Day 280

Dear Little Guy, you should be here soon and I will get to hold you. I woke up around 3:30 so I could take a shower and eat something. I thought my fever broke, which it had. I got up to find your mommy up, which I thought was weird. So I asked her if she was in labor, and she said I think so. By the time I was out of the shower, it was for sure. I went back to sleep and around 5:30 am, your daddy came and woke us up for the phone and said it would be a while, but definitely today. At this time you're mommy told me the contractions were between 7-9 minutes apart they weren't that regular. Now she's dilated to 4, so you should be here this morning:) The midwife got here around 7, and she's going to stay the rest of the time, I'm so excited!!! I love you.....
later....

Dear Morgan Wayne, that is your name. I'm so glad I finally got to meet you. Your were born at 11:53 am on Dec. 22, 2010 weighing 8 lbs. and 12 oz. and you were 22 inch. long. You're perfect. I can't think of a better way to describe you-perfect. The labor went fairly quickly and was a lot easier that most of them except for Samuel. We got to see and hold you about an hour after you were born. You took my breath away. Your named after our Pastor, Dennis Wayne. You both have the same middle name. That man has done so much for our family, we could never repay him even if we tried. Your parents you should carry his name. I was overjoyed with the idea, I loved it right from the start. He`s an amazing man, probably the best I know. I couldn`t name a man better than him. He`s the most thoughtful, giving, self-sacrificing, man. I could write an entire blog post and it wouldn`t do justice for everything he`s done for us. We are truly grateful and indebted to him. You should be proud to carry a part of his name. I`m sad to see this blog go, it`s like a chapter of my life is coming to an end. I hope I`ve told you everything there is that will help you in this amazing journey of life. If there`s something I missed (which I know there is) it`s in the Bible. Believe me it`s all there. I`m amazed at the tiniest details God put in there. I`m going to leave you will my favorite verse, ``Trust in him at all times: ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah. Psalms 62:8 Whenever your going through something, good or bad, God is right there with you and He wants to hear every detail of it. I love you kiddo.

Oh, and one more thing, believe it or not your daddy knows what He`s talking about. I`ve tried to go around, but it`s impossible, that guy knows his stuff and what really matters in life. Listen to him.
If you ever need anything I`m here, I don`t care what the time is, I`m here. I love you sooo much!!<


Your Sister,

Larra

Morgan Wayne-this blog was for you. May the truths inside it guide your life so you one day grow strong to serve the Lord. I love you.

Day 279

Dear Little Person, today I'm very sick. I thought I was bad last time, but this is terrible. My fever was so high, it went down some though, I think. I feel really bad, I was supposed to play squash with these guys tonight, but I can't and I have no way to tell them. 
I have to tell you about the lunar eclipse. It was phenomonal! We got up at 1:48, and you could see the earth shadowing the moon, it was only part way though. Around 2:40 it was completely shadowing the moon, it was pretty cool. Then the best part started to happen, the moon started turning this amazing red. I loved it, I'm so glad I got up. We were studying about it online, this was the first lunar eclipse in 465 years to happen on a full moon, and it was the first one to happen in 300+ years to happen on winter solest. It was pretty cool. :) I will never get to see a lunar eclipse like that in my lifetime. I think everyone should've watched it. 
Well, the phones been ringing all day with people wondering if you're here, but still no baby. I do hope you come soon, but wait till I'm all better. :) I love you!!!

Your Sister, 
Larra   

Day 278

Dear Little One, how are you today? It's one day left till your due date, so far it looks like you may decide to wait a little bit. If you don't come tomorrow then I want you to come early Christmas morning. :) I always thought it would be so neat to have a Christmas baby. Don't worry, I will still get you double gifts. Your mommy said some people only give one if it's really close together or the same day. I don't get that, if your birthday is months away they get you two, but if it's two days away only one? So we will be different kiddo, every year you will get Christmas and birthday presents separately, although I'm sure you will be spoiled enough if we chose not to, but we won't so don't worry. ;)
I'm getting sick again. I'm so tired of this, generally, I NEVER get sick, but winter hasn't even started and I've been sick a lot. This crappy weather has got to go!
Papa, Samuel, and I went and played volleyball tonight. I really need to start back going regularly. I was starting to get th hang of it, but we didn't go for about a month and a half due to sickness, trips, and just schedule conflicts. Hopefully, we'll be back again.
I'm going to hit the the sack. I'm getting up in a few hours to watch the lunar eclipse with my mom and sister. I love you!!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 277

Dear Little One, due to the nature and content of yesterday's blog I didn't feel the liberty to tell you everything that went on that day. I didn't want to ruin the great spiritual magnitude of what I was tell you about by some vain accomplishments. There is nothing wrong with them, but I wanted it to be separate from yesterday's post.
Yesterday we had two different functions we went to. It started bright and early (for a Saturday) with a basketball game for the boy's at 9:15. I was there only cheerleader. Your mommy was sick, Micah didn't want to go, and Alexa was super tired. They played  very hard, I was impressed. The whole team did well, and they got the victory, so I was thrilled of course. :) After that Micah had a taekwondo party, we made no bakes with m&m's and baked wings. I was so proud of him, he got a certificate for being the best white belt at our ymca. :) He was so happy, he wanted so badly to win an award. The boys had another basketball game, so they left with Papa and Alexa after they gave out the awards, but I stayed with him. They played games and he won a prize for saying his numbers the fastest in Korean. After we went to Starbucks, I got my favorite, drum rolls please, white chocolate mocha. lol He got a root beer in the glass bottles which he loves, and then we went home.
Church was great today. A lady got saved! I was so excited. We've really been praying for her. She's been coming for about a month and a half, and has been near salvation. Papa and I met with her last week. I was so amazed, she wanted so bad to be saved, she went to the library and googled how to be saved. I haven't seen some one that eager to be saved in a while! Today, it just finally clicked for her. :) Praise the Lord, for He is good, for his mercy endureth forever.
I hope you come soon. I don't know if your mommy will be well enough to deliver you on Tuesday, but she really wants to have you. If you don't come on Tuesday, please, come on Christmas. I really want a Christmas baby, but try to come early in the morning. We want to open our presents after you're born. :) I love you kiddo!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 276

Dear Little One, I think my days might be off or something. I read in a book the total number of days in the womb are 280 something if you go full term, and we only have 3 days left till your due date which would put us at 279. I wouldn't put it past myself, I've made a lot of mistakes, I just forget one day it is an then I'm a whole week is off, I've tried to fix most of them, but oh, well.
 The other day I was thinking about this blog and praying about all the topics I've covered so far and I was praying about anything I might've missed. One topic came to mind-bitterness. All sin is sinful, but bitterness, it will eat you a live, physically and spiritually. I was just studying all the physical illnesses caused by bitterness, it was very interesting. I thought about almost everyone I know who suffered from one of the illnesses on the list, and each of them struggle with bitterness. It was pretty intense. I tell you this so you don't take it lightly. I also speak from experience. Several years ago, 3 or 4 I can't remember now, but an incident happened with your father and I. He apologized and tried to make peace with me, but I wouldn't forgive him. My anger turned to bitterness, and I had bitterness towards him for over a year. It was to the point it almost destroyed our relationship. I was so far away from God, it got to the point I couldn't even pray. It pretty much ruined my life, I was so unhappy, I had no joy, I wasn't content, I had no peace. It was bad, finally, at a revival God got a hold of my heart (thank Jesus for that) and I let go of the bitterness and forgave my dad. Everything wasn't fixed immediately, but it was a start. Today, we're like best friends. If it wasn't for God's grace, I don't know where I'd be. When I tell you God's been good, I mean it from the bottom of my heart, I don't say it to say it, if I hadn't of forgiven my dad, I don't know where I'd be right now. I know people who stay bitter for years, some even decades, and they are so empty and hurting on the inside. In 11 Cor. 2:10, "To whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also...Let Satan should get an advantage of us:..." It's so important for us to forgive, so we don't give place to the devil. Bitterness is one of his strongest tools. There's so many reasons people hold onto bitterness, but one of the most common reasons is we want that person to pay, we don't want them to forgive (treat them as NOT guilty), we want them to know they hurt us. In doing so we hurt ourselves. When you forgive some one it's not for them, it's to free yourself. The only person you're hurting when you don't forgive is you. I know that doesn't make sense, but forgive and it's true. You feel free. The problem is with most people, sometimes they're blinded so they can't see why or how they've hurt you, so they never ask for your forgiveness. Or they have and they just don't want too, but don't wait around for some one to ask for your forgiveness, because it might never come. Instead forgive them and walk in that freedom. Trust me you'll be glad you did. I'm going to tell you now, people will hurt you, it's a part of life, you deal with it and go on. Don't spend a year or years waiting to forgive them, you're missing out on what God has for you, ok? I love you!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 275

