing tomorrow!!!! We are soooooo excited.The kids are so anxious to get into the house that they want to camp out in the house tomorrow night. They have already picked out their bedrooms. We spent some time today walking around on the property and watching the children run around, in their big back yard with big smiles on their faces.

We have been waiting so long to have our hobby farm and now we are almost there. We actually have several eager friends who want to help us out with a donkey, chickens and some goats. The home has everything that we need to get started and more. The home is on an acre, it has 4 bed (could be 5), 2 bath, 2840 sq.ft.,2 car gar., finished basement with plumbing for 3rd bath, outbuildings, workshop for Craig, potting shed, chicken coop,established garden area, large backyard for the kids. We are definitely excited to see where God is taking us and so very thankful for his blessings.

In the meantime, we will continue to finish up the projects in our current home and try to sell it in the spring or summer. I will post more on our moving day.Here are a few photos of the new home.

Praise God!

A Loving Gesture

Valentines Day is not a "holiday" that we usually make sure to celebrate with all the candy,chocolate heart boxes,flowers,cards etc...But they are nice to receive and give whenever we are inclined to do so. Knowing that someone from afar is thinking of how much they love you is nice and chocolate is always appreciated at any time of the year. :)


My husband brought me these flowers as another one of his gestures of love for me.Valentines Day was just another "good" day to show me. It brightened my day and the children were happy to see their dad love on mom!


Have a pleasant and loving Valentines Day!!!

Pine Siskin's

We have had an abundant amount of little Pine
Siskin's in our yard at the feeders. The other day the children asked if they could take my camera outside to try and get some close up photos of the birds.They got the official "Yes!" and off they went....


Minutes later they were back inside, all trying to talk at the same time, telling me how these birds were actually letting them get right up as close as their beaks and not even flying away!! I had to go and see for myself.

They were right! The birds obviously had no fear of the children and were letting them stand alongside them at the feeder for a personal photo session.

I wanted to share a few photographs that they had taken.Amazing.....

Ultrasound

Well,I am happy to report that our ultrasound went well, from what the technician could tell.We should get an official report in the next couple of days.

This pregnancy so far has been very easy.Since my nausea eased up,6 weeks ago,I actually hardly feel pregnant!I'm not showing very much yet and the baby only moves a little bit.The movements have been very slow and gentle.A huge difference from Oliver who was very active,almost to the point of being abusive.Hah!

The ultrasound showed a very different baby though.The baby was quite active and we could not get a very good photo. Baby was doing alot of yawning and keeping his/her hands and arms in front of the face.The legs were moving very fast back and forth like he/she were riding a bicycle!We also were unable to tell what the sex was.Baby's legs were held together tightly each time we tried to look.So, yeah,if we could of been able to tell,I would have given in and found out the sex. Oh well....

So,now none of us knows and we will all have to be surprised.I'm fine with that.

Midwifery,Another New Season in Our Life

Three years ago,when Craig and I had looked into tubal reversals,we looked into midwifery.Although it was a long way off from where we were at that point.We were just hoping that if all went well with my surgery that maybe we could possibly have a home birth.I only knew of one person who had had one at that time.
Fast forward to my pregnancy with Oliver...we briefly looked into it,again, and found several midwives and birthing centers in the southern Idaho area.However,because of a couple of reasons, we decided not to go that route with that pregnancy.The distance to a birthing center and for a midwife to travel to our home would be, a little too far.Also,my last pregnancy was a c-section and most midwives are little weary of having a uterine rupture because of that.Unless, you have had a successful VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean),they then usually have no problem delivering your baby.

After having Oliver in a hospital setting again, we absolutely did not want to go that route if we were to be blessed with another baby.

As soon as we found out we were pregnant again,we started doing some more research.I even watched the documentary film The Business of Being Born (click on the link to watch the trailer) from executive producer Rikki Lake and director Abby Epstein. Awesome documentary and so true to how hospitals and doctors treat the whole birthing process.I completely felt the same way that these women felt about having a different experience,without all of the unnecessary medical interventions and that the birthing process is a natural one.We started contacting the midwives for interviews. We were pleased with all of them. We finally settled on one lady,Connie Wolcott, who has been doing this for years. She just opened up a new birthing center in Jerome,Idaho,which is about 10 minutes from Twin Falls,Idaho. Very cozy setting,there is a living room area for those that are waiting,kitchen,examining room and a birthing room. So,the plan is for me to deliver at the birthing center when the time comes! We may even have a water birth!

So far this experience has been wonderful.The whole family is involved in every prenatal visit.The visits last at least an hour in which everything is discussed;moms health,baby's health,what's happening in our lives etc... She really has made an effort to make us all feel comfortable and has gotten to know us personally.That is something that you can never get from a OB physician.

I have also been working with a chiropractor,whom my midwife referred me to.In my last three pregnancy's I have had severe pain in my legs and pelvic/groin area starting around my 7th month(I started to notice some slight discomfort with this one at week 14).I had trouble going down or up stairs,lifting my leg up to put on my pants,turning over in bed.Anything that required me to use my leg muscles,forget it.The doctor I had in Illinois blew me off and said that they were just normal aches and pains that you get during pregnancy.Well, the doctor that I had for Oliver,thankfully,did not blow me off.He told me that it is not "normal" but it is not uncommon for some women to have this condition.It is called Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction.I know,sounds scary.When you're pregnant the relaxin hormone is causing all of your joints to loosen up.With SPD, it loosens up a little too much.So your pelvis could be horizontally too loose as well as vertically out of line.The ligaments that are attached to your pelvis get stretched out too much and cause pain.The muscles that are attached to the ligaments are then affected as well,hence not being able to move the legs like you normally would be able to.WHEW!!!That was a mouthful.

