Ella Bean- these days!

Sweet little Ella---

I love this girl, she is always making me smile and is just a fun little thing! Here is what she has been up to lately!!!!




- Dress- up --- usually as a princess, but she lets Lilly dress her up however she wants and Lilly has been into designing dresses lately, she made Ella a saree out of Ella's blankie. Ella loved it, and she looked beautiful, put together with bangles, makeup and her hair done!!!





- Reading --- We recently got a shipment of homeschool books and Ella was the most interested, I think she looked at every book twice and found the smallest one there was and claimed it as hers! She was entertained for a couple of hours that day!



- Playing --- This sweet gal doesn't miss a beat and tags right along with everyone else, her most favorite game right now is Candyland and she is so patient waiting her turn, and tries her best to play Twister with Jonny "the PRO." She loves playing babies, playing house, school, barbies and playing salon shop!


-Drawing --- She loves to draw as do all the others, and has really done good at picking up letters, and drawing people, and doodling and always makes it into a present for someone!

-Cooking --- This girl is her momma's sidekick and gets into the kitchen every chance she gets, her best dish is chapatis (indian tortillas)! She runs and gets her stool every time she hears me getting pots and pans out! I love it! And she loves desserts as much as her momma! We usually make something sweetilicious everyday.:)



-Playing OUTSIDE!! -- We usually just play something in our apt courtyard, and she just tags along playing sports, but on those fun days when we venture out, we like to stop by the park and she loves to swing!!!!!!



-Singing -- She sings and sings, she loves music and singing worship songs together with the family, I think her and Brax may start a little band over here in India!





- Being the baby!-- Her brothers and sister have a really sweet spot in their hearts for Ella, they can't seem to get enough sugar from her! Lots of kisses and hugs!







She has mostly cut out her naps, and has for a while, but some times we find her falling asleep leaning over chairs or flat on the cold marble floor. She prefers these places over a nice comfortable bed!




She is a sweetie!

20 weeks!!!!!!!

So, we are halfway there and so excited!!!! So many people have asked for belly pics to see how I am coming along, but it really hasn't been til this week that I have popped out some and have had anything to show. So, here are some pics! We had an ultrasound this week and the baby looks great and healthy, praise the Lord! Jonathan and I tried our hardest to see what the gender is but could not tell. It is against the law here in India to find out, so this sweet one will be another surprise! We chose to wait and make it a surprise with Ella, and it was really fun, so we are playing the name game now for boys and girls, and cannot decide!



We will be travelling to Thailand in October and will stay there until the baby is born! We are excited to yet again travel to another country and see more of the world, and Braxton is excited that the best part will be his Christmas present, a baby!!!!!!


I have been being nourished with lots of good spicy indian food and have also been able to ENJOY CHOCOLATE once again, (only when I am pregnant do I get to eat chocolate and have caffeine and am not affected by migraines!, probably because I get them all out during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy!!!!) So, yes, it has been a Snickers bar/day for ME!!!!!!!!! And I enjoy every bite!!!!!


These past weeks I have again been reminded of the beauty and miracle of life and the BEAUTIFUL CREATOR who knits and beautifies in the unseen place, life that is physically being made, but also a soul. It is such a thought to think about the Father's hands making all that has to be made and then making a life/journey out of this being! Thankful for a loving GOD, a merciful everlasting GOD, who does not grow weak or weary and all that HE does is good. LIFE is good.




Please continue to pray for grace, protection, and healthy development, pregnancy and delivery and that the Lord would be glorified in it!

Lilly's friends and a South Asian Birthday Party!

Our sweet Lilly has made several friends here and she recently got invited to a birthday party for a 13 year old girl. Ella being a cute little doll, got invited as well, so I insisted we "girls" go (me included :)) We showed up at the girl's home, greeted by four girls who invited us in and we sat down and were immediately served a glass of soda and a glass of juice and a glass of water! They had typical indian snacks to eat and they sat and stared at us for almost 30 min, while I tried to make conversation and help Lilly not feel so awkward, Ella danced around and took on most of the attention.