Dear Tucson, I feel like this is a sick home. On old movies when an epidemic would sweep through a town, they would send everyone to one house to try and contain it from spreading into the whole town. They would have like 10 sick kids in one attic. We don't have quite that many, but everyone is still sick, but in various levels. :) I'm on the mend, so I'm thankful for that. I did gravity this morning, which was very stupid, it completely wore me out. I don't know why I get these thoughts in my head. Generally, when I'm sick, I go work out and it makes me feel better, so yesterday I went to cycle fit (cardio), and today I thought, I'll go to gravity(muscle works) to balance it all out. Once again, I just survived, I get these crazy ideas in my head, it's like I think I'm super woman or something. ;) lol
Micah was going stir crazy, so he asked me to take him to the library, he wanted some books to look at. So we go, and I walk what seems as slow as Christmas, one because he's still kind of weak and two, I don't want him to have an asthma attack in the cold. We make it get some books, and we're just about to leave and the librarians asks us if we want to stay for the movie and I'm like um....well, okay, I guess we could do that. So I called your mommy ( I LOVE cells phones :) and asked her if she would be okay without us for a little bit longer, and she's like sure. So we watched Home Alone 3, I love those movies. I know they're so stupid, but I think they're cute, and yes, I've told you before I'm crazy. lol
Tomorrow the boys have a game and Micah has a taekwondo party, so I better get off, I need do some laundry, I'm waaaay behind. I don't want any one wearing dirty clothes tomorrow. lol I love you!!!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 274

Dear Little Person, today started way to early for me. lol I went to Bob's cyclefit class this morning. What was I thinking???!!! I don't know why some one doesn't stop me. :) It wouldn't have been so bad except for the fact I'm still sick, so my energy left was close to zero. I did survive though, so I was pleased about that. 
I was so thankful to God, today we had the paper route and it was the nicest day weather wise we've had all week. Last Saturday Micah tested for his next belt in taekwondo, so he wanted me and Samuel to come tonight when they awarded him with his new belt. I was rushing and running so hard trying to finish our route on time, I barely made it. Thankfully, the corner store was on the way, so they just picked me up. I got in the car and told Micah I was all sweaty and I probably stunk and he's like I don't care, I'm just happy you made it. :) He was so happy he got his new belt, his whole face lot up. :) 
My words of wisdom today are, don't say no to God. If you say no once, you don't know where you will end up, or it just might be the last time He speaks. Never and I mean never underestimate the power of sin. I love you kiddo! Come soon!

Your Sister, 
Larra  

Day 273

Dear Little One, how are you doing? Everyone is still pretty sick except for Alexa and Papa. My fever broke this morning, so I'm some better, but I still feel weak and my ears won't stop ringing. I hope we all get better before you come. Your mommy went to the midwife apointment today. It was really neat, she said it was pretty much impossible for momma to go into labour, her body will just shut down, until she's better.   Even her brack and hicks have stopped, because her body knows she's too weak. I thought that was amazing how God planned that out. 
Church was so good tonight. We started singing and then we gave thanks, and after that we were giving prayer requests. Our pastor gave a little mini message, and then people gave some more testimonies, and we just started praying. The spirit was amazing. We sang a song and then we closed with reading these three verses I'm going to leave with you. It really the whole motto of the Christian life. Prov. 3:5-7, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil." I love you!

Your Sister, 
Larra

Day 272

Dear Little Person, I'm super sick, so today's post is going to be short. We have the best daddy in the whole world. Whenever I'm sick I want Chicken noodle soup in a can, call me crazy, but I think it's good. I asked Papa if we had some, so he went and looked, and there was none. So he went and walked(your mommy had the car.) in the freezing cold and got me my chicken noodle soup because he's good like that.
It was so exciting when I was teaching piano today. My student was playing "Old McDonald had a Farm" he knew that was the name, but when he played and it sounded like a phone, his whole face lit up! and he said, it's "Old McDonald had a Farm".  It was so exciting, I was like yes, this is why I love doing what I do. I do hope you love the piano. :) 
I love you little one!! 

Your Sister, 
Larra

Day 271

Dear Little One, how are you? Unfortunately, I'm sick. AGAIN! It's this weather change, today is was almost 30 degrees colder. Samuel is sick, too and Alexa looks like she might be coming down with something. Your mommy is coughing a lot, so it's pretty crazy around here. It's a good thing you waited to come. If we can just make it one week with no one getting sick it'll be a miracle. :) 
The trip went well today. It took a while to get down there because of the snow. (It never dawned on us to check the weather before we left.) As we were driving down there, I thanked God for heat. Last year we went without heat in the car for a couple on months. It was terrible, I hated going places. It was so bad Papa had to spray defrost stuff on the wind shield from the inside because our defrost didn't work. I have never been more thankful for heat in my life. I hope I never forget either. God's been so good to us, He didn't have to give us the money to buy the heat, but He did, and for that I'm very greatful. So I said all that to say, I'm thankful for heat on this freezing, cold winter day. :) I love you!!! 

Your Sister,
Larra  

Day 270

Dear Little One, I'm almost tempted to hit enter and then space, but I guess I'll keep all my posts matching except for the one that Alexa sat over my shoulder and read the whole time. :)
Church was good today. One of the men in our church gave a devotion on the tongue and how important it is to control it. It was very good, most of the week the Lord was speaking to me about the power of the tongue, so it was right in line. It was also an encouragement to see this guy growing in the Lord. It's been amazing to watch God work.
 Tomorrow Alexa, Papa, and I are going to Buffalo to mail the prayer letters. I nearly had a heartache at the beginning of the month, because his laptop crashed. Do you remember a couple of months ago I told you that I had to write out every envelope? Well, he bought a new program and so I entered all the pastor's names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails. Then his computer crashed so I lost everything and we were only able to use it once! I was like no way when he told me, but life goes on. So on Saturday I started writing the envelopes, the laptop isn't in stable condition so we didn't want to enter all of in and have it crash again. Needless to say we found a program that works and we're going to save them to a memory stick so Lord-willing this won't happen again.
Micah is so excited that you're coming. He bought you a Christmas present today. Since it's your first Christmas you probably won't remember and I don't know if we'll remember to tell you, but when you're older it will mean something to you. He's only 8 and he worked hard in the cold one day on one of our routes so he could make money for Christmas gifts. Not many 8 years old would do that.
I talked to your grandparents today. Paw Paw is doing great. He had heart surgery about a week and half ago and is making good recovery. Meme is learning how to build a fire. lol I'm just messing. :) She reads the blog everyday, so I know she'll get the joke. I better go, I still have some of the house I need to clean so we can leave in the morning. I love you!!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 269

Hey Little One,
  Landon is really sick so we didn't go shopping today. :( Alexa just told me since I'm writing these posts as letters I'm writing them improperly, I'm supposed to always hit enter and start on the next line. I told her I actually thought about that, but I'd already started and I didn't want to go back and change the other posts. I wanted them to all look the same, but today's is going to be different since Alexa is sitting here waiting for me to hit enter. She's happy now. She actually needs to go to bed, she's laughing hysterically for no reason. She won't listen though....ok, she's started up again, I might have to drag her to bed.... :) She's now trying to play the harmonica which she's hasn't done in like 5 years. What a crazy life we live.
I love the Christmas season. Last night I watch a Christmas movie with our mommy, just me and her. We love cheesy Christmas movies, I guess it might not be we love them, but we love spending the time together. We were half way through the movie and I said we should have hot chocolate. So for one of the last few times we just sat on her gigantic bed and had hot coco and watch a cheesy Christmas movie. I thought, can life get any better than this? I thought about that, and my first thought was no to be honest, but the longer I thought, I decided that was the wrong answer. If you look at the temporal, then no, it can't, (spending time with family is one of the greatest joys in life) but if you look at the eternal, it can get always better. I thought about the answers to prayer I've seen, the people that have been saved, the lives changed forever. It gets a whole lot better. It's so easy to just look at the temporal instead of the eternal. Life is good though, one thing I've learned is even in the worst situations, life's still good, because we have a good God, and besides, it could always be worse. :) I love you little one!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 268

