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