More Visitors!

August 3rd-10th we had the pleasure of my sister, Heather and brother-in-law, Jay coming to visit us. We had a great time being together and enjoyed Heather's yummy cooking skills. Cody and Jay spent one afternoon hiking up a nearby mountain. I know Samuel enjoyed having them with us as well. We also drove just outside of Cody where a Japanese Internment camp was located in 1942. The Heart Mountain Relocation Center was one of 10 temporary camps used to confine 110,000 Japanese men, women and children who were forced to leave their homes in different states along the west coast. It was the only camp located in Wyoming. Although surrounded by barbed wire fence and armed guards the people tried to live as a "normal" community to the best of their ability. Though it was sad to revisit the reality of what the government has done in the past to the Japanese-Americans, I was very interested to learn another part of the history of our nation.

cuddle time

Samuel and Heather having fun finger painting

It was so great to have Heather and Jay here with us! We love you guys!

On August 12th, we were also blessed with a quick visit with our friends Sean and Sheila. They were on their way to see Sheila's family in Minnesota and stayed one night with us. This was our first time getting to meet their youngest boy Stetson. He turns 1 in September. Samuel had a blast playing with their 3 kids and new puppy :) It was so fun to have their family come to visit.

Samuel with their new puppy

Trying to get everyone to smile :)

You can never give too many kisses

Abigail 3 1/2 weeks old

Some other recent news is that Cody is going to be starting a new job soon! He will be working for a company called Varney's Clean Care. He will start working there on August 30th. Some of the things Varney's specializes in are: cleaning carpets, furniture and air ducts. They also receive emergency calls for fire damage, water damage and mold. So, Cody might get called back to work after hours if there is an emergency.We feel so thankful for this new job the Lord has provided.

And the kids are doing great! Samuel never ceases to amaze me with how bright he is. I love hearing the things he comes up with. While Heather and Jay were here he liked piling pillows on top of Jay and then standing on them. While on top of a stack of pillows he said, "I am up in the sandwich!" He is so fun. Abigail is still eating well and seems to be getting cuter everyday. When you hold her up she tries to hold her head up on her own and she does a pretty good job at it. At her two week check up she weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and the doctor said she is healthy. She's also smiling more and is starting to make cute baby sounds. I feel so blessed with these children the Lord has given us. Thank you, Lord!

"I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High." Psalm 9:1-2

5 Days Old

My parents planned on coming to visit us for the last week of July. With my due date being July 22nd I had prayed that Abigail would be born sometime while they were here. Little did I know that God was going to answer my prayer.

My parents arrived here on Sunday evening July 25th. Early Monday morning I woke up around 2 with labor contractions. I continued to labor at home until around 6:45 a.m. when my contractions were 4 minutes apart. My parents watched Samuel for us while we were at the hospital. This would be Samuel's first night away from me so it was such a blessing to know Samuel would be well taken care of and I know my parents enjoyed this one-on-one time with him as well. When we got to the hospital I found out I was 7 cm dilated. Cody was a big support for me throughout the labor process. He would massage my lower back during the contractions and dab my forehead with a wet wash cloth when I got hot. I also got to use a jacuzzi a couple time while going through labor. This helped me to relax during the contractions which helped my labor to progress. Once I began the pushing process, it took about an hour until Abigail was born. When she was born she was covered in meconium. The doctor said this happens to babies when they are under stress. She also had a knot in her umbilical cord. So we believe she may have not been getting as much nutrients during the last week or so.

Once Abigail was born I forgot about any discomfort or pain that I had experienced. When they laid her on my chest it took a little while to sink in that I had just given birth to our baby girl. It felt kind of surreal like someone else had just gone through the labor and the delivery. A couple hours later I felt this wave of thanksgiving come over me. I felt so grateful that I got to experience a natural birth without any complications or medication after having a c-section with Samuel. Doing a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) is against the policies at our hospital here in Cody, WY. I'm thankful the Lord provided me with a doctor that supported me in my decision to do a VBAC. I'm so thankful to Jesus for being my source of strength and for giving me grace through the labor and delivery.