Dear Little Person, today seemed very long. I'm trying to cut back on my coffee intake, and well, I can definitely feel the affects. :) I used to hardly ever drink coffee, I did that on purposed so whenever I needed it, it would work. With the paper route and everything else that's crazy, I've been drinking at least one cup a day and sometimes twice. Plus, with my new infatuation with Starbucks....well, lets just say I'm used to a lot of caffeine. :)
I have to be honest with you, I've given up hope that you're coming early. So the 21st it is. :) Only 11 days left! There must be something wrong with this Canadian Territory. Momma used to always deliver early, but since she came to Canada Micah was late, and now with you it's less than 2 weeks till your due date and she hasn't had ANY signs of labor. I love you kiddo, but you're not even here and you're already trying my patience. :P Papa always tells me I need more of it, so I guess it's a good thing. lol I don't know, it's like I didn't get that character trait...they tell me you're not born with it, it's something that's learned. So I guess I still have a lot of learning left. lol :)
This morning I went with the boys to go find new basketball shoes. A sports store was going out business and all the shoes were $50, so it was a great deal. There both super excited and can't wait to play in them. Tomorrow they just have practice, but next Saturday they have games. I probably won't put up any more pictures, I just wanted you to see what they look like. Alexa said she's going to take some every game, and all the guys on the team where super excited. :)
Tomorrow the boys and I are going to try and finish our Christmas shopping. So we'll see how that goes. :) I love you!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 267

Hey kiddo! Today was pretty boring...we didn't really do anything, except for the paper route. I slept a lot because I felt like I was getting sick. Your mommy has strict instructions for us not to get sick or get better soon, because we will not be allowed to hold you if you're sick, so I'm taking every precaution I can so I don't get sick. :)
I don't really know what to tell you. If I could tell you anything it would be to hurry up and get here. I think God's trying to teach me patience. On Wednesday nights we've been studying on the loving people without dissimulation (fake love), but the first couple of weeks we looked at what we needed to change in our lives so we could properly love people. I've really enjoyed it. Last night we were talking about loving strangers. Since it's the Christmas season the pastor asked us if we'd ever given a stranger a gift? He said so often we give people we know gifts to show people we love and appreciate them, but what about the strangers or people we don't know that well. The thought really hit home, this year I'm going to buy a couple of people I don't know very well a gift. He said we should give them in such a way where the person doesn't know it was us. About 10 or 12 years ago, it was during Christmas we got a knock on the door, when we went to see who it was no one was there, but there was a box with gifts in it. I always thought that was the coolest idea ever and I've always wanted to do it. So this year I am, I just don't know for who yet. :)
Everyone keeps telling me you're going to be a Christmas baby. It seems like that just might be true. :) lol I love you!!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 266

Dear little one, how are you doing? A couple of days ago a lady who has been visiting our church called and asked for information on how to be saved. So today your daddy and I went to meet her. He was explaining her salvation and how to be saved, I was like this is amazing. God's so good. I wanted to get saved all over again. lol She shared with us some of her problems, and I thought wow, salvation can fix that. It's so good to be involved in people's lives. Salvation is an amazing gift from God. It's so simple, but we make it so complicated. I'm so thankful to God for my salvation. Don't hesitate to give your life to God, you won't regret it. I struggled with salvation for years, at first I prayed for fire insurance, because I was scared of hell. Then I prayed because I was sick and tired of my way, and I knew I needed God, but I wanted Him on my terms. Finally, when I was 17 , I repented of my sins, and turned from my way to HIS way. I realized I had never turned from my way, and when I thought I had, I was trusting in all my good works to get to Heaven. I thought if I did a and b and didn't do c, when I got to heaven God would be pleased. I was wrong, very wrong. I finally came to the place where I understood that I had to turn from my way and believe that God would save me. I've never regretted my decision. :)
Church was good tonight. I can't remember if I told you this, but on Wednesday nights we meet in a Salvation Army building. Well, since it's the Christmas season they gather gifts to give to people who can't afford them. So they had their stage FILLED with garbage bags full of toys. So service is almost over and we're in the middle of invitation and this toy starts going off. I was trying not to crack up. I thought it was hilarious. I thought, I love my crazy life. :) God's been good. I love you!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 265

Dear Little One, it's two weeks till your supposed to enter into the world. I'm so excited. I see these babies everywhere and I just want to hold you.
Today was very cold! It was -3. I really want to move to Florida, I think this is the last year I'm going to be able to handle this any more. On the bright side it snowed yesterday. :) It was beautiful, I love the snow. It's all trampled on now, so it's not pretty any more. Oh, well, it was nice while it lasted.
Tonight after I was done teaching piano, I went and watched the boys play basketball at the ymca. It's just a pick up game, but it's still fun. I screamed my head off like crazy. lol I do it in their actual games, but they tell me to tone it down. Sometimes your mommy tells me she's going to move. She has to remind me it's just a game, I know that, but they should still win it right? At the ymca no one knows us really, and they didn't mind. So I coached their games, and cheered them on. They said they couldn't hear me, I think that's why they lost a game. lol They'll probably disagree. I think I should look into being a coach, I told that to Papa and he said, I'm going to be like all the other coaches out there who think they know what they're doing. lol I said, even though I can't play I know how to tell you what to do so you can win....he still didn't think it was a good idea. :) sighs...unfortunately, he's probably right.
I think I'm going to call it a night. I love you little one!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

PS. I got to feel you move yesterday, I was so excited. It's one of the last couple of times before you're born, so I'm trying to enjoy everyone I can. :) It just stinks because most of the time I'm gone all day, and that's when you kick.

Day 264

Dear Tucson, today has been very mundane. I went to the gym this morning, and Bob really wants me to go cycle fit on Thursday...I really do not like that class. I do think I'm getting stronger though, because I didn't feel like I was going to die during the class. He's funny though, he's kinda old ( he's really not that old probably 50 something)  and super nice, I call him my Canadian grandpa. I need to get him something for Christmas. I'm thinking either a starbucks card or Tim Hortons. Starbucks is my new favorite place, so most likely I will pick Starbucks.
You really need to come soon, I'm so tired of people coming up and asking me are you here yet! I should get used to it, because after you're born everyone will ask me how you're doing. I think people should change it up a bit ya know? Seriously, when you pop the world will know you're here. :) lol
They invented these new gloves called "twittens" with the first finger and the thumb out so you can text and or update your twitter. I thought it was pretty cool. I don't really want a pair for Christmas, (why in the world would I ask for a $20 pair of gloves!) but I still thought it was neat. Who knows what they'll have invent by the time you're a teenager. I should be scared, Papa always tells me my kids will laugh at the stuff I had, I know it's true, too. I laugh when he shows us the things he used to use. lol :)
Well, I need to go make dinner. I love you little one!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 263

Dear Little One, today was a great day. I barely made it to church on time, but I was there. I was so tired, yesterday completely worn out, and I stayed up super late with Alexa and my mom. Samuel came and knocked on my door and told me what time it was and I was like what?????? lol So I jumped out of bed, showered, did my hair and make-up, and well, I was a little late, but Papa didn't say anything because he has been late the last couple of weeks. :)
Church was so good today, you could feel the presence of God. The spirit was great. We had a blessing, too. A family that comes to our church whenever they're in town visiting family, well, her dad came with them today, and that is a MAJOR blessing and answer to prayer. Now we're just praying he will get saved.
You really need to hurry up and get here! I want to hold you in my arms. The tradition every time another one is born in the harper family is we hold the baby in birth order. I'm so happy I'm the oldest. It comes with it challenges, but it has so many rewarding parts. It had been so long since we've had another one, I forgot we had that tradition. We were talking and arguing who got to hold the baby first (of course after your mommy and daddy hold you) and then our mom told us to stop arguing we always go in birth order, so I was like YES!!! So I really hope you come soon, we're hoping for this week, but if not it's only 16 days left, and I think I can probably hold out. BUT if you're late, I'm going to have a cow. lol. I love you kiddo!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 262

Dear Little One, how are things in your world? Today was crazy! lol We had the big paper route today. I'm so thankful it didn't take as long as last week. :) I was so tired this morning when the alarm clock went off, I honestly did not want to move at all. Alexa came this week, last week she didn't come because she was sick. I really missed her, we have so much crazy fun together. We're just so tired anything is funny, and we make fun of each other...it's good times. Papa says he think he might could do it by himself, (he can't, but don't tell him I said that. haha There's just so MANY papers. Bless his heart though.) but it would be way less entertaining. :) We just try to make life fun. :) God's been good to bless me with such an amazing sister. I love my family. We're all pretty close, sometimes it's a little too close, but oh, well. lol :)
Today was the boy's first rep basketball game. They've never played in a game with real reps or real coaches. They were very good. They one the first game by 15 and lost the second by 3. I was impressed with both of them. They looked so sharp in their uniforms. :) The coach was very pleased with the whole team. Below are some pictures from the games. I love you!!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 261

