Music Monday ~ I will lift my eyes by Bebo Norman

I came across this song a couple months ago, and immediately loved it! 

It's a great reminder to me that my problems really are not as big as they may seem. When I look at all that God has done, and all that He has created I come to the realization that if He can create the world... He can do anything!!
I will lift my eyes to the Maker, because He was and He is and He will be forever!

~ Beautiful Girl ~

See this beautiful girl?

She is GRADUATING this year!!! (*PARTY*)

Today she got me to take her grad pictures. (well I could hardly say take, rather I pressed the button, she set everything up :) Above is one of the pictures from the shoot... the rest will be posted on her blog in the near future.

Thanks for letting me use your camera Megs, thanks for answering all my silly questions, and for putting up with my cluelessness...I enjoyed every single second! :)

♥ LOVE YOU LITTLE SISTER!!!

Sunday's fun stuff :)

Sunday was great :) We had an AMAZING church service, did some singin' with some new friends and then hit the park for some FAMILY FUN!!!

I love the days that we can just spend time together as a family, just hangin' out!

Here are some random pictures of our day....

Jaden, being his adorable little self

I love how Megs always finds creative new ways to do her hair... 

Ain't she Beeeeautiful?

Special Father/son moment

We went for a walk around Winkler park...

After spending the day at Winker park... we headed to Morden Park armed with some yummy greasy chicken :) 

And then played a good game of soccer with the whole fam.

Everyone played except for Ker and the little ones....

I always say that if Jaden would get any cuter... he would explode!!!

More soccer fun!

Family times = Fun times!!!

Music Monday ~ "It is well with my soul" by Horatio Spafford {sung by Selah}

His 4 year old boy died from scarlet fever in 1871. Shortly after he and his family suffered great financial loss during the Chicago fire.
In 1873 Horatio Spafford his wife Anna and his 4 daughters decided to travel to Europe. Horatio, discovering that he would be delayed due to some business that he had to deal with, decided to send his wife and daughters on ahead of him.
A few days later he received a devistating telegram from Anna that said "saved alone".
This ship that Horatio's family was traveling on had collided with another ship in the heavy fog and had sunk. Only his wife was saved alive.
Later as Horatio made the trip across the ocean to be reunited with Anna, someone informed him that they were approaching the area where his daughters has been lost.
He went up on deck and wrote the words that later became the famous hymn, "It is well with my soul".

I think it is so amazing that even though this man had lost nearly everything on this earth, he still was able to say "It is well with my soul".
He understood that even though he may have been having deep sorrows and trouble here on the earth, it was still well with his soul, because he had his sins forgiven, he had a God that loved him and he had a heavenly home to look forward to.

And this has inspired me to say for myself.
"When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, It is well with my soul!"

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.


It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.


Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.


My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!


For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.


But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.


And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.


Horatio Spafford

I took the camera with me to the barn...

 I took the camera along to the barn this morning when I went milking... just to see what would happen :)
Here is the result....

I took a quick look at the garden before heading to the barn and was HAPPY to find that the strawberries are blooming! 

This is our road... muddy road that is :)

Ker and I have voted these kittens to be the cutest that we have ever had before. The only problem was that they wouldn't stop playing to let me get a picture of them! So you'll have to use your imaginations :)

Father + son

This is Sophie... she spends every waking hour trying to get out of her pen, and she succeeds... many, many, many times. 

You can't tell me that your heart doesn't melt when you look into those eyes!

Ya'll, I think we missed our cue... it's nap time!!!

Here is our sweet, sweet turkey, sadly... she doesn't have a name, but she is one of our most beloved pets! We originally had her paired up with a male and we were going to try to get some turkey chicks from them, but sadly Mr. Tom died :( So right now, she is just one of the pets.

 She is laying on chicken eggs right now. She actually was going to lay on some of her own, but we knew that they wouldn't have been fertilized... so we gave her some chicken eggs to sit on. We are hoping it works!

They're still playing!!

This kitty decided to sit pretty for me :) We had 3 litters of kittens this year, so we have plenty!

I think this guy's name is George, but I'm not sure. He is the king of the cat village around here. 

Ever since the chicks were a couple of days old I have been feeding them out of my hand. I don't know what is so exciting about eating out of my hand rather then from their feeder... but they love it! (and so do I :) It has been fun watching them grow and develop day after day.... my babies are growing up!

Snuggling under the light.

For some reason the chicks have taken special fascination with my shoe. They love to peck at the mud on the bottom of it as well as all other spots that they see. 

Occasionally one little chick will climb up to the very peak of it and just sit there, enjoying the scenery! :)

I was going to come up with a good ending to this post... but unfortunately my brain isn't cooperating with me right now (happens every once in a while :), so I'll just leave ya with that :)

Cheerie'o!

Them cows are gone.

This is a picture of my daddy. My daddy is walking through the mucky muck. 

This is what we were doing all day yesterday. 

It was a sunny day, which unfortunately this year has been a rare thing.
But, instead of soaking up the sun (like I'm sure most Manitobans were doing...) I was playing in the muck. Although it may seem disgusting, I was having the time of my life!
Not because I like playing in the muck, nor because I like getting dirty... but because we were working with the cows. And I love working with the cows!

This year has been rough for the calves because of the living conditions of our corral. All the mud and muck has been accumulating for so long because of all the rain that we have been getting. So, it didn't matter how difficult it was going to be to waddle through all the mud to chase the cows into the trailer, it didn't matter that we were all covered in muck by the time that we were done for the day. It just needed to be done. And we got er' done!
And all 2 bulls, 29 cows and 28 calves are happily munching grass in their new happy home.

I learned a couple of things...

