Friday, July 20, 2012

Summer Sun ~ Family Fun

Ponchatoula Strawberries!
This hand painted pic was a gift to us from our Dear Friend in LA, Bro Willard Bardwell.  He gave this to us years ago while we were on deputation and it's just now "found" a frame and a sweet corner in our Haus! Thanks dear friend, for a piece that we will always treasure!
Old Chair, a gift,  Old dishpan, yard-sale deal and a cheap $1 Ivy on clearance... add the strawberry pic above... & it made this ole' corner pop!  It always makes me smile when I pass this corner!
                                                         Red, White, Blue, and Delicious!
                                        Pop-Pop doing what he does best.... acting up!
Pepsi coasters and reusable stars for name tags!

We were privileged to get to have family over while Dad and Mom were here.  Dad's brother and family only lives about 1 hr away, so they came over so Rod and I could celebrate our Birthday's... we share a birthday.  Who cares if it was late... "better late than never" they say! =)
                              Breydon and Bryan... fast friends, best buddies and cousins too!!!
Darla and little Lizzie!  She was delighted to find the doll house... if it hadn't been 105o that day they could have really enjoyed playing.  They'll just have to come back in the fall so they can really play.
Dad, Mom and 3 of our kids on the Lord's Day.  Natasha was away at a camp-meeting babysitting.  We missed her much, but she had a wonderful time.
Two very dear people to our hearts!
Monday, Daryl took some time off and took the 3 kids and his parents to the Cincinnati Museum Center.  This is the old train depot here in Cinci... the very place where 50 years ago, my Moma came in on a train in order to attend GBS!
Beautiful Fountain outdoors!



Don't know Who's craziest!!!

The main floor of the old train depot.

The main reason I didn't go along was we'd gotten a phone call that my parents were going to get to come over for a visit. They had to be over our way due to a funeral of a family friend.  We were saddened for the reason, but DELIGHTED that we got to spend a few hours with them. And So I went to work in the kitchen preparing a meal... an early Birthday meal... for my Moma had her 70th B-day the next day! 

           Moma, so glad you got to be with us, even if it was only for a few hours!  I love you MUCH!
Strawberry Shortcake with a touch of Blue!

Fun at the park that evening.  It was sooooo nice to have ya'll with us Dad and Mom.  Thanks for coming!
Insane?!

Sane... looks can be deceiving though!!!

3 very special people in my life!

Truck Troubles!

Changing a tire!

Driver's Ed??

Look who popped up in the Fields!

                        Jail? Must be for being sooooo "happy" to have Grandparents here with us!

Another Jail bird!

Grandma playing as the check-out clerk with the kids! She was checking the dates and codes,from all her years of experience while working for Kraft Foods! =)

               talk about inflation.... milk, pancake syrup, and Karo Syrup and your total is below!!!



Meerkat!  These guys were so fun to watch... they weren't sleeping like most everything else was!

     Darla and Bryan found these old burlap bags and boy did they ever GO FAST down those slides!!! 

Daryl had to teach on Tuesday, so we could be near him we decided to do Boonshoft Museum since it wasn't too far from WSU.  Daryl's Dad had been "interviewed" by his English students that a.m. so they could practice "SPEAKING" English.... Dad and Daryl left early and we came a couple hours later and picked Dad up from Wright State and went to this museum and our fav...... GOODWILL!!!  Then, Dad and Mom treated us to Golden Coral for supper!  Thanks so much!
      Wednesday found us all visiting what some folks would call our "relatives" at the zoo!!! Not US.. I'm no kin to a Monkey and the monkey's NO KIN to me.... We're created in HIS image!




Gardens are so gorgeous there.... so we took plenty of pics identifying
flowers.... dreaming of our raised gardens some year....
More dreaming....
Learning to read a map.... hope he does better than his Momma!

Yes... you guessed it... more "posy" dreams!
Not sure who works here?!

This pic didn't help clear it up any!!

                                                                   Hungry, Bryan?!

Baby Camel, had him named and everything!


                        Fun to check out our wingspan in comparison to those of our fowl friends!
Creepy Reptile House.... I chose to wait outside!


