Farm Life

We just returned from the most enjoyable day and night away, at a beautiful log cabin farmhouse in the hills of Tennessee. New friends had invited us to spend the evening with them, to visit, and get to know more about each other. We are having perfect Fall weather here, and upon arrival they let their two horses out to roam and we all took a walk down the farm lane. We shared a meal together and then sat in front of the fire and talked. It was the first night we've had that was cool enough to do that. The boys slept in the cowboy room. They thought it was perfect with it's saddles and deer antlers. Our room had a tall four poster feather bed that you had to use a stepstool to climb into.The boys had their new fishing equipment and were up at the crack of dawn to sit out on the dock with their poles in the water. It's the stillest I have EVER seen Christian sit. They caught a total of four fish and just loved every minute of it. There was a small stone spring house with a little stream that ran across the front of the farm. We headed down to the large creek where 6 beavers had made a huge dam. The boys "accidently" fell in the water and ran up this creek for miles splashing and laughing. I don't believe I have ever seen them have this much fun. We spent more time swinging and rocking on the front porch and enjoying a beautiful Fall day with two gracious and kind kindred spirits. What
blessings we are given by our Father.

Fall Days

I'll sure be glad when my children come to visit next so that I can post my favorite pictures again:) We have been enjoying the first days of Fall here in Tennessee. I have my pumpkin candle burning and my Fall dishes on the table. After painting our front door barn red, I filled two large baskets with golden mums and placed them on each side of the front door. I already had a red berry wreath on the front door. I get so much enjoyment at seeing my warm entrance each time I return home. We had overnight guests again last weekend, and then on Sunday we began our gospel meeting which ran through Wednesday night. There is a whole "culture" here in the Bible Belt that, after so many years away, seems somewhat strange to me now. Then the following evening was our turn to host the Missions group on campus. My friend, Dana, was here with her family, so it was an especially nice treat to get a chance to visit after the meeting. The boys had helped me make and decorate carrot and cream cheese cupcakes(with little fall leaves sprinkles) and banana and pumpkin muffins. We had around 40 or so, which was small enough to have a chance to get to know some of the students better. All of my children are doing well and are busy and happy...which makes me happy. Both of our girls are happily married and both of our sons are wishing they were:) Seriously, they are both dating sweet girls, though Brandon is having to do it long distance from China. I'm making slow but steady progress on my quest for improved health- drinking my skimmed milk, taking my vitamins, eating healthy foods, drinking green tea, and walking daily on my treadmill for 45 minutes. I had not had any health problems, but I know that if I don't get in better shape it will catch up with me and limit the time I have to keep my family in line! Pray for me as I try to discipline myself to reach my goal. I think I'll close now and go help myself to a cup of hot apple cider (sugar-free of course).

Rainy Morning

I love rainy school mornings. We curled up on the couch and read about Pharoahs and Egypt, and about how when the Pharoah's men fought the rebellious Nubians they counted the dead by counting their chopped off hands (the boys at 7 and 8 found this fascinating!). For our morning devotions we are reading "Wisdom With the Millers", and then on to "Mountain Born", the story of a boy and his "cossett"lamb, where they were fascinated by the description of how a lamb's tail is docked, painted with pine tar, etc. I should mention that this weekend we went and saw "How To Eat Fried Worms". Life with school-age boys seems to be filled with a lot of "snails and puppy dog tails", and not as much "sugar and spice, and everything nice". Chelsea and Justin came over for a visit this afternoon (she had some business on campus) and we went out to Catfish Cabin with them ( thanks to my generous houseguests:) for dinner before they had to head home. I got phone calls from all of my children today, and an e-mail from Brandon in China. That always puts joy in our days.

New Friends and Good Fellowship

On Thursday of this week some friends of friends came to stay for a couple of nights to tour our campus. They were both homeschool families who shared many of our same expeiences and we had a delightful visit while they were here. It is always such an encouragement to have the chance to talk with other "like-minded" women. They had brought with them two big bags of homemade yeast rolls, cinnamon rolls (compliments of Sheri...they were wonderful!!) and some apple butter, and then upon their departure gave us a gift certificate to our favorite seafood restaurant and a lovely leather journal (and that was kind of funny, after admitting to them the day before how I never wrote more than a couple of pages before losing them:) I will try hard to hang on to this one. Then last night we invited a new family at church and their two sons, and a new English teacher and my friend, Linda, over to share a meal. We had such a good time of sharing and getting to know one another. We are beginning a new ladies class on Wednesday night which I am so excited about, and these women will be apart of our new class. These last few days have been such busy ones but I start the new week feeling so encouraged by these new friends God has put into my life. Until my son-in-law comes to visit my blog will be pictureless:( I've had to switch computers and I'm clueless on this one. Come see us Katie, Tim and Gabriel!!

A Quiet Oasis

Last Sunday Terry and I left the boys at Justin and Chelsea's and went away for an evening by ourselves. Terry had made reservations at "Bonne Terre", a bed and breakfast in Nesbit, Mississippi. We visited there three years ago for our 25th wedding anniversary and had really loved the peaceful setting. I was almost wanting to stay away because I was afraid it could never be as wonderful as our first visit. We enjoyed dinner out in Memphis, and a bit of shopping, before driving over. The room was like stepping into another world. We had a beautiful view off of our balcony overlooking the lake (including two old men fishing on the banks:), with a lovely jazz station playing quietly in the background. The next day was Labor Day so we were able to take our time getting back. We even sat by the lake and read for over an hour after checking out just to enjoy the wonderful Fall day. After picking up the boys we headed home for a 3pm reunion of our travel group from this summer. We shared a lovely Italian meal together and then they gifted us with a wonderful book of photographs, and letters sharing their favorite memories of our travels together. At the end of the weekend we felt so refreshed and encouraged. Thank you Chelsea and Justin for taking such good care of the boys and making their visit so special!

Christian Darsie

Seven years ago today a precious little dark skinned- dark haired little boy entered this world. Through tears of joy and tears of sorrow he became our son. At a time of incredible sadness (we had just been told two days before that my Mom had terminal cancer and had only 2 1/2 months to live), God blessed us with a child to remind us of His love for us. His birthmother placed him with our family in an amazing act of unselfishness. Today he is a bundle of energy in a constant state of motion. He reads anything you put in front of him, he's an X-box expert, excellent soccer player, golfer, and basketball player. He has a tender heart, and if he can't do something perfect the first time, he doesn't want to do it at all (we're still working on that:) He's Jordan's best friend.We have celebrated 3 times this week. Once with his brother last weekend, again last night when he went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Edwards and then got to go pick out a toy at Toys-r-Us, and again tonight with cake and balloons. I sure hope the next 7 years don't go by as quickly as the first 7 did!