Annual Strawberry Picking

Last weekend the boys and I went with my Dad to pick strawberries as we do every year. This time my sister and my nephew joined us for the fun. The boys worked well, had fun and our buckets were full in no time. Although, they only like to pick the big strawberries and tend to leave the smaller ones for us to come behind and pick. We have been eating strawberry everything this week: strawberry bread with strawberry butter, strawberry milkshakes, strawberry-orange julius, and just plain strawberries as there is nothing quite like the taste of fresh picked berries. I am too busy to make any jam at this point so am only washing and freezing the berries whole as we go through them so quickly making smoothies and such.

Here is our group.

Tank and his big strawberry

This is where I found Tank when we got home. He had only picked enough strawberries in his bucket for himself so he sat down under the tree and enjoyed his berries and has a red mouth to prove it. :)

Muddy Racing

We are enjoying the summer and I am sorry I am so slow in posting! I wanted to share a few pictures from my husband's last race. We were in Crandon WI and were able to stay with my in-laws who live nearby.

The weekend was good and my husband is now in 2nd for overall points. He came in 3rd on Saturday after the two cars in the lead pulled off due to car problems. Sunday was a rainy day and that combined with the dirt track made for a muddy mess. My husband did not relish the idea of racing in that but the show must go on. We stood in the rain watching as the cars made their way around the track mostly staying far away from each other to reduce the mud on their face. My husband finished the race in 2nd place which was wonderful but it was a tough race for him as we found out that the tear-offs for his helmet either ran out or were stuck. John was unable to see anything at one point and ended up lifting his visor for at least 5 laps. When he came back to the pits he was a mess, his car was a mess, and his new racesuit (from his sponsor) was a mess. He had mud in his eyes and needed to flush them out and he said they felt gritty for a day or two. John said how the race dragged on and he just wanted it to be over but he persevered and did a great job!

Sunday morning we went to church and then had a picnic lunch at an area lake. John is looking at the storm clouds approaching.

Getting out of the car after the race. He looks weary but he was happy to be finished and in 2nd!

You can see how muddy the visor is which is why John couldn't see anything. Typically the plastic tear-offs slide past to give him a clear view. So you can see what was flying at his face when he lifted his visor. Yuck!

Racing Season has begun!

Okay, I am a little behind in posting as race season really began the last weekend in May down in Wheatland, Missouri. We had a great, albeit long trip, the first one in our motorhome for the year. The kids were wonderful and my mother-in-law likes to mention how they were trapped inside for 18 hours straight! We left home around supper-time and stopped to camp in Springfield IL, which was exactly halfway there. The children were all in bed by that time (except George). The next morning my husband and I wanted to make the most of our time and planned on leaving before the children woke up. That morning everyone was wide awake and ready to go so off we went and the children all waved to Grandma and Grandpa as we pulled out, never having left the motorhome. We arrived at our destination later that day much to everyone's joy.

Our weekend was full of excitement. We had a small family reunion with some of my husband's family and the children were able to go canoing in a nearby lake with their Aunt and Uncle which they were so excited about. Our picnic was interrupted by heavy rains that continued on into the evening when my husband was supposed to race. Unfortunately the race was canceled for the night which made Sunday extremely busy with two muddy races to fit in. John pulled everything together though and came away with two second places! What a great way to begin the season! The next race will be this coming weekend and is always the favorite at a world class track in Crandon WI.

I tried to linking to a few pictures from the race but they aren't showing up so I will just give you the link if you want to see a cool picture of my husband flying through the air. There are also quite a few muddy ones. www.jp3photo.com/p890372048/

Here is the car full of mud after the race with baby boy looking on.

Small footprint, big imprint

The Memorial Service for Owen was last night and was beautiful and God-honoring. We know God created little Owen just as He planned and although we don't understand it he is now in the loving arms of Jesus made perfectly whole waiting to meet his Mommy and Daddy face to face.

