Happy First Birthday Sophia!

Our youngest little sweetheart is one year old! The special day was Friday, November 11 - Veteran's Day. The past year really has flown by for me, more so than any other. It must be because it has been very busy and full of so many changes. We've had quite a bit of sickness in our family during the past two weeks, but we were still able to have fun with Sophia. She had her very own cake, homemade just for her. First birthdays are fun, and while we've gone all out for some of our children, she was happy with just a simple celebration. She has generally been pretty easy going and happy, but has shown a bit of a temper lately. She is now walking pretty well and very pleased with herself! She loves music and makes an attempt at singing and dancing. Eating is one of her favorite pastimes and she likes pretty much everything we offer her. Her brothers and sisters love her to pieces so she is never lacking attention. I find her playing with cars, helicopters, and Batman as often as baby dolls. Of course, she could have fun with a cardboard box or the wastebasket. We're so thankful for our chubby happy baby! They grow up so fast...sigh.

Next in line - Victoria is 3!

Victoria and her brother Sammy

A happy girl at Mt. Rushmore

Having fun with Grandpa

Trying out her new princess dress with Nathan

Enjoying her birthday breakfast



The birthday girl on her day



At the Columbia River Gorge on the day we arrived in Washington.



Well, before I share Nathan's birthday news...Victoria turned 3 on October 10th. She had been anxiously awaiting this day for some time. We had the privilege of having Grandpa here to celebrate. If you know Victoria, she is full of life and personality and always entertaining. She's a real cutie...and she can be a real handful. We hope to direct  her dynamic personality and charm into being a godly young lady who can be a blessing to many. She's a "people person" who is friendly to all. Her favorite things include babies (real and pretend), music, dressing up in anything from cowgirl to princess clothes, playing outside, coloring, being with friends, and going to church. She is definitely girly, but can keep up with the boys! The only things she requested on her birthday were brownies, cupcakes, and chocolate milk. She also got to have a birthday dinner with her family, including Grandpa, and a birthday lunch at McDonald's playplace. Children are a blessing and we enjoy celebrating special days with them!

Happy 5th Birthday Jeremiah!



Jeremiah trying out his new T-ball



A happy boy!

The girls enjoying the party 

Cake time!



This fed a crowd



Flashback to his 1st birthday - cutie

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1st Haircut

Since I am still trying to catch up, I wanted to backtrack a little and post Jeremiah's birthday before Victoria's.  Autumn is birthday season in our family and I can barely keep up. Jeremiah turned 5 on September 24th. I can't believe my chubby little baby boy is 5! He is our sweet youngest boy, sometimes called "the weeping prophet" at our house. Yes, he is sensitive, but can be equally cheerful and has a great sense of humor. He loves God, his church, and his family. He's a smart little guy with a love for numbers and books.  I enjoy taking him on errands with me because he is very cute and entertaining. Thankfully, he makes friends fast and loves it here in Washington. His best friends, according to him, are Bubba and Zachary B. and all the Houston Boys. He told me we should stay in this house forever. I said "Really?" LOL. He also said he misses Hayden B. and Tyler V. in Virginia. He loves sports and his favorite is baseball. We got a T-ball set and a baseball cake for him and had a cook-out with dear  friends, which he thoroughly enjoyed! We love you little buddy!

A Few Photos at the Creation Museum

This is a hilarious photo because I thought she would look so pretty in front of the flower pot.  A breeze began to blow and the plant was rustling and waving. She got scared, kept looking over her shoulder and thought the plant was trying to get her. Poor little baby!

Lovely Savannah

Victoria is always ready to pose!

The Creation Museum Botanical Gardens. They were quite extensive.

Cute Jeremiah

Checking out the Alligator Garr

This was our first stop - the Creation Museum. I would recommend everyone visit there if they are in the area of Ohio/Kentucky. They have a walk-thru from Creation to Christ. It was a blessing to visit. We saw Ken Hamm and Buddy Davis while we were there. It was all very God honoring.

Back in Business...Sort of

Our Family at the Creation Museum

The "scared" picture. Savannah and Jeremiah look terrified!

We now have internet, but I can't seem to find any free time to use it, lol. I THOUGHT I  was busy before we moved! I'm sure you all know that we are no longer on the road. We arrived safely with two vehicles that had no problems on the trip, Praise the Lord! While it wasn't too bad (except through Chicago), I am not anxious to follow another car all the way across the country again. Along the way, we visited the Creation Museum in Kentucky - a must see. Then we stayed in Sioux Falls, South Dakota - beautiful. Next was Mount Rushmore. This was our second visit there and I love the little town of Keystone, where we stayed. We were in Wyoming next and really enjoyed the cowboy of Cody, named after "Buffalo Bill" Cody. We ate lunch at the hotel he built and saw a rodeo at night. The next day we drove to Yellowstone's East entrance. The scenery between Cody and Yellowstone is beautiful, as is the scenery between Sheridan, WY and Cody. I could have stayed there for awhile. We had a quick trip (1 day) through Yellowstone, where we saw lots of wildlife and exited in Montana. Montana is absolutely beautiful as well. There are rivers everywhere. It is Russell's favorite state, after Alaska, I believe. Don't tell anyone, but he took many pictures while he was driving...I saw the evidence ha, ha.


