Lydia Laughing

For quite a while now Lydia has been doing this hysterical laugh that I've been meaning to get on video. Tonight I finally thought about it in time and grabbed the camera. I hope it makes you laugh as it always does us. Enjoy our laughing bug!

Foundation is done!

They men finished stripping the forms today and the first part of the lumber package is here!

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days.

http://picasaweb.google.com/AmberK10/FoundationLastDay113007?authkey=l88Ek9-OAII

What About Socialization?

Here is the second instalment of the Fairchild Family Films! Hope you enjoy it!

Bloopers to come! Stay tuned!

Our Family Picture!

Here is the picture some of you wanted to see. Actually it's not the one we are going to use for our Christmas letter but this is the next best!

Many thanks to Kami for taking it for us!

Blessings to you all this Christmas season!

First Day of the foundation footings

The footings for the foundation were poured today! We are so thankful and feel so blessed to be able to build this house. We spend half the day at the property watching them work and freezing at the same time! It was SO cold! It was interesting to watch the concrete being poured into the forms. The men worked so fast and it was poured all in one afternoon. I don't think they were cold though. They were moving pretty fast.

A man let Benjamin move the boom to the concrete pumper. He was delighted!

Here are some more pictures if you want to take a look. I'll have more soon too when the foundation itself is poured.

http://picasaweb.google.com/AmberK10/PouringFootingsDay1112607?authkey=q-jdXyyci2w

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

1 Cor. 3:11

Yes the C's were here!

We were so blessed to have the C family here for Thanksgiving. It was such a blessing have them here to remember God's goodness to us and share in a great time of fellowship. Once again we had more late nights and a new movie which will be posted as soon as it is edited! Aren't you so excited to see just how silly we can get! hehehehe :0)

Kami and Heather

After Thanksgiving dinner we went out side to take family pictures. Oh goodness was it ever so cold. It was 30 degrees or less at that time! Burrrrr! But both of us got great pictures despite our red and freezing noses!

I hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving and were refreshed to remember God's blessings in your lives.

House update - Foundation Forms!

I don't have time right now to post more pictures but I thought I would share this one! It was taken right before we left for the day and the guys were still working. It's finally happening! Praise God!

"We praise Thee O God our Redeemer Creator!"

Sleepless Night Video

Okay, there is a story behind this video we made. When our friends the Couch's were here last, we had quite a few very late nights and the last night we decided to make a movie together. But the only problem was, was that it was 12:30 am! Yes, 12:30 in the morning! So we began to film this getting all the more sleepy and laughing way too much, till we hurt in fact. We had to bite our lips between scenes to keep from exploding with laughter. This is the result of our Sleepless Nights:

~The Credits~

The cast:

The Sleepless guy.............................................David

The sit up Sleeper #1........................................Kami

The Sit-up Sleeper #2 and the Foot...........Heather

The Couch Slider................................................Gabe

The Thumb Sucker........................................Taylor

The Chair Slipper...........................................Gracie

The Crew:

Directors................Amber & Keslie

Cinametographer..................Amber

Editor......................................Keslie

Many thanks to:

Our mothers and aunt since they bore our hysterical laughter and out burst so late at night.

A blessed funeral

Hello! My aunt recently wrote our family this amazing e-mail about a young man who wanted only to live for God and spread His gospel. I hope you enjoy it and are encouraged by his child-like faith in his Almighty Creator.

Blessings to you!
Amber

___________________

We know a family, a large blonde Christian Dutch dairy farm family. They have five sons, all grown and in their twenties, and a daughter, in her twenties, just married this year. Everyone in the Treasure Valley, which is all around Boise, loves this family. They are fun, they work hard, they laugh, they play, they live vivaciously, and they had Case.

Case was one of the boys in this family. When he was nine years old he decided to lead a donkey by tying the lead rope around his waist so he could lead the donkey with no hands. The animal spooked, ran, and dragged Case and he hit his head on a cement water canal. He was in a coma for four months in a hospital.

His sister was 12 at the time. She knew all the "Christian stuff" her parents taught her and that the church taught her, but she didn't think much about God. Now she prayed. She prayed feverishly that God would not let come true what the doctors said. They said he wouldn't live, and if he did, they said that with 99% certainty he would be a vegetable mentally.