We had a great time with my parents the remainder of the week. They were such a blessing to us helping with laundry, cooking meals, walking Toby, playing with Samuel and just being the great company that they are. I am so glad they got to be here to help us welcome Abigail into the world. Abigail is such a sweet baby. She is never fussy. She is very content as long as she has been fed and has a clean diaper. And Samuel loves her so much. If she is crying he will bring me her pacifier or blanket to try to comfort her. He also likes to hold her (with assistance) and gives her hugs and kisses. The week has seemed to fly by and my parents left this morning to head back to Missouri. I am so thankful to God for how He planned their arrival and Abigail's birth this week. I couldn't have planned it better myself.

"For you formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them." Psalm 139:13-16

Our little sweet pea

Daddy's little girl

Love at first sight

Grandpa Bowler gave Samuel his first set of clubs and first golf lesson!

What a blessing it was to have them here the week of Abigail's birth.

Fun at the river

Abigail's first outing: Scenic drive on Chief Joseph Highway

Abigail has Arrived!

We are happy to announce that Abigail Grace Ann Morris was born Monday, July 26th at 3:12 pm! She was 6 pounds 5.5 ounces and 20 inches long. Jess was able to do a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) with no medication and the delivery went well. Jess and Abigail are doing great! They were released from the hospital today. Samuel is a great big brother and likes to give Abigail hugs and kisses. Thank you for all of your prayers during the pregnancy and delivery. We love you all very much.

Fresh out of Mommy's tummy

A burger and fries hit the spot after the delivery!

Proud Big Brother

What is eternal life?

And this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. John 17:3

The glory, beauty, and holiness of eternity is not a detached, distant future event, but is our inheritance as sons and daughters of the living God that we have access to in the now. Our ideas of eternity do not have to be relegated to off in the distance hopes of lying on a cloud and playing a harp. On the contrary the heartbeat of eternity is experiential relationship with God in the present. When we sense, touch, place our hands on, taste and move in communion with the Holy Spirit we are thrust into eternal life now.

Jesus said, "the kingdom of God is at hand," when he walked on the planet with the sons of men. Everywhere Jesus went He released the fragrance of heaven on the earth, and manifested the eternal God in the now. Eternity was on display before the eyes of men and love commanded the atmosphere. Where Christ was, eternity was seen, heard, and felt. Yet eternity was still distant. Men and women who encountered Christ experienced eternity, but only a fuzzy glimpse of the outer rim. They could not perceive the inner workings of Christs being: His thoughts, opinions, the deep desires, the inner chambers of His heart. But I pose to you that through the cross the sons and daughters of God have access into the consuming fire of the eternal Gods heart; access into becoming one with the Maker of heaven and earth, the Father of Glory and His son Jesus Christ. We have access to experience eternity now!

Many today in the body of Christ are experiencing heaven on earth, being thrusted into the heartbeat of eternity through a deep abiding relationship in Christ. Not a knowing from a distance, not a knowing of the mind, but a rapturous experience that consumes mind, body and soul. A knowing that quenches and breeds a disdain for every pleasure not rooted in Christ. A knowing that creates a ravenous, everlasting hunger in their souls for more of Him. And yet, at the very same time there are many in the body of Christ who have more experiential encounter with their jobs, family, and temporal things of this passing earth than the One they were created to be in communion with. They are living as though in the distant future they hope to one day have access to eternity and Gods kingdom when it is Gods greatest desire to share Himself and His kingdom now for those who want Him. Due to the deception of a distant God they settle for the pleasures of the world and have little to no experience with eternity; little to no experience with Christ.

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yes the deep things of God. 1 Corinthians 2:9,10

Seeing things that have not been seen, hearing things that have not been heard, and understanding possibilities, emotions, realms, experiences, and ideas that have never been perceived by man. This is our portion: to know God. And this is our inheritance: to have eternal life in the one who laid down His life for us, Jesus Christ!!

Nothing besides Christ can satisfy the deep inner workings of our mind, body and souls. We were made for nothing less! Who is willing to surrender everything to know this Jesus, to know eternity? And what is worth not receiving Him? The further we surrender our body, soul and mind to be conformed to His likeness, the greater we taste of His glory, and the more we will encounter eternity!

And this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. John 17:3

-Cody

Coming Soon...

