baby Cottrill
We had our first chance to hear the heartbeat of baby Cottrill this week, so we thought you might like to hear it too! It’s in the form of an mp3 file that you can download. It’s about 172kb.
Family
Sheep and sheesh
On Sunday Hannah made her acting and singing debut in the church Christmas program. She played a lowly shepherd(ess), and took part in a group song about baby Jesus. Interestingly enough, this year Hannah was the youngest and was about a head shorter than anyone else on stage, so of course she got lots of attention. 🙂 In our totally unbiased opinion she did a fine job. She enjoyed it too, and spent quite a bit of time on Monday dressing up like a shepherdess and taking care of her sheep (whose name is Fluffles).
Oddly enough, yesterday morning I woke up with pain in my back and neck. Today it’s much worse, so it looks like I will have to spend some time off my feet today. That might have been my problem – both Sunday and yesterday I spent a lot of time on my feet, busy as a bee. Of course, bees fly a lot and so stay off their feet, but I didn’t. Anyway, I guess I’ll have to try to force myself to rest today…ok, for part of the day. Things like this really make me appreciate all of you who have constant back pain. Of course, as thankful as that makes me, the pain is still pretty bad! 😉 And it is frustrating to be forced to take a break when you have so much to do. That’s a lesson I’ve had to learn with my migraines, but perhaps I still have some distance to go before I’ve mastered it!
Anyway, sitting here has been a little too much pain as it is…just wanted to say hi to you all. Have a great day in the Lord, pain or no!
Oh, by the way, there is a minor addition to our main Bitz & Bytez page – a “word of the day”. That may not seem to exciting, but the word is based on how many times people have recently looked it up. In other words, it’s yesterday’s most looked for word at the OneLook dictionary online. It’s interesting to see what people are looking for. If you click on “Word of the Day” you can also see a list of the other most popular word searches. So you can not only increase your vocabulary, but also learn about current interests, culture and events. Check out the word of the day here!
Christmas and Tennessee
Our search for the church in Tennessee is narrowing. Today we actually got a letter from someone in the church, which more or less confirmed that this was the church I thought it was, and it also gave us the address of at least one person in the church, so I’ll be writing a couple of letters soon!
Meanwhile we’re getting ready for Christmas like everybody else. I’m just about to go and help Hannah and Shari continue decorating the tree. This year we discovered that decorating can be a gradual process. There are parts that are easier to do when Hannah is in bed, and parts that she should be there for! Hannah’s just learning what all these wonderful ornaments are. “What” is one of her favourite words at this stage. What’s that? What’s in there? What’s this one? What’s this called? So I’d better run and help Shari answer some of her questions! Catch you later…
Hannah on Jesus
Hannah on Jesus: We’ve been having lots of fun with Hannah lately as she begins to learn more about spiritual things. While I (Jim)was in Caronport, she asked Shari where God was, which at least means she’s thinking about the important things!
This past week I told her a couple of stories before bed – from the first few chapters of Genesis. She looked so concerned while I told her the story about how Adam and Eve had to leave the garden, so I decided I’d better make sure I gave it a happy ending. I told her that God loved Adam and Eve and all the people that would come after, and so He had a plan to help everyone. He sent someone very special who would save everybody so that they would be able to live instead of die. Then I asked her if she knew who that person was. And she got the answer right! Of course, you know who it was, don’t you? It’s good to know she’s picking up a few of the important things.
While we’re being thankful for things, let me just say we’re continuing to be very thankful for this laptop that the Lord has provided for us! There are just so many things to keep track of in this work that we’re in, and a laptop really makes so many things much easier. For example, I can drop in and say hi to you today! And you can say hi to me too. 🙂
We’re just starting a time of ministry here in Three Hills, Alberta Canada. We’re going to be touching base with some friends, and we’ll be involved in the Missions Conference which starts tomorrow.
I’d better run for now! Thanks again for stopping by.
Hannah cooks and sleeps, and a note about a new toy
Hannah would like to tell you a few things, but since her typing skills are still being developed, I will share them for her.
First, I told her I would tell you that one of the highlights of her month (August ’03) was making pyrogies at her Aunt Tracy’s house. And I can tell you from experience that they were very yummy! In fact, we still have some in our freezer, but I can guarantee that they won’t be there for long.
For those of you who don’t know what a perogy is (yes, there are various ways to spell it), you can see some recipes here. We have had the great honour of seeing, in person, the giant pyrogy in Glendon, AB.
Also, Hannah is very pleased to announce that she’s now sleeping in a “big bed”. Her Grandpa Winger built it for her (many thanks) and her Mom gave it a cool pillowcase, featuring Dora the Explorer. She also has a new ladybug rug (see it here) beside it (try saying “ladybug rug” 5x fast…).
Speaking of children, have you heard the exciting news? A fabulous new action figure is about to hit the marketplace . . . it’s someone we all know and are fond of. Check it out here.
Just when I was about to post this entry, Shari went to get Hannah up, since she just woke up. Looks like the ladybug rug was up and buzzing around the room (with Hannah’s help). Ok, so she hasn’t quite got the concept that rugs are for the floor. But it’s just so much fun!
Today, by the way, Hannah is 3 feet tall. My my.
Websites and praying for miracles!
Well, it’s been an interesting summer so far (remember, for those of us not going to school in the fall, summer isn’t over until September 23 or something like that!). One of the things that I did for a few hours this summer was build websites on the side, both as a service and to raise a few dollars to keep the fridge full over the summer (ok, so it’s a small fridge!).
Why not take a look? I’ve set up a new page of information in case anyone else wants something similar done. Visit iservices.
Last week we put out a new newsletter, which you should be getting soon.
There are a couple of things that we’re praying about right now, maybe you could join us! First, our eyes are not doing great because of problems with our eyewear. Shari’s is just old, and Jim’s seems to be malfunctioning (I’m simplifying things so that this entry isn’t too long!). Because we have no medical coverage for this kind of thing, and because Jim’s eyes are “special”, we’re looking at a cost of about $500 Canadian (US$350). So we’d appreciate your prayers about that.
We’re also dealing with a car problem, which is probably fairly minor, but has been dragged out because of a repair that just doesn’t seem to be solving the problem (excuse me again if I simplify to save space!). Tomorrow the car is going to be looked at, so please pray that if the car needs to have further work done that God will provide the money for that.
God has answered so many of our prayers so far, I’m sure He will do it again!
Meanwhile, we’re enjoying a visit from Shari’s sister Amy, who is here from England. Shari’s parents will be coming next week, and we’ll be celebrating Jevon’s dedication (clue in: Jeff (Shari’s brother) and Tracy’s baby is Jevon, and they’ll be publicly expressing their understanding that he belongs to the Lord).
We’re also busy planning for the next couple of months, which promise to be busy as always. Sometimes planning means planning to have a day off, because if you don’t plan ahead you won’t get one!