Anyway,awesome chiropractor! I wanted to address the problem before I was too far along in my pregnancy.Especially since I was already noticing some pain,so much earlier than before.He confirmed the SPD condition as well as some other kinks that I had in my back and neck.I've been in to have adjustments on all areas. He will work with me throughout this whole pregnancy to make me as comfortable as he can. I'm excited to see what the outcome will be.

We have an ultrasound this morning and then we have an appointment with Connie,our midwife.We are all anxious to "see" the baby and find out if baby is doing well.Hopefully I will get some good photos to publish on here for everyone to see.I don't want to know what the sex is,however,Craig and the kids are wanting to know...again.I would love to be surprised.Oliver was suppose to be a surprise for me.I had the nurse write down on a piece of paper what the sex was and put it in an envelope for Craig and the kids.They were to open it in front of me,just so I could see the looks on their faces,but not tell me.Well, when they opened it up,Sebastian read it out loud,"It's A Boy!" I almost fell over in utter despair!Hah. Sebastian said that he couldn't help it,that it just came out because he was so excited that it was a boy.Now, we all knew what the baby was and we had to try to not let it slip when we talked with friends or family.Boy,(pardon the pun),that was difficult. We'll see what happens.Who knows! I may just give in to their pleading and find out whether it's a boy or a girl.

Psalm 127:3 Lo, children are a heritage of Jehovah; And the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Here is a profound and significant article that I received and wanted to share with all on my blog.Some of you may have received this article if you subscribe to Vision Forum. It speaks volumes of the sad truth of what this world has done to itself.The things "they" tell you to believe,we have fallen for and believed.The talk of overpopulation,the cost of children,children being looked upon as burdens,the feminists out there deceiving women starting at a very young age.Telling us to find self before family.We have women now who have "forgotten" to have children because of careers and selfish, "I have to find me", attitudes.Forsaking the family in the end,and God.






After more than fifteen hundred years, Japanese culture is on the verge of extinction. There are not enough children. And similar fates may be in store for France, Italy, and elsewhere. These nations and others are on the brink of a demographic implosion with far-reaching economic implications — and they know it! There are simply not enough babies being born to maintain their economies.

But they are not alone. In the United States, the birthrate has been experiencing a dramatic and steady twelve-year decline. Despite this fact, last week, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi defended her proposal that an important ingredient of the nation’s $825 billion “economic stimulus package” would include a taxpayer-subsidized effort to prevent the birth of more children. Why? She argues that children are bad for the economy. [For a more in-depth look at this international crisis, click here]

Three Key Issues Addressed

Are babies a blessing or a burden? This is a simple question, but one fraught with tremendous controversy and significant implications for nations and families.

There are really three issues on the table: First, the demographic implications of having babies; second, the practical issues concerning babies and the family during a recessionary economy (or at any time); and third — and most importantly — the scriptural foundations for a Christian worldview of the womb.

What May Happen to America and Other Nations Because of the Dramatic Decrease in Childbirth?

This first issue goes right to the heart of the present culture war: Will we be a self-indulgent nation with little regard for the sanctity of life, or will we recognize the God-ordained blessing of the biblical institution of the family with its emphasis on fruitfulness and the blessing of children?

As a nation, we have chosen the former. Now the question is this: What are the practical implications of our selfishness and disobedience? What happens to a country when the Malthusian dream is realized, and women have fewer and fewer babies?

The ultimate result is a culture-eradicating phenomenon and economic catastrophe called “Demographic Winter” — where the selfishness of a generation of families who refused God’s gift of children leads to a national birthrate that is insufficient to replace its aging population. Don Feder put it this way:

Demographic Winter is the terminal stage in the suicide of the West — the culmination of a century of evil ideas and poisonous policies.

Here is how one demographer described the imminent catastrophe that will result from declining birthrates:

The ongoing global decline in human birthrates is the single most powerful force affecting the fate of nations and the future of society in the twenty-first century. —Phillip Longman, The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity.

This perspective may be a shocker for those raised during the libertine ‘60s and ‘70s with the message of the Pill and population control, or for those spoon-fed on a diet of Green theology in the ‘90s. It is not comfortable to radical feminists who have made the “right” of a mother to destroy her own child the highest virtue a society can embrace.

But the facts are inescapable.

And this is the subject of the documentary, Demographic Winter: The Decline of the Human Family, one of the most important and groundbreaking films of the last year, maybe of the last decade. This is the first significant film to explore the most overlooked crisis of our generation: the rapid worldwide decline in birthrates.

The data presented is chilling. Columnist Don Feder summarizes the important issues raised by the film (i.e., how “demographic winter” will impact many areas of our lives):

• What will happen in the First World as fewer and fewer workers are called on to provide pensions for more and more retirees? At what point will the burden become so onerous that young workers will simply rebel and refuse to support a system that they couldn’t possibly hope to benefit from?
• How will Russia, which is expected to lose a third of its population by mid-point of this century, defend its borders? If Russia, which occupies the largest territory of any nation, dissolves into enclaves of squabbling ethnic groups, it will destabilize both Europe and Asia.
• Due to falling birthrates, at some point in the century, the world’s population will begin to decline. Then the decline will become rapid. We could even reach population free-fall.
• Throughout the course of history, there is no instance of economic growth accompanied by population decline. How can an industrial society be maintained with fewer and fewer workers and consumers? ^[1]

This film does not pretend to be a Christian film with a biblical analysis, but it is so full of carefully-researched data that is indispensable to this critical culture battle that Christian parents around the nation need to own it, and watch it, and then watch it again.