Transformation!

I did a thing this week...Mind Blown over here. I have an unruly puppy dog who has been terrorizing my house for a while now. I've been working diligently to teach & train him for the past year.
Well, out of desperation, I decided to get a training collar, and after ONE DAY of training him, he is now a sweet, happy, & obedient doggie. I can't even believe it. He's a totally different dog!

This reminds me of what God does in our life. He changes us to make us a totally different. We become something brand new when we choose to trust & follow Him.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, That if any man is in Christ, He is a new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come.

If you keep reading that passage, you will see that Christ made a way for reconciliation to God. You and I are not perfect, and the sacrifice that Jesus made for us made a way to know our Lord. 
When a person chooses to accept Christ, in a moment, our eyes are open to the things of the Lord. We are given the Holy Spirit to have understanding of the scriptures and who God is.

If you are searching for something better...A change in your life... He is calling you. He is waiting for you to turn your heart to Him. Call out to Him in prayer. You won't regret it. He is Worthy!

A Return after a Looong break!

Hello my friends!

I have decided to come back to the blog. It has been many years since I've been here, but I see the good in journaling and sharing my adventures!
So I see the last you heard from us was in 2013! I've had so much happen in these past few years, so I don't even know how to encapsulate the details.

Bill started working as a full time Evangelist in 2014. He poured into sharing the gospel, discipleship and building up the church. He started making youtube videos on his channel. It is under Willliam Gucker. He had a website called Beefy Sheep, but I decided not to keep it running since it didn't have activity on it. The videos are still available and organized on his youtube channel though.

So some big things are we found out that Bill had a brain tumor in October of 2015. At the time, I was 7 months pregnant with William. Bill & I made some decisions on treatment, & started chemo and then radiation. William was born shortly after in January of 2016. We had a quiet year after that first treatment, and then the cancer returned in the Spring of 2018. We tried another round of treatment, but it wasn't helping. Bill tried many other methods and some experimental medicines too. During this time, our church community,  friends and family rallied around us and supported like nothing I've ever seen. It was such a special time. Bill went to be with the Lord on September 28, 2018 with his closest friends and family around his bedside. His father witnessed two angels over his bed moments before. Truly amazing.

So it's been a year since Bill went to be with the Lord now. The kids and I have spent the last year grieving, and getting reoriented as a family. What does life look like without daddy here? It's been hard and good all at the same time. It's been amazing to see how the Lord has allowed me to stay home with the kids, continue to home school, and be taken care of by the Lord himself through the body of Christ and some provisions through the State.

So I'm not sure exactly what content I will be sharing on here yet, but I just am sitting down and starting. We will see what it becomes. It might be a place that I share memories of Bill. It might be our adventures as a family. It might be a place about my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It might be about life and what it looks like to live in a big family. At any rate, it's my journey. It's something that is worth sharing. I hope you can come, learn and enjoy. Be encouraged because my hope is is the Lord. I hope you can see His goodness through my life and family!

Rachel

Tree Fort

My Kids LOVE going to Grandpa & Grandma's house.

I mean, they just LOVE it!

Grandma always has time to sit down and listen to each of their
stories and watch any trick or thing that the children want to show her.


She even keeps em' loaded with squirt guns and sand boxes
to play in.

Grandpa is a kid at heart, and built this tree fort in the back yard for them...

We were SO excited to see it completed last year.

It was such a joy to build, that once Grandpa realized that the porch
was a little small for kickin' back and relaxing on, he had to make an addition..

So now we have a big porch! Since this picture, Grandpa has finished it
out with planters and a patio table that He and Grandma have breakfast on sometimes.
Thanks Grandma! Thanks Grandpa! You've outdone yourself!
We love you!
~Rachel

Angry Birds

So I'm a little late posting this, but better late than never!
Here's the start of my many layered "Angry Birds" cake for Luke's Birthday. 
Boy was he excited about this one! I'd dare to say that his friends were equally excited to eat it!

Happy Birthday Luke! You are growing up so fast!

Gardening

I sure am looking forward to spring!

I took this picture a few years ago of my hens and chicks plant as it started

to bloom. Each of the buds there opened up. Pretty amazing!

It doesn't do this every year. I wonder if it will this year?

Quilts!

I'll admit. I'm sentimental about handmade things.
One of Bill's aunts has sent us a quilt each time that we've
had a baby. She also has made the most adorable
infant sweater sets for us.

