Happy Birthday Josephine!

Last Monday we celebrated Josephine's 8th birthday. I remember the day she was born as if it were only yesterday, I was 12 and it was one of the most exciting events of my life. She has always been my little baby, and I can't believe how fast she's grown!

For her "Big girl" present, she wanted to finally get her ears pierced, and if your going to get fancy earrings then you need a fancy dress and hair-do to match! I fixed her all up then took her to Claires to get the finishing touches done......

For her birthday breakfast we decorated the dining room in her favorite style-Fancy, princess, and a lot of pink. I made her the Banana Nut Roll, and Quiche, and we prepared everything the night before so that it would be a surprise for her. She was very surprised and excited with everything which made the work all the more worthwhile. During breakfast everyone made a toast to Josephine and told her why she's so special.

After breakfast, Jo told dad that one of her birthday wishes was to spend the day with him. He took her to his office, took the rest of the day off and then took her birthday shopping. While they were gone, Sill, the twins, and I made her annual birthday tea for lunch. She was once again surprised and excited and opened up all her gifts. The two biggest gifts on her birthday list this year were: 1. Pierced ears and earings 2. A pink parasol. She was appreciative of everything she received but was the most excited about these two. :)

For Josephine, birthdays are the biggest holiday of the year and as soon as one birthday is over she starts planning for next year. She describes the cake she wants, the color the decorations should be, and even obligingly writes out a birthday wishlist so that we aren't left guessing what she would like. Last year she asked for an ice-cream castle cake, and this year she asked me to make her a: "vanilla four tiered cake with pink frosting and candy decorations." The only problem with this request was that we always have chocolate birthday cakes, so it was fun to experiment with something different.

On Tuesday Jo got a package from our cousin Grace and she was so thrilled to get a box with her name on it. Grandma sent a boquet of flowers and a basket of snacks, and she proudly showed us everything, and proceeded to share with everyone.

One of the sweetest character qualities that Josephine has is the gift of giving. When she and mom were out shopping for clothes Jo picked out different gifts for all of her "party guests." She was more excited about the gifts that she'd picked out for us then she was with opening the ones we got her. In our house, birthday celebrations last a whole week and we've had a wonderful time celebrating, making all of her favorite foods, and thanking God for blessing us with such a wonderful, sweet, loving little sister.

~Happy Birthday Jo, we love you!

Alexis is Home!!!

Thank-You so much for all of the prayers, concern, and support! God has been so gracious! Alexis is doing wonderfully, her temperature has stayed down at 98.6 and she was able to come home last night. She is so happy and excited to be back and we are happy to have her :)

Before we checked her out of the hospital, a Social service worker came to interview my mom about some reports the nurses had given. They reported that we have 10 children, we home-educate, and that Alexis hadn't received any immunizations. They also said that my parents refused the I.V, and had demanded to leave the hospital 2 days ago all of which was not true. My mom talked to them for an hour, and the lady seemed to understand but please pray that we have no further problems in this area!

Here are some pictures we took yesterday.

Thank-you all so much!

Love and blessings,

~Jacqueline

Getting her injections... :(

She was so excited to show me all her new toys :)

Playing, having sister time :) <3

This was right when I got there yesterday, she was so happy to see me and smiled the whole time :)

After we checked out, Alexis and I of course had to try out the piano... It was NICE!

Pray for Alexis!!

Alexis has been sick for the past week with what we thought was the flu. Mom and Dad took her in on Saturday to get everything checked and the doctors couldn't find anything wrong. Yesterday at 3:00 in the morning mom picked Alexis up to nurse and she didn't respond so mom laid her down on the bed beside her. Alexis started shaking and her hands and feet turned dark purple so mom was extremely concerned and knew something was wrong. She and my dad took her in to the E.R and found out that her temperature was up to 105.4 and that she had whats called a febrile seizure.

They did all the blood tests to assess for other viruses and everything came back negative, so they finally did a urinalysis and it came back positive. She has a very serious Urinary Tract infection and the doctors want to keep an eye on her and check for Kidney infections so are going to hospitalize her for a few days. They thought she might have kidney failure since she's so tiny, so they checked for that and she doesn't. (Thank God!)

Last night her I.V tube bent and started pushing the liquid underneath her skin, so the doctors took it out and said they'll give her a break until 11:00 today.

After talking it over they decided that the I.V's weren't a good idea for her and are now to giving her the injections through the leg. The first injection didn't go over well. The Antibiotic was cold and they had a hard time pushing it throughthe syringe into her leg. Her legs are sore and she's very irritable right now, especially with the doctors. She'll be staying the night again tonight, and possibly a few more. Please pray for my mom also, she hasn't had a decent nights sleep in a while! I went over to the hospital last night to bring my parents a change of clothes and Alexis smiled for the first time all day! It was so special :)

We are so thankful that there has been no serious damage, and are continuing to pray for her improvement.

I'll keep posting on any further developments!

Thank-you so much for you prayers!!!

Fall visits...

Last week we hd an exciting visit from our California grandparents. They arrived on Thursday afternoon and had to leave Friday at Noon, but even though it was a short visit, we had a wonderful time!

We showed them the bay, gave them the official house tour, played some piano and violin music for them and had dinner. It was so much fun listening to them tell stories of our family history, and we learned a lot of new and interesting facts about our ancestors.

