The Blessing of Family

Thank You, Lord, for your blessings on me!
And thank you, Babe for a wonderful Thanksgiving. Mark gave me the gift of simply enjoying the day with my family. He cooked dinner and even cleaned up the dishes! The day just kind of happened all around me. Mom & Dad came Wednesday evening, and my youngest sister and her family came Thursday morning. It was a true joy to be surrounded by those that I love.

Nevaeh transitioned well into the blur of added people in her home. She enjoyed learning to know Grammy & Pappy, Auntie Sheb, Uncle Tom, and Cousins Zack and Natalie much better.

Sherri jumped right in and helped Mark finish the last minute preparations to our incredible meal. Sheb's a doer and not a slacker. And after graciously agreeing to pick the meat off of the bones and then actually doing the job, she announced that she hates pickin' bones!! I love you, Sheb!

Mom & Dad

Mark even insisted on feeding Nevaeh her first Thanksgiving taties so that I could enjoy my dinner.
I love you, Babe!
You thought of the little things that became big things to me.

This is my youngest sister Sherri, her husband Tom, and their almost 2 year old daughter, Natalie.
I had another picture of Zack, Robert and Daryl, but I accidentally erased it. Rats! Oh, well. I will have more pictures of them later from the visit. You must know that Zack is another love of my life. I adore my nephew. He is 5 years old and in Kindergarten now. He is one of the ray beams in my sunshine. During our special Thanksgiving holiday, we were able to do some really neat things together. Y'see, Zack ended up getting pink eye earlier in the week and missed some special festivities at school, so we wanted to be sure he had something to imprint a good memory for him.

Most of all my blessings, I thank you, Lord, for my family.
I AM SO BLESSED!

Stoner Family Bear Camp 2008

My dad took this picture of the woods on the second day of bear season. Tuesday, November 25th. What a spectacular place to be! God is an awesome artist!!

You need to know that bear camp for the Stoner family (Laura's family) is tradition. It's something that we all look forward to. When it is possible, even the women and children go and enjoy the peace and serenity found in a winter mountain. The women cook supper and have a warm meal ready for the guys as soon as they get back to the cabin so that tired bodies can be dragged to bed ASAP for much needed rest. This year, Mark was able to recruit several buddies to share one of our hallowed spots. From our area here, two van loads headed towards central PA on Sunday evening. Mark's friend Byron Gurnee, his son Kenton, and a friend from the church he pastors, Wayne Drury, traveled in Wayne's van. Mark, Daryl, Josh Covert and Lee Shorts traveled in our van. Just outside State College, the guys decided to take a short cut into the camp and turned off 322 just past Skimont. The road would take them up over Tussey Mountain and drop them down the other side closer to the camp. This would give them the opportunity to arrive, unpack and get a little more sleep than going the whole way around the mountain through Reedsville. The conditions of the road appeared to be okay for travel but before they had driven very far, our guys took off on an unforgettable adventure. Mark turned the wheel to round a curve, but the van did not cooperate according to instruction. Our Caravan took on a mind of its own and decided that "he" was tired of being a van and wanted to try being an airplane. I can't imagine exactly what Caravan was really thinking because "he" made this decision impulsively without consulting the driver, and in an instant, Mark, Daryl, Josh and Lee were airborne! Hey! We all know that a fish is a fish and a bird is a bird, and while some "birds" can swim, fish certainly can't fly. So as you can see in the pictures that follow, our Caravan landed somewhere it did not belong. To make the adventure even more ridiculous, Wayne's van made the very same impulsive decision, and flew off of the roadway and down over the bank right after Caravan! Talk about bad influences!!! Mark said that when he consulted his rearview mirror in mid flight, he observed Byron bouncing in Wayne's van looking quite a bit like a big beach ball!! Hee, Haw!!! I wasn't even there but the picture that creates in my mind's eye has me laughing right now. You know how those beach balls kind of "float" in slow motion? Roaring out loud!!!! Well, we don't know how Wayne managed to keep from hitting Mark, but we are thanking God that no one was seriously hurt. Byron hit his head on the inside roof of the van but I would think that you can't really scramble already scrambled eggs!! Just kidding, Byron! Breathe, buddy! After discovering that everyone was okay, the guys laughed like idiots. When Mark called me to tell me what happened, the guys were making more noise than a that of a henhouse! Mark called triple AAA, but the guys used the adrenaline build up to get the vehicles out. Wayne's van was fairly easy to get back on the roadway, but old Caravan was a tad highsided and the load in the back that Josh and Lee brought along offered no mercy to the poor vehicle. Of course, we should be gracious with Josh and Lee and remember that this is their first time hunting bear in our neck of the woods and so they were simply trying to be prepared for --what?---they didn't know! Let's just say that the guys did not get that coveted extra sleep and in fact got less than if they had just gone the long way around and been done with it. Mark said that he would have to initiate the guys going to camp for the first time. It's tradition, y'know. I told him that he didn't have to do it all in the first night though!

