Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Breakfast on the House


Check to see if you can find a box like this on the shelf at your grocery store ... I came across this one at our local Superstore. Of course, I always appreciate a box of cereal on the house.

Notice the coupon is right on the box. One coupon per household will be fully reimbursed when sent in with the receipt. I hope you can find one too.

Btw, the cereal is really good too!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Baby Doll


Faith Mattaya @ 9 days ...


My mother brought gifts, my sister-in-law sent gifts from her family, my Aunties have sent handmade gifts, and my folks friends sent gifts ... our friends have given gifts ... this little girl will be very well dressed - in PINK!

So, I've got my little doll and now I can dress her up too ... o-oh, this is fun!



The pink sweater, a treasured gift from my Aunt Anne, dresses up the white sleeper in which we brought Faith home from the hospital.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Something for You

Do you use coupons to curb your grocery bills?

Here is a Canadian site that offers some pretty good coupons.

Try this link for more coupons from the same place.

Choose what you can use then submit that list and the company will send them to you in the mail, no shipping charges required.

I've used these coupons without difficulty. It trims a little off each bill.

A penny saved is a penny earned!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Pun Intended!

Have you ever noticed God's sense of humor?

Way back in April 2008 God began to lead us through our "Journey of Faith" to move us to Manitoba...

At the same time He began the little "life of Faith"...

Some of you may remember shortly after we began journaling God's leading on this blog, we adopted this motto for our potential move:

"Faith Grows Daily"


Little did we know that God was growing our little Baby Faith each day even while the rest of our family's faith in Him was growing daily as we watched Him lead & direct our journey to live in Manitoba.


I can imagine God was enjoying His surprise for us immensely!

Certainly this was THE BEST, "Pun Intended" I've ever heard of!!
(ok, so I'm a little biased.)

Friday, January 16, 2009

God Led Us Along

All right, here is that other huge praise item that Ken & I realized the day before Baby Faith arrived ... though it pales in comparison to the even more incredible miracle of Faith Mattaya in person!

We praise God for His assurance that our decision to take our birth to Winnipeg for induction was His leading. We realized that God's plan for us to have mid-wifery care was only up until that point - now it was His will for us to go to strange Dr.'s in a strange hospital etc.

How did we come by that assurance? Well, had we not been with the mid-wives in Brandon, we would have been with one of the Brandon doctors, none of whom are favorable to natural birth - basically prone to c-sections in all but the perfect scenarios. They would have considered themselves the end of the line for us, our only option would have been section.

So going through the early induction in Winnipeg was necessary & God led. It gave us peace as we faced a difficult situation ... peace knowing our God was in this. Of course, we knew that all along, but realizing His hand in this added an extra measure of comfort...

...as did the assurance of the "prayers of the saints" - we knew so many of you were watching and waiting with us in prayer! Thank you so much! May God bless you also.

Testimony of Faith



Faith Mattaya meaning "Gift of God"

was born @ 2:33 AM on Januray 16, 2009. She weighed in at 9 lbs. 2 oz. and measured 21 inches. A daughter for us ... a sister for six excited young men.

Faith was born safe'n'sound with little trauma to Mom & Babe.
ALL GLORY TO GOD!

We were very blessed to have an excellent caring team of medical care providers in Winnipeg who helped us accomplish another excellent birth scenario.

As you can probably well imagine, we feel incredibly blessed - and oh, so humbled to have been entrusted with another little soul that we can take with us into eternity.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Updating with Praises

Yesterday was a long day, but good. Babe is still snug as a bug inside ... perhaps that's a good thing in these frigid temps?!

So yesterday, we found out where to go and met the Dr. in Winnipeg - all good preparation that was necessary to do. This Dr. is very nice. He was very encouraging to us. He had no concerns that we would necessitate a section (in fact he was almost wondering why we were even in to see him - though he did understand the many big "ifs" that could be possible scenarios for this birth. He was very accomodating in that he cited my earlier high BP as top reason for putting me onto the list awaiting induction ... to satisfy the Nurse Manager's requirements. I just let him cite high BP as reason, though we are so very thankful that my BP is not high at all! A HUGE Praise item.)