This month we were happy to welcome our first out of state visitors. Our good friends Steve and Brad were able to come out to see us June 31st-July 6th. We enjoyed eating meals together, having times of worship and prayer, going to the river, the Buffalo Bill reservoir and the 4th of July parade in Cody. It was a blessing to have them with us. It felt like we picked up right where we left off when we last saw them about 10 months ago. On July 7th we got the opportunity to attend our first Rodeo in Cody, Wyoming. It was a lot fun! One of my favorite events was when they invited all the children 12 and under down to the bottom level. Then they let 3 calves loose with ribbons attached to their tails. The children chased the calves and the first 3 to get the ribbons won a prize. Samuel wanted to go down and be with the other kids. Maybe next year he can give it a try.

Steve, Cody and Brad

Buffalo Bill Reservoir

39 weeks !!!

I am trying to cherish each moment in these last few days I have with Samuel as my only child. I know things will be a little different when Abigail is born and I'm praying he adjusts well. We talk about what it will be like when Abigail is born and how he can help take care of her. He is going to be such a great big brother! He is growing so fast and learning how to say so many new words. My favorite Samuel phrase as of late is: "I love you too much, Mommy!"

On July 11th our church, Living Fortress, had a baby shower for me. It was a lot of fun to spend the afternoon with these ladies, eating yummy cake and being blessed with so many gifts for Abigail. This month we have also received many packages in the mail from family and friends. Samuel has enjoyed helping us open these presents for Abigail and has received a couple for himself as well :) Thank you to everyone who has prayed, sent gifts and helped us prepare for Abigail's arrival.

It's hard to believe I'm already 39 1/2 weeks pregnant! My due date is July 22nd! I can feel that Abigail has dropped and my doctor said she is head down. During the past couple weeks I have begun to feel more contractions. But they aren't very consistent yet. The closest contractions have been 20 minutes apart. I know some people experience contractions for weeks and others pick up fairly quickly. I hope Abigail comes sometime this week, but only God knows the day she will be born.

By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother's womb. My praise shall be continually of You. Psalm 71:6

The Father's Heart

Over the past few months as the excitement and anticipation continues to build as I wait for Abigail's arrival I can't help but think about the many children on this earth who do not have a mother or father. For many years now I have had a desire to work with orphans and have thought about adoption. It seems as time goes on that the Lord continues to increase this desire in me. I know orphans are on the Father's heart as well. Psalm 63:5 describes Him as..."A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation." I have a desire to have many children, but I don't know exactly what that will look like. Perhaps not all of my children will be carried in my womb. I imagine some of Samuel's siblings will become a part of our family through adoption.

"Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." James 1:27

The orphans and the widows have such a special place in God's heart, yet they are easily forgotten by the world. But He has not forgotten them. He promises to never leave them nor forsake them. He desires that each child would experience His love through relationship. I don't know when it will happen, but I do believe the Lord will bless us with the opportunity to adopt someday. And what a blessing it will be: To love a child that is easily forgotten by the world but is loved and cherished by God.

A couple days after I began to write this post we considered a different kind of adoption. On Saturday we went to the Humane Society to look at the dogs they have. One in particular stood out to us. His name is Toby and he's a 2 year old lab mix. He is obedient and submissive. One of his previous owners taught him how to sit and lay down in German, but he also knows these commands in English. To make a long story short we adopted him on Monday and have been falling in love with him ever since! He is such a great dog and is becoming more affectionate everyday. He hasn't had any accidents in the house and is very low maintenance. With dog owners on either side of us, it's nice that he doesn't bark at other dogs. He loves to play catch and tug-a-war and Samuel loves to play with him. Samuel often says, "I like my new dog." We feel very blessed by what a wonderful match Toby is for our family. We looked up the meaning of Toby and it means: God is good! His name will ring true forever! God is so good!

Toby

Samuel having fun with our neighbor's grandkids

We took Samuel bowling for the 1st time on our anniversary

Blessings From Above

"You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas..." Psalm 65:5

The beautiful gate Cody and Samuel made for the top of the stairs

Samuel excited about his own bed and room!

33 weeks :)

At the salon....I will miss the long locks, but alas...

Who's that good lookin' fella?!

