Festivities -- Part 2

Christmas morning is a little different in our home. Most children get up when the sun comes up -- not the Bakers. Our children have NEVER gotten up much before 9. This year was no exception. I guess they know the presents aren't going anywhere so why mess up your precious sleep. We woke up around 9:30 but didn't have everything quite ready till around 10:15. Darnit I tried to have it all done but I had 1 thing left to do and that was the video camera ready. Well I just knew that I knew where it was so NO PROBLEMS, slap it on the tripod and away we go. NOPE, it wasn't there and Ray&I went on a hunt. SO, the kids stayed up in Liv's room watching the Disney parade on TV. Another tradition we have is the kids sleeping all in the same room on Christmas Eve. For several years we had the "girls dorm" and all 4 girls shared 1 room then we moved 13 years ago to this house and everyone had their own room. SO, that is when they started sleeping in the same room. It is very precious to see them all in 1 room. Of course Grant got a bed on the floor and the girls shared but it is a fun tradition. We have NO idea how this is going to work as they get married, HA! I am preparing them that their traditions are going to change so don't be rocked! Nothing stays the same then and I am preparing my heart for that too. This Christmas everyone but Grant got iphones from "santa" so nobody but him had a Santa gift out. OH, and Sarah already had her iphone but she went so over on her alloted amount of money that she didn't have anything out either. So we gave them the 10 min. alert which means go brush your teeth and look 1/2 way good for the video. The whole reason that they don't just jump out of bed and come a running is a few reasons. #1 I want them to all come together so the video and pix. can catch all their little faces and #2 when their spouses see the videos of EVERY year of their Christmas' - they won't have SO MUCH to laugh at. Ray's family videoed every Christmas and OH MY GOSH!! Their was 6 girls that didn't think ANYTHING about coming to the living room with the greasiest hair, hair standing straight up -- well years went on and Ray's Mom made a video for all 8 of them of every Christmas in a row, done to music. WELL, if you can imagine the laughs from boyfriends/husbands and then their own children at how BAD they all looked. SO, it was my intent to have them look, OK. No makeup allowed but "boyfriend looking" OK. They all came down and we had a VERY wonderful present opening time. Everyone was VERY pleased with everything so I was HAPPY. Ray gave me the same speech at the end, kids tell your Mom thanks because she worked hard to make everything perfect and search for what you wanted. I always say, kids Dad worked for it so thank him. Always the same speech - we are FUNNY! Someone always seems to get a gift that doesn't quite go over the way I thought. This year it was Ms. Sarah - she got a precious (to me) onesie that is camo/pink. I was thinking funny but practical. She is in KC where it is VERY cold and she is constantly COLD. SO, being the good Mom I try to be I went back to the good ol' onesie. That's what I put the kids in from birth in the winter time. You know, NO kid sleeps under covers. She laughed as she opened it but she immediately jumped up and put it over her baby pea poop green P.J.'S. I think the onesie was better then those ugly things but anyway. She looked precious in it and she wanted her pic. made in it so I think it was a 1/2 success. I think she will be THANKING me in another month when KC is BELOW freezing!! The morning was GREAT - Ray and HANNAH cooked biscuits, gravy, eggs and bacon. A good southern breakfast that will stick to our ribs until the Christmas night get together! Here a just 2 pix. of the morning.


After present time and breakfast many of us went to take naps. Bless Ray's heart - he had to go from 1 gift to the next with Grant but he loved that. BOY stuff is fun for Ray of course. Ray actually got Grant 3 of those helicopters that fly with a remote control for Grant, himself and Austin to play with - in the HOUSE! Oh well, it's fine. SO, we napped and our tradition for Christmas evening is to go to someone on my side of the families home for soup and dessert. It is a lot of the time at our house, this year it was at my little brothers house. I began making my world famous (NOT REALLY), baked potato soup. It was NOT world famous quality this year. My heart was NOT in it and it showed. I started late so it didn't get as thick and I FORGOT a couple of ingredients that always makes it over the top!! My precious nephew Luke humored me probably and had a couple of bowls. He actually wanted some to take home so I gladly gave him plenty. A couple of hrs. before we left for my brother's, Austin surprised Hannah and came to see her. It was a complete surprise to her because they had decided that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day would be spent with their families and they would see each other on Friday. They even exchanged gifts a few days before Sarah got home so Hannah wouldn't miss a whole evening with Sarah. They do their very best to honor each others family. It made her day of course and he stayed till we left to go to our get together and he then went with his tribe to a movie. Of course we got pix. so we will start with those and then the others are of our Christmas get-together!