Most of the men in our family were in the military, our great grandmother was a nurse, one of the great-grandmothers was an amazing pianist who would play music while the old black and white silent films were showing, and one great grandfather was a taxidermist who personally knew president Roosevelt and stuffed a bear for him after one of his hunting trips.

Friday after breakast we took them to the promenade in Havre De Grace and took some group shots. It was a beautiful day, with clear skies and a slight wind. By the time we made it back home they only had 20 minutes let before their scheduled time to leave, so we packed them a lunch, showed them some pictures of Parent Weekend, and said our good-byes. It was a wonderful time of fun and fellowship and we can't wait to see them again!

AF Prep School Parent Weekend

September 4th the first day of Prep School Parent Weekend! We were all up bright and early, getting everyone dressed and ready to see Stephen, the Prep School, and to meet all of Stephen's teachers. I was so excited the night before that I woke up every half an hour to look at the alarm clock and see if it was 4 in the morning yet. At 3:45, after the 8th time doing this, I decided to just get up and wake Sill since we were only planning to sleep for another 15 minutes.
Mom and Dad heard us stirring about, and joined us in getting ready, then at 5:00 we woke Grandma, and started getting the children dressed, fed, and doing their hair.


While we packed up the room, and loaded the trailer, Grandma and Alexis read Bible devotions to us and prayed for the day.
At 6:00 we prepared to load up the van, and the children stood there with such excitement and anticipation!

We made it onto the Academy Campus at 6:30, but by-passed the turn to the Prep-School and ended up following signs to the Academy. After parking and preparing to unload everyone, Dad went to ask what all the buses were for, and I was sent to ask a cadet where the F-100 was that we were supposed to meet our cadets at. He informed me that he had no clue what I was talking about, and after I mentioned the Prep School, he told me that we needed to go back down the road 5 miles to the actual Prep-School campus. I rushed back to the van, told everyone the news and we hurriedly reloaded, and started our way back down the highway towards the prep-school.

At 7:15, we pulled into the parking lot and saw the rows of Prep-School cadets waiting to meet their parents! Sill and I rushed out of the van with Alexis and started scanning the crowds for Stephen. The sun was shining directly in our eyes so we could only make out the form of a young man making his way toward us, and it took a minute or two before we realized that it was Stephen!

We were all so excited! Everyone started calling his name, squealing and giving him as many hugs as possible, and Alexis ran to him, clung onto his neck, gave him the tightest squeeze she could and wouldn't let him put her down for the rest of the day!

Since Stephen is one of the top cadets and has a reputation for being an outstanding example, we decided that he should have the best looking mother, and took mom out "Prep-School clothes shopping"
One of Stephens surprises for the weekend was bringing Grandma along on the trip. He had no clue she was coming and was very excited to see her.

All of us except for Daniel.

In front of the "F-100 Static Display"

Me and Stephen! I'm SO very proud of him!!

Alexis was in EVERY picture, and wouldn't let anyone hold her but Stephen.

Alexis was crying as this picture was taken without her!

Stephen and the twins.

Stephen and the boys

Stephen and our very proud parents

In Chemistry class

Chemistry class...

Chemistry experiment..

Cadet Lexy ;)

In Algebra Class

"Bittner's Squadron"

Stephen was showing us how to "square your corners" and how they have to walk to class, and as we were following him around, some of his class mates walked past and said "hey! look at Bittner's squadron"

The Academy is behind us

Walking to English Class

In front of Bravo Flight's Dorms

Stephen and Isaac. Two of the sweetest brothers in the world!

Stephen got to see Alexis walk for the first time! When he left she was barely crawling.

He was so excited :)

Playing rocks :)

Stephen got to teach Pre-flight class

English Class...

Writing a Parent/Student Essay about when the parent first realized that their child was becoming independent.

Then they had to read each others Essays and compare the stories...
Alexis watched him the whole time with such admiration in her eyes!
All of us with Stephen's English Teacher, she was very sweet...
Stephen's Math Teacher

After Math Class

Open House. Showing us how to measure your bed, and make hospital corners

Closet show and tell

Grandma couldn't climb the 3 flights of stairs to Stephen's room, so we left her down in the Rec Room and came back to find her playing pool with the football players...
Stephen and his filming partner Joseph.

Walking to Lunch

Waiting in line

Lunch Time!

Stephen, Isaac and I, with the Math Teacher

Waiting to go to the Husky Football Game

Stephen is in the blue lift filming...

The passing of the colors...

Football!

Stephen is on the left

After the game. Stephen and Kenneth

Kenneth and the President of the Prep School

Parent Weekend day 2 Saturday: Parade.

Stephen is the Guide-on Bearer for Bravo Flight, which is an honor given to the most outstanding cadets.

All of us after the Parade.

We had an hour to spend time with Stephen before the AF Academy Football game, so we did one of his favorite activities: Bowling!

He let Alexis bowl for him!

It was so sweet to watch them sit there and wait for the results of her ball rolling!
She felt quite accomplished and gave herself a round of applause ;)

Falcons Football Game!

Kenneth-Lee

The Prep-School section

On the way home, Alexis fed Stephen her cheerios :)

Stephen hasn't been able to play the piano since he left home in July, so we brought the keyboard for him.
Sunday: We did home church, listened to a sermon from Pastor Pollock (our pastor in Washington) sang hymns, and then had a short nap time. Stephen was exhausted and sunburned from the football game on Saturday, so we let him sleep longer while we set up the volley ball court.
After Volleyball(which we failed to get any pictures of!) we had lunch, then Stephen wanted everyone to play Putt-Putt Golf.