Not sure what Darla could see... but these were the only glasses she could find in her mad dash out of the house that a.m.=)






                    Out of Focus??? Nope, we "zoomed" in on these 2 wonderful people in our Haus!

            matching foot prints?!  Nope... again I'm very thankful to be made in God's image!

Thanks to Gold Zoo passes the kids got to ride on the Carousel as many times as they wanted!

look who's "DELIGHTED" to get to be riding!






This guy joined us at our snack area.. no we didn't feed him either!

Train Ride also included and for those of us with weary feet it is always a welcomed break!
Just before leaving Cincinnati, one MUST try this ice cream... it's OH SO GOOD!  Thanks Dad and Mom for the fun, fun, fun week you got to spend with us!



thanks again for all the special gifts of sweet Lebanon bologna, tasty cakes since we can't get those items here in OH... and wonderfully "delish" fruit from your farmer's market!  So much enjoyed getting to laugh together!  We love you all so much! ~Laura and Family~

Monday, July 02, 2012

Birthday Boy!

Birthday Boy!
 The girls had fun shooting these fun shots of their "cowboy brother" at a park down by the river!  It was a nice sunny, breezy day thank the Lord before all the heat hit us here in Cinci! This boy has loved anything to do with cowboy ever since his grandma started buying him his boots... the "walk" just came with the boots!  We are so thankful that Jesus saw fit to send us a boy too.  Our prayer is that he'll always choose to be "a Man after God's own heart!"  We tell him he's can be whatever... our only stipulation is... it just MUST BE what God calls him to be... cowboy or not... Jesus 1st is our prayer for his life!






Serious Cowboy!
I'm kind partial to all of these pics... this one though I can still see my "little" boy and that's helping my heart!  Though I'm not blind... I can see he's growing up F.A.S.T.!   We don't do a big party every year for the kids... so this year I had planned to do "simple".... NOT... Bryan is nothing about simple! He's Mr. INTENSE to put it mildly and so when he found this Train Cake, he asked if "we" could do that... so here's what we came up with...


                                           His choice as to what the cars should carry.....
                                                  and that MUST include a John Deere.....
                                                        What train doesn't have tail lights.....
                                       Natasha's Gift was helping to decorate his Train for him.  
                             And of course it had to have a front grill... which he made himself! =)
                                                                       Aerial View!


         Darla gave him a cool matchbox car and some candy, which we forgot to get a pic of....
 And our main gift to him was....a Bike!
 Sometime in early spring this year, Bryan was riding his bike and skidded the tires 1 time too many and blew the back tire... it was a loud noise, which delighted him to pieces... however soon thereafter there were tears for he was devastated as to what to do to get a bike before Camargo camp... cause a boy just can't go to camp-meeting without a bike!!!  we were able to find this "nearly-new" bike on Craigslist for a good price and as you can see from the pic below,.... he was thrilled!!!
Brittany's gift was to make him his John Deere Curtains shown here!


 Grandma and Pop-pop's box (above) arrived a day later... but when I warned him that this is how it had to be this year his comment was... "Well, I'd rather that it be "on time"... "But that's okay", I reminded him, "you'll just have a birthday that lasts longer"!!! He had a "birthday week"!!!! He's not sad as you can tell!
 Shown here is his main gift from them.... a Christian cowboy kneeling at the Cross with his horse tethered behind him.  We are planning to use Gram and Gramp's $ gift to purchase the leather belt needed to hold his belt buckle!  Thanks everyone for a great birthday!
 The Marhon's sent $ and he got to do his own shopping... he's been dreaming about this Lego deal for months... so thanks A. Doreen, Sara and U. Frank for this "Dirt Bike Carrier"... he had it put together in no-time,... humming a tune the entire time... =)  He enjoyed getting to shop for it himself too!


 Now off to more needed Haus Projects....


Thursday, June 21, 2012


 Happy Birthday~
For Mommy's Birthday we decided to give her the same treatment she has given us over the years and make her a "birthday supper meal." (It was actually Daddy's idea, and we put it into motion! =)


We decided to do a simple meal and per Mommy's request...try a new recipe: chicken burrito's (and I added a few embellishments just for fun). 
And Brittany made Oreo ice cream for dessert!