Lee's digging in his luggage to make sure the picture of his beautiful wife didn't get broken. (Just kidding!) Josh and Daryl are the other two guys here.

Mark called for AAA. Kenton made sure he gave the right directions!

This is Kenton Gurnee, Lee Shorts, and Josh Covert early Monday morning following a restful night of enduring a lumberjack in the cabin. That's another whole story in and of itself. You'll have to go along next year to experience what that involves. Poor Josh looks like he could use a boost! I think there's a pop machine around the next tree and they just installed a new cappuccino bar up at the halfway point. Hang in there buddy!

This is the gang for the year 2008 with the exception of Wayne Drury, who graciously preserved this memory for these crazy guys. You gotta' love 'em! Left to right: Josh Covert, Daryl Fultz, Mark Fultz, Lee Shorts, Aaron Witmer, Byron Gurnee, Kenton Gurnee, Ron Stoner, Lew Stoner, and Ben Snyder. Mark, Ron and Lew Stoner are original members of our family gang. Lew Stoner is my (Laura's) dad. The guys have dubbed him the Patriarch!

These are a couple pictures of the pipeline where the guys sit. To give you a better perspective of this mountain, click on this picture to enlarge it and then find the three guys pictured at the bottom right of the mountain. The guys here are Dad Stoner, Josh Covert and Lee Shorts.

No. There were no bear shot this year but the time was time well spent together and the memories carved in this sliver of time are priceless. We thank God for the gift of our "extended family" and for graciously granting health and safety another year.

FIRST PLACE!

And Mary brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for him in the inn. (THE HOLY BIBLE)
This is Mark's favorite picture of the evening.

Our church family worked together to build and man a float that we entered in the Light Up Night Parade in Franklin, PA. The parade is held on the Saturday evening before Thanksgiving and is the introduction of the holiday season for our surrounding communities. Each float stopped at the half-way point while an announcer read a description of the host of each float. During this time, many judges are judging each float. We received a call from City Hall informing us that our float received 1st Place in our division!! This was very exciting for us though the main intent of entering the parade was to reach out to our community to remind them of the real meaning of Christmas, and let them know that we put on a live nativity which is yet to come. The float, which was a stable on wheels, carried Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, a king, a shepherdess, two shepherds and an angel. The float was followed by two Roman soldiers. One soldier rode a horse and the other soldier walked. We had angels and shepherds walk along side the float passing out candy canes with the legend of the candy cane imprinted on the wrapper as well as postcards announcing the dates, times and location of the Live Nativity. The float broadcasted beautiful music of the original carols helping to create the atmosphere for the picture we hoped to imprint on the minds of the parade attendees. Our float was well received by our community and the parade was attended by a couple thousand people. It was such a neat opportunity to share Jesus in this way!
CONGRATULATIONS Evangelistic Tabernacle church family! We love you!!

Here is Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus a.k.a. Mark, Laura and Nevaeh! Nevaeh did awesome and we were happy to have a wonderful memory for Nevaeh founded in our Faith! Oh! Mark's beard is real. It's kinda' nasty wearing a fake beard and wondering who slobbered into it last! Since we have the Live Nativity annually, Mark has decided he'd rather use his own God-given facial hair! I like it!

Below are various pictures preparing for the parade and the actual parade itself. Our Daryl was the Roman soldier on foot walking beside the horse, and Robbie was Angel Gabriel! I couldn't post all of the pictures or my post would be entirely too long, but these are some of my favorites. The live animals are owned and were shared with us for this event by Robert and Emily Sorrel. Robert rode his 2 year old horse and his sister Emily brought a sheep and goat. Thanks guys. It just would not have been the same without your contribution.

King Jerry Ritchey

Mama swaddling her Baby Love

Robert Sorrel astride Little Bit and a Roman Daryl on foot!

Oh my goodness! Robbie has a ---halo?!