Alexis!

Our team :)

Our whole family! (minus Daniel)

Grandma was leaving early the next morning so said her goodbyes to everyone on Sunday night.
Monday Morning: Our last day with Stephen. His favorite game has always been Monopoly, and before he left for Prep-School we heard that they had come out with the Credit Card version and he told us that he would love to play it when we visited him in Colorado. We played for 3 hours! :)
After Monopoly Mom and Dad took him Cell Phone shopping, then they came back to get us all so we could go to Chick-fil-A together before taking him back to the Academy.
He and Alexis have always shared a Chick-fil-A Cookies and Cream shake, so of course we had to get them one :)

Back at the Campus eating our last meal together... :(

We love him so much!!!

Aren't the Rocky Mountains beautiful?

Telling Lexy good bye...

Hugs, tears, and good-byes..

Alexis had a hard time letting him go. (his dorm is in the background)
He walked off and she chased after him, yelling "Bye Bob!"


She fell down and cried for him so he turned back around and picked her up for one last hug... It was so sad to see him leave and see her running after him! it made us all tear up, and once we made it back into the van.... The tears started to flow, and the mourning started!

That's the last we saw of him and we are all excitedly looking forward to our next reunion in November for Thanksgiving!!! We are so proud of him, grateful to God for blessing him so tremendously, and are in awe of all of the accomplishments God has enabled him to do! He is one of the top cadets, the Honor officer, the Safety Officer, the Guide-on Bearer, and is excelling in all of his studies. He is an incredible young man, and has made such a stand for Christ at the Prep-School that God has continued to bless him for his amazing testimony. Please continue to pray for him that God will give him many more opportunities to be a witness for him!

~We love you Stephen!!!!!! <3

Colorado Here We Come!!! :)

After weeks of planning, scheduling, talking, and organizing ideas, our family is finally on our way to Colorado, to visit Stephen at the Air Force Prep School, for Parent Weekend! We left at 6:00 this morning, and arrived at our nice cabin here on an Army Post somewhere in the middle of the Indiana corn fields around 7:30. It was a long day and very long drive, but the cabin is in such a beautiful spot and the scenery is so gorgeous that it was worth it! Mom, Dad, and I switched off driving today, and we'll be driving another 12 or more hours tomorrow, before stopping in Kansas for the night. Here's just a few pictures from today..... :)

A quick roadside photo shoot of Lexy while dad was in the gas station getting directions...

Our cabin

Frog Catching

Abigails first catch of the day....

Isaac.... :)

Isn't it just beautiful?

Mom and Dad enjoying the sunset....

Finishing off our day with a camp fire

Home Sweet Home.......

(well for tonight anyway.. :)

Spears Visit....

Two days after my birthday we got the house ready for our aunt, uncle, and cousins to arrive. We spent most of the day cleaning and getting the house ready, and the rest of the day waiting with excitement for them to call and say that they were on their way. They finally got to our house at around 9:30pm and we talked for a few hours, gave the cousins a tour of the house, watched Kenneth and Garrett played a game of chess, and the children were all so excited to finally meet their cousins!

The next morning, all the children played down at the bay, and Kenneth showed Garrett how to Kayak. The twins and Grace had fun swimming, throwing each other off the dock, and getting to know one another. At lunch, Aunt Tammy told me that she wanted to go out shopping so I could pick out a birthday gift from her, so later on in the afternoon, She, Mom, Sill, and I went out. We went to the Tiger Lily where she got me a really pretty charm bracelet that you can add silver charms and different colored glass charms to.

I picked out a silver music box, a silver lady bug, and two Pink glass charms. We stayed till the store was closing, and then walked downtown browsing in different shops, and stopped for a light dinner at the Greene Turtle.

One of the things that Aunt Tammy did with us older kids when we were little, was take us to the book store, and she wanted to do it again with all of us. The next day, we had a tea party, I opened the rest of my gifts, then, she and mom, took all of us to Starbucks, and Barnes and Noble.

Alexis had so much fun walking around the childrens section, playing with the trains, looking at all the books, and finding the toys.

The rest of the week we just spent a lot of time together, had fun talking, and enjoyed watching the children get along. We took turns spending the night at their hotel house, staying up late playing fun rounds of Skip-Bo, and eating snacks. Their last day with us, our neighbors invited everyone to go jet-ski riding with them, and we all had a blast riding on the innertube. Dad, Uncle Don, Kenneth, and Garrett, went to a Baltimore Orioles baseball game, and we had to say goodbye that night since they were leaving at 3:00 the next morning. We had a wonderful visit and were sad to see them go, but we have a lot of pictures and good memories... :)

My 20th Birthday!!

Well I appologize for the terrible blogging lately! It certainly hasn't been for lack of exciting info and adventures to blog on, but because of the lack of time to stop and write everything down!

On August 4th, we celebrated my 20th birthday! I'm not a big breakfast eater so I asked my mom if I could skip breakfast and take an extra hour to sleep in a little. At around 8:00 my two little brothers came in and told me that it was time for me to get dressed and that I needed to do my hair because they were going to take me on a surprise date... As I was getting ready, Kenneth-Lee came in and told me we were going to Kohls, a little confused I said "isn't it supposed to be a surprise though?" and he said oh yeah! okay never mind!

