My husband is gone with the four olders, the littles are down for a nap for a couple of hours and it’s almost 60 degrees outside. You’d think I’d be itching to get outside and have some fun but I’m not. I have treasured this winter… treasured my time with the Lord, feeling close to Him, hearing and learning little things from Him, reading the Bible and contemplating many things in prayers and thoughts throughout the days. How can I get excited to leave that?  I have lots of weight to lose again, lots of days ahead to walk to get my health back, but I don’t look forward to it right now. It takes a lot of thought away from the things of God when I put it on losing weight, nutrition, etc…. I know I need to do it for many health reasons but I am not ready to say goodbye to a wonderful winter I had with the Lord, our family and new baby. Dieting puts a lot of focus on self and to tell you the truth, I am feeling a sense of loss and sadness to leave this season of winter behind me right now. So… I guess I will have to pray about losing weight as I did before; when to eat and what to eat. I can pray while I go for my walk in the morning and afternoon as He knows how I desire to still be so near Him. I am hoping to start Monday or Tuesday. I just thought I’d share my thoughts…  maybe I can enter into an even deeper place with the Lord this next season. I hope so. : )

Prov 16:3
Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.
KJV

I just wanted to add a few more pictures and now I’m caught up until I have to download whatever is on my camera. I’m in a silly mood today, I don’t know why.  : ) The kids sliding down the hill in the slippery snowsuits. I can’t let them use the sled in too many places (they can go into the lake or run into the truck, etc…), so they played on this hill a lot this Winter.  : ) Daddy with Benjamin. I bought Daddy a new vest a couple months ago for only $17 on Amazon. He loves it and I am so glad. I love the way he looks in a vest, he looks like a man!  ; )  By the way, Matthew is so in love with Benjamin. I think he is just savoring that he could be our last. Little cutie pie and Mommy. I bounce him around a little so lately I’ve been calling him Mr. Bounce.  : )

I took these pictures about a month ago at 6 months so I suppose it’s time to post them. It’s funny how different the pictures of him turned out being that I took them the same day but in different locations. He just looks different in the last few. Benjamin is still not bearing any new teeth yet but that’s okay, I want him to stay a baby for a while.  : ) He is over 20 lbs now and starting to get a little cranky at times. We usually don’t see this until 8 months old but every baby is different. I’m sad to see the newborn stage go as I may never see this again with any of our own children but I delight in his smiles, laughter and love. He brings much joy to our home. We all love him dearly.

Pretty blue eyes… Beautiful white skin like your sister Leah’s. Still a quiet one. Getting kind of big! Daddy thinks you look like your uncle Mark in these pictures… some of the Italian in you coming out! Now we’ll have to catch everyone up on how big you are now.

We are praising the Lord as He has enabled us to pay off our first debt we incurred from moving here from Iowa. Since November 2015, we paid off $5490.00. Our Citi card is ZERO. We are so thankful to the Lord, we just had to share. Next month (March), we are taking a break to buy some much needed things and then we will go forth to finish the last debt that is just a little more than the first.

Just so everyone is clear…. our debts were not from spending frivolously or with evil intent. Both of our credit scores are over 740. We took a loss on our home in Iowa from moving back to Washington and everything went downhill from there. Our move here was supposed to be only $1700 with ABF Freight, cost over $9000 because ABF would not come to our doorstep as we were out of their range. They had to transfer all of our belongings onto a Wheaton truck so Wheaton could deliver here. The air conditioner going out when we moved in, the pipes freezing and breaking in the garage, over $3000 in truck and car repairs and so, so much more that we endured month after month while the Lord was chastening us. We could not pay a dime but with each emergency each month we had to go down to our last dollar or put it on the card. Now that His hand is lifted from us in the manner, we are able to pay our debts and our burden actually feels light. We’ve never had a Winter go by as quick as this one has. This is so much easier than when His hand was upon us for almost 3 years, month after month so we could learn from our folly of moving here. He is helping us, He is guiding us and He is loving and kind.