Our current plan is tentative induction today, Thursday ... or Friday or Saturday. Tentative being the key as there may be a rush of others that have a more pressing need which could bump my case in priority (since I am technically not even at my due date of Jan.20th yet). So this morning we're awaiting the call to come in. We have definitely given the consent that Winnipeg will now be the location for this delivery.

Now, we've seen 7 doctors and three mid-wives. We've had 7 ultrasounds, by as many technicians (three of those were Doctors). We always have to chuckle at how this Babe gives them all a run for their money/time ... trying to get a measurement is tricky. As has been the case all along, Babe & I are doing great! Praise God again & again!

More praises are that Ken & I have had safe travels during dangerous temperatures and windchills as well as the fact that the Suburban continues to perform well under such stress. Not to mention the fact that God is providing for the extra costs of driving all those extra miles ... we've put on about 1000 miles this week alone.

Praise God too that we were able to come home and "monitor/manage" the homefront yesterday for the evening and night. Today, Bronlin seems to be a bit better again though his low grade fever/looser cough seems to be hanging on a little longer yet. He is not terribly sick, but it is good to be here to help with that care and not leave that full responsibility on our older young men. Being here has been settling for Ken & I. God is good!

A little side bonus & something Ken & I consider a praise item was that he & I were able to take in a webinar class that we've signed up for every Wednesday evening for a total of 14 weeks (together with our oldest three guys). This was our second session, which wasn't totally necessary that we take in, but it was good not to miss it anyway ...

We just got the call ... here we go!


So again, we ask you to cover us in prayer as we continue on our journey. Thanks & God bless your day!

I've yet to share another huge praise we determined yesterday about how God has led us ... but that will have to be another post!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

We Covet Your Prayers

Please join us in prayer & keep us covered as we take this birth journey with our newest blessing. Babe is still very mobile - yesterday, once again lying transverse. Not a good scene this close to delivery.

We barely missed a section in the Brandon hospital yesterday...had we not already had an appointment to see a Dr. in Winnipeg today (this Dr. has a reputation for natural deliveries with most any scenario, PTL!). The Dr.s in Brandon are just very quick to section ...

That said, Babe & I are very healthy in every way. God is so good to have already given us such a beautiful birth story with this little one who is so much more than "Justin Other Klassen" - we can hardly wait meet and to introduce you to him or her - and the real name God has directed us to use.

Another recent prayer request is for our young men staying at home - they are managing on their own ... Bronlin is struggling with a mild fever/cough. Though Corbyn can manage it is just that added concern ...

Pray with us as our faith is yet again stretched by our loving God, Whom we know we can trust, but our fickle feelings tend to get tangled ...

Thanks so much for your support!

God Bless each one of you on this cold, cold day with warm warm blessings!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Have You Noticed?

...the days are getting longer.

...the sun is getting warmer.

...Spring is on it's way!

Our family loves to welcome Spring - and we usually start looking forward to that on December 21 when the days start getting longer again - imperceptibly at first, but longer none-the-less.

I do hope this thought encourages you as much as it does us on this cold day!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

pregnancy calendar

A Catchy Rhyme

Our twins are discovering rhyme - I love this season in a younster's life.

So when I noticed this rhyme in a retailers window I thought I'd like to share it with you...
It's good all year through!


Have a Fine 2009!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Necessary Update

For the record, I can finally post the official photo of Carsyn's first deer. The picture was taken by the uncle with whom he hunted that day...


It was a remarkable feat for a young man. A perfect first shot.

Congratulations, Carsyn! What an amazing year you've had!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Fluffy & Beautiful

Sharing the beauty...




We love to see the snow floating gently down into our yard. It's nice to be sheltered from the wind we always known before.

Light fluffy, "ice cream snow"