(Alexis took up all my responsibilities and helped Sill wash dishes ;)

We got in the car and were talking, and I asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up. Isaac told me "I want to go to the Prep School like Timmy, then the Air Force Acadamy, and then I'm going to be a Titanic." I asked if he meant that he wanted to be the captain of a ship LIKE the Titanic and he said "NO!! I want to BE a Titanic!! you know... the ones that fix cars, and engines, and screw things together!!"

When we got to Kohls they told me where to park, and then Isaac had me close my eyes while he led me to "where were really going" when he stopped, I opened them and they both said "Surprise!! Chuck-E-Cheese!!" it was so sweet! :) We went in, got our tokens, played games for a good hour, picked out prizes, got our pictures taken, and then headed back home.

When we got home, Sill was making my favorite salad Cobb Salad, and while she and I were in teh kitchen talking, the door bell rang and I got 2 boquets of flowers! One from my Grandma, and the other from one of my best-friends! :)

After eating, Priscilla, mom, and Alexis, took me birthday shopping. We went to a few different stores, ate at Chick-fil-A for dinner, and when we got home, the twins had cleaned the house, decorated the table, set up a tea party, made tea food, and were so excited! We enjoyed the tea party, then they wrapped up my gifts and we went to bed.

Since we celebrate birthdays for a week, the next morning th girls all took me out for a date to the book store... Our favorite place to sit and relax together.

We had fun looking at decorating books, make-up books, photography books, health books, went to Starbucks, the shoe store, and just had a great time togeter. When we got home mom and dad were getting ready to take me out for my birthday dinner, so the girls helped me get ready and we were off.

We planned to go to the Brass Elephant but when we arrived there, it was in the worst part of Baltimore, we were the only people in the entire restaraunt, and they didn't have anything offered on the menu except for appetizers! We talked about it and decided to go to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse instead, and had a wonderful meal!

The next morning I went to "Celebrations" and got another birthday present from my parents.................................................... A hair cut

I had the most wonderful Birthday EVER, I was showered with gifts, and love from my family and friends, I am so blessed to have the family that God gave me, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the exciting events of the year!

"Tea by Two" with the Rooneys

In March for moms birthday our neighbor/friends the Rooneys, got mom a gift card for a tea shop called Tea by Two. The plan was for all of us girls to go there with them sometime before they moved to Virginia but it didn't work out, so Mrs. Rooney finally found a date where she and Caitlin could come back up for a visit, do the tea, and spend some time together.

Caitlin wanted us to keep it as a surprise for the twins and Jo, so yesterday morning we had them dressed up to go out to lunch with mom, but they didn't know where, or that anyone else was coming. To make sure they got things clean, we told them that a friend would be following dad home around lunch time and that they needed to get everything done before we left. Being as inquisitive as they are, they kept a sharp watch out the window to see what Dad's friend looked like. Sill and I did our best to keep them busy but it was hard to keep them guessing!

Finally they saw a car that "looks exactly like the Rooneys" and when Caitlin walked in the door they all squealed with surprise and excitement.

After the exchange of hugs, we were on our way, and Alexis was as excited as the rest of the girls to be going on a girl date. When we got to the tea shop, they had reserved us our own tea room, and we had fun sampling the different pots of tea, eating tea sandwiches, and having girly fun. The different teas we tried were: Vanilla Pom Pom, Razzleberry, Peppermint, and Christmas Tea, and the best flavor was the Christmas one.

Alexis started to get irritated that she had to sit in a chair with mom, and she complained about not being able to crawl around, so Priscilla and I took her outside and decided to do a photo shoot with her.

If anyone knows anythign about little miss Pearl, it's that she LOVES to look in mirrors, see her reflection in the window, and get her picture taken. Every time we pull out the camera, she stops what shes doing, poses, and smiles, and as soon as she sees it flash she wants to see the picture we just took of her!

There were a lot of great places to have her pose, and she of course was the perfect little model! She is such a doll, and Sill and I have so much fun dressing her up, and having her strike a pose for us.

By the time we were finished it was time to go, so we got all the girls together, took group pictures, and then planned to go home and take the girls kayaking. The plan sounded very simple until we pulled up to the gate and mom looked through her purse and found that she'd left her military I.D card on the counter, Mrs. Rooney looked through hers and found that she'd left it in her other purse, I didn't have time to grab mine, adn Sill didn't think she needed her purse so we left ours at home too, and the twins and Caitlins I.D cards were all in the moms other purses! We have a military Sticker on the windshield but obviously you have to have your I.D, so they sent us to the other gate, and we called dad and asked him to meet us and bring a few I.D's. He couldn't believe that 7 of us have one and not one of us had remembered to bring them with! After about half an hour he got to the gate and saved us.. :)

We took the girls kayaking, played a few rounds of Uno, and then said good-bye to Caitlin.

It was such a wonderful day, Mrs. Rooney is such a loving, generous, giving, person, who always has a kind cheerful word for everyone, and Caitlin is such a little sweetie!

Canning with our Amish Friends

Last Tuesday we were invited out to Pennsylvania by our Amish friends to help pickle beets and cucumbers, and to stay for lunch. We arrived at their house around 10:30 and Priscilla and I helped Sadie(the mom) chop the cucumbers and put them into jars, while we waited for the beets to finish boiling.

The children all enjoyed playing outside with each other while we worked, and it was so sweet to see them all running around the farm, playing hide-and-seek, freeze tag, and sliding down hay bales in the barn.