"Grandma" Naomi with Nevaeh

One of my sweeties - Aaron Burkhardt

Trophies!

This is Daryl Muir. He is the acclaimed taxidermist responsible for mounting Mark's black squirrel and Daryl's woodcock. He did an awesome job! He mounted the squirrel as if it was climbing the tree and the woodcock as if it was flying past or through the limbs. He used a thin flexible "rod" to mount the woodcock to the tree. The "rod" was attached to the tree as part of a limb. Daryl Muir drilled down into the end of a limb and then fastened the "rod" down inside so that you don't notice it unless you look very close. Daryl Muir came up with this idea so that the mounts looked as natural as possible. Woodcocks are a ground bird and don't perch in trees. When our Daryl shot the woodcock, it was in flight and at the same level of height as the mount. It was flying through some saplings and so this is a pretty accurate remembrance of their hunting expedition. Mark shot the squirrel the day before Daryl got the woodcock. The guys are very pleased with the mounts. CHUCKLE, CHUCKLE. It looks like the woodcock is perched on Daryl Muir's head and he's got the squirrel by the tail!

We (Mark, Laura & Nevaeh) drove to the Lowe's in Hermitage and Daryl & Marilyn Muir met us there. Since Nevaeh's adoption is not final yet, we can't take her out of the state without permission and a lot of "hassle" so the Muirs graciously agreed to meet us and delivered the mounts instead of us picking them up at their home. It was a great "excuse" to go somewhere and eat lunch together.

This is Nevaeh contemplating just which scrumptious meal she would like to order from Bob Evans' yummy meal selection.

Nevaeh was not strange at all with Marilyn and jibbered a "line." She's a great storyteller!

"Marilyn is really cool," thinks Nevaeh, "because she let me mutilate her placemat! I love the sound of crinkling paper!"

Below are some pictures of the tree and mounts where they will sit in our den. The tree is not quite in the exact position it will be but Mark didn't have time to attach the steel plate to the bottom of the tree yet. I just leaned the tree against the wall so I could share these pictures with you.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It SNOW!!

One of the perks of living in North PA and on the edge of the "lake effects" of Lake Erie, we're pretty much guaranteed to have snow for the holidays. I discovered that Nevaeh likes to watch the snow falling, and so for a change of scenery (and in all honesty, a chance to sidetrack her so I can get something done), I will sit her in the "Bumbo" inside the picture window and she will watch the snow, cars and trucks, and people who are already out shoveling. Wish I could guess her thoughts!

Sometimes this pastime will last longer than other times. But hey......

...."As long as she is happy watching snow, Let it snow, Let it snow, Let It SNOW!!"

RUB-A-DUB-DUB

THREE MEN IN A TUB!!!
..........or scrub bucket!

Look at these guys! Are you not duly impressed? Well, I thought it fitting to incorporate the meeting of my need for help into their "husband training." How convenient for me. These men were not overly enthused about helping me clean, however, they were fairly gracious. Knowing that our baby is to be born in March, which will give our family 2 angels under the age of 1, I have no doubt that there will be NO time for spring cleaning. I thought it was an ingenious idea to enlist the assistance of my wonderful family. We are FALL CLEANING!! That means scrubbing everything, and I do mean everything. Floral arrangements and greenery were bathed and laid out to dry, walls were washed down, everything that hangs on the walls was cleaned, curtains were laundered, and windows were washed inside and out! Actually, the work is an ongoing project which will take several days but it feels good to see that we are indeed making headway.

DUST MUST GO!

Rob is using a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on the storm door.

Rob also wants you to know that he does know how to use one of these contraptions. He uses this exact one every Saturday in his bedroom. Well, almost every Saturday.

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And this is the big guy scrubbing down cabinetry. He was definitely more jolly about what he was doing than the younger men. Maybe he was doing it and happy about it t'boot because he loves me! Oh, goody!! I am sooooo blessed to have these wonderful guys in my life. They are my treasures!

Going, going.....GONE?

Daryl has just one more day left of his antibiotic. The cyst has shrunk to where you can hardly feel anything at all and the skin in barely reddish. His head in that area is still tender to the touch, but his problem is definitely improving. Some of you were wondering and have asked. Thanks for your concern and prayer.

And The Next President Of The United States Is......