Chicken Burrito's~

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained, rinsed
3 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 can tomatoes and green chile's
1 t. ground cumin
1 c. salsa
1 t. salt 
1 can of corn, optional

soft tortilla's 

1) In a crockpot, layer beans, chicken breasts, garlic, tomatoes/green chiles, cumin, salsa, salt.
2)Cover; cook on high for 5-6 hours.
3)When chicken is done, remove from crockpot. Shred chicken, then return to crockpot and mix until moistened.
4)Place on warmed tortilla's; Serve w/ toppings of your choice.
  
-makes 15 tortilla's


*just a note: when I made mine, I didn't put in the cumin. The reason is that this "blond" thought that cumin was the same as curry. And b/c I do not like curry, I didn't put in the cumin thinking it had the same flavor as curry! =) Next time I'll be sure to add the cumin, and it'll make it even better! 

Hope you Enjoy!

NMH~

 


Sunday, June 17, 2012

My Daddy~ and My Dad

Christmas In Russia!
This picture above takes you back in time!  My parents were able to come and visit us while we were ministering in the country of Russia!  What a winter wonderland it was that week!  So many happy memories... but today it's Father's Day!
Daddy, I love you for so many reasons and thought I'd try to put a few "On Paper..." Make that "In Print"!

Thank you for teaching me to work outdoors!  With 9 1/2 acres of land in our Friendsville days, there was plenty of flat enough places for me to learn to mow where it was safe.  Thanks for those memories of you teaching me how to mow and the joy and fulfillment I still enjoy today of working outside!  Thanks for the many hours and happy memories of picking black raspberries... the few chiggers and the piles of woolen clothes that always went along with it were well worth the joy of fresh berries on our cereal the next a.m. (even if I did wave "Hello" to a cow, we'd been out picking berries so long without seeing people!=)
Thank you Daddy for showin me what compassion and humility look like in person.  This is a side that some people have never gotten to see in you, but I thank my Heavenly Father often for the picture that you gave us kids of what Jesus looks like with "skin on".  Thanks for your life... in love with Jesus 1st, in love with Moma 2nd and we kids last... but we never felt "least".
Thanks for doing the extra things with us... that were free, but hey, we loved them NO LESS.  I have been more places than most of my friends who's parents may have had more in this world's goods... but we went anywhere we could buy the gas to go.  Thanks for teaching me to LOVE TO CAMP.... tenting memories, staring down a bear, camping, hiking, learning to swim... just to name a few.
Thanks for teaching me to never litter... thanks to "clean-up days" in Friendsville.  Such fulfilling memories. Thanks for all the hours of prayer, blood, sweat and tears, that it took to make that place a go. I'm a much richer person b/c of it.
Thanks for ever being an example that learning can be fun!  For You were always a teacher at heart... and now that I'm married to my wonderful teacher husband, I see so many things that remind me of you!


Most of all Daddy, thank you for teaching me about Jesus.  I've alluded to that earlier, but you are the man you are b/c of allowing God to be the Lord and Master of your WHOLE LIFE.  You were always the same, whether on vacation or not. I never once was sad, or embarrassed that I was a PK!(Preachers Kid) I've always felt I was blessed to be one of those! I was never ashamed of you! Or embarrassed that you were my daddy.  I love to hear your laugh... no one's laugh can make the rafters quiver like yours. Thanks for loving Jesus so much,  it showed!  I cherish the many times that I would get up in the night and find you on your knees quietly seeking God for life's answers as well as for we kids.  Thanks for being a GIANT in my eyes, a hard worker, and always "fair" to the nth-degree! =) thanks for keeping me safe til God sent along my husband to take care of me.  Thanks for loving Daryl like a SON... not just an in-law.  Thanks for "letting me go" so that we could start our own home, under God!  Thanks for coming to visit each time a new little Hausman came along and for allowing Moma to "be there" for us while I got back on my feet.  Brittany "owes" you the most I guess, for she had your wife away from you for 3 long weeks!  Thanks for the MANY sacrifices you've made for all of us over the years.  We love you SO much!  I never thought you were "perfect"... but then again, the longer I live... and the more people and heartaches I hear about... I'm thinkin you come pretty close and therefore I know that I'm a VERY blessed girl.  I thank Jesus for giving YOU to me as my own special Daddy!  You're the BEST EVER!  I love you dearly, "Laura Lou"

