Aprons and Cookies

from L to R Katelin, Devin, Abigail, Bethany
Abigail making chocolate chip cookies
Devin with her special brownies
COOKIES!
Me measuring flour.

Yesterday for school we had sewing and baking lessons. Devin, Katelin, Abigail and I went over to our neighbor's house and she helped us make aprons. (Thanks so much Mrs. W!) When we came home we had to try out our new treasures and made Chocolate Chip and Molasses cookies and a special brownie that has a cream cheese topping. Can a day get much better? :)

Schreur Christmas Party

The Schreur family Christmas party was last Saturday(the 27th). Nothing out of the ordinary happened, so I will let these pictures talk. Just for everyones information, the whole Schreur family is kinda goofy, as you will see in some of the pictures. As for the ride home, I slept the whole time.
Cousin Charlie wearing a Christmas gift. ????? no idea as to what is is
Myah with crazy hair.
The girls showing off their new jackets. I LOVE MINE!!!!
Rachel with her new game Life on the Farm and alarm clock.
Elizabeth opening her presents.
The family pic!!!! (lottsa girls) and below, Devin, Katelin, Jenna and Myah, all of our foster girls
And everyone, this is what happens when it is late at night, you have nothing to do and you have a camera in your hands....:)

Not too much out of the ordinary has been going on here lately. We did get the whole barn cleaned yesterday when it was 45 degrees. Ummm, I am getting spring fever. :)

Until I find something else to post,
~Bethany~

Christmas time Adventures.....

playing a game
Ben playing with horses
Mom and her mom
First time on roller skates!
Myah bein' goofy

I have said many times how a normal activity can turn into an adventure with the Schreur family. On the 26th and 27th of December we were planning on going up to the Grand Rapids area to stay at a hotel since our family Christmas parties were two days in a row. Sounds fun, exciting and kinda adventurous with 12 people, right? Well, on Christmas eve, we had 4 people down with the flu and on Christmas, still had 2 down. The 26th comes around and Dad and Abigail are still down so obviously the hotel is out. Mom decided to take everyone who wanted to come to the Oosterhouse party which panned out to everyone except Dad and Abigail. We finally got everyone showered, dressed, food made and packed, pillows and blankets for the ride home, everything else we were going to need and 10 people, packed into our 15 passenger van and left at 3:00, only a half hour later than we were hoping to leave by. Our road was covered with ice from the sleet storm we had received that morning but the highways and main roads were fine. We got to the party at 4:30. Everything went well, everyone had fun. We left the party at 9:40. Everyone calmed down and fell asleep pretty quick, but the driving was horrible. There was fog so horribly thick all you could hope for was that you could see the lines on the road. When we were almost home, it was so bad that there were times that those lines were gone. Our road was pretty bad because of all the ice still on it and the fog, but we made it. The driveway however was horrible. It was one of sheet of ice, and for those who don't know what our driveway is, it is up a hill, so we barely made it up halfway before stopping. even in park we were slidding backwards! We finally came to a stop and at 11:30 at night we woke everyone up in the van and made them all walk up to the house. The ice was so slippery you had to walk in the snow beside the driveway which made your feet all wet. Everyone made it to the house with only minor falls and dropped in bed. At least we made it home.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
~Bethany~

The true meaning of Christmas

Even though this is a day late, I wanted to remind everyone of the real meaning of Christmas. It is not about parties, get-togethers with family, presents, Santa, or Christmas trees, but about Jesus humbling Himself and coming down to earth to live with us so that He could save us. It is a time that we can celebrate and be thankful for His wonderful love. The real story of Christmas is found in Luke chapter 2.

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Merry CHRISTmas everyone!
~Bethany~

A Christmas Tree Story

For years we haven't had one, but this year we all bundled up to head out against the cold to go cut a Christmas tree! We drove about 15 minutes to a farm and found no one there! We searched high and low for the owners and finally found a phone number. We called it and they said they would be home in just a few minutes. We waited around until they showed up and then all of us ran down to the trees. They farm was small and hadn't had much business this year, so there was lots to choose from. We found a beautiful tree(around 9 feet tall)right away. We had to check out other to make sure we were getting the right one, but Dad kept saying "we always get the one we choose first and walk around forever, for nothing". Sure enough, the first one was the one we cut down and drug up to the van. It took all Dad, Abigail and I could do to get it up on top of the van but we got her up and tied down. Then we all piled back into the van for the ride home. When we got it home, Dad worked on getting it in the house while we got supper together. Then we realized that we had no lights, so Dad and Abigail went to Coldwater to pick some up. While they were gone, the tree fell. Mom held the tree while I fastened her back into place. Thankfully that held her.
When they got home we started stringing popcorn while they put up the 4 boxes of lights.

As soon as all of the ornaments were on, the tree started falling. Abigail was standing next to it and I was standing next to here. She grabbed the tree and I grabbed her. Thankfully only one ornament fell and broke and the tree was fine.
We got her all fixed with a little weight in the back so she is all fine now. I guess that is what happens when the Schreurs try to put up a Christmas tree! Exciting as can be, right?

