Halloween Fun

Nelson the Pirate and Lyla the Ladybug

Nelson likes Lyla's walker :)

Big girl trick-or-treating :)

Seriously the cutest pirate I've ever seen!

Nelson's grandma gave Lyla a ladybug (and she didn't know that Lyla was going to be a ladybug!)

The trick-or-treating crew

Mark, Nelson, and Karn

The ladybug and the monster checking each other out

Ethan, Joel, and Lyla

Cute nephew, crazy uncle

33 weeks

The belly at 33 weeks!

Looks like Lyla's excited about her little sis. :)

Lyla's Silly Story

A trip to the Apple Orchard/Pumpkin Patch

Took a little family trip to a fun apple orchard/pumpkin patch. Lyla was tearing all over with her walker! She loved it. :)

Our Little Climber!

Lyla's newest achievement. Go Lyla!

A Special Guest

For the last 2 weeks Joel's parents have been hosting, in their home, a pastor from Ghana. Last spring John (Joel's dad) went on a short-term missions trip to Ghana, Africa to give medical help and treatment to several villages there. While in Ghana he became acquainted with Pastor Prince Paul who is the head of an amazing Christian ministry in Ghana. (he is actually a tribal prince, hence the "Prince" in his name). John and Pastor Paul became friends. Pastor Paul accepted Jesus into his life at the age of 13 and has been on fire for Him ever since. After attending seminary in Akra (the capital of Ghana) he started a church on the rough side of town. Since he was raised in the jungle until the age of 13, he has a heart for the tribal people in Ghana. He has started 41 churches in the jungles of Ghana, and has helped to start 20 home churches which don't have pastors...yet. Our home church here in MN is supporting Pastor Paul's ministry by funding the construction of a pastoral training center in Ghana so that the pastors of the tribal churches can be better equipped to lead, as most of them are farmers. It was a privilege and a blessing to be able to spend time with Pastor Paul while he was in town. Here is a story that serves as an example of the commitment he has to Christ--this past spring he and some other pastors decided to go into the jungle area in the northern part of Ghana to try to spread the Gospel there. This area of Ghana is primarily Muslim. Despite the dangers, he held some open-air services where many came to know the Lord, including some Muslims. One Muslim man's friends realized that their friend had converted to Christianity which angered them, so they hunted down Pastor Paul and beat him up to within an inch of his life. After being beaten severely, Pastor Paul decided to hold his breath so that the Muslim men would think he was dead and stop beating him. The Lord preserved his life. He was hospitalized and has made a full recovery. What an amazing testament to faith and trust in the Lord! How little we suffer for our faith here in the U.S.!

As our pastor said last Sunday, if Aaron Rodgers were to walk into our church's sanctuary what a fuss would be made over him. But it was truly much more of a privilege to be in the presence of this man, Pastor Paul, who has made such an impact in this world for God's kingdom. Amen.

Lyla and Pastor Paul smiling at each other :)

Pastor Paul with the fam

Oh, and Lyla with her little cuzzie, Ethan, playing with the dino-popper :)

Daddy was having fun with his girl during bath time...

Tickle, tickle, tickle!

My sweetie...

...turned 33 on Sunday. Poor guy had to work 12 hours on his birthday. I thank the Lord for him--he's a wonderful husband, father, provider...I could go on and on.

Love you Joel!

Lyla and I made a trip to Marshfield this past Saturday to do some visiting. We got to see Grandma Nita. She is doing much better. She'll be in a nursing home until Thursday and will then get to go home! She looked great and was walking and totally with it. She's a tough cookie! Thank you for your prayers on her behalf.

I learned that my grandma & grandpa's old barn got blown down in a storm over the summer, and here are the remains. I actually got quite nostalgic and little sad about it because the barn has been on my grandparents' farm for as long as I can remember. It was just strange for it to be gone--the view was so different! So I had to take a picture.

Sisters

baby girl #2 (7/26/11)

Lyla (6/10/08)

Do you think they look alike?

Uncles

A few more pics from Joel's uncles' visit...

Uncle Paul, Joel & Bean, Uncle Ben, and Josh

the whole gang

Joel and Josh took the uncles fishing one evening

the uncles and the babes-Lyla's not looking so sure about this

Uncle Paul and Uncle Ben-sure enjoyed the time we got to spend with them!

And some pics that John took at Joel's cousin's wedding...

This was taken before the dance started--she loved dancing with the other kids!

Lyla's 1st Haircut

Lyla got her first haircut today and did great!

Before

After

(less mullet)

It took me a long time to get to the point where I was okay with Lyla getting her hair cut. Not sure why-maybe because it means she's not a baby anymore-she's getting to be a big girl. She's going to be a big sister! Sometimes it's hard to believe. I guess Lyla's haircut is also a milestone and a reason to celebrate, because we didn't know if she'd ever get old enough to have a haircut. Well, she did, and we thank Jesus for that. :)

Lyla loves Joel's new deer decoy!

Here she is with great Uncle Ben-he traveled all the way from WA for a visit...more pics to come. :)

(The haircut video was for you Uncle Ben!)

And in other news...

Here's the baby belly at 25 weeks

Still feeling great. Her HR at our check-up a few days ago was 145 and my belly is measuring right on track. I still love feeling her kick and move quite often. At 25 weeks she is probably about 13 1/2 inches long and weighing about a pound and a half. :)

Also, a prayer request--my Grandma Anita is in the hospital with a bowel obstruction (her 2nd in as many years). She had to have emergency surgery on Friday and she's in the hospital recovering. She also has multiple myeloma, which may make her recovery more difficult. She's one of the toughest 88 year olds I know, but we would sure appreciate some prayer for healing for her! Thanks!

Catch Up!

Happy Labor Day! Hope you had the day off and that it was an enjoyable one. :) I realize that I have not been very astute with my blogging lately, and for that I do apologize. We have been somewhat busy...mostly having fun! So here's my catch-up post with a little bit of this, that, and the other things included.

Lyla with her little cousin Ethan--he's 6 months old already, and sweet as ever. He does smile a lot, though I never seem to be able to catch it on camera.

Lyla and I took a 10-day trip to visit my family in Arizona. It was wonderful--such a blessing to spend a lot of quality time with my parents and brother and his fam. It was just what we needed. :) I actually was kind of a space-cadet and didn't take many pictures at all on the trip. But my parents took some good ones, so if they send them I will post some more from the AZ!

Lyla playing with Charis and Sophie

Auntie Abby with Sophie and Naomi

And we hit up the Houston County Fair--Lyla continues to love animals.

Some vids from the splash park. Oh man, does Lyla love water!

And this last vid is from our beloved physical therapist, Tanya's, last visit. She took a full-time position elsewhere and we will miss her tons! She taught Lyla (and us!) SO much. We are so grateful for the huge positive impact she has made on Lyla's development!

Cuties

On the river

Nelson and Lyla in Nelson's birthday jump-house. :)