Dear Little One, I can't believe you're already over 37 weeks old! It seems like yesterday when your mommy told us you were coming. I've seen so many babies here lately and I can't wait to hold you! I may complain later, but I can't wait for you to cry. I want so bad to have your sweet cries fill our house. I'm not the kind of person who likes noise or chaos (I love that word by the way, I think it just looks cool. Sometimes I just love how word is spells.) but I'm learning to accept it, for it means there is life. I know you will change our lives forever, but I want you to. I want you to be a part of this beautiful miracle God's given us. :)
 Tonight we had a young man from our church over. He's leaving for his country for 5 months. We're all gonna miss him, he's kind of like a brother to us. We've known him since before we first came to Canada, and then after he came to our church we all started to get closer to his family, and then we went to school with him for a couple of years. Good-byes are hard, I hate them. I realize they're a part of life, but do they have to be so stinkin' hard??!!!! People tell me it's part of being a grown up, but sometimes I just want to be a kid you know? I want to go in the corner and throw my fit of why that person can't stay, but I'm old now, so that's not acceptable. So I will instead hug you, hold back my tears, and say it was so good to see you, I'm going to miss you, I'll see you soon, or whatever applies to the case. Sometimes life just doesn't make since kiddo, and sometimes it makes perfect since. Oh well, maybe when I'm doing growing up I'll have it figured out, but until that day comes, I'm just going to enjoy the ride, and I hope you'll do the same. :)
I'm listening to this song called, "Go Light your World" I love it.  The lyrics are beautiful. Sometimes it's so easy to get sidetracked and think you're here on earth for yourself, but we're not. God sent us here for others, to witness to them, to be a blessing, to be an encouragement, etc. I so easily let my eyes fall off Jesus and think everything is about me, but it's not. Sometimes I'm so stupid, it really is simple in Christ. When my eyes are on Jesus, I can't see myself, but when there not, well, let's just say life gets pretty crazy. Kid, try not to live your life for yourself. You don't know the story of the person next to you, so find out, go light your world. It's the one chance God's given us to prove to Him we love Him. There are so many lost people in this world, it's filled with people who are hurting, and it's our job to go light their lives with the love of Jesus. I know it doesn't make since, but when your eyes are on others, everything will fall quite nicely into place. Trust me.

Keep your eyes on Jesus and go light your world! I love you!!!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 260

Hey little one! Another day goes by and you haven't showed up, I'm trying to be patient, but I really want to see you. My comfort is that you're just not ready. :)
Tonight, Samuel, Landon, Alexa, and I went and watched Micah at his taekwondo class. Next week he's testing to get his new belt, so he wanted us to come and watch him. :) He's doing pretty good, I'm impressed with his progress. After-wards we went  to Starbucks. It was so yummy! I hardly ever go there, but it's right across the street from the gym, and it just seemed so tempting. So we all went and got something. The thing is I had an espresso, which was kinda dumb on my part, because now I'm not tired at all, and I need to get up in 4 hours to go do the paper route. So we'll see how that goes.
I realize you will be here soon, and I don't have many posts left. I hate to repeat myself, but at the same time I want to make a point so you know how important it is to have a relationship with God. It's not enough to just be saved. I've tried it, you need that personal time with Him everyday! Please, please, stay in your Bible and pray without ceasing it makes all the difference in the world. I know I've said it often, but only because it's true. I heard it for over 10 years and I'm just now starting to see. I'm the kind of person who doesn't really take someones word, (which can be good or bad) I have to find out for myself, but on this I honestly wish I would've listen to my dad, and I mean that with all my heart. It's true, I can't stress it enough! Trust me. I'm only telling you this because I love you!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 259

Dear Tucson, how are things in your world? It's great in mine. I just got back from church and it was a great service!!! Tonight was on cleaving to that which is good. It's so easy to abhor that which is evil, but to actually cleave to the good is difficult. I guess because it's just a battle in everyday to find time to cleave to the good, it's probably more of an excuse I use, and I need to change now that I think about it. I make time for anything, but the good stuff. In correlation to the study we went to the Old Testament in Deut. where Phinehas killed this Israelite and Midianite woman who had caused a plague to happen in Israel, because of that union that was not supposed to be there Israel started following a false God. If Phinehas had not of killed those two people, Israel may have continued on sinning, and the way many people worshiped that false god was by sacrificing their children in the fire. I know you're not my child, but I hope to have one of my own one day. I was thinking about how what we chose to serve affects the lives of our children. It was a very sobering thought.
On a more lighter note, we did finish the Christmas tree. :) It's beautiful. The pictures I have don't look the best because of all the lights, but just so you have an idea of what it looks like. My camera is too small to take a full shot, so I took a couple of small ones. The picture in the middle is a count down paper chain for the last 25 days till Christmas. He was so excited, he asked, "Can we do this every year?" lol :) Last night I was at my piano students and we were talking about the different ways to count down to Christmas and I told him when I was littler my mom would make a paper chain for us, so we knew how long it was going to be. Later I thought that would be really fun with Micah. :) So here is our version. We stamped up all the little links and then we wrote each day on them. Twas lots of fun. :)

I think it's time for me to hit the sack. I love you lots!! Come soon!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 258

Dear Tucson, how are things in your world? Today was my last day at volunteering at the women's shelter. I'm going to miss it, but at the same time I know I did the right thing. I'll probably pop in every once in a while to see how everyone's doing. :)
The tree is finally almost done. It took me forever to get the lights on, I always think I have more lights than I do, so I end up having to start all over. After I messed up the first time I had the bright idea to start from the bottom since that's where the bulk of the tree is anyways. :) I got it right, we just now finished putting the ornaments on it and everything. All we have left is the star, our parents went to bed. So we're going to do that in the morning. It's always been the family tradition to put the star on and then plug the lights in all together. Hopefully, I can post a picture tomorrow.
You need to come soon, we got our last slushies today, so it's no more slushies till the baby as Micah would say.  I love you, and I can't wait to meet you!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 257

Dear Little One, the route this morning took forever! We get coffee every morning when we go, and today's was burnt, and we'd already driven away before I started drinking it. So I didn't drink it therefore I was very miserable. Then towards the end of the route, guess what I did? I decided to follow my own advice, I started thinking of things I could be thankful for. It worked, it gave me the strength to keep going and it changed my whole perspective on the route. :)
I came home and crashed for two hours and then we embarked on a MAJOR house clean. You can come any day now, so the house has to be spotless. I didn't really understand why, because it's not like you will remember. lol The other reason we cleaned was so we could set the Christmas tree up. We want to have everything ready before you get here, apparently our lights from last year don't work any more. So Papa, Micah, and I went to three different stores trying to find lights. We came home with some, but they weren't the right kind. By the time we figured it out the store was closed, so we have a tree covered with a fourth of lights. :) For the past I can't even remember how long I've put the lights on the tree and every one helps put the ornaments on, so tomorrow when I get back from volunteering I'll put them on. :)
Well, kiddo, I'm shot. I love you!!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 256

Dear Tucson, today has been a long day. It was a very good day though. It seemed to drag on though. :) I'm super tired. Church was very good, I wanted to share this one thing with you. It was from Isaiah 47:10, "....no mane seeth me...." The pastor talked about how so many things we do in life is to be seen of others, because we believe no one sees us. People will dress a certain way to be seen, they will do things to be seen, they may not do things to be seen, there are many things people will do to be seen. I've done it myself. The thing is God sees everything, and we should only do things that would please Him. If we're doing things or not doing things for other people and not for God, then we're showing we fear man more than God.
Tonight the four of us older kids went to McDonalds. Today was the last of the free coffees, so we of course all got one. The coffee hasn't been good this time. They do it every 6 months, but this time it wasn't that good. Last time we went everyday sometimes more than once, but not this time. I think we maybe went 3 times. It's so much better at Tims. :) We just went for the fun of it tonight.
I'm going to go, we have a route to do tomorrow and I still have to clean the kitchen. I love you!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 255

Hey little person, how are things in your world? Today was a crazy day! It started bright and early at 2:30 for me. Papa and I did a paper route, there were only supposed to be 240 papers. (which is a LOT!) Alexa was sick so we had to leave her at home, and we get there and our manager has our routes for us and the total number of papers was 287! I was like WHAT???!!! You've got to be kidding me, unfortunately he wasn't. It took us a long time because it was new, and the houses were so far apart it was crazy. I have a blister on my hand from the way I had to put the rubber bands on the newspapers. Finally, around 9 we got home. (we generally get home around 7!) I'm so thankful that day is over.
Tonight I went and did a catering job with on the chefs at the place where I volunteer. It went pretty well. I didn't cook a lot this time, I mostly just helped plate the food, and I washed all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. :)
Sorry, to end this post I know I didn't say much, but I'm super tired and I need to get this posted before the next day. I love you!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 254

