We have been blessed
This spring Jesse and I purchased the supplies to put a metal roof on the house as our shingles were showing some serious signs of wear. Jesse’s plan was to work on it himself when he had a chance over this summer. Well after the first day of working on it this spring, he ended up being down for the count for quite a while when he was hit with a kidney stone (if you missed out on that one, click here!). So, after loosing some time that he had planned to be able to work on the roof, and with fall quickly approaching, Jesse’s family decided to pitch in and come for a weekend of metal roofing! We were blessed with many helpful hands, both family and some friends that stopped by to help as well. We are now pleased to report that we are ready for the snow….well, ok, so maybe that can wait a few more months!
Some pictures of the process….
Measure twice and cut once right guys! 
The weather was for the most part just beautiful. A great weekend to work on the roof!
It is coming!
In the morning we thought it would be fun to take the family on a voyagers breakfast. It is something we do for the campers at family camp each year. So, we loaded the entire family into ONE massive canoe (this one canoe can hold up to 18 people) and paddled to a campsite at camp and cooked flam burritos! It sure was fun!
I have not yet taken a finished picture but plan to do so soon. Thanks to everyone for the help and the awesome food that you all brought as well. We truly felt blessed in SO many ways!
posted: 09/04/11
by: April
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Handmade Gift Exchange
I thought I would post about something I have been up to lately…This past year I have been following some trendy craft blogs that I like for some more inspiration in the sewing and craft department. I came across a blog a while ago that recently hosted a handmade gift exchange. The idea behind it was that if you signed up you would be randomly paired with another person to email with and then ultimately exchange a handmade gift. It sounded like a fun idea to me so I signed up. I am always amazed at how God continually shows himself to you time and time again even in just little ways. Turns out the girl that I was paired with is a Christian and not only that but lives in the same area Jesse and I did when we were in Bemidji several years ago. That has to be the hand of God connecting us like that! In fact she even knows about Oak Hills Christian college where Jesse and I met.
Anyway, we enjoyed corresponding through email and then when the time came we surprised each other with our gifts. It was a fun surprise and turned out each of us made the other a purse. She did a great job on mine and picked the perfect colors that I would naturally gravitate towards. She blogged about the bag she made for me here if you’d like to see what I received.
For her I followed a tutorial that I found over here at “The Boy Trifecta” (another craft blog I found). The tutorial was pretty straight forward and the bag came together quite easily (just time consuming). I think if I were to make this bag again I would shorten the strap a bit. I made it long to be able to be worn across the chest or also over one shoulder if tied in a knot. I like mine to go just over the shoulder so I would probably make my straps shorter if it were for me. But hopefully Lisa liked it the way I did it!
Anyway, here are some pictures of the finished bag that I made…
For the exterior I used a slate grey velvet material that I had in my stash.
For the lining I used one of Jesse’s dress shirts he had in his closet (don’t worry I asked!) and just used the existing pocket on the front of the shirt for the pocket in the bag. I also found out that one of my partners favorite Bible verses was Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile”. So, I fired up my Silhouette (a die cutting machine) and cut myself some letters out of heat transfer, grabbed some grosgrain ribbon and ironed them on, and then sewed that to the top of the pocket.
All in all I had a great time sewing something special for someone I’ve never met. I am so thankful that the Lord allows me to use sewing in my life as a means to glorify Him!
posted: 07/15/11
by: April
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Vacation Bible School 2011
It is hard to believe that I have a child old enough to attend VBS. I better start getting used to it though because as she informed me yet again today, “Mommy, I have to grow up. I need to get bigger so I can be a mommy someday…”.
We continue to pray that our kids would accept Jesus as their savior soon and we are so grateful that our church is doing their part as well to try and reinforce that hope. As I was standing in the back of the room waiting for them to dismiss the kids the other day I heard our pastor talking to the group of kids (maybe 50 or so) about how simple it was to be a Christian, yet how important that decision is for eternity. He also was sharing to those who were already believers the importance to share that faith with your friends. I was encouraged, and I only heard the last 5 minutes when I came to pick her up!
A friend took some pictures for me today of Lauren’s pre-school group. Here are a few to share….
Lauren with one of her friends, Leah
Working on a craft
Game time
The pre-school group
posted: 07/14/11
by: April
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