Happy Birthday Essie!

Our sweetie pie turned 8 this year.  How can she be that old already?!  So thankful for each and every day that we've had with our precious ray of sunshine these past eight years!  She is a constant burst of life, energy and joy and brings many smiles and laughs into our home.  Esther means "star".  We pray that she will truly be a star that shines brightly with the light of the Lord Jesus in this world!  We love you so much sweet heart!
~Big sis Bree

Inspiring Story

Our dear little Esther was ill today, so Sarah and I stayed home with her while the others went to church.  We are so very blessed by the church body God has given to us and very much missed the blessing of being there today.  God is so good and blessed us in other little ways throughout this day.  This movie, sharing the life of Samuel Morris was one of them.  We hope that it will encourage you in your relationship and faith in the Lord, as it did us.  If God lays it on your heart to pray for Esther we would greatly appreciate it.  What a delight the Lord's Day is!  

Miscellaneous musings

It is hard to believe that this beautiful young lady is now 22.  Where have the years gone.  Breanna you have always been such a joy in our home.  We love you so much and are so very grateful that God gave you to this family.

Daddy's Girls  

This man is so surrounded by love!  They truly adore and look up to their daddy!  We were sitting at the table the other day and Esther (age 6) said, "I want to marry someone like Daddy some day."  Brittany (age 25) says so do Bree and I, that is what we are still waiting for.  :-)  How thankful I am for such a Godly man.  

Oh these boys . . . I love them so!  

Our first time getting to celebrate our precious new daughter-in-law's birthday.  Martha is such a blessing.  We all love her SO much!  What a joy she and Tayte are to watch as they have begun their journey together.  

Last but not least of the musings today  . . . Daisy, our super special family dog, had 10 new puppies Tuesday.  The children were so excited.  Anyone need one or two ??  :-)

Hope you are all having a fantastic new year so far and are staying warm.  Even here in South Georgia it has been cold.  :-)

~Karen

Exciting Moments in Ohio

While in Ohio, getting the remains of our things that we could not take in our last trip last summer while moving, attending one of our precious friends wedding, Seth completing some work and visiting with Grandma and others, our little Esther began learning to ride her two wheel bike.

Sarah Morton is now Mrs. Jonathan Manring!

 

Their wedding was simply elegant and so focused upon the truth that marriage is truly a covenant relationship ordained by God.   What a blessing to be able to attend one of our dearest family friends youngest and last daughter's wedding and to be able to see so many of our dear brothers and sisters in Christ.  I can not begin to tell you the joy of that special evening.  Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Manring!  Our deepest love and blessings to you both!

A sweet friend, and another special friend's new baby.

It was so precious to get to talk with you again, Anna!

Saturday Seth and the children loaded up the remainder of our items that our sweet neighbors had allowed us to store at their houses.  They so enjoyed getting to see our old neighbors and the folks that bought our old house.  Mom and I went to Fort Wayne grocery shopping and had a special time together.  :-)

Sunday we worshiped with our dear brothers and sisters of Keefer Creek, where we use to attend before we moved.  Oh, how precious that was.  Pastor Lederman is preaching through the book of Romans currently and was in the sixth chapter verse 13.  His exhortation to not yield our members to unrighteousness was a powerful and needed message.  It is so easy to make soft choices and not even realize how we are yielding our members to unrighteousness.  The love and warmth that we received from everyone was so touching to us.  We so love these people!  Elizabeth also got to see her super special friend Mr. Donald.  He is one of the residents of the nursing home where the church meets weekly.  I think he was as thrilled to see her as she was him.  We were just so blessed in every way!

Sunday evening we were so blessed to have been invited to join our precious Amish friends for supper and their evening service of singing.  Our old neighbors were truly the best we have ever had.  Even though we are not Amish they embraced us from the very moment that we moved in and even though we have moved away they continue to pour so much love out to us.  We were invited to dinner, received an angel food cake and the most delicious cinnamon rolls that ever a soul has made!  We so do not deserve all the love that people give to us.

