Best Dad

I love this picture of Bryan and Cailee. Bryan is the best dad in the whole wide world. I love how he loves our children. This picture is worth a thousand words.

Memories of Nana

The Girls played dress up with lipstick and Nana's glasses yesterday. We were so blessed to have a Nana like my mom. Our children have such sweet memories of playing with her, stories, sleepovers, trips to mall and so much more. On days like these it is comforting to know Gods promises, to be absent from the body means to be present with the Lord. We can trust and know that one day we will see each other again. Praise the Lord!!

The Secret Garden

Sweet Friends

The Team (minus Carrie, we missed you)

Beautiful Sunset View

Fancy French Cuisine

God Special Gift

Enjoying the Grounds

Eating Together

The Painted Sky

The Secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him,

And He will show them His covenant.

Psalm 25:14

Have you ever wondered why it is called the "Secret" of the Lord. Does God intend to keep himself a secret to the lost and dying world? I believe, God weeps over the souls that don't or refuse to know him. The secret, isn't really secret, it just takes seeking. The bible says if you seek Him you will find Him. He isn't hiding, He is ever present. But we must be willing to look.

Those who fear the Lord (believers in Christ) pay attention to His instruction and therefore learn the "secrets" of God's wisdom. Daniel 2:22 says; He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. Daniel needed God to reveal the meaning of the Kings dream. He went home and prayed with his companions, that they might seek mercies from God concerning this secret dream. God made known the dream to Daniel, and revealed the secret, Daniel in return Blessed the name of God forever and ever.

The same way Daniel asked God to reveal deep and secret things, so can we. The God of the universe is waiting, for us to seek, and ask, and obey. We too can be current day Daniel's. Let us strive daily to seek the Lord.

This weekend was our women's leadership retreat. Nine of us went up to Payson, AZ and stayed the weekend, growing friendships and worshiping our Lord. God gifted us in many ways. First he provided the most beautiful place to stay. Kim's parents graciously opened their home to us and we were totally blessed. Secondly, He gifted us with a gorgeous view of the mountains, valleys, and painted skys. Gods nature surrounded us and we were refreshed. Last, but not least, He gifted us with the opportunity to gather together as friends and we were able to join in one voice to worship, seek, and glorify Christ. He made himself known through the teaching and studying.

We undoubtedly had a relaxing, peaceful time together. We laughed our heads off until we cried. We stayed up all night, we ate and ate and ate. We were spoiled by Julie K. and enjoyed great teaching by Julie M., Elissa, Tammy & Julie K.

I leave feeling so blessed to call these ladies friends. I thank Jesus that he gave us this special time to draw closer to him and to one another.

The Best Things in Life

The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart. Hellen Keller

Today is Bryan and my 15th anniversary. I am blessed to have the best, most loving, caring and sweetest husband in the world. Bryan is a perfect picture of self-sacrifice and unconditional love. He always has my best interest in mind, even when I don't deserve it. Over the past fifteen years I have watched Bryan grow into a Godly husband, father, teacher and servant. I am so blessed to have him as the love of my life and look forward with an expectant heart to the years yet to come. I thank the Lord, that He knew just the man who would complete me.

I love you Bryan,

drea

GREAT WHITE....teeth

This is my baby Cadenn and these are his are his GREAT WHITE teeth! After two years of braces, he is done!! After his braces were removed, the Dr. noticed a 1mm space between one of his molars and was very disappointed. He considered for a moment putting them back on, to close the gap. Cadenn listened in terror, hoping and praying that the Dr. would change his mind and he did. He promised to fix it any time if the gap bothered him or food got stuck in it.

Okay, now to brag on our God for a minute and our orthodontist, because a lot of you don't know this story. In November of last year 2 weeks before my mom died I took Cailee to the orthodontist. Cailee is our adopted daughter from Russia. Dr. Snyder and I lived in the same neighborhood in high school, we went to rival schools and we have both adopted children so we have some things in common. When I took Cailee, I knew that there would be a start up fee that we couldn't afford at the time, but didn't have a choice but to go because Cailee had been with us for 6 months and already had braces on her teeth not being checked by anyone. So I began to pray that we would be able to pay the start up fee in sections, not just one lump sum.

Once Dr. Snyder saw Cailee, he told me that it would be 2 years with braces and they would have to take off all the old stuff and put on new stuff. Then I was off to the finance department. I was waiting for the papers to be drawn up and for the total due now, when the finance lady excused herself for a moment with the Dr. After she came back in she proceeded with the paperwork. She covered the cost in full, and what our insurance would cover and what our responsibility was. Then she said, "However, Dr. Snyder has a soft spot for you and your family and is very touched that you have adopted two children, so he wants to do all of the work completely free of charge". I sat in awe filled praise for a moment, of course crying tears of amazement.

I must say, that I limited God, I didn't pray for anything that big, just for the down payment to be broken up in chunks. Not that I didn't believe that God was able, but I did limit the work that he could do by putting God in a box, hoping that he would just accomplish this little thing for us. Our Dr. is not a believer, but he is a wonderful man. I was able to witness to the Greatness of God through the circumstances that the Lord allowed through him. I also was able to share this with my moms care taker that is not a believer & my mom who was very ill was witness to this all, I am sure it stirred up hope and love for her Lord whom she would meet in just a few weeks. Not to mention, that the Lord blessed us greatly, and allowed our new daughter to see His wonders.

Our Lord is alive, He is here and He is now.

Ephesians 3:20

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Brave Little Campers

All of us!




My Knight!

Something worse than the outhouses, Yuck!

Getting ready to hike!

The Crew

First I want to say that I am so excited about this blog. I stink at sending pictures to my sweet friends and family and now I don't have to, they can just click and see:

Okay, so my friend Zona and I had this great idea to take all of our children camping by ourselves for one week! Oh did I mention that we took 10 kids?? We had so much fun. We didn't set any rules except for NO electronics or phones, which worked well because we didn't have service anyway. We loaded two Yukon's and a trailer and headed for Woods Canyon Lake, about 38 miles past Payson. The days were cool and the nights were cooler (sometimes freezing for our Arizona bodies).

The day we arrived we started to set up camp and it began to rain. None of us had ever put up a tent, so it was quite the laugh. However, we were "brave little campers" and we pulled through and did it!

Everything was going well until...."The Thursday Flood". It began at dinner time and we were hustling to get dinner to all the children in their tents before our dinner washed away. After dinner was served, came the flooding of all the tents. First the girls tents, soaked sleeping bags, clothes and pillows. Then the boys, tents, they were quick on their feet and used some of their clothes to save their bedding. After about an hour or so, we evacuated the children to our trucks. In the mean time Zona was in our tent with Chloe and Cyilea. I decided that we might have to go to a hotel and went to get the car started and warmed only to find a dead battery. After Trevor and I jumped the truck, I thought I would check on Zona and our dripping tent. I found her safely on our raft (blow up mattress) with my two girls, and buckets placed strategically to catch the rain. Zona assured me that we could brave the storm, and that is just what we did. The next morning, thankfully, our knights in shining armor were there to save the day and re-set up camp. After several hours of drying we did it!!

I think that it was awesome memory builders with some of my favorite people. I give praise for the rain and all the excitement it caused, because it is something my children will not forget.

God's Provisions

Our Flotation Device