The girl's parents finally came out from the back of the house and knowing little English, we mostly just smiled at each other. They cut and served a cake, and I thought it was about time to leave, but then they ordered pizza for us.... so, we stayed and ate pizza and after being there for about 2 1/2 hours, I thought we should go, but as we were getting ready to leave, Jonathan and the boys came to their door to drop off something. Immediately, the girls' parents invited them in and ordered more pizzas, so we waited 45 min for the pizza delivery, and Jonathan did his best to speak Hindi and talk politics with the father.

Once the pizzas arrived and they had served the children numerous rounds of coke and juice, they insisted on ordering "chocolate lava cake" from Dominos, and so we waited a short while for those to be delivered, the girl's parents began making some indian food for us and when Jonathan said he liked it, they made him several more indian treats!!!!!! IT was a PARTY to remember, we were served up and treated with much respect, and it was definitely a fun learning experience.

Since then, God has given the opportunity to share with these girls about Christ, and as we learn more about their roots, we pray for the Holy Spirit to give wisdom in sharing stories and truth with these girls who are hearing the Gospel for the first time. God is so good!!!!

Leela Ji= SPECIAL!

What a blessing and joy it has been to have Leela Ji-- our sweet househelper-- come daily and serve us! My first trimester of pregnancy was hard, I was very nauseaus, tired, physically exhausted and emotionally drained, and the Father was so so kind to provide her to help. She has cleaned, cooked and loved our family and I praise God for her! We are still crying out for her salvation, we pray that she would turn away from all the idols in her life and have complete freedom in Christ! We ask the Father that the Holy Spirit would change her and give her life everlasting! We have had the opportunity to go into her home and meet with her husband and we are praying for an awakening for both of them, her two sons have both already come to know Christ! We are thanking God for this opportunity to daily have her in our lives!

Ella's BIG NEWS!!!

We are so thrilled to announce we will be expecting baby #5 in December!!!

Little boys of mine!!!!

I cannot express how much I love my boys, their brotherhood and their love for each other! I love, love, love the way God designed them. I can just sit and watch them for hours and be entertained, not only by their actions, but their thinking!

I love in the mornings how they come straight to me with a huge smile ready to snuggle!

I love how they then immediately go and play superheroes and want to conquer the world!

I love how the minute they see their daddy, they hop on his back and are ready for a throwdown!

I love how strong and tough they are that they give all their might to wrestling their daddy and it is their most favorite thing in the world to do!

I love how they are sensitive to their sisters!

I love how they protect me and kill roaches and catch geckos that make me quiver!

I love their adventurous love for outdoors!

I love it that they would risk their limbs for no good reason except that they are BOYS!

I love that they can build good forts!

I love that when the get their haircut, it is a simple ordeal!

I like that they would be happy wearing the same outfit for 7 days straight, but I don't let them!

I adore that they are best friends with anyone who will kick the soccer ball with them!

I love that they don't care about getting dirty!

I love how they are able to ignore anything that doesn't interest them!

I love how they think their pocket knife is one of the best tools ever!

I love their interest in camp fires!

I love how they bring me their old toys and think that they are a special gift that I would love!

I love how they got a new color changing toy car and think it is so cool that it changes to camo!

I love that they bring me flowers!

I love that they daily sit in my lap and tell me I am beautiful!

I love their ability to LAUGH about nothing.

I love their excitement when they eat chocolate and drink coke!

I love their concern for the precious poor children on the street that they see constantly.

I love their love for God and for His world!

I love hearing them give words of encouragement and Scripture and that they pray with such deep faith.

I love my Father God for giving these amazing boys to us to raise, they are HIS and I take this responsibility seriously, that I have a part in two little boys lives and that I have the opportunity to show them the grace of God and Christ's love! They are gifts that I treasure and commit them to the Lord everyday knowing that it is His strength and His grace that I need in order to train them into warriors. I thank the Lord for how HE uses them to teach me and I love seeing how they are used for the KINGDOM!!!