So after aquiring this set of bunk beds, I thought it would be
nice to have twin size quilts to put on them.
I was SO excited when our Aunt said
that she would make them for us!
(maybe someday I'll learn to quilt..we will see.)

I couldn't resist sharing. Aren't they beautiful?
The kids are excited. Well...Matthew is excited here because
he's in someone else's bed. hee hee
None the less, these are very special to us!
Thank you Aunt Sharon!!!
~Rachel

Cold Winter days...

We brought the trampoline out to burn energy!
I randomly find Matthew doing this around the house.
I always get a kick out of it.

My little Chef...

Here goes! My Mother's recipe...

I like to under bake them a bit. Makes em' nice and chewy.

Mom's Favorite Chocolate Chip cookies:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2/3 cup Shortn.

2/3 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Cream fats with Sugars and then mix in rest of wet ingredients above.

In a separate bowl combine:

3 cups All Purp Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet until you get a nice consistancy.

Add 1 pkg choc chips or whatever other extras you like.

Bake @ 375 for 8-10 minutes.

You can freeze dough up to 12 months. Recipe doubles nicely.

~Rachel~

Babies and water

My water lover. I just love this age!!!!

Winter Months

Winter months come with all sorts of things to do around here.
The kids have been doing great. Matthew is growing so fast!

We've been doing our best to enjoy the snow when it comes.
Maggie and John always want to make snow angels.
I shiver looking at them when they lay down in the snow.

David is doing great in school. He is also taking piano lessons.
He is have a great time learning about music.

We've been doing many indoor activities too. Luke is my budding artist.
He amazes me with his creativity! 

We visited a local conservatory recently. Isn't that cactus behind Johnny huge?

So not too much going on around here! The Lord is good. We've

been busy learning and growing. I hope to get back to blogging regularly this year.

Happy New Year!

My little Veggie garden

We have this TINY yard...Lead contaminated soil, and no full sun.

This poses a problem for a vegetable garden.

So this year, I am VERY excited to plant vegetables in the flower

boxes on our second floor balcony! I was unsure if the area would

get enough sun, but am pleasantly surprised at how well

the plants are growing!!! We have quite a few herbs... lettuce, bell peppers,

cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and a TON of green beans.

I have regular tomatoes downstairs in pots.

My friend, Kate, also planted beans from Slovakia on the side

yard along the lattice. I can't wait to see if we actually get

beans from it this year!!!!

Hopefully, I'll remember to post once we start getting a harvest!

What does your garden look like?

Summer project

So Bill decided to embark on a project around the house

that the kids can work along side him. He thought it would

be fun to have a summer project.

So we decided to level out our side yard with a retaining wall.

We started this spring. (you can probably see the tulips.)

and here is the progress so far. He has the fence up and just

finished a gate. We only have a few more things to do...

More pictures to come!!!! I'm excited to have a side yard

for the kids to play and...and well, for me to play in

with my new rose bushes!!!!

Breadmaker

I've been on a breadmaker kick for a while now.

While visiting my family in MI, we found a bread maker for my mother and one for my sister! So here I find myself experimenting again. Last night, I tried banana bread. Oh, yes! That turned out great! This morning was pumpkin bread. Not so yummy. I thought it was dry. (Not to give up though. I really really like pumpkin bread so I have a few ideas to try again.)

Now I'm sitting here smelling the aroma of cornbread.

Chili is on the stove for dinner, and well, we will see how the corn bread turns out. Yea for the bread machine! Gotta love fresh baked bread with minimal effort!

Snow Day

David and Maggie really enjoy the snow.
When the went out, it was blowing
white out conditions. They had a blast
playing around in it!
Too cold for me!

I just ended up shoveling later in the day.
Gotta get that exercise in somehow!

Strawberry Jam

I still have strawberries we picked last spring in my freezer!
So we decided last week to make Strawberry jam.
So far we've had good feedback about the taste.
I know Dub liked it!
I think we will be making more of this in the future.

A few candid pictures

It was a little too quiet in Dub's direction.

Oh, that's b/c he's already started his nap!

These two are a handful!

Such great helpers!

What? I'm innocent...and cute.

Right? 

The Little kids

A little last minute play before bedtime.

These two play sooooo well together!

You know... first Lukie was the horse man,

and then Maggie became the horse girl,

and now...well, Dub is jumping in.

He got up there on his own!

He's not too down with sharing a ride. Can you tell?