Hey you!!!! I just got back from Christmas shopping with your sister. It was sooo much fun!!! I love Christmas shopping, it's so worth it to spend hours at the mall looking for something that you know the person wants or that they will love. I love giving people gifts, it's so nice to see people's faces light up when they open their gifts. Sometimes I get really impatient while waiting for it to come, I just want to give the person their gift already. lol Generally, we don't go shopping this early, but the past couple of years everything has been so picked over and it's so hard to find sizes, we wanted to do it early so we could have the cream of the crop so to speak. Christmas is the best time of the year, I do hope you love it as much as I do. I know Christmas isn't all about gifts, but it is a great time to give gifts and to reflect on the gift that changed the world forever-Jesus Christ. Christmas is also a great time to witness to people, because they are more open to the Gospel. This year we will have a new person to share it with. :) I should get you one of those shirts or at least a bib that says, my first Christmas. :) I love you little one!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 253

Dear Little One, Today is Thanksgiving in the States. We don't exactly go all out and celebrate, but we have a mini celebration. We always at least make Mawzie cookies, of course we use any holiday as an excuse to make them. They're our favorite. We should be thankful every day for God's goodness, but it's nice to see everyone thankful even those who aren't Christians. It's a great time to slow down and spend time with family or friends. We're still doing our vegetarian trial, so we didn't really make a big meal, but we had cheese dip (yummy!) which is one of our family favorites, but we only have it every once in a while because we can only by the cheese in the States. One of the bonuses we've had this month, is that we have saved money on food. Papa didn't calculate exactly how much, but he did say it was a noticeable amount. I guess if worse came to worse, one of the ways to cut back would be to take out meat, or at least only eat occasionally. lol :)
I'm going to go ice the cookies. Soon we're going to all go play volleyball together at the gym. Happy Thanksgiving!!! I love you!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 252

Hey you! How are things in your world? Everything is good here. Today, Alexa made cinnamon rolls. (yummy!) They were her best ever. :)  You will love them, everyone that has ever tried them does. I hope you don't have any weird allergies. So far no one has had any severe allergies. Alexa is allergic to shrimp, but she isn't in danger of dying or anything. If there's something I don't like, I say I'm allergic to it, so I don't have to eat it. lol I've never really tried that before, but I've often thought about it. ;)

During church tonight one of the members asked during prayer request time that we pray that every member be filled with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. I was meditating on that, and I thought about how I don't really pray for that. The Holy Spirit gave me this thought. Many people change to fit whatever type of people they're spending time with. For example if one group is wild, they will act like they're wild. If a different group is more conservative, they will appear to be conservative. The Holy Spirit showed me when I'm around Christ I should change to be exactly like Him. I should do what He does, talk about the things He talks about, dress the way He does, listen to the kind of music He should, and etc. You're probably reading this and it doesn't seem like much, but it was like my eyes were opened. It made sense. I can't really describe how it feels, but it is good, very good. 

I love you!!

Your Sister, 

Larra

Day 251

Dear Little Person, today you're 36 weeks old! I can't wait to meet you. Today, was back to my normal routine, volunteering and teaching piano. There were several interesting people on the bus today, for a second I wondered who I missed last week. Then I remembered I had been on vacation and realized I hadn't missed anything. lol It was kind of funny, there was this bald guy on the bus and they just stepped on the bus and his friend said he was freezing, so the bald guy says at least you had a layer of hair to keep you warm. :) That is so you daddy. He always tells those bald jokes, his other one is the weather always messes up his hair, which the guy on the bus said, too. It seemed slightly funnier when that guy said it, but still I wanted to roll my eyes, because I've heard them all my life. haha
I know I've talked about prayer numerous times, but I just want to briefly mention it again. I know I can never express how important it is, partly because I know I haven't even comprehended it and probably never will. It works though, it's amazing. I now understand the verse, "Be still and know that I am God..." It's that simple resting and stopping to talk to God. So many times my mind wants to rush on, yet I need to just be still. Today, I just sat still, it was the sweetest most refreshing thing. God's waiting Tucson, He's never more than a prayer away. Don't be afraid to talk to Him about any and everything. He's listening. I love you!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 250

Dear Little One, today day 250! I can't believe we've made it that far. I'm so happy. We were talking today, and the end is very near. I think your mommy switched modes, you can tell she's determined to have you. We went to the midwives for one of the last few times. Next Tuesday it's safe for you to come, so one more week and it could be any day. When Laura (she's the student, our other midwives were either at a birth or on Holiday.) was starting to look for you heartbeat, I panicked, I thought what if we can't hear it. You know I've read so many stories, heard about them, or even known people who faced it themselves, where they go to hear the heartbeat, and it's not there. (Your daddy always tells me I worry too much, which is true, I'm getting better, but sometimes I can't help myself.) I thought who am I, to where I should be any different or deserve to have my baby _____ live. There is nothing that sets me apart from anyone else, it's only by the grace of God that He would choose to let you live. All of this was going on in my mind in probably the time span 30 seconds, yet it seemed as if time stood still. Then she found it, tears came to my eyes, words cannot express how relieved I felt. I feel blessed that God would choose to let you live. I love you little one, more than words can say.

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 249

Dear Little Person, I guess we'll call this grandparent's weekend. Today's post is about Papa Alex  (I'm trying to get a picture of him, but right now it's not working) and Grandma Hazel. ( I unfortunately don't have any pictures of her on the computer, only a few snap shots. I could scan one, but our wifi isn't working, so I can't use Papa's laptop) They lived in a small (yes, it was small) little double wide trailer in Texas. Every summer for as long as I can remember (until we moved to Canada) they would drive up and meet our parents half-way and take us back to Texas for 2 weeks. It was so much fun, but it was always very HOT, and that is NO exaggeration. They would let us play in the backyard and we would make mud pies and such. Every Saturday we would drive about 20-30 minutes to the nearest big town and go grocery shopping. We loved that, they would let us pick out one pop each, and we could get some form of junk food. After we shopped all day at the very end they took us to Dollar General and would give us $2 or $3 each and we could buy whatever we wanted. We always looked forward to that after a long day of shopping. Those were good times. Grandma Hazel went to be with Jesus a few years back, and we miss her terribly, but we are very thankful we know where she is, and that we will see her again. After we moved to Canada, Papa Alex promised us he would come to Canada when he was 70. He kept his word, he drove all the way from Texas just to see us. We had so much fun, every night we would all pile in my parents room and watch Blue Jays baseball with him and eat blueberry cheese cake ice cream. (which if you've never tried you're definitely missing out.) It was good times. :) He has now moved to another state and is closer to us. He is going to try to come in the early part of next year to met you, so we shall see what happens. :) If not he will meet you at Alexa's graduation. (assuming we're all still living. ;) I hope you have enjoyed grandparents weekend. I love you!!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

PS My computer is not co-operating, so I will try upload the picture tomorrow. :)

Day 248

Dear Little One, How are you today? I've been trying to recover our apartment most of the day. I wouldn't say a bomb went off while I was gone, but maybe someone came and ransacked our house?? lol It wasn't quite that bad, but it was seriously lacking in the clean house department. We're just about back to where I left it. I'm amazed how fast it gets dirty, come Monday morning and I'll do it all over again. Tis life I guess....it's definitely a crazy one.

I'm adding a picture of our grandparent's in today's most. They are your mommy's parents. On the left is Paw Paw and on the right is Meme. This picture was taken at Paw Paw's 45th class reunion. I definitely hope Jesus comes back before my 45th class reunion. I most likely won't have one, but either way I hope He does. I honestly can't imagine living to see that. So far the highest I've thought about is late 20's. They say take one day at a time, but I guess I just don't see myself getting older. So one day at time it is. Anyways, back to our grandparents. They live a beautiful little house, (it's actually pretty big, but little goes with my story better.) in the country with one or two acres of land. I can't remember. They have this little swing set in the yard that I've played for as long as I can remember. Sometimes they would drive up to get us on Friday's after they got off of work and bring us back Sunday morning. Every year the week before Easter they would drive up and take us shopping and every kid got new outfits for Easter Sunday. I always looked forward to that. :) Alexa and I got the cutest dresses, and Samuel and Landon got pants with shirts and ties. We were all a handsome bunch. Those were the good 'ole days as they say. Life was so simple back then. Although, if given the chance I probably wouldn't go back. So instead every once in a while I let myself drift back to those days and thank God for all the great memories I have. I am truly blessed. They are both very excited to meet you! If all goes well it should be sometime in May at Alexa's graduation. I'm sure they will spoil you, every good grandparent does. I hope I'm like that. I do wish mine lived closer, but I would probably make them go broke with all the Cheez its and cheese cake ice cream. :) I hope you don't think I only love them for what they do for me, because that's not true at all. We all have a great relationship and I love them dearly, I would do anything for them. They're the best in the world, because they're mine. I know you'll feel the same one day. I love you kiddo!!!