Dad Hausman with us in Austria
Dad, I never grew up enough to ever call my own Daddy, Dad.  So when Daryl asked me to be his wife, I felt it was only fitting that HIS DAD would be mine too! And thanks so much for accepting me as your daughter, and not just an in-law! 1st I want to thank you for being a Father to Daryl.  Thanks for your consistent life lived out before him as to what a Christian Father was.  Thanks for your consistency in taking them to church, sick or not! =) Thanks for teaching him by example to be a HARD worker and provider for his family! Thanks for giving Daryl the confidence that he needed to be GOD'S MAN. 

I've always loved your sense of humor! You're a big tease and we all love it! You have a fun loving personality and I've watched as people feel comfortable around you and love to be near you, even on the other side of the world. Thanks for loving God so much!  I've only known you for about 23 years (22 years of marriage soon=) but I've never ever questioned your love for God.  Thanks for your consistent prayer life and devotional time.
Thanks for letting go of Daryl when it was God's time for us to start our own home.  I'm sure that we've not always made you "comfortable" but you've never stood in our way of minding God and  for that we thank you .  Thanks for loving our kids as your own.  I thank Jesus for choosing you to be my "Dad" after I finally grew up enough to have a "Dad" as well as a Daddy!!  I love you, Dad very much!!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Two Special Mother's Jesus Has Given Me!

Happy Mother's Day 2012!
I wanted to share a blog in your honor as my "Mother's Day card" to you this year.  Partly b/c I was running too fast to get a card in the mail in time (Truth hurts sometimes=) but mostly b/c I thought that I could maybe give you some verbal flowers for more people to see than just you and daddy!  "Kind of like showing you off a tad maybe!"  I could have come up with a picture that would be more beautiful of you, no doubt, but as this was the one taken just last weekend, I chose to use it!
With that said, I'll start my ramblings....
 I'll always associate the smell of yeast bread rising with you, Moma.  Today each time I mix up my own homemade bread I can still see in my mind eye your set of antique different colored bowls, the largest being yellow (if I remember correctly) filled with the makings of homemade yeast bread. (Other times you would use your antique wooden bowl to mix up bread by hand... these were the days long before bread machines!=)  Probably b/c I was about "nose level" with that bowl, I still remember taking a big whiff of the smell that I knew would soon be mouth-watering, warm, crusty, homemade bread.  Thanks, Moma for passing along to me your love for baking!  Thank you for allowing me to "mess up" your kitchen any time.  And for teaching me to clean it up afterwards! Thanks for the many times you used what you had on hands to make delicious meals... thus teaching me that any substitution was fine and would most likely work, as long as I never tried to ever substitute anything or anyone for Jesus in my life! Little could I have known how often I would use those substitutions on the mission fields in which the Lord has led us to minister.

Thank you for always being willing to "make do" with what you had, in other words, thank you for being so frugal.  I never knew growing up that we were "poor" for you always were so cheerful and made life so fun.  I remember many a night going to sleep to the sound of the hum of your sewing machine making me some much needed new bloomers or maybe it was Christmas for one of us.  And later as you taught me to sew, thanks for the lessons in patience that you taught me... "Laura, rip out that seam, it's crocked" , or "You caught an extra stitch here, you need to rip that out and re-sew it" Thus teaching me that only the best quality would work.  And though I teasingly tell you today that your sewing would be good enough for Dillards or Nordstroms and mine would sell at Walmart, I'm still VERY thankful that you taught me to sew. 

I never remember hearing you complain about anything.  I knew that you didn't have life easy, maybe, but you were never down-in-the-mouth about it.  And NEVER did you EVER speak DOWN or bad of Daddy!  That I LOVE about you! Thanks for standing by daddy through thick and thin... (mostly the thin ($)times) and for doing it cheerfully!  What an example you have been to me that I could be HAPPY anywhere the Lord led my man, and I would follow cheerfully and with Jesus we would make it and make it just fine!