We enjoyed talking to Sadie while we worked and it was fun to ask her questions about different things, and learn more about the way they live. The adults go by their first names, no "Mr." or "Mrs.". They can ride scooters, but not bikes. They can ride in vehicles, and take a bus to visit relatives, just can't own one. They can use gas powered weed-eaters and chain saws, but not a lawn mower or tractor. They have Telephones/ running water/ plumbing/ and washer machines. Their children don't learn english until they go to school. They eat Cheetos/ Cheese Puffs/ popcicles/ and candy! They don't just wear black except for bonnets, coats, aprons, pants and shoes. Their clothes have to be plain but their nightgowns, sheets, and table cloths can have fancy decorations. They are allowed to have mirrors, and the guys fix their hair before meal time. They can have their picture taken but the adults prefer not to. They can't own a camera, but they liked us to take pictures of their children, and every time mom or I would take a picture they would all race over to see themselves on the screen.

It was lunch time before the beets were ready so we sat down to eat. Instead of having someone bless the food out loud, they all just bow their heads, and say a silent prayer "in their heads" and when the dad scoots back his chair they know it's time to look up. The girls all sat on one side of the table and the boys sat on the other, and Elizabeth sat giggling with the twins the whole meal. They like to put yogurt on their dessert and Priscilla was horrified when the hired boy, put yogurt all over his Texas Sheet Cake, and then poured milk on top!

After lunch the beets were ready, so Priscilla, all the children and I, peeled them together. Ada the 7 year old, loves beets, and when she popped one in her mouth, the twins couldn't believe she was actually going to eat the whole thing. The peeling went a lot faster than Sadie had expected and soon we all had red covered hands, and the children were laughing at each other

The children came in to wash up, then went back to play and Priscilla and I cut up the beets, put them into the jars, and then went out to play with the children. Rebecca their 4 year old little girl, stayed with me for the rest of the day, chattered to me in German and sat with me and Alexis. We played horses together, ran around the field, and watched the other girls pick flowers. Priscilla sat and held Paul their 1 year old little boy and he fell asleep in her arms.

Elizabeth showed us the creek, took us over to eat grapes off the vines, and then mom told us to collect our things and get ready to go home. Sadie called us the next morning to let us know that their children had a great time, missed our children, and that they wished we lived closer so that they could play everyday.

~It was a fun day, but as always, it was nice to get back home. :)

Our last few days with Stephen...

As of today, Stephen has been gone from home and living at the AF prep school for a whole week! It's so hard to believe that it's only been 7 days when it seems like an eternity!

The Sunday before he left, we went to a nearby state park for a photo shoot. It was hot and after 2 hours of posing in the heat the children were tired of smiling, so afterwards instead of going to the ice-cream parlor and getting one scoop of ice-cream for $2.87, mom and dad let them each pick out a half gallon of Breyers ice-cream at the comissary for $2.50. Stephen insisted that everyone go in and we made it into a family affair.

Monday was Stephen's last day at home and I helped him pack his bags, mark his belongings, and make sure that he had everything on the list that the Prep School had sent.

Weighing his bags. They came out to 50 lbs exactly.

He was just sitting there looking at his bags and saying to me " I can't believe today has finally come and I'm actually leaving tomorrow. All my life for the next 5 years is in that bag"

After the children, mom, and dad had gone to bed, he, Priscilla, and I stayed up until 3:00 in the morning, talking, making sure we could say all we wanted to, and spending the very last bits of time together before morning came and we had to drop him off at the airport.

Morning came a lot sooner than we wanted it to as the alarm clock obnoxiously rang at 5:30, and we had half an hour to load up the van with luggage, make some breakfast and then decide who was going to the airport. At the last minute mom decided to just bring everyone along so the children filed out to the van with their lovely morning hair, and carrying their pillows. We had to say our goodbye's and take pictures on the way there since he was only going to have enough time to pull out his luggage and go, so they're not the most glamorous, but they have a lot of memories!

We were all crying and couldn't believe that now both of our older brothers, our best friends, were gone for good and would only be coming back home to visit!

Everyone was sobbing as we watched him walk away....

But then when he turned around, looked back at us, and waved good-bye for the last time, the wailing got even louder, and lasted the entire hour long trip home.

We miss him TERRIBLY! but are so thankful for all the great blessing God has given to Stephen, and are very excited for him to be able to attend the Prep School.

~We Love and Miss you Stephen! <3

~4th and 5th of July~

Our fourth of July celebrations this year were pretty relaxed. We spent the whole day down at the bay, watched the children swim, soaked up the sun, and even got to take rides on one of the neighbors blow-up water chariot that was pulled behind their Jet-ski.

For lunch and Dinner we BBQ'd everything and after dinner we started planning for our trip up to Stephen's graduation from the Civil Air Patrol encampment where he'd spent the whole week. Priscilla and I stayed up till around midnight, packing food, making everything for his favorite homemade chicken garlic pizza, and Oatmeal raisin cookies, so we could have a picnic after the ceremony.

The next morning we packed up the van, did church on the way there, and arrived at 9:30. From our seats on the bleachers we couldn't figure out which of the 163 cadets was him, and we spent the next hour trying to be the first to spot him. The d cadets came parading over the hill in their different Flights, and I used the zoom lense on my camera to try and pick him out but couldn't find him anywhere!