 

Saturday evening chatting at the road.  The joys of rural northwest Ohio. :-)

Monday was a super special day as we got to spend the entire day with my brother and his awesome family!  I have the BEST big brother in the whole wide world!  He is the neatest guy one could ever meet!  The little children had such a great time playing with their cousins.  My sister-in-law of course must be a special lady because she is married to my brother.  :-)  Sonya is an incredible woman.  She inspires us so much!   We really enjoyed catching up and being spurred on in the area of discipline in our own lives.  It was such a special time catching up with Alli and Nick.  So many sweet memories shared over the years.  We are just so blessed!

Dad and Uncle Merrill grilling.

Lots of things for all us ladies to talk about!

Such precious times ~ you really miss them afterwards.

Brittany getting in some cuddle time with Katie.  Such a sweetheart!

All the little girlies playing dress-up. :-)

Sitting around talking, laughing, and catching up.

Precious time.  Miss you all so much already!

Bell and Katie Bell

These two have really enjoyed corresponding since our move.

Hayden, Nick, and Ti, riding fourwheelers

which Titus thoroughly enjoyed!

Nick, you're growing up into such a precious young man. :-)

Love listening to the guys tell stories and seeing them laugh. :-)

These two have been friends for a long time!

 Sarah, Dani, and Esther

Three sweet little cousins

that were glad to get to spend some time together again!

Bree, Alli, and Britt

It was sure nice to be together again!

Loved all the talk time with you, Alli, and hearing about

what your up to and planning on being up to.

This picture always makes me miss you.

Tuesday we spent the day at Grammy's helping her do some things that needed done outside.  What a fun day!  We cut her pampas grass, weeded all the flower beds, purchased flowers and planted them in the various different places, sucked all the the leaves out of her flower beds and just truly had an awesome time.

 

We stayed at my mom's house and I assure you she showed us so much patience and love.  She lives by herself and to have eight people ages forty six to three is quite a change for eight days.  Only a deep and great love could possibly had gotten her through our evasion.  She spoils us soooooo much!  We love you Grammy!!   Thank you for being such an extraordinary and loving person!  We are so blessed that God gave you to be my mom / our grandma! 

There were three things that we were hoping to do after getting to see all the special people that God has placed in our lives.  They were: 1.  have pizza from Hometown pizza (the best pizza around) 2.  Go to our favorite thrift store in Bryan ( you get to fill a whole bag for only $9.99)  and 3.  Go to the thrift store in Hicksville ( they have awesome prices and we always find things at both of these thrift stores.  Well  Wednesday, Breanna had made plans with their old piano teacher to meet for coffee, oh was this a blessing.  It was so good catching up with her and being so spiritually encouraged by her.  She was and is such a blessing in our family's life!

 Love you Connie and thank you for taking time to meet with us.

After we left the coffee shop . . .  we got to go to our favorite thrift store in Bryan, our bag was overflowing! :-)  Then we visited one of our most precious Amish friends that we used to be so close to.  That was such a special time!  One final stop for the day before heading back to Grammy's, who kept the younger ones at home with her while the older girls and I were out.  We made a quick stop at our favorite thrift store in Hicksville and were blessed again to find many items.  We had two bags and our bill was $15.  All their blue tags were even half off so a lot of the items were only 50 or 65 cents.  We have got to keep looking for thrift stores like these in Georgia.  :-)

Oh and just for the record, we had Hometown pizza on Saturday night!  It was awesome, as expected!!!

My precious hard working husband was working Tuesday and Wednesday in Bryan for his old company then he and Brittany took off at 4 in the morning Thursday to go to their Dover, Ohio plant to finish up the work that he needed to do. 

True Ohio Beauty ~ Farming at Sunset

Took this picture on our way back to Grandma's Thursday evening.

So sad I didn't think to take any while we were working,

as it really was a special time that I enjoyed getting to spend with Dad.