As the above picture portrays you always made life fun!  I never remember being embarrassed to be around you, even in my teenage years, you were just as fun to have around as any of my friends!  Thanks for building that kind of relationship with me!  I want to thank you for MAKING ME come out of my shell.  As you well remember I was too backward to look at myself in the mirror, well almost.(did I get my ability to exaggerate from you too?!=)   I well remember you MAKING me to go out and "MAKE FRIENDS", when I would have been perfectly content to just sit back and listen to you chat with your friends. On another occasion,  I remember you MAKING me walk by and at least say "Hello" , You walked with me as moral support and I well remember being SO grateful for it was all I could do to walk straight, my knees were knocking so hard!  Years later when we landed on the mission field and I had to speak another language, I remembered that lesson to be friendly, even if my language limitations could only say my "Hello" with a smile!
Thank you for always loving Daddy and flirting with him in front of us kids!   I'll always be grateful for the healthy relationship that I watched you and Daddy exemplify in front of us!  We, by God's Help, want to live our lives pleasing Jesus first and then our mates!!
Another lesson that you taught me by example, was to never go to town in your cleanin' duds!(my choice of words, not yours!)  "Always dress up, when going to town!" were your words as I recall. As I've grown up, I've never forgotten that we are examples to the world around us of our Savior and how we dress is the 1st impression they may see of our Jesus!!
So today, I honor You, Moma and thank you for teaching me the "tricks of the trade"... giving me the confidence that I needed to try out new recipes, or to make a new dress, the ability to see "quality" in something old, and to make it look like new.
Thanks to you, Moma I was very well prepared for married life and today I "Rise up and called you Blessed!" Prov 31: 28  I love you so much and am so grateful to the Lord for the Godly heritage that you have passed on to me!  I'll always thank Jesus for choosing YOU to be my Moma! I love you! ~Laura





Happy Mother's Day, Mom 2012!
This blog post could never be complete without you, Mom Hausman...
You became "my 2nd Mom", on June 22, 1990, the day I became Mrs. Daryl Hausman!!!!  It was easy for me to call you "Mom and Dad" for I always called my parents "Daddy and Moma".=)  However, Credit must be given where credit is due... You are the answer to my own dear Moma's prayers, long many years before.  Moma began praying for my mate, while I was still in diapers and for his Mother who was caring for him. I'll always be grateful to God for you, Shirley Hausman, as my own special Mother-in-law! 
 Thanks so much Mom, for the special boy, your only boy, that you willing raised to love God.  Thank you for the example to him that you were in loving God 1st and your husband 2nd.  Thank you for the many thankless hours that you put into Daryl's life and for all the thankless jobs that comes with Motherhood that you did unselfishly in raising him.  Thank you for being willing to share him... actually to  "give him up" for me!  The older I get, the more I see of Mom's who didn't learn what it means to "LET GO" of their sons, and it makes me count my blessings all the more! Thanks, Mom for never standing in our way.  Thanks for letting go, even when it meant that we couldn't live close.  (and sometimes you could only see your "Hausman grand-kids" once a year, if that!) Thanks for not standing in our way even when we felt God's call to go into foreign missions.  I can only imagine what that must have felt like... to have to be the one to stay at home and worry PRAY!=) Thanks for giving of yourself too! You have always made me feel like I was "one of your own girls", and I'm SO blessed!




Dad and Mom Hausman and the Grandkids!

Thanks for the fun memories that our kids have of you!  They love you and Dad as much as they do my parents and that's just how I want it to always be!  Thanks for your fun-loving-ways.  You always make us laugh.  Another thing that I love about you, is your love for your husband still!!! Thanks for sticking with him.  Thanks for STILL LAUGHING AT HIS SILLY JOKES even after all of these years, the love that I see in your eyes when he's teasing you makes my heart skip a beat!  I want to be that kind of wife for years to come too!
Thanks for your TENDER heart!  I love the times we have gotten to cry together, to pray together, to share recipes together, to laugh together, and just to share "life lessons" together.  God has truly blessed me by giving  YOU to me as my Dearest Mother-in-law!
As our children get older, my prayer is that the Lord will prepare my heart to be as good of a mother-in-law, as you have been to me!  Hope your day today was as special as you deserve!   You are a dear and I love you VERY MUCH!  ~Laura