Stellmaker/Ouimette Thanksgiving

We were SO excited to have the whole California Ouimette clan (minus Christine's family, who were busy hanging out in Africa and couldn't make the trip!) to Story City for Thanksgiving this year!  There were some Minnesota family members that had other plans and couldn't make it, but it was So much fun to be together with the people that could come!

We started the weekend festivities with a trip downtown to watch the tree lighting on Story City's main street.  Somehow, NONE of the Stellmakers had ever been to this event, so we didn't really know what to expect!  

They handed out candles so we could have a candlelight song - funny part, they forgot to sing the song/light the candles, so we just held unlit candles for half an hour, then turned them back in at city hall. :)

With their unlit candles, all bundles up!  Papa's such a sport...89 and still keeping up with the young'uns!

Matthew and Soren - two peas in a pod!

Happy Thanksgiving honey!

Part of our large crew...even Lincoln made it!

Santa dropped "snowballs" from high in the sky.

It was pretty fun!  They were actually ping pong balls, and they all had prizes written on them!

Olivia made out like a bandit!

And I think we got some insoles for our shoes. :)

What's a night out in Story City without a trip to the fire station?

Chris likes the big toys. :)

No family gathering can happen without breaking out the marbleworks!

Or a little boy wrestling...

Oh boys...

It's fun to have so many grown-up boys now...bring on the football! 

And the cheerleaders!

And of course, there was a ridiculous amount of food :)

We had to eat in three different rooms so everyone could have a seat!

It was so much fun having all the little ones around - and especially to meet Greyson when he was still so young!  What a doll!

Big SMILES!

We LOVED this long weekend...seriously good time with great family!

Book #23: "The Help"

Oh, this book is so so SO good!

If you haven't read this book, I'm going to say that you need to!  This was another audio book from audible and to be honest, it was really neat listening to it as opposed to reading it myself.  The narrators were unbelievable, and they all had very distinct personalities with sweet accents...it's like the book came alive, and I didn't have to do any work to get it there! 

I thought this book did a great job of highlight the inequalities that were still very present after slavery was abolished...it presented situations as they could have been, and then let those situations speak to your heart.  Totally loved it, can't wait to see the movie!

Book #20: "The Pilot's Wife"

This is a novel I borrowed from my sister-in-law Lianne, and it was good!  I'm tending to gravitate toward real-life inspirational and international stories lately, and this one didn't necessarily fit the mold.  BUT, it was a mystery, it was engaging, and I was not sad that I spent time reading it when it was over!  I mean, you gotta love a page-turning plot, right?!  I think this would be a great traveling book on your Kindle!

Book #21: "Kisses from Katie"

Hmmm....ahhh....oh my....YES PLEASE!  I've been following Katie Davis' blog since the beginning of our time in India, and what an amazing and inspiring and challenging story of obedience and passion for one of God's simplest and most powerful commands to His people: care for the poor.  Katie decided to spend time in an African orphanage over Christmas break of her senior year of high school, and ever since then has been "ruined for American life", as she puts it.  Her heart could never let  go of those children and that place, so after she graduated she found herself on a plane back to Africa for a year working as a "Kindergarten teacher."  She's still there.

She has now adopted 13 girls, is running  a ministry that sends over 400 kids to school each year and feeds over 1,000 people from the poorest tribe in her area.  Seriously challenging, and really makes you long to be in the CENTER of God's will for your life.   She's honest about the struggles, but also honest about how great it feels....everyone should read this book!

Book #22: "90 Minutes in Heaven"

I read this on a 6-hour car drive, and it was the perfect car-read.  Quick, easy, engaging, thought and conversation-provoking.  Don Piper is a pastor who was involved in a serious car accident.  He ended up physically dying for 90 minutes, after which he miraculously woke up again after being prayed over by another pastor.  The story talks about his experience after death and pre-waking up (so basically, his heaven encounter), as well as his process of healing and dealing with chronic pain after the accident.  He's VERY honest about everything, and it was a really neat book to read. 