This picture was taken with Tayte especially in mind. :-)

Thursday night our two little cousins spent the night at Grandma's with us.   Wow, was that a full room!  But the kids had so much fun. :-)  Friday morning we said goodbye.  So hard, we always have to think about the next time we'll see each other, which usually isn't too long thanks to Grandma who braves the trip so often down to see us. :-)

We had to make a stop in Shipshewanna, Indiana at our old bulk supply store.  It was great to get stocked back up on things!

Then it was on to our other Grandma's house to see Dad's side of the family.  It was very sweet getting to see everyone again, except for a couple of our cousins who couldn't make it who we missed.  Dinner was awesome.  Grandma prepared some wonderful dishes that Mom got recipes for that evening, and our Aunt made her fantastic pasta salad.  The rest of the day was spent in fellowship; again catching up on everything and sharing new things and stories.  It was precious time that we were so grateful for.

 Grandma with Aunt Serena, Dad, and Aunt Tonja

Three of her four kiddos.

 Sarah singing a song for Grandma.

Such special time :-)

I love Grandma's smile here, like she's drinking in the moment.

Closing down the evening

We girls and Zariah, our cousin Kayla's little girl.

The little girls had so much fun together.

Ti and Grandpa  :-)

Grandma with all the little kiddos  :-)

We spent Friday night at Grandma's house and then took off early, or as early as these Alexanders could do :-), Saturday morning to head back home.  We got to spend some extra time with our Aunt Serena as she rode with us until we got to Kentucky.  We then got to see all of her children, some of whom we hadn't seen in years.  We took a nice little break talking with everyone for a while before taking off again.  Then it was home, sweet home.

We were so blessed to get to see everyone that we did and to do all the things we did.  The Lord was very good to make provision for everything to come together the way it did.  And we were very glad to see Tayte when we got home, who we missed very much while gone. :-)  We are already looking forward to when we can make a visit back to Ohio again. 

Random May Pictures

Here are some random pictures from May.  Though a little over-due, hopefully you'll enjoy seeing a little bit of what was going on for our family that month. :-)

Dad and Tayte working on the lawnmower together.

Such a precious sight.

These two have worked very hard together over the years.

Movie night at the Morton's -just we kids- the parents went out.

Here the guys were having a lively, intense discussion before the movie.

We'll spare the details, but all we girls did find it amusing. :-)

Breanna helped the little ones make a sweet banner for Mom for Mother's Day.

The hand print flowers stated some of Mom's character qualities.

The leaves told things that they were thankful for that she did for them.

We're so thankful for Mom and Dad.  The Lord has blessed us with such wonderful parents!

Working on setting poles for Dad's barn/shop.

We enjoy working hard together as a family.

It makes for very special memories. :-)

Mom and Sarah.

One of those sweet, fun moments. :-)

Such precious smiles.

(Gotta love the sticker on Sarah's forehead!)

Another precious, fun moment.

Esther ~ sweet and silly, ray of sunshine. :-)

Breanna playing ball with the kids.

(And our good dog, Daisy, always nearby.)

Mom and Dad taught we children how to play Hearts.

Elizabeth and Titus caught on really fast and enjoyed it,

and the little two like to help hold the cards and lay them.

I think this picture is just classic.  It makes me smile.

Mom and Bell with their sweet smiles, and Sarah with her big eyes like she's getting smothered. :-)

Tayte and Bree in his truck.

I thought this picture was neat.

And I must say, I think it's one perfect farm truck. :-)

The Lord is so good and gracious.  Sometimes we get caught up in the things that aren't going quite right, or how we wish they were, or think they should, or the things that worry us.  But when we look back and reflect, we so see the Lord's loving hand guiding and blessing, teaching and leading.  He has given us and blessed us with so much!   May we continue to look back, and ahead, and see the faithfulness of the Lord!

Our family also took a trip back up north in May.  Mom and I are working on a post for the trip.  Lord willing, we'll soon have it done. :-)

~Brittany

Precious Blessings of Singing

Music is a powerful thing.  A precious brother and sister in the Lord, Thomas and Emily Smith; invited us to spend a weekend with them and go to their church with them a month or so ago.  What a blessing our time with them was; from the fellowship at their home, to visiting church with them.