Your Sister, 

Larra

Day 247

Dear Little Person, I'm finally able to use a computer to write a post! I generally use my ipod touch, but I left my charger plugged into Jen's computer. :(  So now I need to email her and ask her to ship it to me, I miss it terribly, but till life, and my forgetfulness. It just bugs me, because I was like this is the one trip I didn't forget to pack anything or I didn't leave anything.
I'm glad you're coming soon, because I'm running out of things to tell you. I can't believe your over 35 weeks old! It seems strange to see the pregnant woman on the little gadget standing at 35 weeks. I don't know if we're ready for you to make your grand entrance into the world. I think we've bought everything except for the diapers and some minor stuff, but as far as having an actual baby in the house, you are definitely going to turn our world upside down! :) I still can't wait to meet you though.
We went back to gravity this morning, I haven't worked out in a couple of weeks, it felt so good to get back at it. Maria killed us though, I just wanted a break for a drink of water! She made us do cardio in a muscle class. It hard, but I love it. It's fun teasing her. I asked her to go easy on us because I had a cold. She didn't believe me, I said can't you hear my voice?  I can barely talk, she said I don't need my voice to work out. So she didn't go easy on us. lol
Well, I'm back on the vegetarian thing. I had meat 3 times while I was gone, but I still withheld myself and didn't have my chicken nuggets. It was very hard. lol I'm really learning how I eat way too much. I guess I just stuff myself with meat. It's weird. Anyways, I think I'm going to hit the sack. I love you!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 246

Dear Tucson, we made it back safely. :) There were so many wrecks on the highway. Traffic was crazy! I'm so thankful that we weren't among them.
Guess what? We got your stroller and car seat. The hospital will not let you come home unless you have one. (a car seat) So it is now safe for you to come, well, not "safe" exactly, you still have some growing left, but it's safe for you to travel...
Well, kiddo, your father tells me I look bad, I told him because I didn't have any make up on, he said, nope, I just looked bad. lol Anyways, I love you bunches!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 245

Dear Little one, I know this is probably going to be the shortest post ever, but this is my last night with Em and it's already super late. The time flew by so fast!!! I'm so happy and thankful I got to come though. ;) I'm very grateful God worked it out. Don't ever take good friends for granted they're extremely hard to come by. I love my Emily. This is the first time I got to meet her husband, and I really like him. He's a great guy, they're perfect together :) I'm super happy for both of them. 
 I love you little one, I can't wait to get home to fill you kick and say I love you. :) 

Your Sister, 
Larra 

Day 244

Dear Tucson, how are you doing? I'm sick again, but I'm having so much fun!!! Today, I went and suprised one of my friends at work. She was so suprised. Someone accidently told her, but she didn't know that I was coming to her work, so it wasn't completely ruined. :) I love you. I'm on Em's phone so this is super short. I will write more later.

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 243

Dear Little One, tonight's post (as well as the next 3 or 4 days) is going to be very short. I'm in Penn. visiting a friend. I'm so excited I haven't seen her in 3 or 4 years. I love Em to pieces, we've been friends for years. :) You would love her. I'm sure you'll meet her some day. I've also met some new friends and I'll see some old ones. Friends are an amazing gift from God. One thing I've learned is be the friend you want to others whether they treat you good or not. My daddy taught me that, and it's some of the best advice. (as well as a lot of other stuff from him. :) I love you!! I'll post pics later.

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 242

Dear Tucson, how are you doing? I think I'm getting sick. :( I wish the weather would make up it's mind, whenever it goes back and forth from warm to cold or cold to warm suddenly I always get sick.
I wanted to share this verse in Psalms from the sermon this morning. It says, "I will hear what God the LORD will speak..." I love that verse. It's beautiful, it's written so perfect. I love how David writes. It's so simple yet elagant at the same time.   
 I'm leaving early in the morning. I hope you'll be okay. I've never left you before. I know I've never seen you, but I'm super protective of you. :) Everyday I put my hand on your mommy's tummy and talk to you. The midwife says you can hear me, it seems weird, but I think she's right. When I was in the womb my dad would talk to me all the time, and as soon as I was born my mom said I recognized his voice. You will probably never know it or remember what I say, but I want you to know I love you.  I often wonder what it's like, being so small and not understanding anything. I try to think what it was like when I was a baby, and of course I can't remember anything.  I'm leaving you in the hands of God, which is a perfect place to be. I love you!!!  

Your Sister, 
Larra 

Day 241

Dearest Little One, I am so tired. The hours from the route are starting to catch up to me. I'm not complaining, because I recognize this is part of God's plan. I'm so thankful I can sleep all night tonight. :) Plus, next week we have the whole week off. yay!!! 
I've been reading through the book of Acts. It's a very rich book, I guess every book in the Bible is, it just depends on how you look at it. Last night I was reading in chapter 14, and it said, "we preach you that ye should turn from these vanities to the living God." In the previous verses they thought that Paul and Barnabas were gods who appeared in the flesh. Don't mistake your "god" for God. Do you know why they thought Paul was a god? Because that's what they were looking for. Many times in our lives we get so attached to the gods of the world we began to expect them to be able to do the same as the real God. For example if we feel empty instead of turning to God, we try to fill the void with people. After we've tried that and seen it work (yes, for a brief moment in time it works) we will expect it to work because we know it has in the past, so we move from person to person. Sooner or later, when reality comes crashing down, you realize that won't work because nothing can fill that void but Jesus Christ. There's a verse in Psalms that states, "verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity." There are so many different vanities that we rely on instead of turning to the living God. Don't get sidetracked, vanity means nothing. Why in the world would we trust in nothing instead of the living God? This is very different from what had originally planned to say, but I trust this is what the Lord has for today. I love you little one!!!


Your Sister, 
Larra

Day 240

Dear Little One, today I went and helped this family in our church with their homeschooling. I love Algebra. lol I hope you like it, at first I didn't get it, but our dad spent a lot of time teaching me, and I finally got it. Now I love doing it and helping others with it. 
I had to eat meat today. I was kinda sad to break it, but at the same time it was okay. The family I helped tutor offered me a meal and we agreed from the beginning that we would eat anything placed before us. (there's a verse in the Bible that says we're supposed to) I was so suprised, but it wasn't even that good. It was like I was eating too much food. I can definitely live without it for the rest of month. Oh, and by the way those veggie burgers were sooooo digusting. I hate them. I was hoping they were going to be good, but they weren't. Honestly, I was trying not to gag by the time my burger was half gone. So unless they're improved by the time your older, I would pass. It was sooo funny, we were done with dinner and Samuel's says, "I wonder how those veggie hotdogs are gonna be." I know it probably doesn't sound funny to you, but you just had to be there. 
I'm going to go to bed early tonight, tomorrow we've got the big paper route. I love you!!! 

Your Sister, 
Larra   

Day 239

Dear Little One, today you are 34 weeks and 2 days old. :) About 7 weeks and you should be here at the latest. :) I wish I could hold you today. Time seems to be slowing down, days drag on, but then I wake up and another week is gone. :)
We've made it through yet another day as vegitarians. Tonight's meal was okay, because a lot of times we have that anyways. (baked potatos and mac and cheese) I still don't know how people do this for the rest of their lives. I realize some people do it for health reasons, and I can see myself doing it for that, but not just to do it. I'm so thankful God said "let everything be recieved with thankgsgiving." Tomorrow we're trying veggie burgers, so I will definitely tell you how those are. I've had one before, but it's been probably 5 years. I hope they're delicious. It's not really that I miss meat, but at the same time I really, really want a chicken nugget! :) (Yes, I know I'm crazy.) 
Well, I'm realizing the I'll sleep when I'm dead quote really isn't going to work for me. I'm learning to keep going when I'm tired, but it still takes a lot out of me. I'm thankful for a couple of days off the route. Alexa did it today and she's doing it tomorrow. Speaking of sleep I think my beds calling me. Night, little one! I love you!!! 