We're going through Revelation at church right now, and I don't think this was an accidental timing thing.  God is continually reminding me that heaven and hell are both VERY real, and I need to get up off my much-too-content-behind and tell people about Jesus!  Good book, should definitely read. ;)

Book #19: "Ready, Player One"

Totally honest: this is a nerd book.  And totally honest: I liked it!  Basically, the story takes place in the future when a virtual reality has all but replaced real life...everyone has an avatar, people spend their real money on fake clothes and transportation and whatever for their avatar...blah blah blah.  When Chris first told me about it, I was seriously turned off by the story plot.  But (and it helped that it was an audio book) as it got going I was surprised by how "into it" I got!  There were definitely times that I felt a little depressed at how sad the character's real lives were....but things were redeemed at the end. 

In all, I wouldn't give this an overwhelming recommendation - but if you're looking for a book to listen to that passes the time and gets your brain engaged, go for it!

The Not-so-New News :)

Hey blogging world, guess what?!?!  

The Farley's are having a baby!

I know it's been a long time since I've posted, but when we knew we were pregnant and couldn't tell the world, it just felt goofy and a little strange to post about other things.  So, I decided to just hang out and wait.  :)  However, I'm now 14 weeks pregnant, the news has been "facebooked", and the world knows.  YAY!

So, the story!  Chris and I decided to go off birth control in June,  we moved and I was gone at a music class for half of July (therefore not much trying!), and I tested positive in August.  WHAT?!  To be honest, I was NOT expecting it to happen so fast.  However, when Chris and I were talking about the "optimal" situation we talked about how great it would be to have a May due date....and our Little Lime's due date is MAY 7th!  We couldn't be happier. :) 

We've randomly started referring to the little one as our "lime"...we were visiting with our small group one night and told them the baby was the size of a lime....and during prayer that night our friend Dave prayed for "the lime".  After that, the in-belly name was decided. :)

Hmm...What else to tell?

- We're still deciding about whether or not to find out the sex of the baby.  At first I really didn't want to, and now I'm 50/50 depending on the day.

- I felt really sick during week 8/9 (even though I never threw up - wow!), but otherwise have just felt pretty tired.  However, I am SO much less emotional than expected...I feel a lot more stable than when I was on my regular cycle, so YAY!  And - this week I feel like I'm totally back to normal physically!

- I'm starting to pooch out quite a bit. :)  Still wearing regular pants (as long as they're low-rise!), but they're definitely tight.  It's fun!

- It's really fun to be in my home town and living with my parents during this first pregnancy...a really special time. :)

- I felt really bloated and icky at first, and was afraid I was going to have a hard time embracing this time because of all the changes to my body...but now I don't feel like that at all.  Yay!

Funny Moments at School....

I'll make sure to keep updating these as they come, because there have been some SERIOUSLY funny moments!  My favorites include...

- I keep catching kids staring at my belly, trying to decide if I'm actually pregnant since I'm not showing much.  One 1st grader even patted my belly, then asked why my baby was so much smaller than his little brother.

- A mom came up to me and congratulated me for being "6 months pregnant with triplets."  Apparently there was a rumor circulating among the kids that I was having triplets!  The day after I heard the rumor a kindergartener brought me in a picture he had drawn of me with my three babies. :)

- I always say good-bye/give hugs to the kids as they leave class.  One 2nd grader said..."Have a good day, and happy baby New Year!"

- Today in Kindergarten class we sang "This Old Man" to a fun, energetic recording.  Between the verses we do a little "dance" with different body parts (fingers, feet, elbows, tongue, nose, it's pretty funny!).  When we were doing a "belly" dance one Kindergarten boy said, "hey, your baby's dancing!"  He was SO excited that my baby could dance with us!

And with that - I'm back in the blogging world and have lots of catching up to do! 

Thank you LORD for this amazing blessing!