AND NOW on to the Christmas Party!!!









So that was almost the end of the day!! We ended it after the party by going to the movies!! When there is something good to watch it is usually another 1 of our traditions - to go to the movies!! This year Ray was tired and Grant was tired (he stayed up till 2!!) so they came on home. After Austin's movie with his family he met us at the movie theater to see another movie. 1/2 of us went to Benjamin Button and the other 1/2 went to Marley and ME! It was a great way to end a great day!! Sarah, Liv and I saw Benjamin Button and it was LONG but good. SO, that completes our Christmas 2008 - OVER but not forgotten. I am happy to have all my children here - healthy, happy and loving the Lord. Till probably next year - but you never know!! Tomorrow we have Sarah's roommate Norma is coming in town for a visit for 4 days. Her sister is still in a coma and we are praying for her still but she is coming to spend a few days with us and we are HAPPY! On New Years Day Sarah's friend Adam is coming from KC. He is now all our friend but we are all excited to have him come and experience Texas for his 1st time. He will love it I'm sure!

48 hrs. of festivites--Part 1

Christmas Eve was VERY relaxed at the Baker house. We had lots of last minute stuff to do but nothing to big for all of us to accomplish. Last minute presents to wrap was Liv's job. Cooking the ham was Rays job - cooking ALL the casseroles was Hannah job. Supervising Hannah's recipes was Rachel's job and Rach did some cutting up of veggies. Sarah's job was to keep Grant entertained with Rock Band. My job was to oversee it all. HA!! We actually had a GLORIOUS Christmas Eve dinner which is our BIG Christmas dinner. ALL of Han's dishes turned out WONDERFUL--very PROUD of her. SO, the time came to set the table and we had 45 min. till eat time. ALL the girls went in different directions to shower, primp and be picture ready, because of course Mom (ME) will be taking pictures. So we broke out the 1st gift of the year - Christmas PJ's, same gift for Christmas Eve FOR YEARS! Well this year the PJ'S took on a joke of their own. Rachel's didn't fit--too short so she went with last years. Sarah's, even though they were an S they were to big and AWKWARD and what was I thinking with those colors. Hannah and Liv both got Mediums well Hannah isn't a medium and it swallowed her. Liv's was the closest to fitting but it of course didn't meet up to her style. I think we need to rethink the Christmas PJ's and go with a Christmas outfit for the next day. It was funny still the same. So here are a couple shots of some of the kids around the table.

After our awesome ham with all the fixins, we talked and talked. We decided that it had been YEARS since it was just our family for Christmas Eve. We always have at least someone there. Of course Grandma lives with us and she is no doubt a part of our 7 which makes us 8. It is such a HUGE blessing to have her at the table and living here with us - I don't know a more wonderful, loving person than my Momma. She just laughs and gets the biggest kick out of her grandkids. So we did our highs and lows like always and everyones was the same. High is Sarah is home and our low is she is leaving again. Other then Liv's low was her outfit she was wearing! HA!! So after great memories around the table we cleaned up for the Gingerbread House Competition. We were actually suppose to do this the night before while Austin was here but Sarah, Liv and I messed those plans up with staying gone to the mall to late and sneaking off to Pei Wei - which we were almost crucified for. We hated the Austin didn't get to compete because if you know him you know there isn't anyone as competitive so it could have gotten ugly. Maybe it was the Lord he wasn't here. NO, it would have been more complete if he was. SO, the teams were as follows (made up by Grant). Team WINNER was Ray, Liv and Grant -- Team Whiner was Sarah, Hannah and Rachel. Well it was going all great. There really isn't anyone probably as artsy in our family as Ray so he is always a good 1 to have on your team. They started slow and Team Whiners thought they had it in the bag. They didn't reinforce their roof quite so good so when they thought they were doing GREAT - the roof came sliding down. UT-OH!!! So Team Winner laughed at their misfortune and Team Whiner tried to regroup and see where they went wrong. Here are some pix. of the Baker Gingerbread House Competition -- OH, and the winners were TEAM WINNER!! YAY!!! With a name like that they couldn't go wrong!