We are now in our new home! We moved in last Thursday, May 27th. We just got internet hooked up yesterday, so I'm excited to be back online and able to post an update. Our friends and now landlords were so generous to let us stay in their RV over the past two months. We are so thankful for their kindness and the example of Christ that they have been to us. They offered to furnish the apartment for us, so the furniture you see in the pictures was all provided for us by them! They also gave us pots, pans, dishes, silverware, an iron, a vacuum, a microwave and a t.v. with a dvd player. What a blessing they have been in our lives. Samuel says often that he likes his new house and his new room :)

We were blessed to find out Cody got a raise at work about a week ago! Business at Bubba's has picked up significantly since Memorial Day weekend as more and more tourists will be coming through town. Cody is known as "The Rodeo Capital of the World" with a rodeo every night June 1st - August 31st. It is also 50 miles away from Yellowstone Nat'l Park, so there is an increase in traffic when we drive into town.

I am 33 weeks now and feeling Abigail move often. At my last appointment I was thankful to find out my glucose levels were great after taking a blood test at my prior visit. Dr. Williams says the baby and I are healthy :) As we are having sunnier days, I have enjoyed spending time with Samuel outside, watching him grow into the little man that he is becoming. He loves to play with his toys, read books and play outside. He gets really excited if there are other kids involved. He also likes to play the drums, piano, guitar and sing songs with me. I enjoy these times of singing and playing that we get to have together. I pray that God will continue to grow the giftings that He has placed inside of Samuel and show me how I can encourage him in the things he enjoys doing.

On June 10th, Cody and I will be celebrating our 4 year anniversary. Looking back over the past 4 years, I know they are the best years of my life. And I believe that each year that goes by will be better than the last because the Lord says we will go from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18). I am so thankful for the husband that God has blessed me with. I am grateful for his friendship, love and the encouragement he gives me. I love to watch him grow in the Lord and fall more in love with Him. This spurs me on in my faith to fall more in love with Jesus. I love the passion he has to see others come to know Jesus and grow in their relationship with Him. I love how he is such a loving daddy to Samuel and how he spends time with him playing and wrestling outside. I could go on and on, but I will finish by saying this: over the past 4 years through the good times and the rough times that come in this life I can say with a thankful heart to God that Cody has been there for me with love and support every step of the way.

Thank you Jesus for your goodness and faithfulness in every facet of my life. I praise You, for You are worthy of all my praise. In the good times and the rough, no matter what life brings, I will praise You.

Jackson Hole, Nat'l Parks & Camping

Archway of antlers in Jackson Hole

Yeeaaaahh Daddy! Thanks for making such a great fire!!

Bye-bye bison

Overlooking the Lower Falls and Yellowstone River

We woke up at 5 o'clock and left early Tuesday morning for Jackson Hole. This is a little town with the population of around 8,000 very similar to Cody. To get there we drove through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and saw some beautiful scenery and bison along the way. Once in Jackson Hole we rested on a grassy area downtown while Samuel tried to play with chipmunks (video below). We walked around looking at different shops and ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant called, "The Merry Piglets." After getting some ice cream at Haagen Daus we ventured back toward Grand Teton National Park to find a camping spot for the night. We found a spot, set up the tent and Cody began to build a fire. That night we cooked hot dogs, popcorn and had smores. It rained that night while we slept in the tent, but thankfully everything stayed dry inside. The next morning while Cody was out praying he got to see a bald eagle! I thought it was pretty cool that he got to see it. Then we packed up everything and headed towards Yellowstone. On the way to our next stop we met a herd of bison along the road. This was quite an experience (to view video click here). I have never seen that many bison that close up in my life! My favorite scenic area was the Lower Falls along Yellowstone River. We walked down a very long trail to see a close up view of the Lower Falls (video below). Standing above the waterfall looking down was amazing! I was reminded of how small I am and how big God is.

After viewing the Lower Falls and making the trek back up the trail we were ready to start heading back home. Over the course of our trip we had been praying that we would see a bear (from a safe distance, of course). We were excited to see cars pulled over to the side of the road because that is an indication that something has been spotted. And guess what we saw....a bear!! It was at least 120 yards from the side of the road with a river between us, so we weren't able to get a picture. But we did watch it with our binoculars. It had found some food, which looked like possibly an elk or a deer. It was neat that over the course of those two days we saw a bald eagle, a herd of bison and a bear. Thank you Lord for your creation. How wondrous are the works of your hands.

Samuel and the Chipmunks!

Lower Falls

"But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles.

They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:31