The ceremony was about an hour long and they read a list of all of the accomplishments of the week, recognized the most outstanding cadets, flights, and senior officers, and listed off a few cadets who were to receive awards for their outstanding performances throughout the week. When they listed Stephen's name for the Honor Cadet award, we all gave an excited gasp! Mom had read about the award in Stephen's CAP magazine and had us pray every night while he was at encampment that God would help him be the most outstanding in everything and that they would pick him for that specific award (which was the highest award given out at encampment)

we were very thrilled and extremely proud of his accomplishments and so thankful to God for blessing him in such a way.

After reading off the awards, they did a pass and review where the cadets marched past the bleachers and finally, one of the twins spotted him. She turned around and excitedly said "there's Stephen! I see him Nanny!" I asked her where, and she pointed out this short guide-on bearer. I told her that wasn't him and he was taller than that, but she insisted it was him, so I looked again and sure enough... it was! Since all of the girls in our family from mom down, are under 5'5", we always thought Stephen was tall at 5'8", but seeing him marching there next to all of those other guys most of which were 6ft and taller, made him look a lot shorter. :)

When they were finally dismissed he made his way over to the sidewalk where they passed out the awards. We were surprised that they didn't hand them out during the ceremony but it was still exciting to see him get the award. After he saluted and walked off, we were finally able to give him hugs and tell him how much we missed him!

Alexis was so excited and wouldn't let him put her down! We posed for a group picture with him and his new award, and when the officer taking the picture heard how long Stephen had been in the CAP (6 months) he was shocked and amazed and told us "if he can win speech competitions, and receive this amazing award after only being in this organization for 6 months... than he can do anything!" We made our way home, ate our picnic lunch when we got there, rested up, and then headed over to our neighbors the Adams house, to watch the Havre De Grace firework show across the water.

God has truly blessed Stephen and even though we are going to miss him TERRIBLY when he leaves this Tuesday for the AF Prep School, we are excited for the great opportunities that he will have to shine even further.

NTA Exam and New York Explorations with Dad

As many of you know, I've been studying with the Nutritional Therapist Association to become a Certified Nutritional Therapist, and I took the final exams on June 12th, and 13th.

Thursday (the day before my test) I was feeling overwhelmed with home work folders to finish, and flash cards of test material that still had to be memorized. I had studied while Grandma and Daniel were visiting but with all the trips we took, and different house hold chores to finish, I didn't feel that I had done enough to get 100%. I knew that I could pass the exams but was worried sick that I would only get a 90%/ B+ (which to me feels the same as if it were an F. I actually shed quite a few tears over the thought!) Stephen andPriscilla both saw my distress and came to my aid.

Priscilla told me that she would cook all of the meals and run the house for the rest of the day so that I could study, and Stephen came upstairs and spent hours giving me quizzes on everything that I'd highlighted and then some. By the time we were finished I knew I'd studied enough, but wondered if I could remember it all. Before I went to bed I said my prayers and told the Lord that I would give all my worries about the test to him, and that I couldn't pass it without his help. I told him that I would be grateful for whatever score I got and would thank him no matter what.

The next morning, Dad and I got up at 4:00, left at 5:30 and started on our journey to New York. I was still feeling a little uneasy so studied the book of Phillipians for an hour, and came across this verse: "Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplecation let your requests be made known unto God. And the Peace of God which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." This verse spoke so loudly to me and was such a comfort! It reminded me that when we give our requests, cares, and concerns to God, he takes care of everything so that we have nothing to worry about, and our minds can be at peace. He gives us a peace that"passes all understanding" or doesn't make sense to anyone else. I studied for the last hour of our trip and we made it to the hotel where my final Nutrition Exam was being held about 45 minutes before

it started.

When I went in there I felt more ready than I ever had before,and I had such a peace that no matter what happened, God would be there with me the entire time, and that I had something none of my other classmates had: the peace of God to help me through. The teacher passed out the tests, started the timer, and we all got to work. It was an all Essay test (no mulitiple choice) and most questions required 3 answers. Every time I came across a question that I knew the answer to but could remember just what it was, I would pray and ask God to bring it to mind, move on to another question, and by the time I came back to the other question, He gave me the answer and I was able to write it down.

The test started at 9:30 and was supposed to last until 11:30, but I was able to finish 45 minutes early.Since my test was being graded and I wasn't taking the practical exam until the next morning, Dad and I were free to do some New York sight seeing together.

While I was in the exam room testing, he got information about the best way to get around and when I finished we rode the hotel shuttle bus to the airport, bought an all day bus and Subway pass, rode the bus to the subway, and rode the subway to downtown Manhatten.

The first thing we came across when we came up the stairs from the Subway, was Central Park. I've heard and read about it, but never seen it before and the sight was absolutely beautiful! Dad and I walked around the entire park, taking pictures, and just enjoying all of the beauty.

We then walked up and down 5th Avenue, and spent the next 2 1/2 hours window shopping, souvenier shopping, and having fun together. We went inside 3 amazing cathedrals with the most extraordinary craftmanship I'd ever seen, they all had orna

te wood carvings, huge arched ceilings, and beautiful pipe organs. We stopped and had lunch at a salad and Pizzaria place, then continued our exploration of 5th Ave.

We went inside the Trump Tower which was filled with marble, and had clocks everywhere showing the times of the major cities in other countries, and walked past a lot of fancy restaurants.

