happy halloween

happy halloween! this year abbie couldn't decide what to be. "there are so many choices!" she would say. but as soon as my mom found asher a cow costume she said, "i know! i will be the farmer!" so she is. and as a farmer should, she milks the cow. asher is so willing to let her do her thing, actually looking like he's enjoying her pretending to milk him. what will she think of next?!
Abbie made out like a bandit with two overflowing baskets of candy. We did some trick or treating with friends and then returned home to pass out candy to our friends. It was a good night and a lot of fun for the kids. Now, what can we do with all this candy we have!!??

asher in action

hello friends. i am so proud of myself, talking and laughing and rolling over. i was having a great day today and thought i would show off some of my skills. with a little help from my mom, i have accomplished the roll to the belly. i don't love being there for very long, but it feels good to be able to do more than just lay on my back. enjoy a few new video clips of my mad skills. the sound isn't working right, anyone know what to do?

prayer and a caterpillar

During our Pumpkin patch adventure we found a small fuzzy caterpillar. Abbie was delighted at her discovering and decided to bring him home. We stoped for some delicious hamburgers at the Loch Lloyd Club House but didn't want him to escape while at dinner so we placed him in an empty water bottle. When we arrived home I spilled the insect out of the bottle only to discover that he was accidentally water logged in the bottle. I explained to Abbie that he had died and she instantly began crying over the loss of her brief relationship with her new pet. I attempted to revive him but after 4 hours of no movement I declared him dead.

To my surprise, the next morning the caterpillar was alive and crawling around on the counter top. I immediately shared the good news to Abbie and she responded that she had prayed to Jesus that he would make him alive and he did. Abbie was not surprised at all because she believed her prayer would be answered. Her matter of fact faith was inspiring.

pumpkin patch

We enjoyed a chilly afternoon at Johnson's farm pumpkin patch with Papo, Gigi, Leah and cousins Wyatt and Cassidy. Abbie enjoyed feeding the goats and seeing many more smelly animals: horses, cows, pigs, piglets, bunnies, and chicks. There was a barn completely filled with hay for the kids to jump around in. We were pulled by a tractor to search for the perfect pumpkin. I already had the perfect pumpkin (Asher) so Gigi and I sat in the tractor while Papo, Sarah and Abbie looked for pumpkins-as you can see Abbie found two.

Lion King

We recently had the privilage of enjoying the broadway version of the Lion King at the Kansas City Music Hall. A friend of ours gave us three tickets in the third row. We have attended musicals before but usually we are in the cheap seats near the back. It was wonderful actually seeing the actors facial expressions. Abbie wanted to share her experience:

I went to the Lion King. I sat close to the front. The animals came downt the isle but I didn't see the elephant. The Monkey (Rafiki) was silly and rose the baby lion up. Zazu, the bird, was very funny and was trapped in bones. I like the first song (Circle of Life). The worthog the the little guy (meer cat) were silly and ate bugs. They found the baby lion (Simba) and sang a song, Akunna Matata. I was hidding in mommy's side because of the scary part with the Hyhiennas. They were trying to be in an army with their Hyenna friends. Simba came back to the rock and was fighting over the mean lion. Simba and Nala had a baby.

Economic Meltdown

Over the last five months and especially the last four weeks, we have witnessed an economic meltdown. In the wake of record oil prices and mortgage foreclosures, many bedrock financial institutions have imploded. Wall Street has adversely been affected with many record breaking single day loses. I, along with many Americans, have watched our retirement portfolios drop nearly 40%. And if we find ourselves with possible unemployement or a disability, our foul circumstance becomes even more putrid. In this volatile economic environment, while our presumptive presidential nominees are promoting their solutions of how they will repair our economy, it continues to cumble. And it appears government bailouts are too little too late to prevent our financial hemoraging.

Government intervention may ease our fears, but I am reminded of an important truth; Our hope in difficult and uncertain times caused by economic hardships, prolonged illnesses or broken relationships, is in God’s promises and power to provide. Political rhetoric or the size of our bank account may provide temporary comfort, but a lasting peace from an eternal hope comes from Christ alone. But we have to believe and this is where I find myself. At the very moment my senses are being assaulted by dire circumstances but the Lord's words of Life are instructing me to trust and believe in spite of my feelings and convincing me of something different.