Enjoying their Ravioli Dinner

Emma, Andrew, Chloe, and Eden enjoyed their dinner....IT showed all over their faces :)
Hi to Mama Belford!! It's always so good to talk to you! I'm glad you're going to comment on the blog tonight :) Can't wait to see you in just a week and a half!

Chloe is learning to use the fork...Eden poked herself in the mouth with it, hence the BLUE plastic one :)

andrew stole a picture of me...

while I was blogging :) Not so good!!

andrew stole the camera...

Andrew took my camera....when I wasn't looking :) As you can tell, he just may NOT make it in the photography field!!

MY SISTER Ashley

Ashley also started her first day at Faith Baptist here in Pembine. She grew up in Coleman and attended Faith Christian her whole life. This is a great adjustment and a time of dependence on God for security and comfort. My brother Caleb called and laughed this morning that Ashley and Emma are now travelling to school together... Thanks Ashley!!

Emma goes to Kindergarten

My little Emma Grace went to Kindergarten yesterday. I just hugged her and prayed for her and felt this BIG lump in my throat. I realize how quickly my time alone with her has gone. She will now have other influences in her life to shape and mold her character. Someone else will instruct her each morning. I am grateful for a good Christian school around here so that I can rest assured that they'll train her in the Scriptures. She's back every day at 11:30, so it's only for 3 1/2 hrs. Meanwhile, Drew, Eden, Chloe and I try to spend some QT together.

my cousin Greg Widmer

Greg is such an amazing young man. He has been called to Iraq and will be gone for the next year and a half serving our country. He is a man who loves his God, witnesses boldly for Him, and is full of integrity. Please pray for God's protection on Greg's life and many souls to be saved as he witnesses for Christ in Iraq.

Our 2nd Baptism Service in the River

We gathered Sunday at a river to watch 6 of our precious people be baptized. It was a blessing to see them come and obey the Lord. They gave testimony to God's wonderful work in their lives. One man has a tatoo labeled 'FORSAKEN' on his neck. He lived a hard life and always felt forsaken by God. He was saved just 3 weeks ago as Keven Brownfield preached at our Friend Day service. Many unsaved friends and family members came to witness this event. It was so good to see them come and learn of Christ.
Some of our church family before the baptism on the shore.
Jerry just got saved a year ago!

Donna and Ed make cookies...

We can honestly say that we just love having Donna and Ed come to our home. We are blessed that their son, Bryan, is here teaching, so we get to enjoy their company as well. They are great with the kids and always have hazelnut coffee and dinners made!! I call that "great company!" They are a blessing. Donna is such a servant of God and enjoys making others' load lighter. Thank you both for staying with us. We do love you!

New outfits

I just love JC Penney's. Probably b/c it's the only store other than Wal-Mart around here. But, they have incredible sales. I just got these outfits for the girls for $6 each. They're sooo cute :)

Brent's back in Iowa

Well you faithful blogger friends, Brent's back in Iowa this week taking 2 more classes. I'm home with the kiddos. Life is crazy, hard, busy, fun, exciting, noisy and much more!! We are missing Brent, but God has been good to help us and keep us safe. I've been doing a Beth Moore study, The Patriarchs, in the afternoons and it's been so good. I'm studying the life of Joseph. How God is showing me His love and sovereignty in the midst of Joseph's hard situation. He is so good. That God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God of Carissa Belford as well. That's amazing. I taught the kids a Bible lesson tonight on Joseph and we traced our feet and put them around a poster on the wall that says, "We Will Follow Jesus!". When I told them to go to bed, Andrew marched with his sword saying, "I will follow Jesus!" Oh what a profitable craft-time :) I hope you all are enjoying your week and staying refreshed in the Word!

Our Family Activities.

One of our evening activities was "the feeding of the duck" and Andrew's flip-flop went sailing away in the water. Another chance to cry, but I got it about 15 minutes later when it went by the pipes :) Thank you Lord!
The girls escaped to the lobby while the races were going on inside.
Emma only beat him by a second and he was crying. I was smiling while I took this of him. How sad!!
I spent the mornings with the kids while Brent was in class. We did relays in the gym here at Faith Baptist and I told them my stories of playing v-ball for NBBC in that gym. The kids had fun until Emma beat Andrew in the relay :)

Iowa pics for your enjoyment :)

We saw lots of fish at the zoo. We named the and Daddy says we can see them next year. Emma named her fish, Breanne. Andrew, of course, named his, Brandon. That's one of his best buddies at home and poor brandon gets blamed for things he wasn't involved in, prayed for constantly, and talked about by sweet andrew :)
I have no idea what they're seeing..maybe just some hube fish (with feet ??)
Emma and Drew crossing the bridge after they viewed the Cobra....yikes, I'd be running!
Emma and mommy. She's getting as big as I am!
"Oh no!! Don't put me back in my stroller!"
"I'm FREEEEE!"
The girls got out on the loose and the 2 older ones took their place.
poor girls are confined to their double stroller most of the time!!
The lion was Brent's favorite. I told Emma Jesus was the Lion of Judah...and she said, "No, He's stronger than the lions!" I guess she's right too :)
The huge zoo in Des Moines. Those turtles are laying in the mug

Bowling with 4 kids..Is that smart??

I gave the twins yummy large suckers to keep them occupied for the 2 games of bowling. It worked til the end. They were ready to roll!
Andrew with a score of 93 :) He picked out a bright orange ball for good luck....to match his hair of course!
They gave us bumper pads and a ramp. Emma almost beat us with a score of 95 :)
"Do I know what I'm getting myself into??"
"ooohh! cool shoes kids!!"

family reunion at aunt peggy's farm

My handsome husband, Brent, as he hauls corn for uncle Larry to boil :) He's sooo strong !!!
My brother Caleb and me. He's going to be a daddy in just a couple weeks!!
My cousin Shae came all the way from Key Largo with her husband, Bryan, to shoff off their sweet, smiley baby Ethan James!

Eden in the pomd with her floatie...what a cutie!
Nanny with Chloe Joy enjoying the pond
Emma and her 2nd cousin Ginnelle
Uncle Larry takes the kids on the annual hayride
Andrew just LOVES tractors or any big trucks. He's 200% boy!!

Off to Iowa!!!

We're leaving today for a family reunion in Fondulac, WI. We will be leaving from there on Sunday for Faith Baptist College in Ankeny,Iowa. Brent will be taking another blocked class there and I'll be with the kids on that campus for the morning hours. I'm looking forward to focusing on them and not being distracted by the phone or housework! I want to invest this time wisely and read, color, and enjoy them. Brent will be back in the afternoons and we'll take our family to the zoo, parks, swimming, a minor-league baseball game... Pray that God will grant us a safe and good time together. We'll be back next Saturday.

Happy 49th, Dad!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!! I didn't have "49" for candles, so I used a "28" and a "21"..HOW INGENIOUS!! Anyway, we had a great day and Joel called just as we were singing to Dad. Mom and Ashley are in Florida, so we took good care of our wonderful dad, "papa"!!

human dartboard...great idea for all you youth pastors

we had a great activity for vbs on Friday. Human Dartboard....the "volunteers" had whipped cream on their faces and the kids threw cheetos on them. What an exciting night...I'm glad I didn't give in when Brent "volunteered" me!!