On our way back to the subway station we looked at our map and Dad saw that Times Square wasn't too far away. We've heard the name Times Square before but had no clue what it was all about so we ventured that way. From the map it looked about 4 or 5 blocks away but we ended up walking 15 blocks before we were even halfway there. We walked over to 7th avenue and while we were waiting to cross the street a red flag on a building caught my eye so I glanced over at the building, lazily read the name, and then realized with excitment that it was Carnegie Hall!

I told dad what it was so we stopped to go inside and took a few pictures, then continued to Times Square, and after another 15 blocks we finally made it there.

The first thing we noticed was rows and rows of people sitting in Pink, blue, and green lawn chairs.

We turned and looked around trying to figure out what they were all waiting for, but couldn't see anything but buildings, billboards, hoards of people, and Toys R Us. Confused we asked a nearby police officer what they were all doing and he said: "doing? nothing. Their chilling out for free. This is called the Pedestrian mall." hearing this we took the next seats that became available and sat there for the next 1/2 an hour, relaxing, making phone calls to mom, and sending pictures to Daniel.

After resting, we decided to make our way back before it got dark, and on the way to the Subway Station we stopped and had dinner at a restaraunt that caught our eye from across the street: the "Redeye Grill" Dad ordered Clam chowder, and I had their Cob Salad and the food, service, and atmosphere was incredibly wonderful!

Whenn we were completely full, we continued our journey back to the subway station and passed Steinway Hall on the way there. We popped in to take a tour but it was closed for a 7 year old little boys concert.

We made it back to the station but I swiped my card too many times so the gate locked and wouldn't let me through, then a gentleman came up and let us know that if you swipe it too many times it thinks you're trying to share your ticket with other people so we had to wait 15 minutes before we could use it again and get through, we spent the time in Central Park watching the sun set over the water.

About half an hour later, we caught the next train, hailed a bus, and walked the last part of the way back to our hotel, then went straight to bed so I could prepare for the Practical exam in the morning.

Practical Exam and Test Scores:

Dad and I got into the exam room a little early and when the teacher came in, we and the other two students ended up having a long conversation about church, faith, family integrated church services, and of course the military, then moved on to test time. The practical exam had to be completed in 50 minutes, and I was graded on: having my station set up correctly, locating the right point on the body, performing the correct palpation, writing down the correct conclusion, asking the client (my dad) the right questions before performing each test, and then doing a Lingual Neuro Test with a supplement.

When I finished I hesitatingly looked up at my teacher, and she told me that I'd finished in 36 minutes, had passed with flying colors, and had gotten a 96.5% on the written exam I'd taken the day before! I was So excited I felt like squealing (but of course I didn't) andI was rejoicing in the Lords goodness for the rest of the week!

We made our way home the next day after class, and I am still rejoicing!!!! :)

~Thank-you for all of the prayers for me during my test!

Week with Grandma and Daniel!

I appologize for my recent lack of posts! The past two weeks have been full of fun, excitement, wonderful memories, and just a blessing to have our whole family together again! Grandma flew in 2 wednesdays ago, and we spent all day Thursday just enjoying her company, and listening to her tell story after story of all the amazing things God has been doing in her life, all of the wonderful ministry opportunities he has opened up for her and all of the incredible blessings he has been giving her.

On August 14th Grandma and her Sunday School class will be having a huge Christmas dinner, music presentations, Christmas decorations, and a message of the true reason we celebrate Christmas: the birth of Christ. This event is for children, and adults of all ages, who have fatal diseases and won't be alive long enough to celebrate Christmas with their families this year. They are praying that many of the 2,000 people attending, will be touched by the gospel message and would make Christ their saviour before they die. On Friday morning, mom took Grandma shopping to find her a Christmas Dress for this special event.

When they got back home in the afternoon, Grandma wanted to take all of us girls shopping to pick out a few gifts since she didn't have room in her suitcase to bring any. She told us all to pick out 5 or 6 things that we really liked, and that she would pick 1 or 2 of those things to buy without us knowing so that it would still be a surprise. We had such a wonderful time, just being with her, talking on the way there, and having fun. She was such a blessing to all of us and brought such joy to our hearts with her laughter! We roamed the isles together, tried on hats, and beach purses, and just enjoyed our shopping trip.

The twins were checking the price tags on everything they chose because they didn't want Grandma to have to buy anything expensive or extravagant for them! it was so sweet to see them so concerned about how she spends her money. :)

When we arrived back home, mom told us that Dad had just called, had picked up Daniel from the airport and that they were on their way home. We were all so excited! The girls (twins and Jo) were squealing with joy and we raced around the house making sure everything was perfect. While we waited for them to get home, Grandma distributed the gifts she'd bought for us girls, and I think she had more fun handing them out and watching the girls reactions, then even we did.




Josephine is a princess all the way and always chooses jewelry, and a tiara.

About 5 minutes after the gift ceremony ended, we saw the car pull up and the whole house exploded with excitement. Everyone was talking at the same time, they all wanted to be the first to give Daniel a hug, and Alexis was excited just to be there among all of the commotion! I gave her to him so she could get reaquainted, and at first she acted stiff and shy, but as he talked to her she warmed up to him.

We had a great night talking, and catching up, the children did a few skits that grandma had planned with them for mom and dad, then ended their acting productions with a marching version of "Onward Christian Soldiers." When the children were done, Priscilla and I made some homemade Caramel popcorn to go along with the movie The Ultimate Gift. Grandma hadn't seen it before and she loved it.

the twins re-enactment of: "Mommy and Daddy coming home from a shopping trip"

Saturday:
Stephen planned a family bowling trip for the afternoon, but when we arrived at the bowling alley we found out that it was closed. Not wanting to return home without taking Grandma sightseeing, we decided to take a walk on the Promenade in Havre De Grace.