• First is that it was not a good idea to wear mom's rubber boots when you are chasing cows in muck that is almost up to the knees (K, I'm exaggerating a bit, I didn't go knee high.... could have, but chose to stay away from those areas.... there were a couple of "overflow" moments though, and mom wasn't very happy.)
• Second is that if I get stuck when while cows are being chased and there are no sympathetic moms around, I'm on my own until the cow is done being chased. (I learned that the second time I got stuck while mom wasn't around, fortunately I was able to eventually get out on my own :)

We let our milk cows Clarabelle (due in September), Lonnie (taking a break) and Sweet Clover (to be bred for the first time), out to pasture as well. The cows that were left at home were not at all happy! They knew what their friends were up to and were upset that they were missing out! They still haven't forgiven me yet... but hopefully they'll settle down soon :)

It is so fun watching the cows go free into the pasture as they run and jump and start eating the fresh green grass. It is one of the greatest feelings ever!

My "cow job" is now pretty much finished (unless of course the cows break through the fence... or something like that :) until them cows come home in fall!

Malachi 4:2

But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.


Mom will have some more pictures of our "cow hauling day" later.

Why I am Waiting

I have never dated, nor will I ever date.
Instead I have taken the path of courtship, waiting for the one that God has planned to be my future husband. Waiting hasn't always been easy, but it is and has been SO worth it.
I came to think that some of you may be wondering why I have made the decision not to date. I came to the conclusion that the best way to explain it would be to compare courtship with dating and show you the difference.
Every courtship is different, simply because every family and every person is different. But the underlying concept is purity.

Now I'm not saying only physical purity, but also emotional purity.

Dating:
Recreational dating isn't a commitment. The purpose of it is often for fun (not in all cases, but in lots, especially those that date when they are in their early teens) and for emotional fulfilment. Broken hearts are almost expected. Dating, breaking up, dating someone else... breaking up... is routine. In reality, it's like practicing for divorce.

Courtship:
The purpose of courtship is to get to know a girl/guy with the intention of marriage. Breakups are rare and if they happen there is usually not any emotional heartbreak involved because there has been no heartstrings tied.
With my brother Josh and Rebecca (they have now been married for over 2 years).... they had already known each other for 4 or so years before they actually started officially courting. Our family had been friends with their family and we got together to play sports and just hang out together often. When Josh asked Rebecca's dad if he could court his daughter, they already were pretty sure that marriage was in their future. They only courted for 10 days before they were engaged. So anyway, the point of the story is that Josh and Becky didn't need to court for very long, simply because they already knew what each other were like! They were not courting just for fun, they were courting because they were serious about marriage.

Dating:
The guy asks the girl out. The girl then makes the decision herself whether or not she wants to go out with this guy. She vulnerable to having to answer guys and possibly face pressure from the guy to go out with him.

Courtship:
In courtship there is no talking to the girl first, the guy goes to the Dad to ask permission.
The reason that there is parental involvement is simply because Dad has lived longer, and he has been through stuff that I haven't been through yet (or may never go through). He can see the ups and downs way better then I can and he can "check the guy out" in ways that I could never. We call it screening guys.
This way, I never have to make the decision of whether or not to say yes or no right off the bat, I don't have to face the pressure of worrying about making the guy feel bad and I don't have to get emotionally involved.
Some people confuse this with being an "arranged marriage". Not so, in an arranged marriage there is no choice for the young woman/man in the matter, they don't have a say whatsoever in who they are going to marry.
My Dad and Mom would NEVER force or even try to convince me to marry someone that I have no desire to marry. And it goes without saying that I would NEVER even think about marrying someone that Mom and Dad don't approve of. We work as a team.
And as a cherry on the top, the guy has to prove that he is man enough to get up the courage to talk to daddy :)

Dating:
The guy and girl feel like they have to try different people out in order to know who is the right one.

Courtship:
I don't have to look for my future husband, my daddy's got that covered :) He is always on the lookout for "possibilities" and it is off my hands! But even bigger than my Dad is God. I have left it in His hands to find a husband for me if it is His will. If God wants me to marry... He is going to bring me someone to marry!

Dating:
Going on a date means being alone. The couple is then susceptible to temptation even if they have strong convictions.
When the couple is alone, they can fake who they really are. And can put on a "show" to impress their "significant other".

Courtship:
Courting is a family affair. When the couple is together, they are together with family and friends around. The best place to get to know someone and to find out what they are really like is in a family setting. The family isn't in love, so they are not out to impress.
And the temptation simply isn't there, accountability is the key. And yes... I will even mention the word CHAPERON!!! I think my sisters will make good chaperon's :)
Now I'm not saying that there is never a time for couples to be alone and just talk, but it is in a setting where anyone could come walking in on them at any moment.

Dating:
Dating couples give pieces of their heart to each other by kissing. having heart to heart conversations ect. The problem with this is that if/when they break up with one person and move on to the next, they have given a piece of their heart to someone who is not/will not be their husband/wife. When they actually get married, they have little to give their spouse because some or most of their heart has been given away. They also have memories that they would/should rather not have.

Courtship:
Most courting couples have very high physical standards, but not all are the same. For me, I know that I will never do anything with my Beau that I would not feel comfortable doing in front of my Dad.  Saving my first kiss for the alter is a must. But it's not just about a kiss. The day that I get married I want to be able to give my future husband absolutely every thing that I have to offer.

Ya, so now that I have given my spiel... it's your turn.
Anyone have anything to add or comment on? Feel free. Questions are welcome.

If you want some more info about courtship Paul Washer has a great sermon about it Here. He isn't afraid to say exactly what he believes... so be prepared :)