So dinner was done - CHECK -- Gingerbread houses were done - CHECK -- next in the life and times of The Bakers was our story time. One of our many traditions is to read the Christmas story out of the Bible and a Christmas book some time in the evening. I try to buy a book that is a great story of course. Ray always reads it to us all and the kids USUALLY listen to their Father like they have all their lives. This year was DIFFERENT. Sarah and Liv should have been split up because they would have an outburst of laughter - not at the appropriate time. I actually found out later that they were texting during the CHRISTMAS BOOK reading! A NO, NO but it was cute too. I am just as bad as them I think. SO, the book wasn't as big a hit as years past but lil' Grant was up in his Daddy's lap helping him read the big words-HA and correcting him if he got 1 WORD out of place! But at the end of the story Grant was TORE UP! He went quickly into Grandma's room and comes out red faced. Someone asked him what was wrong and he let out a HOWL--that book was SO SAD and SWEET!! It was priceless, he is SO PRECIOUS with his sensitive but not to sensitive self. He was really moved by the story and it spoke to his little heart and spirit. Where were we and what book was it because the rest of us didn't get it. The girls distracted me so we will blame them. I am still gonna re-read that story because I know I missed some good stuff. SO, that finished that. Here are a few pix. of that and some modeling of the UGLY p.j.'s!



Well that wrapped up the Christmas Eve activities. So we got Grant off to bed and the rest of us settled in for our 4th Christmas movie in 3 days. I think it was Elf - see I can't remember and it's been 4 days. I think we watched Elf, White Christmas, Christmas Vacation and Santa Clause 3 OH, # 5 was Tis the Season or something like that. I was Christmas movied out and I didn't usually make it through them. Grant of course couldn't go to sleep so he was up till 2ish and Sarah, Liv and I were up again till SO LATE or early! Next blog will be Christmas. YAY!!

Well Christmas has come and gone and we are a few days from a whole New Year!! WOW! Time is FLYING! To update from the past few days - I will give it a shot. I last left you all with the anticipation of Sarah coming home. Well she made it of course - late (like she usually is) but she arrived.

Here they are on the way to the airport. VERY EXCITED!!

Getting the ol' luggage!
Back together AGAIN!!And then Austin added in and Rachel out!

After picking her up they came straight home. Hours after dinner was ready because of the plane delay. But boy was her Daddy ready to see her.


Here she is with Hannah and Olivia - Pal the dog was SUPER excited to see her. It was presh!


After dinner we decided to have smores over the fire. It was a VERY cold night on Monday so Ray had a roaring fire. Well, it got so hot that nobody could hardly roast their marshmellow. So we improvised and Austin extended his fork thingy and found some gloves. They were the BEST smores with a twist of chocolate chip cookies, instead of graham crackers. TRY IT!!




So that was the 22nd - we stayed up with Sarah until -- uumm 3:30am -- me and Liv that is.

The next day was full of shopping because lil' Miss Sarah didnt help me out on anything she wanted which means - we had to shop when she got here!! We got her bunches of good things and I think we were again up till wee hrs. of the morning.

I will tackle Christmas Eve and Christmas Day tomorrow when I have had some SLEEP!! Blessings to you all!

sarah's coming, sarah's coming....and santa

It feels like Christmas in the Baker house 3 days early!! We are t-minus 4 hrs. till she is HOME at last. Such sad news though - her roommate Norma that was coming to spend Christmas with us is not coming. Her sister was in a BAD car wreck on Friday night and she is in a coma. We are BELIEVING that she is going to be 100% healed but Norma of course wanted to go to be with her in New Mexico. Please keep Norma in your prayers and her sister. NOT at all a good family situation and they could all use some extra prayers.

Everyone is buzzing around the house getting everything just perfect and I am taking a little break to keep up with this darn blog. 2 days in a row - WOW. I am getting dirty looks as they pass me on the couch but HEY, I gave birth to them - they OWE ME! We have ALL done our fair share but Liv and I win the medal for going BIG grocery shopping at 1 in the morning, this morning. My hearts desire was to have ALL my shopping and grocery shopping (for Christmas and so on) DONE before Sarah got home and I really think I DID IT!! WELL minus that Sarah was ZERO help with anything she wanted for Christmas so we will be 1 of the millions out on Christmas Eve or hopefully tomorrow (but whats the difference, it will be CRAZY)!

