Baby Showers

In the month of February my girls and I have attended two baby showers. They have both been for two baby girls, one born recently to a couple in our church and another to some friends who used to live here but are now preparing for full-time missionary service with Brazil Gospel Fellowship. I forgot to take my camera to the first one but here are some pictures from a shower for Baby Girl Johnson who belongs to Jon and Denielle. Jon used to be the youth pastor at our church until their home burned to the ground last summer. They now live in Minnesota with plans to move to Brazil this summer! Ironically, the other baby that was born belongs to the couple that are our new youth leaders, Pat and Liz Campbell. Check out our favorite sites in the column on the left to see a more personal update from the Johnsons.

Alana with the guest of honor, ElliAnna Hope.

Here are the two new arrivals with ElliAnna on the right and Suzanna Marie on the left.

Alana loves babies, I know that can be said for all little girls but she was one of several little ones there and she just didn't seem to be able to keep away from them. You can see her with her finger in Suzanna's mouth. Ten seconds earlier she had one finger in each of the babies mouths but Elli wasn't very excited about it! Aren't babies just so much fun?

Sand and Snow

This weird back and forth weather we have in South Dakota is really odd. But from what I hear we aren't the only ones who get teased with a bit of spring only to be swept back into winter with a pile of snow and freezing temperatures. This past week has been one of the warm ones so I sent the kids outside in just their sweatshirts and they headed straight for the sandbox. Here's some of the fun they had.
Notice the sand around Jesse's mouth....and that's not the only place there was sand!!Another thing the kids sometimes enjoy is running and jumping on each others shadows - here they are comparing their shadow to Mommy's.Jesse not only found sand outside - here he is with some of the trash he found that blew into our back yard. Of course I threw it away immediately but I couldn't resist a quick picture first! Thank God for warm weather breaks like this and for a fenced in back yard!

A rite of passage

Silly as it will seem to 99.9% of all who read this I feel the need to share it. This weekend I experienced a first. I'm somewhat comfortable in my role as chief cook, menu-planner, and dessert maker for this family....however, the territory of baking which requires yeast is not one that I consider to have 'conquered'. Admittedly I've made bread in recent years that is quite edible, but I've also made some that was a flop. One of the things I've been afraid to attempt over the years was cinnamon rolls. If you were a fly on the wall over the past several years of my life you would have heard me say "I've never made cinnamon rolls" numerous times (actually I probably would have flattened you, but....) Many times I've been told it was easy but I've heard that before and it's not always the truth! But, this weekend, feeling brave and unburdened by any watchful eyes (except those of a 5, 3, and 1 year old) I delved into the unknown and crossed yet another threshhold deeper into the world of ...baking. Here are the results! By the time breakfast was over six people had devoured 20 cinnamon rolls.
I am proud.

Bible Conference

As I've already mentioned, this past week Cornerstone Bible Institute has had their annual week-long Bible Conference. When Matthew was a student there I got into the habit of giving the kids the week off from school, since he didn't have classes that week, and we have continued to do that. There are 3 sessions in the morning and 1 in the evening. Most of the time I make it to the evening one and have to call it good. The neat thing about this years conference was that the speaker spoke on two different topics, one in the morning, and on John 15 in the evening. It was a great blessing to be able to go just in the evenings and yet be fully plugged in. Tim Norris, a pastor from Colorado (I think), was the special speaker and once again, the Lord used this week to 'feed' us spiritually. I just thought I'd share my favorite points from 3 of the evening sessions.

The first day the focus was on the Vinedresser and it was probably my favorite. We are told in the beginning verses of John 15 that Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, and God is the vinedresser. I personally never thought that over too much. I would think of Jesus being the vine and we're his branches but how wonderful to know that it is our Heavenly Father who takes care of us as the keeper of the vineyard. He is not just the owner who is looking for a profitable harvest, but the keeper himself who prunes and waters and protects us while we are attached to the vine/Jesus.

In the second session more comparisons were made to our Christian walk and some truths about a vineyard. For example, grapes do not bear fruit for the first couple of years. But yet the vinedresser continues to nurture and care for them and help them to grow so that one day they will yield a harvest. And once they are fully mature and producing they are trimmed back each year. When the new year rolls around, stay with me, fruit only comes on that years NEW GROWTH. So we as believers should continue to grow and be 'pruned' by our vinedresser, so that in our new and continual growth in Christ we are able to bear fruit.