(drum roll, please) PFFFTT!
WHOOO-EEEE!
WHAT NOW?
Keep living, keep laughing, keep loving.
Whatever you do, don't you quit!
10. The Bible will still have all the answers.
9. Prayer will still work.
8. The Holy Spirit will still move.
7. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
6. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
5. There will still be singing of God's love, mercy, grace, goodness, care and salvation.
4.God will still pour out His blessings on His people.
3. There will still be room at the cross for whosoever will come.
2.Jesus will still love you.
1. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.

(Vs. 1)
Master, may I be so honest? Could I admit the way I feel? I'm hurting, it seems that you've forsaken. I wonder, is Your love for me still real? Though my friends think I am happy, unaffected by this trial, they can't see the pain I'm hiding just underneath my smile. Master, I can't live this way anymore, so today, I make my choice.
(Chorus)
I choose to believe that You are faithful, and my heart is in Your hands, And this mystery that I face today is part of a greater plan. I choose not to be discouraged when the sun will not break through. I have the choice of trusting You. So Lord, this is what I choose.
(Vs. 2)
I know this road will not be easy. I know I'll have my weaker days. And Satan will tell me I don't mean it when I say, "I'll trust God all the way." But that really doesn't matter, I refuse to hear him out. With my faith I'll find the power that will overcome all doubt. Lord, I've never felt so strong As when I'm resting in Your arms.
(Chorus)
I choose to believe that You are faithful, and my heart is in Your hands, And this mystery that I face today is part of a greater plan. I choose not to be discouraged when the sun will not break through. I have the choice of trusting You. So Lord, this is what I choose.

(I CHOOSE written by Rodney Griffin of Greater Vision, and made popular by Ivan Parker)

Daryl sings this song in our concert program. I thought I'd share the words with you today. We found ourselves singing especially the chorus of this song when we woke this morning.

We Voted! Did You?

What's Been Happenin'!

Wow! It's been so busy here the last little bit that I've had trouble findin' computer time. That's all well and good, but on the other hand, it is nice to be able to sit down and have the chance to express those happenin's to share with you, our caring family and friends.

As for "Usin' Your Head," we did take Daryl to the Doctor to have his head examined (hee, hee!) and the Dr. took some cultures to send away for testing. Dr. Hamm did agree with the previous doctor in diagnosing the area wounded as being a sebaceous cyst. The test results came back saying that the cyst was infected with staph and Daryl needed to be treated with antibiotics before they go cutting around to remove the cyst and end up just spreading the infection. So Daryl is still taking the antibiotics and we will see if that takes care of the infection.

We must give credit where it is due. That bump on the head was not an accident, it was an "attention getter" from our Heavenly Father.

And on an even brighter note, our situation with Nevaeh is still going well. All green lights are signaling the "go ahead." Our caseworker visited again today and stated again that she is just in awe of the time frame and how the circumstances have been worked out in Nevaeh's behalf. She also said that it was an incredible feeling to her to start receiving official documents for Nevaeh. As Nevaeh continues to develop and grow, and her interests are becoming obvious to us, it is a surety that God picked Nevaeh just for us.

Last week, Mark preached his sermon and felt led to give an invitation. He began singing a tender rendition of "Have Thine Own Way, Lord." As soon as Nevaeh heard her Daddy singing, she responded as she always does. She came unglued!! She jumped up and cut loose with a definite jazz version!! I was sure that she spoiled the moment, but apparently not. There was still a seeker and I'm sure that God must have laughed!

Use Your Head!

I just happened to be outside with my camera taking pictures of the breathtaking fall foliage, when I saw Daryl weaving around our driveway and back yard. I called to him asking him if he was alright. He answered to tell me that he had hit his head. I came to him and pulled back his hair to find what you see above. He had no idea that he was beginning to bleed everywhere. He just knew that his head hurt. I quickly pulled up and took a shot. I don't normally run for the camera when my kids are bleeding.

This skid was in part, the reason for D's injury. Mark and Daryl had just begun to build what will be a small cabin on a skid. This cabin will be used as a scene prop for our church's live nativity in December and then as storage for other nativity props throughout the rest of the year. The skid allows the cabin to be pulled from the end of the property to position for the nativity and back. Well, something was supposed to be anchored down on the underside so Daryl used his head and came up with a plan to use a lever to lift the sides in order to complete the job. It was a great idea, but he forgot to move the cement block he had used as his fulcrum point and when he bent over, he smacked the top of his head on that cement block. We cleaned him up and Mark took care of him. Mark has had emergency medical training and used to run with an ambulance. Daryl showed no signs of being concussive.

