Looks like santa was here....

Merry Christmas!                                                                                      

Looks like  not  having  a chimney didnt  stop Santa 

HOwever, my  kids are terrified at  the idea of  santa  coming  in our  house

STANDING IN AWE *updated*

I literally have no words and for those of you who know me, know that doesn't happen often (or ever) :) I stand in awe of our God, the Father to the Fatherless. I stand in awe of my church family & other wonderful friends. I stand in awe of some of you that I have NEVER MET who would give to a child that you have NEVER SEEN! Truly God is good. In 2 short days, YOU have raised that money to help Ella get a set of hearing aids. Because of your generosity and the generosity of people stepping out in faith by presenting Ella's needs, sticking their neck out to get discounts & giving their time, ELLA WILL HEAR. She will hear laughter, she will hear her friends, and more importantly I pray she will one day be able to hear the Gospel of Christ.!

I rejoice today friends!  In the tough times we live in with all of the bad news in the world, Goodwill towards men is not gone!! God has not forgotten the plight of the orphan. Thank you all for partnering with me to help this precious child! Visit my friend Nikki's blog @ www.bringinghomezeke.blogspot.com to see more of these precious children and maybe help support this family and their care of the orphan.

I will update you on the progress of her hearing aids. Hopefully, they will be hand delivered to her orphanage in mid January!! WHAT AN AWESOME CHRISTMAS PRESENT YOU HAVE GIVEN HER! God bless you!

Exceedingly Abundantly....

THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to Ella. Praying blessings on you! You want to hear how our God cares for the orphan? You want to be blown away?
This afternoon  the wonderful lady who is helping us to get Ella's hearing aids contacted me. Another generous lady just walked in her office and handed her a hearing aid.. Yes, you read that correctly.Her daughter had a spare hearing aid and wanted to know if there were someone who needed one!! We are now only having to raise $400 for 1 hearing aid. Praise our great God!!!
 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...Eph. 3:20

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. "James 1:27

WILL YOU HELP?

I'm coming to you totally out of my element here. I have friends and family that can move people to action by writing eloquent words. I have no such words. However, I can share my heart with you.

This is "Ella" (name changed for protection). Ella is an orphan in the Philippines. My friend Nikki and her family are ministering to visually impaired orphans (www.bringinghomezeke.blogspot.com) and the orphanage staff brought this beautiful 5 yr. old girl to them and begged them to find her some hearing aids. Ella is very hearing impaired but her testing  has shown that hearing aids will help her. 

Now here is where you & I come in. They have no hearing aids. They are way too expensive! BUT GOD!!!!! Through some wonderful people who have helped my daughter Laurel hear, they are able to help me get a set of hearing aids for $800. My friends apart from them being free (that would be nice too) :) that is amazing. Hearing aids are well over $4000! Amazing? Yes! Do I believe all this is of God? YES!! I very clearly received a nudging from Him that I was to advocate to make this child's life better. You see, to be an orphan is tough enough. They have very little prospect for the future with no money, no life skills, no family and little education but can you imagine all of this stacked against you AND YOU CAN'T HEAR??

After seeing how much hearing aids helped our daughter and seeing her blossom and be able to carry on meaningful relationships I cannot imagine denying another child this.

Will YOU help? I know it's the worst possible season to ask for money! Believe me, I get it. But I do feel I must ask. All money raised will go directly into a paypal account created for Ella. I have created a Chip In on the side of this blog. You can donate very easily that way, or, if you'd rather, and you know me personally, you can give the money to me and it will be deposited to the account. The money is not tax deductable. The money will go DIRECTLY to the organization that will order the hearing aids.

What a great Christmas present for a child who deserves a chance at life. Will you help?

THANK YOU AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU!

To Decorate..

My FAVORITE ornament. Mike made this years ago for me as a joke...... "Satan Claus" I had a teacher in high school that really called Santa this!

Have I mentioned I LOVE having a fireplace?

The yearly tradition of the making of the Gingerbread Train

Noah's newest "thing". He goes to bed in a different hat every night :)

Glad I don't believe in Omen's. This was outside my door today!

Merry Christmas! We are all decorated but haven't finished shopping. Being sick for a week really through a kink in things! However, we've been having a wonderful time doing some fun things with the babies & reading Christmas books every night. Laurel plays with her manger scene everyday and sings "Away in a Manger" while she does it. I'm so amazed to watch her go from a little child who knew nothing (and heard nothing) to a little girl who loves Jesus and knows what Christmas is all about!
Noah is looking forward to having a break from school. Thursday he had a mini meltdown because he couldn't write the word "beef". He put his head on the desk and cried... "Oh No, now I'll NEVER be the President"! :)
Gee I sure hope not... I can think of no worse job :)

Anyway, more to come when I can get to my other computer for pictures. Enjoy your children!

Kids say the funniest things...

So as I stated in the post below, we have the flu, or some semblance of something that makes you want to lie down and die. Except for Laurel, who with her Ukrainian genes of iron never gets sick and never slows down. Makes for a fun weekend :)

Anyway, as I was puking my guts up I looked up and heard "Well, that was worth the price of admission".... Noah was standing there with a huge grin on his face watching Mommy hurl. I have to admit it did make me smile through it all.....and then worry that maybe we've watched Madagascar 3 a few times to many this weekend.

This makes me laugh... :)

Anyone who has ever had a cat totally gets this! :)

Randomness.

TAKEN BY NOAH OF HIMSELF

Noah fell asleep looking @ all the trains he wants Santa to bring him :)

This is how Laurel sleeps

I have so many cool pictures I'd love to share with you all from what we've been doing the last few weeks but I fear the Flu has found us! Mike came down with it yesterday and spent all day in bed. This morning, Noah awoke to throwing up & a high fever. Laurel & I are the last hold outs.....and I'm feeling a bit weird. Oh well.

Noah & Laurel were both in Christmas play last weekend. It was fabulous and the kids were adorable (of course) :)
We then went to the Christmas train close to where my Grandma lives. Love Love Love it! They make it truly about the birth of Christ and it is simple yet beautiful. Great pictures! 

However, until we can surface from the sickness I won't be able to download all my pics. Hopefully in a few days.

God is good! He is in control of even the yuckiest of times! Praise Him!