And finally, in order for us to be of any use at all we must always be connected to the vine. If we are not then we are a dead branch. Dead branches are useless...there is no demand for grape tree furniture or anything like that - it is merely good for firewood. In our daily walk with the Lord we must seek to ABIDE IN THE VINE so that we can grow and produce fruit. Isn't our Father good to love us so that he prunes us back and cares for us and longs for us to grow, ever connected with His Son.

This week our family has been attending Bible Conference at Cornerstone Bible Institute (more on that later). The little three and I have often been at home alone all day and we then meet up with the rest of them that have spent the day in town. So I've tried to be really organized and prepared so that I can get us out the door in time without the usual help from Matthew and the older two. One night for supper we had 'chopsuey' which, for those who don't know, is a messy meal including macaroni noodles, hamburg and tomato sauce. So, since we didn't have to worry too much about proper table etiquette with just the 4 of us here, I let all the kids eat without their shirts on. It saved me lots of clean-up time as well as laundry. They thought it was a blast and here are some of the pictures.

Here's Logan, who is actually found quite frequently without a shirt on.

Alana is just about always the cleanest one out of these younger three but to be fair she got to take her shirt off as well. (PS-We do try and teach her modesty....)Here is Jesse toward the beginning of the meal....

and then at the end of the meal.

This still reqiured a pretty thorough cleaning but then all we had to do was put on some clean shirts and head out the door. OK, so it's usually a little more involved than that but you get the idea!

Shoulder Rides

I've mentioned before how much Jesse loves his daddy - well, not long ago there was another little boy who felt the same way (actually he still loves his daddy he's just not so little, anymore). In the two pictures below you'll see Logan and Jesse on Daddy's shoulders...only not at the same time. Logan was just about to have his first birthday while Jesse is 15 months old. The reason that it seemed like an appropriate time to post these two pictures is because they were both taken at Sportmans Shows....one in Maine almost 5 years ago, and one last weekend in South Dakota. Logan is on the left and Jesse on the right.

Sportsman's Show (Part 2)

One of the other things that all the kids really enjoyed at the Sportmans Show was a wildlife display. There was a big room with several animals mounted on displays or in certain 'outdoor scenes'. It was amazing to look, and tremble, at the sight of some of God's magnificent creatures.

A buffalo is something we see pretty often in our neck of the woods but we don't usually get to stand beside it and touch it!

I love the look on Logan's face in this one. This grizzly bear, from Alaska, was by far the biggest animal in the room. There were several other bears but the only one that came close in size was the polar bear. This guy was massive!Here is Zachery posing like the polar bear but I'm afraid he doesn't look quite as scary!And then there was the brown bear....Can you see why Logan is the 'poser' in the family?
I know there aren't any pictures of Jesse, he was in the stroller most of the time and it was a hassle to take him in and out - but I'm saving something special about him for tomorrow!

Sportman's Show

This weekend our whole family made a trip up to Rapid City to go to the Sportman's Show. It's one of those things where there are hundreds of displays of anything to do with the outdoors. We had a good time, despite being shoulder to shoulder with the throngs of people! And everyone found something they would love to have if we only had a few extra thousand.=)

Matthew looked this truck over but I think what was on the top of his list was a motorbike that he sat on when I wasn't around with the camera.

At one point in time we split up and Monica went with me to drool over some RV's and campers. Here we are sitting in a super spacious and luxurious one!

I'm not sure if Zachery would be able to decide between a dirtbike or a four-wheeler. They had several of each....thankfully he won't actually have to choose=)

Logan enjoyed the 4-wheelers as well but I think I could sway him over to my side if it came down to a vote. He really liked the RV with the bunkbeds!

I think what Alana wanted most was probably a drink....but, poor girl, Mommy and Daddy wouldn't even get that for her!

Of course we know that all of this was wishful thinking and our God supplies all our needs for which we are to be very grateful. In that light, my want was surely the most expensive one of all. But just think of how much we could further our ministry with an RV!! Anyone have an extra $85,000? It's a great deal and would sleep our whole family=)

Valentines Banquet

Last night Matthew and I were able to attend a Valentines Banquet sponsored by the freshmen class of Cornerstone Bible Institute. The CBI students often do things like this as a fundraiser for their class. Well, the really neat thing about this one was, that it was a fundraiser to give a 'love' offering to a missionary. We weren't told who until last night when we found out it was a CBI staff member who has recently become a missionary appointee with Biblical Ministries Worldwide, Becky Stout. How exciting! (PS - She's thinking of heading to Scotland.)