Just got off the phone from lil' Miss Sarah and she is stressing because she thinks her bag is over weight. OH boy, does she miss having her Mom and sisters around to give her a little help!! SO, the sisters, Austin and Grant are going to pick her up. Grant has already gone this morning to pick her out flowers to give her when she gets off the plane and posters have been made! She will LOVE IT!!

Well, I can't sit any longer. The natives are threatening me so I am back to work. I will post pix. later of the homecoming (like she's been to war, HA).

Days before Christmas.....

Well life is good in "The Baker" house. It's days before Christmas, Sarah is coming home after being gone for 13 WEEKS, for only 2 1/2 weeks : ( and THIS is my very 1st blog on here. I have a few reasons that I think blogging is gonna be a delight for me and my family - #1 I am getting older - NOT old and remembering things is getting kinda clouded in all the things I have to remember. It will be VERY nice to have words and pictures spur on those memories. #2 I really enjoy writing - I write like I talk which is unfortunate for some but if you know me you will probably hear me talking in your head! #3 Some wisdom that I have acquired in 43 years could be of some value to my children someday and they will have these writings to look at. #4 IF and it's a pretty big IF but IF I keep up with this I will be able to relive our AMAZING families memories with just a couple of clicks on a keyboard. SO, those are a few reasons that I thought and my children thought would be good reasons for me to start in the blogging world. But the most important reason OF ALL is that my #2 daughter has been called to live elsewhere (we all HOPE and PRAY it's just for a season) so this will be a perfect way for her to follow the family back here on the homefront!

Tomorrow Sarah is coming home for the holidays and she is bringing home with her 1 of her roommates. Her name is Norma and we are VERY excited to have her come to visit because we ALL fell in LOVE with her when we went to KC. She will be staying through Christmas so she will experience all of the Baker traditions. She is in for a treat. She will be here until the 28th and then she will fly back in time for the OneThing Conference in KC. We are all looking forward to making a lot of memories with Norma and who knows what will commence. We have planned a "Gingerbread House Decorating Contest" for 1 evening. Followed by piling in the car and going to look at Christmas lights. Maybe I will blog as we go - we shall see.

So, that's all for now because housecleaning here we come. Our Sunday will include - cleaning our carpets, grocery shopping for all of Sarah's favorites, cleaning the bedrooms (hoping Sarah doesn't notice that we gave Grant her room and Liv her bed), cleaning bathrooms - well cleaning the WHOLE house. It will be a joy for all because Sarah is coming, Sarah is coming (we are all slightly obsessed with her)!

So the pictures on this post were taken on our trip to Kansas City in November when we went to visit Sarah. Some actually became our Christmas card for 2008.

The Other 4 Bakers

Happy Fall, Sunday afternoon to ya!

Well I have had it brought to my attention that it appears I have an only child because Sarah has hogged up the last 3 blogs that I have written. When you only write 6 blogs and 1/2 of the them are about ONE child...that probably doesnt look so good. SO, even though the others would NEVER think I love 1 more then the other I thought I would write a short blog (ha) updating family and friends on the other Baker's! I will try to not bring up S___H. **Warning - a disclaimer right off the bat - if you love my children, you will love this blog -- if you don't really care or know them then you will be bored and want to scream. So read on because this is a blog to honor the rest of the Baker 5!!!

Let's see, my Rachel is AMAZING. She is trying, praying, saving, hoping and dreaming about Israel!! Her dreams and visions point her heart to Israel and she would LOVE to go there for a period of time. Her and S___H went to Israel last summer and a part of her heart stayed. So, we are joining in her prayers that if it is the Lords will...she will GO! She is subbing for the schools in our town and is really loving that. Rachel bossing 20+ kids around - has to be 1 of her dreams, HA! She also cleans houses and is a nanny for a few families. So did I mention she is a HARD WORKER. The girl is constantly working. If you need your house cleaned by a pro, Rach is your girl, she's had PLENTY of practice. Rach is living at home and we LOVE it that way. She has the best friend in the WORLD, Megan and MANY others. They ALWAYS have something going on. If its not a road trip, a concert, going to a movie&dinner or just hanging out - they are having a great time and making many, many memories. She has to be 1 of the BEST big sisters. When she was younger we would have a discipline problem come up with 1 of the other kids and Rachel would think that she was 1 of the parents. 1 time she looked at Ray & I and said, "WHAT are we gonna do with her"? The 1st born has a tough role to fill but man she fills it to perfection! Rachel is so wise, wise beyond her years and I often go to her for wisdom in SO MANY areas. I love how the Lord uses her words to bring calm, direct, peace to a situation. BOY is she annointed - in SO many ways. ALSO she is always up for a sister/sister date or a sister/bubbie date. She has the most giving, loving heart with a capacity to make you feel like you are THE MOST SPECIAL, loved person she has every known. Rach doesn't get 1/2 the credit for EVERYTHING she does for EVERYONE in her life!!! She is storing up many, many, many jewels for her crown in heaven. SO, that is a tiny bit of what is new with Rachel, no. 1 daughter and my faithful friend.