Your Sister, 
Larra 

Day 238

Dear Little Person, how are you doing? I don't know how you are going to read these, if you'll read them one at a time, one month at a time, or just stay up late one night and read them all. It doesn't matter to me, but I hope you will remember them so when you're going through something or you're looking for an answer to a situation it might be here. I know I don't know everything, and there's so much I don't know, but God has blessed me with some wisdom and I wanted to share with you what He's shown me. If there's ever a time when you don't have an answer it's in the Bible, believe me. I've wondered before if I had exhausted the answers or maybe there it wasn't in there. It is, you just have to trust me. 
Today we went to the midwife. I got to hear your little heartbeat. ;) You're still alive! I know you are, but sometimes I wonder, because I never get to feel you move. Our mom tells me not to worry, she can feel you move all the time. She said you mostly only kick at night and she doesn't want to wake me up or during the day when I'm gone. Mary says everything is good, we have nothing to worry about and for that I am very thankful. :) I love you very much!!!!

Your Sister, 
Larra 

Day 237

Dear little person, I went to Mcdonalds for a snack in between piano lessons. I walked in and I asked, do you have anything good to eat for vegitarians? The guy said, uhhhh, no, oh we sell salad. lol Then he said they will make me a burger and take the meat out of it, I'm like, umm....I'll pass, can I just get some fries?! lol So far we've made it 9 days! Only 21 left. :) I was so proud of your brothers last night, some one from church took us to Boston Pizza, Papa gave us permission to eat meat, but we ordered a veggie pizza. The boys  at first wanted pepperoni, then they said no we're gonna finish. They weren't even for it in the first place, but the fact they had the discipline to say know on their own, I was very happy. :)
  
I still can't get last nights sermon out of my head. It's like everything makes perfect since. The whole time I've been struggle with your mother being pregnant with you. (don't worry I've always wanted you!) I couldn't understand why God would want her to be in so much pain. All along I've prayed and asked God to take the pain away, that the pregnancy wouldn't be so hard on her body. I often thought maybe He didn't hear those prayers, but I wonder did I ever stop to listen to His answer? I don't think I did, because I was so worried about what I could see. I don't know the end of the story, but I do know this. God cast my mother into the sea, (from the beginning both your mother and father knew this was God's will, even before your mommy was pregnant, there was no mistake about it) and everything worked out for Jonah so I'm just going to trust Him. It was amazing last night when I went to bed, I didn't ask God to heal my mom, I didn't want to. I'm sorry she's in pain, and I wish that there was another way, but I now know there's not. This is and was God all along, so I'm just going to praise Him. So last night for the first time I thanked God for every part of this pregnancy, even the pain and hardness and struggles it's put us all through. I was completely honestly thankful from the bottom of my heart. Tucson, I don't know what God has planned, but I can't wait to see the end result. Even if it's just the simple joy of you being my sibling I know it is the hand of God. I love you!!!!

Your Sister, 
Larra      

Day 236

Dear Tucson, we're driving back to Toronto from Barrie. Tonight was the start of this annual soul winning conference. I don't always go, but I'm glad I went to this one. It was nice to be able to see some of our friends. The sermon was great, it was from the book of Jonah. When he started he asked the question, "Who cast Jonah into the sea?" In the first chapter it says "they cast him into the sea" if you keep reading to chapter 2 or 3 (I can't remember) Jonah is in the whales belly and he says that it was God who cast him into the sea. Pastor Sexton preached on how many times in our life we go through things and it looks like other people have caused bad things to happen or we're going through a trail and we don't know why, it's because God cast Jonah into the sea. In our lives God has cast many of us into our trails. If you keep reading in Jonah Ninevah had revival, why? because God cast him into the sea. We never really know what God's trying to do, because many times we just live by what we can see. It was a really great sermon. Everytime that guy preaches I get something good from his sermons. 

Well, I better close this, it's almost tomorrow and I want to finish before the day's over. I love you!!! 

Your Sister, 
Larra 
    

Day 235

Dear Tucson, how are you? Today, started out pretty boring. We tried to practice some music for church today, but our voices were too scratchy to sing. So we opted for no special music today. :) Everyone was ready for church on time, (a miracle, especially on a Sunday morning. You'll know what I mean soon enough.) so we pull in to the Library, and all the staff are standing around outside. At first we thought, did everyone forget time changed today? The head librarian, which is the only one with the key, was sick, so they had to find another person with a key, and we had to wait about 15 minutes or so. By the time the person arrived with the key pretty much the whole church was there, so everyone pitched in and helped set up, so we only started 5 or 10 minted late. One of the visitors from last week came back, and she brought a new person with her. So praise the Lord. :)  
After church we came home and ate a quick dinner. (yes, we are still surviving without meat.) I made veggie chilli, I think that was our best vegitarian meal yet, minus the bean burittos Alexa made. I didn't say that because I made it, some of the other stuff was just kind of okay. We all love frito pie, so that's probably why. After dinner we went to the mall, your brothers got paid on Friday and they wanted to get some stuff. We went to Coldstones, but when we were almost there we realized no one had brought the coupons. That place is so exspensive, so there was no way we would go without them. So, I called our dad, (God bless his soul:) and he came and brought them, and then had ice cream with us. :) Plus, he gave us a ride home so that was nice. I can't wait till I can get my next license so I can drive by myself. Lord-willing and hopefully I pass, I will get it in Jan. :) 
I can't think of anything else to tell you, I love you bunches!!!  

Your Sister, 
Larra

  

Day 234

Hey Little Person, how are you doing? My mind is functioning, but my body is very tired. There were so many papers today! I think there was 360+ papers. We're going to take pictures, because we will probably never do that many again. I guess the memory will remain inside of us. It was actually kind of fun, of course everything is funny at 2:30 in the morning. Since there were so many all three of us went. (Papa, Alexa, and I.) One person to deliver on each side of the street and one person stuffing. When I look around at the time it seems like we'll never finish, so I work in hours. I know by the time it's 4:30 I can be back in bed in 3 hours, by the time is 5:30, I can be in bed in 2 hours... It makes it easier that way.
I've been reading this book by Karen Kingsbury. I really like a lot of her stuff, the book I was reading wasn't exactly my favorite, but it had a lot of good truths in it. I think one of the biggest thought lines in the book was the power of prayer. I've been really trying to implement it in my devotions. I've realize it's something I've been drastically missing. Of course I'll say a prayer with my devotions, but I wouldn't exactly call it praying. I've been amazed at the difference. I'm learning (yes, I know I'm slow.)prayer is a vital part in your relationship with God, it really does make a difference. Don't forget it, it's very important, okay?! I love you!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 233

Dear Little One, today Micah and I went to the library. They were playing Toy Story 3. I saw Toy Story 1 and 2 when I was a kid, so even though I'm older I still wanted to see it. :) I guess what they say is true, you're still a kid at heart. The library even supplied chips and licorice, which I thought was super nice. We have the best librarians! You'll love them. Every library we've ever gone to, we've always had our favorite librarian who we deemed the "nice lady." At this library there are 3 who we really love, (they're all the main workers) we actually know their names. :)
We've made it through another day as vegitarians. You would think it gets easier, but I really want a piece of bacon. It's weird I haven't had bacon in probably 2 or 3 months, but I still want some. I'm guessing it's more of a head thing, I don't know. It was so cute and funny, we were talking today about how we missed meat, and Micah starts chanting, "we want meat, we want meat." lol I just started cracking up. He so funny sometimes. :) One good that's come out of this vegitarian trial, (I'm going to call it a trial, because it's not permanent, at least as far as I know. haha jk Don't get scared) is how much our bodies crave pleasure. Ever since we started, all of us have been craving sweets. At first I didn't think anything of it, we all enjoy our desserts, and sometimes we just go through a period where we want somethig sweet. This was happening every day, and during the day. I was talking to our dad about it, and he said, he thinks our bodies crave pleasure, and meat satisfies it. Since we don't have meat, then we're using the next best thing-sweets. I thought it was rather insightful. I don't know if it's true or not, but it seemed quite possible. I'll have to ask our Aunt Yolanda, she was a vegitarian for a while. So for the rest of this time, I'm going to do my not to indulge on sweets.

Well, I think I'm going to hit the sack early tonight, we have a LOT of papers to deliver in the morning. I love you!! 

Your Sister, 
Larra 
     

Day 232

Hey you! Today, was a very mundane boring day. It was pretty much the norm. I did go upstairs and tutor some kids, which was fun. Generally, tutoring is not that exciting, but they're some of my brothers friends, and they're funny.
Samuel had to go to the physio therapist for his ankle. He's going tomorrow for an ultrasound, but they said it will be 4 weeks before he can play basketball. It is well enough he can walk on it with a brace, which is an improvement. Although, it will take a while to heal, we're very grateful it's not broken. 
I'm sorry this post is so short, but I have a killer headache, and I need to get up in a couple of hours to do the route. I love you!!! 