There were close to 100 people there including the very attentive freshmen class who served a wonderful meal and yummy desserts. They put on some great skits as well but I'm too embarrased to post most of those pictures since they're from far away and blurry. We also had a speaker who gave a challenge to both husbands and wives. It was a great evening.

Our pastor and his wife, Matt and Kellie Lim.

Kendrick and his date, Jenna.Yours truly, Matthew and I.

For the first time last night we left the kids all by themsleves. It has happened before in quick spurts, maybe during naptime or something like that, but this was the first official 'test run' and I'm proud to say they all behaved and did wonderfully! Which opens up a whole new world for mom and dad....=)

Happy Valentines Day

To my one true love!

Matthew, I just wanted to do or say something of significance on this special day. You and I both know we often let special days like this go by without doing anything out of the ordinary. And while that may be the case yet again I wanted you to know that it doesn't change the way I feel about you. But then nothing does....So whether it is Valentine's Day or the 4th of July I love you just as much. The stage we are at might not allow us to go on week long cruises in the Bahamas but it still lets us snuggle up together at the end of every day and breath a sigh of relief that, once the craziness of the day is over, we have each other to lean on. Thank you for being my strong one, my lover, my hero, my leader, my husband,....but most of all my best friend. I love you - Happy Valentine's Day!

Cousins

It is happening to my children just as it happened to me...they live thousands upon thousands of miles from their cousins. They actually only have two cousins (with one more on the way) but they seem to share a bond just the same. I wanted to share with you a picture of Cousin Layla and our Jesse - separated by the Atlantic Ocean and yet still enjoying some of the same things. They must be related!

Yummy breakfast

This morning for breakfast our family enjoyed some homemade muffins. Those that know me know that I don't really like to 'do' breakfast and the kids usually have cereal, toast, or some other labor-free breakfast meal. But I have something most of my friends/peers don't have - kids who are old enough to come into the kitchen and make something on their own (and clean it up). All that to say "Thanks, Zach, for breakfast - it was yummy!" Last night he made up a dozen blueberry jelly-filled muffins and we devoured them.

I love the baby stage!

Every one loves a baby - and our family is no exception. I love having a little one at any age but it seems the older they get the more they tend to rub their siblings the wrong way. Well, Jesse hasn't reached that stage yet, so for the most part, he's enjoyed by all. Here are some recent pictures of him enjoying being a 15 month old.

He has a favorite blankie, thanks to Aunt Belinda, and he had it out in the living room wanting nothing more that to just enjoy cuddling with his brothers and sucking his thumb.

Unfortunately they have other ideas of what boys do with time on their hands....And they turned Jesse's blanket time into a wrestling match!What's a boy to do?

He also loves animals and will often lay down right beside them thinking maybe they'll talk to him on his level. Our cat isn't usually to excited about that!

But, Asha, our friends new puppy, was a bit more layed back. How cute are they!The moral of the story for me is this ~ 'enjoy your baby while he's still little'. I know the day is coming soon when it will be the last diaper, the last night in his crib, the last time he needs me to help him tie his shoes...So, even when the days get long with five kids running around under foot, I wouldn't have it any other way for now.

PS - I love you guys, each and every one, no matter what stage your in. ~Mommy

A Rozelle Tapestry

Here is a bit of a story that I've always planned on telling - today just happens to be the day for it. It will explain why I've never shared any birthdays with one of my 'brothers' and why I didn't have a 'sister' until after I graduated from college. For those of you who know the story I apologize for telling you something you already know, but personally, I never tire of it!

My parents were missionaries in Chile for just a short time when my father became very ill. Surgery was required and cancer was found....cancer that did not give him very long to live. This is where I wish you could hear my mom's personal testimony and the wonderful answers to prayer she was granted during this time. A few months later in August of 1983 my father, Eric Rozelle, went home to be with his Lord and Saviour - Dad was 31, Mom was 29, I was 7, and Chad was just a few months old. A couple years later she returned, a single mom, to the missionfield. (Yes, you can laugh at the picture.)

My family remained in Chile until I was in college, returning every 3 years or so back to the US and Canada on furlough. We saw most of our family at that time but my dad's older brother was a missionary in Europe and our furloughs rarely coincided so we didn't see much of Uncle Dave, Aunt Lenore and our three cousins Lincoln, Helaine, and Kendrick. Then, in early 1999, they went through the same thing we had. After going in for routine surgery in Scotland, Aunt Lenore died unexpectedly - Lincoln was 19, Helaine 13, and Kendrick 11. She'd been a missionary for close to 25 years when the Lord called her home.