Our family has always really enjoyed singing Psalms using the Psalter.  We have spent several years memorizing Psalm 119 using Susie Kimball's excellent arrangement that she did.   We have enjoyed Steve Green's scripture songs and learning many hymns over the years. 

As much as we have enjoyed singing God's Word through various ways, a few years ago we began to compromise in the music that we allowed to come into our home.  We thought we were being careful of content but when you hear your precious little ones singing lyrics to "clean" secular music, it does something to a parents heart.

The Lord gently continued to convict our hearts and also brought in some precious brothers and sisters that He also used to cause us to further be pricked in our hearts about the choices that we were allowing in our home.

How grateful we were when Uncle Thomas and Aunt Emily shared a CD of the scripture songs that they sing at their church.  For us, it was the concept of putting off and putting on.  We decided to put off the music that we had allowed to slowly creep in and put on singing the Word of God.

I can not tell you how blessed we are each time we hear little Sarah or Esther singing "wisdom is the principle thing" .  Pastor Lederman encouraged us several years ago to set a watch in areas that we are prone to fall in.  So we are seeking to learn a new scripture song each week as a family and I am using the songs as part of our schooling each week in the way of handwriting.  Then at the end of the week I am going to record the children and shared them on the blog as a little encouragement to the children and also as a bit of accountability for me. 

Hope you are encouraged by these sweet voices.  :-)

Five years ago . . .

God brought this little blessing into our lives.

This picture just so captures Esther!!!

 Brittany and Breanna made a very special dinner for a very special 5 year old.

Brittany had fun trying out a new recipe for Chick-Fil-A nuggets complete with their special recipe sauce.  They were extremely good!!!  Green beans and homemade sweet potato fries accompanied this fine meal.  :-) 

 Esther sweetly smiling as we all sang Happy Birthday to her.  Grandma was even on the phone singing with us.  She had her cake and ice cream virtually. :-)  We so missed not having her with us today.  How thankful we were that we could still be together via the phone.  :-)

 Another picture from her photo shoot trying to get her year picture.  She just makes me smile.  

 Breanna and Elizabeth made her a special dress.  :-)  A yummy one too!!!

 This was the other shot that I was trying to decide between.  I so love her smile and sparkle in her eyes.  

This one just fully captured her.  I cropped it, which is what the first picture in this post is and that will be her year picture.  

 A very happy birthday indeed!  We love you so much Esther!  

She was so excited for her fifth birthday because she now can finally chew gum.  :-)  We got her a big tub that had 360 pieces in it as one of her gifts.  She loved it and feels like a big girl now.  :-)  

Five is such a turning point in some ways in our home as this is the year that she will learn to read and tell time so will receive her first Bible and watch.  Children seem to grow up so quickly.  Oh that they will all grow and live their lives for the Lord, glorifying Him in all that they do.  This is our earnest prayer for Esther and for all of our children.  

Random Pictures

Best buddies  . . . they were just too precious to not snap a picture of them.  Playing with the doll house, caring for her baby and all dressed up with clothes pin earrings.  Such sweetie pies! 

Breanna reading to  . . . Brittany and Tayte.  LOL  

Breanna discovered that as good as the Sherwood films movies are the books are even better.  There was no way she was getting to read this one by herself.  Tayte and Brittany were just a excited about reading Fireproof.  Not very often that the three oldest sit and read a book together.  Another precious site!  These three are best friends and such a blessing to Seth and I! 

Pretty in Pink!

Our little girlies all pretty in pink with braided pigtails...so sweet!

How thankful I am for each one of them and the opportunity God has given to me to invest into their precious little lives!  What fun it is as big sis to make them match and braid their hair and see the delighted little looks on their faces when I'm done...even if they did say I was killing them while doing their hair. :-)

I pray that God would make them to become beautiful women one day, 

with a true beauty within that comes from Him!

~Breanna

The Curlies :-)

Sweet Sarah's hair did not turn out to well.  All of her little rags fell out but one.  But boy oh boy did she enjoy her one curl!  :-)  They were like little princesses this morning.  It was so fun to watch them.  Cherished little memories!