The Year That Was

2015....another year in the past. And what a year it was....
I was looking through my photos from the past year and had fun pulling out some random photos that help me remember some otherwise easily forgotten moments from the year.

January- Brooke with some of the baby lambs that the children bottle fed for a friend.

Chickens & Eggs- need I say more?

February- Leon with baby Ruby, his new little niece.

Brooke really gets into reading!

March- Family picnic in the living room.

We took the kids swimming to celebrate Logan's February birthday.

April- Annika learns to drive the 4-wheeler and Brooke learns to ride bike without training wheels. 

We celebrate Easter.

And plant the garden...

May- We visit Grandpa Joe's grave.

And celebrate Mother's Day.

And finish school...

And I fly to CO for my niece's wedding..

June-

Mission trip, here we come.

July- We spent some time in TN with Leon's family.

 

                        

Jamison has a birthday.

 We work together to put corn in the freezer.

August- Leon and I celebrate 15 years.

 We host the youth back at our cabin for an evening of food and fun.

 We start school again.

September- We celebrate the girl's and Leon's birthdays.

 We start harvest.

October- The girls race the 4-wheeler against Jamison's bike.

November- We celebrated Thanksgiving, our first holiday at home in all our married years.

 The girls and I went on a Nature Hike which was part of their Science/History curriculum.

December- I got to meet my newest great-niece, Emma Kate.

 Annika tears into her Christmas present.

Leon appears to be the center of attention at the Bontrager family Christmas.

 We host my sister and her family from Texas for a meal.

This was such a teeny tiny peek into our year.....but it's so fun to remember the good times. 

Daybook

I've been enjoying....
My Christmas devotional The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp. "The message of Christmas is that this world's a mess and we can never save ourselves from ourselves and we need a Messiah."

Out my window....
The Farmer is hauling manure, the grass is green, and the wind is a'blowing...22 mph. Good ole' Iowa!

My kids are loving....
Their new ping pong table! We set it up in the egg room in the chicken house for now, and it makes chores so much more fun. 

We are all excited for....
Our family Christmas on Christmas Eve when we finally get to empty our stockings and reveal the secrets we've all been keeping from each other!

My favorite song....
Is "Heaven Song" by Phil Wickham.

I can hardly believe....
That this year is almost over! It has been such a mixture of joy and struggle, learning and growing, fun and hard!

Today we....
Completed the first half of the school year! Two weeks of glorious vacation and then back to the books on January 4. 

God's been teaching me....
That I'm not responsible for other people's actions and attitudes, only mine!

Something I need to work on....
To pray more!!!

A picture from 2010....

My favorite quote right now....
"Stop making what people did to you bigger than what God did for you." Christine Caine

Some fun things we've done recently as a family....
Went to a Christmas play in Waterloo and in Washington, Leon took the kids Christmas shopping for me (!) while I stayed home and worked on some Christmas gifts, enjoyed the girls' piano recital, and got in lots of basketball games for the boys.

I am thankful...
For the blessing of good health for our family!

I am listening....
to Michael W. Smith's album "Sovereign".

I'm looking forward to....
Christmas with my family!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Life at our House

It's been a long time since I sat down and blogged. The urge to write is still here, but it seems a lot wiser and safer to write in my journal. 

We are currently in a state of transition in our family....visiting churches and seeking God's Will for our future. This stage of life has come with a lot of peace. I know that our choices make little sense to the people around us, but we aren't living our lives for people, but to glorify Jesus.

School: The girls and I have been doing the "Adventures in U.S. History" (My Father's World) this year and it has been so much fun again. I did this curriculum with my boys when they were in 1st and 2nd grades and they still talk about the things we did that year.

Here they are with their ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.

We made ink from mashed up raspberries one day, and then wrote our names with a feather pen dipped into our 'ink'.

We also made homemade bread and butter. 

And johnny cakes, too.....

This is how we do school around here sometimes....

Farm Life: The Farmer tried to finish harvesting for several weeks but if the beans weren't too wet, then he had a break down, but as of last week, we can honestly say we're done!!! Yay!!

When the Farmer works late, we try to make fun things happen around here. Sometimes we hang out with friends....

or play the Farming Game and drink Pumpkin White Hot Chocolates....

Or we can always take pictures with Mom's camera....

There are books to read....

 and knitting to try out...

and always, always, kittens to play with....

We can have a  tea party with our dolls, too.

Somehow I don't take pictures of my hard-working boys who cleared the garden, mowed the yard, and raked the leaves. These boys can do all the chores on the farm now, by themselves. Just tonight I was informed that Logan has been giving shots to sick pigs when he chores for several years now. I am impressed. 

I've been trying harder to involve my girls in the kitchen. They definitely show interest and it's often just a matter of me taking the time to show them how and let them be creative.

Here Annika is mixing up granola-

The girls making scrambled eggs...

Leon's youngest brother got married last weekend, and we all had a wonderful but packed weekend, celebrating with family. Now this week has been a drag....getting back into the swing of things and catching up on sleep. Annika said on Monday morning, "Mom, I just feel grouchy." I understand, dear daughter, I understand.

I read some really amazing stuff this morning and have been thinking about listening to God's voice... (however much thinking that was possible to squeeze into my morning of doing school and running a house..:)) Many different 'voices' will try to tell us how to live our lives, but there's only one Voice to tune in to...the Voice of Jesus. The Bible says, "My sheep KNOW my voice, and they follow me." I quote from Jesus Calling, "Be content to be a simple sheep, listening for My voice and following Me." And that's enough for me....