We rolled into town on Sat. September 3rd, exhausted but intact. The next day the church had a welcome fellowship for us. Our household goods were a week late (September 12) so we used the extra time to paint, get curtains, and TRY to get organized. Many people here were a huge blessing in helping with the cleaning, painting, and watching children. We are now unpacked and somewhat organized. It is feeling more like home. There is always an adjustment period when we move. We have received a warm welcome and have done quite a bit of fellowshipping (over food and coffee, of course). It has been good to see old friends and meet new brothers and sisters. The children are adjusting very well and love the church and the scenery. Jeremiah turned five just over a week ago. He had the Houston family over to celebrate - fun for all and a party in itself! Noah has joined the Boy Scout troop that meets here and Nathan will join when he turns eleven later this month. They are a great God honoring group of young men. Savannah has joined the choir and is helping with a children's class. She has also started back to piano lessons and has resumed her high school studies. Sammy and Jeremiah love the woods around the house and all the friends at church. Victoria loves all the new faces and is getting her fair share of attention. Sophia is growing and standing on her own. Russell is getting settled in his new role and I'm sure will be a blessing to many. I am trying to get back into some sort of normal routine so I can manage everything. We do miss everyone back in Virginia and if you haven't heard from me, it is not because I haven't thought of you. We think of you all daily. It is simply because I have been swamped with all the logistics of relocation, especially at the beginning of a new school year. I don't necessarily follow the public school calendar, but I do need to stay caught up and not let education fall by the wayside. In fact, I need to go get a couple of the children back to lessons right now and Sophia is currently climbing the stairs. I hope my posts will not be too infrequent. I will have to post pictures later because I am out of time and my old computer is not letting me see the pics before I add them. God Bless you all!

On the Road

Well folks, it's been awhile. A lot has transpired since my last post. I haven't had much access to the internet. There was a flurry of packing, cleaning, and goodbyes - the most we have ever had to say. It was tough, to say the least, but God provided many blessings along the way.  It was difficult to leave our house with all the people stopping to say goodbye, or farewell, as I prefer to put it. There was even an earthquake while we were visiting with one family. A grand send-off! We had many invitations for meals, which we gratefully accepted, free haircuts from our awesome barbers, a spacious place to stay after our household goods were packed (Thank you Baileys!), and a warm send-off by our wonderful church family at Calvary Baptist Church. There were other little things here and there, such as snacks made for our journey and help fixing some things at the house. We are so thankful for good friends. We will miss everyone so much, but we know we will see each other again. We are looking forward to getting settled in WA and renewing old friendships there.

Cake made by Barbara Goosman - Great Job!

Victoria and Mrs. Owens

Penny and Sasha

Friends at Calvary

Sophia's first friend, Victoria Owens

Amy and Savannah

Tim Owens, Noah, and Elliot Fairhurst

Our trip started off well and we have been blessed with good weather the entire time driving. I found out that semi trucks do not look out for you in West Virginia. I tried to follow Russell around a truck when the lane we were in suddenly ended and I had nowhere else to go. The large truck that was next to me did not slow down and I had to step on the brakes and run over one of the cones to get in behind it. My nerves were shaken, but all was well. We later found out from a local that trucks run people off the road there all the time. Praise the Lord nothing happened. The children are traveling well considering how much time they have to spend buckled up. Sophia is being a great little traveler. We are driving two vehicles, so that means Russell and I do not get a break from being behind the wheel. We took a day off the second day to see the Creation Museum in Kentucky. It was great, very informative, and the botanical gardens were beautiful! There have been some long days, especially the day we drove through Chicago - not fun! That short distance took over two hours and was stop and go and changing traffic patterns the whole time. It is hard to follow another vehicle through that, but the worst thing that happened was we had to stop before we intended to. Not too bad, just a late night in a not so nice motel. It had an ...interesting smell, and the shower left much to be desired. Yesterday was another very long day of driving. We really enjoyed the scenery in Wisconsin and Minnesota, though. We are currently taking another break in Sioux Falls, SD. It is beautiful here and the place we are staying is nice. Today we went and saw the Falls and I had my first good cup of coffee since leaving VA! We also had a great meal at Chevy's. One does get tired of cheeseburgers and chicken tenders after awhile! We are enjoying the down-time and resting a bit. Tomorrow it is on the road again, hopefully ending near Mt. Rushmore. 
I'll try to post more later with some more photos.

A WHIRLWIND

Cooling off at the yard sale

Nathan taking some time out with Sophia

Bethany and Savannah enjoying some music before staying up all night!

Always happy Sophia enjoying carrots

Nathan and his buddy Will, soccer champs

Savannah and Haley before their Young Eagles flight

Three Young Eagles after flying over Stafford

Sister time - fun stuff!

That's life for us right now, a whirlwind, a flurry, a tornado, whatever you want to call it. It's crazy busy, exciting, and overwhelming. Time seems to keep moving faster. There have been yard sales, ruthlessly cleaning out closets, deep cleaning, organizing, yard work, emptying flower pots :(  and cleaning outdoor items, home repairs, phone calls, paperwork, goodbye visits, sleepovers at our house, barbecues, follow up Dr. appointments, meeting with the real estate agent, and just the regular day to day work. Along with all that, we've been battling illness and asthma due to the poor air quality and heat. There have been some fun times mixed in there, but I'll be honest, I am exhausted. I know Russell is too. He is such a hard worker. We are trusting the Lord to give us stamina and carry us through the next few weeks. We know there is a purpose in all this and we are confident that we are following God's plan. I know we will grow stronger through all of this. I really should be making dinner right now, but I needed a short break. It is good to take little breaks throughout the day, no matter how busy. Just a minute ago Victoria, our two year old, was singing "Cast your burdens upon Jesus, He cares for you."  I'm thankful for those little reminders. 


"Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you." 1 Peter 5:7