On to Hannah, Nan, Nantucket, Han, Hannah Banana, Monkey, Hannah Ray --- she even has MORE AMAZING qualities then she does nicknames!! Well let's see. She has turned into, well she has always been, but in the last year - what a beautiful, mature young woman she has become. My little woman with a PURE HEART OF GOLD. She still has a way with 1 smile that pours out the LOVE of Jesus!! She is my favorite 3rd daughter and man she blows me away with her wisdom and compassion for everyone. She has had a BIG change in her life....a boyfriend/manfriend - whatever you want to call him. He is Austin and we all are slightly crazy about him. After 9 months of becoming bestfriends they began to date. May I add the other most important person in Nan's life is Olivia and they all 3 became best friends so for me that was the BEST! Nobody would have had a chance if Liv didnt approve. Grant even adores him so you know he is a great guy. He is 1 of the BEST things that has ever happened to Ms. Hannah and they are precious together. To watch them cherish each other is like watching the Father lavish His love on them through each other. He fits into our family like he has always been here. So we approve and...being a photographer, they take a SUPER picture together too! To see Hannah be a girlfriend blows us away because of her selfless heart. What a testimony of the Fathers heart to us! We love to watch her love so effortlessly! I so admire who she is. Hannah is the BEST of Ray and I! Nan also has a job at a coffee shop that is cramping her style as far as sleeping in but she enjoys it. So that is a small update on Ms. Hannah.

Ms. Olivia -- woman of many nicknames as well. Well this could be the longest paragraph. She is such a delight. If we could wrap her up in 1 word that is the word I would use. What a delight to raise. Liv is the glue that keeps all the kids together. I think in most families there is 1 sibling that the Lord uses to keep the family going long after the parents are gone. That 1 will be Liv. I think because she is SO easygoing and steady - they all just look up to her to bring a chill to any situation and she is the baby of the girls - go fish! She is also the life of the the party - there is NOBODY that can make me laugh like her - she is something else. Her big sisters are her BIGGEST fans!! Her year has brought changes. Some growing pains but many, many more revelations from Jesus. Man this is tough because I could go ON and ON. If you know me that isn't hard for me to do but I would love to honor her for the AMAZING young woman she is and the PRICELESS jewel she is becoming!! Not that the other 4 aren't just as priceless but this year Liv has come into her own in such a unique way. It's hard to put into words and I could explain it in tongues better I am sure! She marvels me at her maturity in the Lord - she is SO FUN and in an instant she can share her heart and you are WOWED! Olivia is one of the biggest servants that you will ever meet - she gets that from her Daddy. She will jump to help someone. If you are around her long at all she will do SOMETHING for you!! What an AMAZING quality! I wish I was more like her in SO MANY ways!! What a delight! She also is a HARD WORKER. When Rachel needs her to help clean a house - Liv is willing and quite able! Did I mention that she is a raving beauty too but she is just as beautiful on the inside. I am so beyond excited to see what her future is going to be like. She is different in some ways then the others - I know the Lord has BIG, AMAZING things for every 1 of our children but He has something VERY unique for Liv's life. The Lord has shared a little bit of it with us but it is TO BIG for us to even comprehend right now. I count it a GREAT privelege to be her Mom. She makes ME better!! SO, I am gonna stop because I could go ON and ON! OH, she turned 16 this year which is a BIG deal! My sweet, sweet 16 year old. I love you Liv, you are my SUNSHINE!