Your Sister, 
Larra

Ps Today, is your Aunt (I think I told you, but make sure you don't pronounce it ant, but say aunt, she is not a little insect crawling on 6 legs. She's a beautiful human being with 2 legs) Yolanda's birthday. I do not know how old she is, but she looks good no matter what her age is. :)  

Day 231

Dear Little Person, I'm getting so excited, because it's so close till you get here. :) Only 48 days left. I can remember when you weren't even that old. :) 
Today, was Wednesday so Micah and I went to the Library. He found a Flat Stanely book, so he was very excited. It was a new one, we had read most of the ones at our branch. 
I wanted to share something with you from tonight's Bible Study. We were in the bonus time, and our dad was talking about the love of God. He said, you will never find any verse in the Bible that says God's love is unconditional. God's love doesn't come with conditions. (read 1 Cor. 13) That love has no conditions, to have a "love" with conditions isn't love at all. Many times we say we love people, but we really don't, because our "love" has conditions with it. It's so easy to only "love" certain people because they meet our "conditions" instead of loving like God loves us. It was a real eye opener for me. Be careful not to pick and choose who you want to love, because that's loving with conditions. Love everyone like Jesus. I love you dear little one. 

Your Sister, 
Larra 

     

Day 230

Dear Little One, I can barely keep my eyes open, it's been a full day. I started with the paper route, then came home and slept for two hours, and I was on my way to go volunteer. Next, I came home for a bit and now I'm going to teach my last piano lesson for the day. :)
So today is Day 2 for us to be vegitarians, and we're almost done. So far we've had good meals that everyone likes. I'm realizing we can be vegitarians and not eat all that crazy, scary, weird food. :) I'm super picky, so that's probably why I've always feared it. I have to say, I had my biggest temptations today and it was only Day 2! I've really been craving chicken nuggets (I know, I'm crazy) so last Friday I had some, they were soooo delicious! Then today at the place where I volunteer guess what we had???? Chicken nuggets! I wanted one soooo bad, I withheld, and I didn't eat meat. Everyone knows where I'll be come December 1st! McDonalds getting chicken nuggets. lol ;) 
I've been thinking a lot (you're probably thinking oh, boy! Here she goes!) about decisions we make, big or small, and the affect they have on eternity. For example, salvation is a big decision, and it will determine where we spend our eternity  while one the other hand the decision of what we're going to think about is small, but what if the day you decide to fill your mind with wicked thoughts, is the day you needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so you can witness to your neighbor, your friend, or the stranger on the street. That was your (or mine) one chance, and we blew it. The person could die and go to hell, we'll never know till heaven. They're both decisions, one's big and one's small, yet they both have a huge affect on eternity. So those are my thoughts today, how important every decision we make in life is. I love you, dear little one!

Your Sister, 
Larra


Ps. On a side note, it's less than 50 days till you get here!!!! :)

Day 229

Hey little one! Winter has finally come! It was so cold today! We should be able to go ice skating here in a couple of weeks. :) 
Last month your sister asked everyone at the table if we thought we could make it as a vegitarian for a month. We said we thought we could, (your father is being one till the end of the year) so we said yes. So then a couple of days later, our mommy decided we would all try it and see if we could to it, and we we would do it to support Papa. So for the month of November, we are vegitarians! So far we've made it through day one, and I haven't died yet, so that's a good sign. :) lol Seriously, I don't think it should be that bad. As long as I get my protien, I won't have a problem. We are not vegan though, we eat cheese, milk, butter, and eggs. I think it would be VERY hard if we were vegan. We all love cheese! :) It's just a Harper thing. 
On Monday nights, we've been going to the gym and playing volleyball. I really like it, I've always loved volleyball, but I've never really had the chance to play or get better, because I've only played about 3 or 4 times when I went to family camp. The players are all super nice and they're teaching me and Alexa to play. They play with professional rules, which is taking some getting used to, but we're slowly learning. :) Hopefully, but the time winter's over I'll know what I'm doing. :) 
Well, kiddo, I'm going to call it a night, I've got to get up in a couple of hours to go work on the paper route. I love you kiddo!!!! 

Your Sister, 
Larra 

Day 228

Dear Little One! How is life in your world? Everything is good here. Today's Sunday, so we went to church. We had two new visitors, which was a great blessing and encouragement. Our Pastor used to go and teach once a week at a group home. When he was no longer able to go, he left tracts and Bibles in the lobby type area. There was a new worker at the group home, who found them. She had been looking for a Baptist Church, so she called the other day to ask for directions. She came today and brought a friend with her. :)
 
Two weeks ago the pastor asked us to make a list of things that we knew where true since God was all-powerful. I forgot, but this morning I was making mine out and as I was thinking, somewhere in the middle the Lord showed me one, that I will probably remember for the rest of my life. Since God is all-powerful I am never alone. I am never alone, such comforting words! The basis for that truth is found in Heb. 13, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." No matter where you are, you may be in the lowest hell or on the  highest moutain, Jesus will NEVER leave you. Another verse says, "nothing can separate us from the love of Christ" There are so many verses that I could give to you to show you that Jesus will never leave you. No matter where you or or what you do, Jesus will never leave you or forsake you. I love you!!!

Your Sister, 
Larra     

Day 227

Hey Little One. Today, is your mother's birthday. I would tell you how old she is, but I'm not because I'm a nice daughter like that. ;) A little hint is, however much older she is than me, double that and subtract one. hehe Okay, so maybe I'm not such a nice daughter...She loved her gifts. :) We did good this year.  I was so happy when she finally opened them. :)

We had a brisket, she hasn't had one in 9 years. (they don't sell them hear in Canada) She's really been wanting one, so when we were in the states yesterday we bought one. It was VERY good. I loved it. It was huge, so it will probably last us for 3 meals, which is great! My dad made her, her favorite dessert-four layer dessert. It's a weird name I know, but I guess who ever decided on the name, called it like they saw it.

Today, was THE longest paper route day EVER. The new route we have has 271 on Saturdays, so that's a bunch. Plus, he wanted us to do another route when we we're finished. That's the most houses we've done on a Saturday. So by the time we were almost done we were beat, we were on this one street and we only had 14 papers left. Our dad had decided that was enough. (not a bad idea:) So Papa is stuffing this paper in a door hole, which isn't working that great. Then from across the street we here, "Reiner, two pieces." (You would love the guy, he's really funny, but super nice. We're very happy to work for him. He's Polish, so he has this really cool/funny accent. I love him.) Alexa asked, "Is that Andy???" Sure enough our manager was waiting for us to get to that house, so he could bring us not only the new route list, but all of the papers and flyers for it. I mean how can you say no to that right??? I was cracking up, I couldn't believe he was actually waiting for us! So being the nice, can't say no to people, people we are, we took it. First, we had to have a little break to tank up, we were very hungry by then. Thankfully, the route was very easy, so we finished in less than an hour. I was very happy. I'm going to be even happier and grateful when I see the pay check. :) Well, I'm trying not to fall asleep at the computer. I love you!!!

Your Sister,
Larra

Day 226

Hey you! We're driving back from Buffalo. We were supposed to pick up something for you, but it wasn't in. :( Its ok though, we were able to find something for your mommy for her birthday, so I am very thrilled about that! I think she's going to love it. ;) I love giving people gifts, sometimes I think I'm more impatient for the persons birthday than they are, so I can see them open their gift! 
We were in Walmart when I called your mommy, she picks up and says, "ER." I'm said, "what?" So she's said, oh you didn't get my email? Samuel sprained or broke his ankle. We're getting ready to go to the ER. Just this morning as we were driving to Buffalo, I thought it will be a miracle if we can make it without an injury this week, because just after Landon's hand was better, Micah broke his toe. Samuel said he heard it snap, and so did a guy on the other side of the court. So they went to the ER and we were all praying it wasn't broken. A couple hours later we get a call, it's not broken, he just sprained it really and has to stay off of it for a week. I was texting Samuel, and I said, well, thank God Almighty it's not broken. Then I said, who knows God might've healed it. He text back and said, he thought He had. Now we'll never know on this side of eternity if He did, but the fact is that it's possible. I know you're probably thinking that's impossible, and on all points that's my first instinct, too. Yet the Bible says clearly many different times, nothing is too hard for God and He can do the impossible. So that's all I'm trusting in, which is a pretty safe place to be. :) I am VERY thankful that it's broken. God is good, very good. I love you little one! 

Your Sister, 
Larra