The next morning, the "Doctor's Office On Wheels" parked in our church parking lot as it does one day each week. When I saw Daryl's head, I didn't like the looks of it and suggested getting the Doc to look at Daryl. They told Mark that they would accept Daryl's insurance and we took him in. Talk about convenient. And talk about God taking care of His own. Upon examining Daryl's injury, the Doctor discovered that Daryl had hit his head directly on top of a cyst that needs to be removed. Wow! This time God had to literally "smack" Daryl on the head so that we could have a potential problem tended to. I'm telling you!! There is absolutely no other way to live this life than with God included in every aspect of your daily existence!! That accident was not mere chance or coincidence. Our family practitioner is The Great Physician and we go on His referrals.

HELP!! It's Got Me & I Can't Get Away!

Our almost crawling little miss somehow maneuvered herself to a position of major hang-up as far as she was concerned. I was sure that her brother would be so willing to get her out. Wrong!!

He decided to show her just how much fun it is to hang out under these things. As you can see, Nevaeh still was not impressed. Something had a hold of her leg and wouldn't let go! With a little bit of prodding from Mama, the red-head finally dug deep and had mercy on the fair maiden in distress!

Out On The Town

I am exceedingly annoyed with myself for not having a couple of pictures to share on this post. The ironic thing though, is that I took my camera in the diaper bag to take some shots and still forgot. Never mind that I dug in the diaper bag to get the things that I needed to feed the baby (1), changed a messy diaper (2), and then dug again to change the baby into her jammies (3)!!!!!! Three whole times I got in that bag pushing the camera around and somehow that little gray thing failed to ring my bell!! Now I know that I have set myself up for all kinds of scenarios, but hey, why not? Have at it. I'm an accommodating kind of gal.
We were invited to share evening dinner at the home of Steve and Leslie Blackwelder. The evening was the nicest evening out that we have had in a long time. Steve and Leslie's home was so beautiful. It's a shame I can't show you. Leslie cooked a wonderful meal and we dined Italian style. The lasagne was delicious along with the complimentary salad and bread. It was so nice to simply share time well spent together and then end the evening with pie and coffee, followed by prayer next to the fireplace.
Thank you ever so much, Steve and Leslie. We're so glad you are among our circle of friends!

Adoption News!!

This is Samantha. She is our incredible caseworker. We believe that God picked her out just for us. Samantha is a Believer, too. She shared with me that the last thing that she does every night before she goes to sleep is to pray for Nevaeh. As you can see, Nevaeh loves Samantha too. She interacts with Samantha on a weekly basis and shows Samantha just how happy she is to be living here. Samantha doesn't have to come to the house every week but she loves Nevaeh so much and she loves coming here. We love that Samantha has a genuine interest in our little girl and she loves what she does. She is definitely the BEST caseworker! She's always there for us and truly works with our best interest in mind. We are grateful for everything that she has done in our behalf and thank God for His wisdom and loving care in bringing us together. GOD IS SO GOOD!

This is Mary Lou. She is the worker who represents Nevaeh's birth mother. She is also the powers that be where we are concerned since she is carrying the case that removed Nevaeh from her previous situation. Mary Lou is a very sweet girl as well and has Nevaeh's interests in mind. Mary Lou is the third representative for Nevaeh's birth mother and she is the best to date. The caseworkers were labeled "incoming", "ongoing", and "takeover" due to maternity leave. We believe that God has had His hand in lining up the right people in the right place at the right time. We can't say it enough. God truly is so good.

We had our meeting today and God just went over the top. He has taken everything that we had been told was impossible and made it happen above and beyond. We were informed today that we can indeed adopt Nevaeh. This was voluntary and actually the idea of the birth mother. Birth mother had just two requests. #1. That we would accept unborn sibling into our family at birth, and #2. That though she will not have visitations or interaction with the children we would be willing to send photos via postal mail through the caseworker, so that she can watch the children grow up in our family. You know it! We agreed. Her requests were reasonable. So now we are looking at a projected date for a finalized adoption to take place sometime in April of 2009. Our caseworker is amazed at the short time for such proceedings. Our new baby is due to arrive at the end of March. Hopefully, it can be worked out to finalize the adoption for both children at the same time. Hey, that's small stuff for our God, right? We cannot express what is in our hearts. I know that I have said it before in this post, but will you allow me to say it again? God is good all the time. All the time, God is good!