8 weeks old!!!!

We still have black and yellow AKC registered Labrador Retriever puppies available! All of the yellow females have sold, but we still have males of both colors and black females. They are UTD on shots and have been wormed regularly. Parents on site. Females $350, Males $300. Buy your perfect, unforgettable Christmas present now!!! As always....playful! :)


Look how big these babies have grown!!! Look at those feet!!! Gonna be good hunters for sure.

COOKIES!!!

All of the cookie bakers with a few of the cookies.
Some of the cookies destined to go to those we caroled to.
Mom, Abigail and a friend making up plates of cookies.
Bethany(yeah, that is me) attempting to dip cream cheese finger cookies into powdered sugar.
Abigail showing off her melted chocolate for dipping.

Everyone got together yesterday to bake cookies for Christmas caroling. We made I don't know how many dozen cookies and lots of chocolate dipped goodies. I tried to eat very few, but they were VERY tempting. Ummmmm, confession, I ate 1 this morning at 5:00. :) We made it to about 12 different homes caroling and everyone came back to our house to have homemade pizza. Oh, and FYI, there were 47 people all together! :)
~Bethany~

My bedroom

My bed, picture, books, window and nightstand. What do you think of the colors?
My built in dresser. A wonderful, wonderful thing! Ben and I share this and each get a half.

My picture on the wall, books and my border. Please excuse Ben's feet. He loves to roll on my bed and didn't get his feet out of the way in time. Plus, they are kinda cute. :)
My cello, overall showmanship award and guns. One is a BB gun(got it when I was 4 or 5) and the other is my 20 gauge. Oh, and that board behind my cello is one of my 4H projects on crops. I just can't get myself to tear it down. I did a ton of work on it and got Best of Class and Best of Show.


Welcome folks, to my newly redone bedroom! Okay, it has been a few months, but here are the pictures. It had been a light yellow color, but this is MUCH more my style. I did find a lamp that I want, but it is about $60 and that is not happening! It is deer antlers as the base and a deer decorated shade. Pretty neat, but like I said...way too much $$$!

Everyone have a wonderful day!
~Bethany~

Back to blogging!

Hey folks!
Bethany is back to blogging! Our Internet was down for a grand total of 4 days so I was unable to update. Sorry about that! We are back up now, so be prepared! Actually, not much has been going on lately. We had a sledding party, but I didn't get any pictures. Today we are going to a local nursing home with our homeschool group to sing for the residents. We go every second Tuesday of the month, but typically don't sing. Usually we go room to room and visit with them. I tell ya, you can hear some pretty interesting stories while talking with them. We went on Memorial Day last month. There was one elderly man who was telling us about the plane he flew during WWll. I love the stories, just wish some of them would be more open about it! I am so glad for the opportunity to be able to minister to these wonderful people!

I am finished with my winter session of Agriculture class. I am sad to see it gone by so fast, but thankfully we will continue to meet to go over speeches and such. The spring session starts up in January(very springy out..right?) Hey, that is when the farmers begin thinking about spring however so I suppose we are supposed to start thinking the same way! Our first kids are probably due around the end of January and I suppose I think of that as spring. Ummm, does that classify me as a farmer? WOOOHOOO! :)

Well, I will continue to update as long as the Internet stays up and going. No more viruses, okay?

Until later,
~Bethany~

AKC registered lab puppies(repost1)

Ben enjoys the puppies! I am sure you all would too....:)




Just for all of you puppy lovers and those interested in a puppy, we have black and yellow lab puppies for sale! They will be the perfect age at Christmas time and the perfect gift! Females are $350, males are $300. They have had their first shots and are UTD on worming. Parents are on site. If you are interested, please email soon to get yours ordered before they all go! They are now 6 weeks old, they will ready on the 10th, not long before they can go home with you!
~Bethany~
Note: these pictures were first posted on 11/28/08 when the puppies were 5 weeks old.

Newer puppy pictures!

sorry this one is a little fuzzy, but it was so cute I just had to put it in!


Here are some puppy pictures I took Saturday of the puppies outside enjoying the sun. They were adorable! Sorry if they are a little blurry, I was having fun getting some action pictures. They would not sit still! They were so happy to have a warm day to play outside...so was I! :)

Post birthday pics

Rachel had her birthday party last night and Elizabeth had her's the night before. I am putting all of the pictures together here in one post. Our family loves to take pictures of the people blowing out their candles on their cakes, so excuse the funny, goofy pics! Our family has to always be doing something out of the ordinary to keep everyone hopping!
Abigail and I had civil war era dresses made for their birthdays. They loved them, especially after we told them we were getting hoops for them!
Rachel blowing out her candles. She had a German Chocolate Cake.Elizabeth blowing out her candles. She had a white box cake....decorated as a cow!
Rachel opening presents. She got a beach towel, books and slippers, plus her dress.
Elizabeth showing how old she is now!