york swirls

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Counting My Blessings

Just a few of the things I'm thankful for....



  • All 9 of my girls and my hubby sitting around me at this very minute watching "Casanova Brown", an old Gary Cooper movie.

  • A 23-lb. turkey is in the oven all "dressed" and programmed to start cooking at 3:30 a.m.

  • Double ovens and a 6-burner cooktop

  • A good harvest

  • My husband, Mr. Steady

  • Autumn

  • Meagan

  • Krissy

  • Erin

  • Heather

  • Laura

  • Kara

  • Leah

  • Analise

  • A very nice son-in-law-to-be that's always fixing things for me

  • A sweet grandson on the way

  • Family and friends

  • The privilege of being Lainey's mom

  • A year of trials, pain, and growth

  • Taking a giant step from faith to trust through the trials, fear, and pain

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The Dress

Nathan says Autumn's smile is permanent. It's certainly been on her face a lot these past few days since he put the ring on her finger!
A little teaser.....you'll have to wait for February to see the rest.




Autumn, Meagan, Krissy, and I went shopping yesterday in Greenwood...wedding shopping. We had a great day! We found THE dress, the veil, fabric and patterns for the other girls' dresses, the men's ties and shirts. Autumn's dress was marked down to just $25 more than half price; the girls' fabric was half price; the men's ties and shirts were buy one-get one free. What a blessing!!


"In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and shall direct thy paths." God surely directed our path yesterday. We found THE dress in the first store...the first one...and almost half price. As Autumn was standing in front of the mirrors, she said how much she loved the dress and asked if there was any reason to keep shopping. None of us could see any reason to keep shopping if she loved the dress that much, and it fits her perfectly and won't even need any alterations. God is good!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Our Friends, The Whisnants

We had a great weekend with the Whisnants. They stopped at our house Saturday morning for breakfast before heading to Rockford, Illinois, to sing. We all loaded up Sunday afternoon and went to Champaign, Illinois, to hear them sing Sunday night. Their concert was wonderful, as usual. Jeff & Susan even dedicated a song to the newly-engaged couple, Autumn & Nathan. They sing a beautiful duet of a song called "I Delighted in the Lord". It's kind of a become Autumn & Nathan's song. The words of the chorus are "I delighted in the Lord and he gave me you. You were the desire of my heart. We are living proof His Word is true. I delighted in the Lord and He gave me you."

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Dinner with the Evans'

Dr. Wendell Evans was our special guest speaker at church Sunday as we celebrated the church's 17th anniversary. We were honored to host Dr. & Mrs. Evans for dinner. Dr. Evans is the President Emeritus of Hyles-Anderson College in Crown Point. He is a godly man that we are honored to call our friend.

Monday, November 7, 2011

HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY, AUTUMN!!!

12 days old
Autumn has always loved to play the piano.

Seems impossible to imagine it's been 22 years! At this very moment, Gary is rushing to finish the last field of corn before the rain that is predicted moves in. Exactly 22 years ago, Gary finished harvest at about 9 p.m. on November 6th. Just minutes after he came in the house that night, my water broke. I showered, got my bag, and we went to the hospital. Early the next morning, Autumn was born....and it was raining.

Happy birthday, Autumn! We love you, and we're proud of you!






Saturday, November 5, 2011

Farm Hands

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've posted anything on the blog!! The time has just flown by. We have been so busy with so many things, including helping in the field. This picture was taken with the girls' cell phone Tuesday afternoon. We were trying to get the beautiful trees and grassy hill in the background, but the picture doesn't do them justice.

This field is one we farm north of Watseka, Illinois. The variety of corn we planted there this year was dropping ears on the ground pretty bad. We went over there Tuesday afternoon and walked the field with buckets picking up the ears and throwing them in the bed of Gary's pickup. We walked 4 1/2 hours picking up corn until it was too dark to see. Then we ran into Watseka & got pizza and brought it back to the field.

The man that owns the field was there helping. While we were standing around eating our pizza, he said, "They'll remember this for the rest of their lives." I'm sure they'll remember it, but maybe not as a good memory!!

In all seriousness, one of these days they'll appreciate it. I had to work hard when I was a kid. I can't remember ever thinking I hated it or that my parents were mean. I guess my parents made it seem rewarding. I hope we've done the same for our girls. I can remember when I went to the woods with my dad to cut firewood, my dad would tell me to make a game out of it....try to beat my time from the last load or something like that. I know it taught me a lot of character, and I'm one tough cookie!! The girls will benefit from all this hard work one of these days.