MR. GRANT!! No.1 SON, my very, very, very FAVORITE SON!! NO other son like him in ALL THE WORLD! I am sure of that. OK, these are getting sappy! I never knew I wanted a son. Having 4 daughters and thinking I would never have a son, people would tell me you must have a son. Well I would want to fight them because nothing could be more amazing then my girls. WELL, how wrong was I!! He is a clone of his father. I am so serious, he is RAY BAKER in an 8 year old body. He is quite the blessed young man because he has 4 big sisters that think that he hung the moon. But Mr. Grant holds his own around here and Austin coming into his life has brought some "guy time" to him that has been such a blessing. They haven't broken anything "YET" in the living roon! He is in 3rd grade and may I say he is a genius. He loves to read, he loves movies, he love video games, he loves outside and he LOVES his Momma. I love that little boy. Grant has such an AMAZING heart - VERY sensitive, which is tough when he cant control grown up stuff but what a precious, precious heart he has. He is FUNNY and it is crazy to me that he has the SAME sense of humor that Ray has. I LOVE THAT. Also, I am extra nice to him because LONG after the girls are gone - Grant and Ray will be here to overtake the house with GUY STUFF. SO, that is a portion of Grant.

OK, that is all and I pray that makes up for all the blog attention on S___H! Can I say I love her very, very, very, very much and MISS her more than that. Most of what I said about them individually, I could say about them ALL!!! I am SO PROUD to be their Mom. What an HONOR to be their Mom! The thing that makes me the PROUDEST is their LOVE for the Lord. They all have a true relationship with Him and it is SO evident in their lives!! They are a true reflection of Jesus!! Man we got GREAT kids! It is the GRACE of God! But they are AMAZING and I can only take a tiny bit of credit. The Lord has truly, truly BLESSED us with 4 GODLY little women and a dashing GODLY son! The true riches of our lives! Some people may seek fame, fortune or success in this world but something that will last for eternity is so much better to put 2nd in your life, after our heavenly Father. Eternity will be forever affected by these 5 creations.

I pray that 1 day or today you can write a blog about your children like this. Has it always been perfect, NOPE but when we can ALL take our imperfections and make a vessel that is yielded back to Jesus - that is where a GREAT harvest of fruit will come from. So I pray blessings to overtake you MORE then they have US! Have a super FALL and enjoy your friends and family this holiday! Teddi

PICTURES!! Even though you don't have to look far on my myspace to find pictures of these kiddos - I still like a blog with pix! We took some last night at a festival that we went to so I will show a few of those and some old 1's.

The eldest and the youngest girls - Rachel and Olivia



The 2 middle girls -- Sarah (S___H) and Hannah



BEST FRIENDS


The BOY - we have decided since he is smiling challenged, we make him smile with his mouth CLOSED! Ortho here he comes! And SWEET Hannah!



This was on his birthday--Grant Man



Grant kinda looks in pain!



THE FAB 4 at 1 of the MANY weddings we took part in and went to this grand ole summer!



Here is the CUTE couple - probably not their favorite pic. but it is 1 of mine so my blog, my pick!



Megan is a BIG part of our family and she did make the blog so I MUST put a pic. in of her and her best tall pal - RACH!



I think that is LONG enough! I am for sure a MOM to the core after reading and looking at this blog. I don't apologies for a word!!!! Until next time....

I'm gonna sneak 1 more in of you know who...I couldn't resist. I found this hidden in my computer so it has NEVER been seen. This was on her 21st birthday!! Man I miss seeing this face everyday!!!

1 month mark for Sarah

Hello ALL, I thought I would write an update since today marks 1 month of Sarah being gone. I could seriously write 1 word and be DONE with this, well maybe 2. HA, now we know that isnt gonna happen. The 1st word would be GREAT and the 2nd word would be HAPPY!! That is Sarah!! Today is her day off or her Sabbath and I talked to her about an hour and she sounded SO great!! I have NEVER in her 21 years heard in her voice what I hear now!! After we got done talking she wrote me a text and told me how much she loved talking to me and she wrote, "Mom, I'm just so happy and the only thing that could be better is if ya'll were all here"!!! WOW, what more could a Mom want! She is living a dream that she has had for a really long time and it makes my heart FULL that she is walking in His will. SO, that is how she is doing. Happy, healthy but not warm. She is VERY, VERY cold and it aint even winter. I dont know how she is gonna LOVE it when she is up to her knees in snow and COLD to the bone but I'm sure she will LOVE that too. She has totally gotten used to her schedule. Some room mates have been challenging but the Lord has a plan in that (he, he). She's LOVING the FALL in Kansas City - even if she doesnt see alot of the SUN. She absolutely LOVES her classes. Her prayer time in the prayer room has been intense, humbling, GLORIOUS and life changing (man I think I need to go)!! OH, she auditioned to be a worshipper for 1 of the prayer rooms and she was accepted! YAY! It's kinda different the way they do things but she is trusting the Lord for the right timing and team that He wants her to be on and when.

