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