Heather is experiencing so many emotions. Just imagine giving birth to a sweet baby boy, holding him in your arms, taking in the scent of a newborn, feeling the peach fuzz on his back, examining each perfect little finger and toe. Then the next day you leave the hospital holding only the empty blanket that just moments ago held your son and those few precious memories. Never to see the first baby smile, see him run and jump with his brothers, hear him call your name, "Mama". Then feeling the pain of your milk coming in reminding you that your little one is not there to nurse and cuddle with. Feeling exhausted from lack of sleep, not from getting up in the night with a newborn but getting up with grief and spending that time in crying out to God.

If you try to put yourself in that place you can maybe glimpse a bit of the pain Heather and Jason are experiencing. Heather emailed a few pictures of their “beautiful boy” that is now made whole in heaven. Owen’s face was completely bruised from the trauma of birth and his eyes bulge because of the anencephaly but he was created by God and is beautiful. Please watch the slide show above.

Thanks for praying. Please continue to do so as after meeting little Owen the pain is so much harder to bear.  "We can cry with hope, we can say goodbye with hope because we know our goodbye is not the end. There's a place where we will see your face again" (Steve Curtis Chapman -- With Hope)

"There is no footprint too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world."

Psalm 139:13-16 (amplified)

For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother's womb.

I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well.

My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery].

Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Update

I left you with a prayer request and then left for the weekend. I am going to give you a quick update and will blog more hopefully later in the week after the Memorial Service.

Heather went to the hospital at midnight on Thursday to be induced. This was a few weeks before her actual due date. Nothing much happened and so the doctor broke her water at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and labor picked up later in the afternoon. Owen Matthew was born at 5:08 p.m on May 30 but unfortunately labor was too much for him and his heart stopped beating before he was born... He weighed 3 lbs 10 oz. and was 17" long. Jason called me late Friday night. He told me that Owen had features similar to their other boys and even had a little hair. Their parents and their two boys were able to spend time holding him and had many pictures taken. They planned on going home the next day but were going to spend the night holding Owen.

My heart breaks when I think of them going home from the hospital with empty arms that ache to hold their baby...   

My Cousin's Wife

I have mentioned a couple of times that my cousin and his wife are expecting a baby with anencephaly (the baby's brain did not develop). Tonight Heather will be induced and I ask that you would please pray for her and her husband. I am so proud of her! I know that there are women who would have chosen not to continue to carry a baby with this diagnosis but Heather gave all she had to this precious baby that God created within her. She talked about not robbing him of the time he needed to grow.

Heather's emotions have gone places mine have never been. She has gone to doctor appointments watching the other expectant mothers knowing her outcome will not be as happy. When shopping people will stop and ask "when are you due?"  How do you answer without breaking down? Heather now begins her last moments of carrying her precious Owen and I cannot imagine the pain she is going through. I talked to her earlier and she said that God is sustaining them and today has been a good day. I know she is obviously quite nervous also. Their desire is that Owen would be born alive and that they would have time to spend with him before he goes to be with Jesus. Please pray in that way.

Here is a 3D ultrasound picture taken of Owen a few weeks ago. He is perfect in every way except one...

Busy Week

This is a busy week preparing for the first off-road race of the season. Thankfully we had a nice relaxing weekend before the mad rush began but the motorhome is almost completely packed and the race car is ready to go. Just a little baking and meal preparation left. The kids are excited and have been counting down the days.

Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

I love when the hummingbirds return. We had not gotten our feeder out yet and as George and I were standing by a sliding glass door a hummingbird came flitting to the door seemingly looking at us as if to say, "I'm here, where is the feeder?" We got it ready with sugar water and have had a steady stream of guests often a couple at a time.

The boys have a new book called "Dangerous Book for Boys" that is not dangerous at all but has all kinds of things that boys need to know. One thing was making a tree fort and they got Daddy to begin working on one with them.

Missy Blue is quite the fun one to photograph as she poses so nicely for me. Here she is in the tree fort after it was a little farther along.