Well, sister and brothers sat around him in turns for months and they sang hymns and they prayed and cried. One day, as they sang a hymn, he put his hand up high and strong and made the family sign for, "I love you." Sister, Siska, says from that day on she knew God was real and very powerful.So Case came out of the coma, but he was not the same Case. He was like a four year old. He lived and grew but was always different mentally. He was home schooled with his four brothers and one sister, and worked on the dairy farm with his parents and siblings most of his life. He had great long-term memory, almost perfect and almost photogenic, but very little short-term memory. He could learn songs easily and jokes, but some things were hard for him. He wanted to witness to the Mexican men helpers on the farm but he couldn't learn Spanish, so he spoke in a Spanish accent speaking English. Of course that didn't do any good!!! So His big brother Rudy taught him a song that explained the Gospel in Spanish, and Case could learn that, and he sang it to the men. It took him a whole year to learn the song. He was one of those wonderful people with no inhibitions spiritually, so when he met people he instantly was warm and gracious with them and found ingenious ways of starting a spiritual conversation with them and quite soon was asking them why they hadn't asked Christ Jesus to be their Savior too! A couple of months ago, his oldest brother Rudy with whom he worked almost side by side at the dairy all day, noticed Case had his pockets totally stuffed full. Rudy asked what was in there. Well, he had six little bags full of mints from his sister, Siska's wedding reception, because he said he could start conversations with strangers by giving them a mint, then he could tell them about Jesus and he did! He was constantly explaining the glories and sweetness of Christ to people! Of course, most of what I'm telling you about Case I learned from his siblings speaking today.

Well, Saturday we received a call that Case had died in his sleep Friday night. He had seizures on and off most of his life after the incident with the donkey. He had a seizure Friday night and went to bed and never awoke. He was 23 years old. Ah, but he awoke in the presence of Christ for the Scriptures tell us, ".....absent from the body, present with the Lord."

All five of his siblings spoke at his glorious wonderful funeral service today from noon to 2:00. What incredible young people! What a life Case lived for God that it was "easy" for the siblings to proclaim without reservation that Case lived for Christ and for other people, always trying to be nice to others and do little acts of service for others in his simplicity. All the siblings told great little stories about Case that had all 500 of us in fits of laughter and streams of tears. What a well-lived life Case lived in his openness. The oldest sibling is training to be a pastor, and it is obvious that God has given him the ability to speak with grace and hold the listener's attention, and he speaks words of glory to God.

The music that we were privileged to sing with this family was just incredible. This is a family who attends Cloverdale United Reformed Church, and they also had an association with a church too called King's Congregation. So there were about 500 people at the two-hour service and we sang hymns with them, and these people know how to sing parts; it was strong and lovely and gorgeous. The hymns chosen were strong wonderful ones that Case used to sing with the cows in the dairy barn! Also, almost half the attendees were men, tall Dutch men, and these men sing!

Two pastors spoke, one young recently ordained, his prayer was laced with Scriptures, "...I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am there you may be also..... precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints,.....I am the resurrection and the life, He that believes in Me shall live even if he dies" that are so incredibly powerful that speak to this event of death in the life of a believer that you wanted to shout for joy at the end of prayer!!!

Celebrating Grandpa's Birthday Sunday

Sunday we were able to celebrate grandpa's birthday with a meal of tender roast, "creamed" potatoes, dark rich gravy, a giant salad, and delicious cheese cake grandpa and grandma made together. After we were full; the dishes in the kitchen waiting to be washed we sat down to open cards and presents.

We are so blessed to be able to celebrate with him. Here are a few pictures:

Looking at Ben's picture

Gracie and Sarah looking on

Both Bens! (Grandpa is Ben as well!)

Happy Birthday Grandpa! We love you!

After Work

Here is Benjamin after an evening of work at the property. I bet you can't guess it's muddy there! I don't know, I think they have too much fun working. :)

God is good as always!

I think our house is being made by prayer and patience! We have been praying for all the "little" things that have to do with getting this house going and God has been so good to answer our prayers even more than hoped!

We submitted our house plans to the county (just getting it to this process was a bundle of answered prayers) two days ago (Wed. night), and the man told us he would look at them today (Fri. morning). The county called THIS MORNING, 10:30 and said the plans were approved and we have the permit to build! We are ever so thankful and we praise God for His gracious working. We had prayed just about a half hour earlier that God would have the people at the county office hurry. The reason we were in a hurry is the man who is going to do the push-out is going on vacation next week.

All the bids that we got were much better prices than we thought. Things like this are so encouraging to us and we thank God for lifting our spirits!

It is so fun to watch God work!

Helping!

Lydia helping with dishes :) She loves to help and asks often!

Our Lydia Anne...

Just pictures

Watching the logger loading the logs on his truck.

Old fashioned sack race

Oh the joys of a sack race at a summer picnic.

Gracie getting ready to go!

Sarah too!

Off they go! Hair bouncing and everything!

The ant

"Look mom an ant!"

"Here you go!"

"uh oh!"

"There it is! I got it!"

A peek into Lydia's world!

Dear friends!

Grandpa and grandma's dear friends came to visit in July. They have been friends since they were in high school!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Grandpa, grandma, "Aunt" Betty and "Uncle" John

:sigh: Sweet memories!

Smiles

We thank God for girls!

Annie, Sarah and Lydia in the playhouse loft window.