When we got home Daniel organized a volleyball game for all of us kids,and we played three or four rounds before the younger children got tired, and we switched to just us older four and dad.
After those two rounds, mom wanted to play, so we put her, Dad, and Stephen on one team, and had Daniel, Priscilla, and I on the other. They ended up winning by 3 points but our team agreed that we were good losers :)

Grandma and Alexis just sat together and cheered us on.

We finished off the day with a BBQ for dinner.

Sunday:
Grandma was pretty tired from the day before, so we just had home church in the morning and a nice lunch outside, then got everyone ready for a trip to The Picture People so we could get a grandchildren picture with grandma.

We got there 5 minutes early but ended up waiting an extra hour because the staff was short and they were trying to photograph someones screaming baby, but when our turn finally came the photo shoot went well and the pictures turned out great.

I

There was a huge Ikea store next to the mall and Grandma really wanted to go in since they don't have one down in Oklahoma, so we spent the rest of the afternoon looking at all of the furniture displays, the neat organization ideas, and all of the other neat stuff that they have.

Monday:
Grandma has waited her whole life to visit New York City, and has always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty so when she told us that she was coming up to Maryland for a visit, we planned to take her on her New York dream trip.
We left at 6:30 and arrived in the City at 10:00, found parking (that ended up costing $50.00 for 2 hours) and made our way to the Staten Island Ferry. The ferry is free and takes you right past the Statue of Liberty so it was quite a breathtaking sight and we all enjoyed it.

We got off the ferry, picked up our vehicle and made our way to downtown Manhatten. We spent the first two hours in F-A-O Shwarz toy store, then Daniel, Stephen, Sill, and I left mom, grandma and Alexis to rest while we walked about 20 blocks to pick up Subway sandwiches for lunch.

When we got back to where Gram and Mom were sitting, we saw a scene from a feature film being shot over and over and over again, there were a few famous actors and actresses there but I don't know who they were. We finally ate lunch at around 2:30 and then Priscilla, Grandma, and I made our way over to the American Girl place to get our dolls fixed, we'd been told that it was about 5 blocks away, but it wasn't until 10 blocks later and Grandma was completely exhausted, that we actually found it. Mom the boys, and Alexis went through Saks Fifth Avenue, and then came over to join us. Alexis loved all of the baby dolls and would make the cutest cooing/ooh! noise when Stephen would point one out to her.

By the time we were done with our sightseeing, it was 5:30 and Grandma was ready to go home. While we waited for Daniel and Stephen to pick us up, she stood in the street and shouted " I love New York!"

Tuesday:
We had plans to visit D.C but after the New York Trip and the long drive home, Grandma asked that we just stay home and we all decided that would be best. We slept in, had a late breakfast, had a late Bible time, then played some games before Grandma, Mom, and the boys went to the mall to pick up the pictures, and go on a Grandma/Boys shopping trip.

While they were gone, Dad, Priscilla, the girls and I planned a surprise birthday celebration for Daniel since he won't be here on the actual day in July. Sill and the twins did all of the decorations, while Jo and I made an ice-cream birthday cake and dad did the shopping for us.

When they got home we ran into the dining room and had mom lead Daniel in, we had the candles on the cake lit, confetti poppers, and we sang happy birthday as they entered the room.

For dinner we had Daniels favorite meal Shepards Pie, and after cake we played pin the tail on the donkey. A little while later we had the children sing some of Grandmas favorite songs for her before they went to bed, then we olders stayed up for another 2 hours having fun and singing choir songs for her. After 11:00 we went upstairs to help her pack and the children all told her goodnight for the last time. We were all quite dissapointed that the morning was coming so soon, and that she would be gone when we all woke up.

Wednesday, and Thursday:
We spent the day outside soaking up the sun. The children all went swimming, while Daniel and I sat and studied, and we passed the rest of the day pretty much the same. Stephen helped me study for my Nutrition test and gave me a few quizzes to get me ready for the big exam in the morning. Later on that evening we took the boys to fencing lessons and then our entire family went and saw the movie UP. We never go to the theatre at all, but we received free tickets in the mail from Johns Hopkins Medical Center for a promotional they were doing for the military, and Daniel had seen it before and said that it was a very touching movie so we went. It really was a sweet movie and the first part was quite sad. The chidren loved it and also enjoyed the free popcorn that was provided. We stopped by Chick-fil-A to finish the night off, and when we got home, the girls helped me pack for my trip to New York the next morning to take my final exams for the Nutritional Therapy course I've been taking.

~I'll write all about the exam and my explorations of New York with dad in my next post!

Have a blessed day!

End of School Year Celebrations

Tuesday marked the last day of school for my fifth grade class! (the twins ;)

They finished up the last lessons of Vocabulary, Spelling, History, and Science, memorized the preamble to the Constitution, and completed the last five lessons of math, followed by a comprehensive test of the whole book. They both passed with a 100% and to celebrate I got to take them out to Bomboys for ice-cream. Its been an eventful school year for all of us and I'm so proud of their achievements! Tomorrow we are hoping to have a school picnic and present all of the children with Graduation Certificates. :)

Check out moms latest post with TONs of cute pictures of Alexis. :)

http://bittnerville.blogspot.com/