That's when things started to happen that left no doubt in any of our minds that the Lord was at work and in complete control. Now, we all knew this all along....but still, none of us would have chosen for things to go the way they had - to lose our parent/spouse. And yet, the intricate patterns and plans for our lives suddenly began to be knit together into one bigger tapestry. Later that same year my mom married Uncle Dave, my dad's older brother. Some raised eyebrows at the short amount of time that had passed - but our family, those that loved and cared for each one involved, knew it was the Lord's doing. So, my cousins became my brothers and sister and my uncle became my father. It was an answer to a prayer that had started in my heart when I left for college. Selfishly while growing up I'd wanted to keep Mom to myself, but when I left home I realized I didn't want her to be alone once Chad and I were gone. And all along the Lord knew that he had a answer for me - different than anything I would have come up with or even chosen and yet perfect....to make the Rozelle tapestry just what He wanted it to be.

Now this is a brief version told from my point of view that doesn't really do justice to the whole ongoing story of what God has done and is doing in our lives. But know this, we serve an all-powerful, all-knowing God and will continue to put the rest of our lives into His hands to do with as He pleases.

A HOLY NAME

I've been following a certain blog lately and I've just come across something that I can't get out of my head. It's something that has really bugged me in the past so, as a warning, I'm about to get up on a soapbox....The Lord is doing some really great things in this situation (on this certain blog) and the comment was made by a pastor "Go, God!" Is it just me, or does that bother anyone else? Who are we to become so casual in our mention of the Creator of this earth that we act as if He needs cheerleaders on His side. It's as if we are congratulating Him. Whether we exist to proclaim His praises or not HE IS STILL GREAT, so much so that the rocks would cry out if we kept silent. How come we can be as casual as the rest of the world when mentioning His HOLY name? The scribes of old wouldn't even re-use the same pen again once they used it to write the name of Jehovah, and some Christians use it as casually as the unsaved. There are country songs that we applaud because they make meniton of "the man upstairs" or "tip their hat to the keeper of the stars". Do you think God sits back on His royal throne and smiles thinking how nice it was that some famous country singer mentioned Him in his latest hit? It is a HOLY NAME! There is power in just the mere mention of it! I love the song that says "God forbid that I find you so familiar that I think of you as less than who you are. God forbid that I should think of you at all without a humble reverence in my heart." So, right now, I feel the need to come before Him, with my head bowed and my knees bent....someday so will everyone else! Let us be an example as that day draws ever nearer.

Cattle Drive

Right across the highway from us lives another couple from our church. They are ranchers and own several horses and lots of cattle. Over the years we've all been over there for brandings or calves being born, taking the kids horseback riding and just enjoying their friendship. A few years ago Monica and Zach even took some horse back riding lessons at their ranch. Well, in the lst two years or so they have had Monica working with them whenever they needed an extra hand. They have put time and effort into teaching her many different things and she's become quite a good ranch hand! Their ranch is split into two separate properties a few miles apart and on Saturday they had a mini cattle-drive to bring the pregnant cows back to where they live so they'll be closer for when the calves are born. Here are some pictures that Mrs. Couch took of the drive.

Monica is on the lighter colored horse, wearing a brown sweatshirt and a purple hat.

I wish I had even more pictures because over the last two years she has gotten to do so many things and has loved every minute of it. If any of you know Monica, you know she's had a love for horses for a looong time. In her being able to do this God has provided her not with a need or something she must have, but rather a want - Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. That verse is often used when things go wrong but in this case it is just another case of God bestowing His goodness on his children.

Happy Birthday Sister!

After I graduated from college the Lord gave me someone special, something I'd wanted all my growing up years - a SISTER! Today is her birthday and, Helaine, I wish we were all there to help make your day special...all your nieces and nephews would love to help with your birthday spanking!

Bowling Time

Yesterday Matthew and I took the kids bowling with a group of homeschoolers from our area. There is a rather informal group that we are part of and we try to organize at least one get-together/activity per month. It's fun for the kids and usually a nice break for the moms as well.

The older two spent most of the time talking and hanging out with their friends....

Bowling was just something to do in between all the 'gabbing'.

Logan and Alana used a ramp most of the time....with different levels of 'precision'.

She had this reaction for one pin down or for all ten!

She and Jesse discovered the little fan thing and put on quite a cute show for everyone.

Daddy trying to give Logan some pointers.

And Jesse just found other things to do, like hang out with Mommy, or try and get the gumball machine to give him something.

A good time was had by all....until Daddy had to leave early. After that it was debatable whether or not Mommy had a good time trying to keep an eye, and a hand, on everyone!