FALL

Matt's first deer of the season!

Kyla playing in the cabinets in Jakob's boots

Jakob and Kaleb posing silly. Kaleb thought he looked so cool!!

Kyla and her best friend Lydia

Camping trip with Daddy

Our new piano

Jakob painted his toenails

Cowgirl Kyla

Well, it has been a while since I have posted anything, so I thought everyone might enjoy an update. We are all doing well. Matt is working like crazy and we are trying to fit in as much family time as possible when he is off. Kaleb is doing really well in school. He started basketball as well as piano lessons this week. The Lord answered my prayer regarding a piano and we are both excited to be starting lessons. I think he is more excited about basketball though. Typical Boy!! He has decided to be a cowboy when he grows up and really wants to learn to play the harmonica instead of the piano. I told him that he had to start with the piano first. Besides that, I don't know anyone who teaches harmonica lessons. Oh well!! Jakob is growing into a fine little boy. He is full of mischief, but quite tender and loving at the same time. He is a lot of fun to be around. He is your typical middle child that is for sure. Kyla is the princess of this castle. She ADORES her Daddun, as she calls him, and loves being the center of everyone's attention. Boy is she is for a rude awakening!! Ha!Ha! She has really started talking well and we are all having such a good time trying to get her to say new words. As for me, I just stay busy most all of the time. You would think that I would be able to accomplish a lot, but unfortunately that is not the case! Oh well. We have 3 praise reports for this month:

1. I am officially kidney stone free! Praise the Lord for his grace and mercy and healing in this matter!! Apparently the two big stones I passed back in September were the big ones from the right side that were blasted last November. Thankfully, there are no more in either side as of right now. What a relief!!
   
2. As I mentioned earlier, the Lord answered my prayer regarding my desire for a piano. It has been a burden of mine for quite some time to get one and take lessons. Not that I will ever be great at it, but I really want the children to have the opportunity to play and use their talent for the Lord.
   
3. Best of all, we had a wonderful Veteran's Day at church. Matt invited his NCOIC from the shop that he works in to the service. He came to the service and trusted Christ as his Savior that day! Praise God for his infinite grace and mercy!!

Other than that, we had an ultrasound (a just for fun one) last Friday. Our friend (Dr. Tony) thinks that we are having a girl. She was not very cooperative at all, but he said he definitely did not see any boy parts at this time. Time will tell I suppose. I go on December 15th for the official ultrasound, so I will keep you all posted!! Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

And then there was FOUR!!!

Okay, okay as most of you know, we are expecting number 4. We are quite excited about it and are very thankful that God has chosen to bless us with another child! I am feeling pretty puny most every day, but Lord willing that will be over soon. We shall see! We are due at the end of April so please be praying for us!!

The month of August was a busy one for us. We were out of town most of the month. We were able to see almost all of my immediate family and even my oldest friend - Jill Humphrey, now Jill Sparks!! We even managed to be heading out of town right before another hurricane. We seem to be pretty good at that.

At any rate, Kaleb has started first grade, and is doing really well. Jakob is growing up so fast and enjoys doing "school" with Kaleb. Kyla is talking more and more every day and is such a chunky tuna!! Matt has started back to work. He is the S4 for 2-69 Armor Battalion and should be taking a company commander position by the end of the year.

As I look back over these last several months, I can't help but be awed at the way the Lord has worked in our lives to lead us to the place we are now. I am reminded of the hymn "All the Way My Savior Leads Me". I love hymns!! Praise the Lord for His goodness, His grace, and His mercy!!

Tooth Number TWO!!

There is something about Kaleb and Florida! Both times we have gone to Florida this summer, Kaleb has lost a tooth. Good thing going to Florida does not have that effect on the grown ups!!

Florida Vacation #2

Hello there! It has been a while since we have posted the goings on of the McDonald clan. We have had a wonderful summer! Busy, busy, busy, but lots of fun. Matt graduated from the Maneuver's Captain Career Course on July 31st and has been on leave ever since. He doesn't sign in to his new unit until the end of the month. The first week of his leave we spent helping out at our church's Vacation Bible School. That was so crazy busy, but a lot of fun as well. Two girls that live across the street from us came every night. They both got saved on Thursday night! What a blessing to see God at work in the lives of young people! We also had 4 boys trust the Lord out of the class I was helping in (2nd and 3rd grade boys). Praise God for that! After VBS, Matt and I took off to Indian Rocks Beach, Florida where we had rented a beach house. We had a wonderful time being by ourselves for a few days. His mom and the kids came down on Wednesday to join us. We ended the week with the entire family and that was great!! Some highlights of our trip included: snorkling a reef right off the beach in Coquina Beach, snorkling w/ the manatees in Crystal River, relaxing by the pool, playing on the beach, finding tons of shells, finding all kinds of little creatures in the water at Fort Desoto park, and basically just really enjoying hanging out together. We hope everyone is doing well. We are making the rounds to see family for the remainder of the month, so we will post again in September. Take care!!