Our family is going to visit her in a couple of weeks and she is VERY excited for that. When we leave after 4 days Olivia is going to stay another week with a friend so Sarah is very excited to have her Liv with her. Everyone has had their moments of REALLY missing her but I can understand the Lord's GRACE now more then I ever, ever have. I think if she was out of the Lord's will I would not have the grace that I have but KNOWING that she is in His will just makes missing her easier. She is now a 1/3 of the way done with this 3 month internship BUT...I would be SHOCKED if she didnt stay! We dont know yet because the 3 months isnt up and the day it is over she may say - my time is up. But right now she says her heart is at home there. Maybe it is for now but we are preparing ourselves for her to stay! I NEVER in a TRILLION years thought that I could say that but I can because of GRACE! We never know the seasons that the Lord has us go through and how long they will last so we will see. I would rather be prepared then hit blindsided with, Mom/Dad, I cant leave. The awesome thing about it is our whole family feels the same way. We want her and all of them, where the Lord wants them! PERIOD.... I believe that Sarah and all of us have assignments along the way of life and at different times we need to get this assignment done to be ready for the next. Before she left I heard over and over and over in my Spirit that "NO assignment will be left undone in her"! Pretty exciting! Of course there will be many, many more in her life but the ones that the Lord has for her to complete, finish and succeed in NOW - WILL BE DONE! So I have that AWESOME promise and I am standing on that.

So, thanks to everyone that has checked in to see how she is and the prayers for her and us! They have been heard. She will be there for Thanksgiving so I am praying for her to have a nice day without her family but new friends that will become like family. She has met some amazing people that have helped her and been there for her. They have actually been used by God to help remind her of what she wants for her future!! YES, she got her dreams and visions back! I am SO grateful to the Lord for them and we cant wait to meet them. The Lord is just so AWESOME people, He takes such good care of the people we love. Trust Him today.

The ONLY sad thing about this blog is I have NO recent pictures. Well I do have a pix. that she sent of herself with her phone, with a -- I MISS YOU BABY-- to Liv - so I will use that. Not the best quality but I promised, NO blog without pictures. We are gonna take pix. when we go so for the next 2 mth. mark blog -- OH, WE WILL HAVE PICTURES!! Blessings to you ALL, Teddi

Well I looked for the pix. and I cant find it so I will post this and when Liv gets home she will find it.

Update on Sarah

Well we are a few hrs. shy of Sarah being gone for 1 WEEK!! WOW!! 12 to go. I figured up the weeks and it wasn't 12 weeks, it is 1 day away from 13 weeks!!!

I have talked to her just a few times because she is SO busy and I wait for her to call. She is very sappy in her text messages so I know she is missing home. Ray and I had a long talk with her yesterday and she sounded SO GREAT!!!! I for real can't explain how GREAT she sounded!! It took 1 trillion tons off of our shoulders.

Let me see, she said that in her transition from being a Grandma and going to bed at 10 to staying up all night - she has done SUPERB. She has had moments of being tired but just moments. She feels that she is totally a night owl - no problems! We really prayed for that 1. If you know her you know the girl likes her sleep.

SO...she has 7 roomates in her 2 bedroom apartment, 2 BATH (thank goodness). She is enjoying them ALL (YAY). In her room she has 3 roomates and she is really clicking with them. She is planning trips with them - visiting families and so on. She LOVES KC - it's cooler then here already so she is pumped. For all the shopping we did before she left, she will be decked out with her winter attire.

She has gotten "in trouble" 2 times! HA!!! 1 time for talking in the prayers room - asking her roommates where they were going and the other for having coffee with a "BOY"!!! YIKES!!! There is a nice fellow that helped her push her application through and she wanted to meet up with him to say thanks - well meeting at the IHOP coffee shop with people around wasn't "group" enough for whoever ratted on her. SO...she learned her lesson and will meet with 3 or more from now on, if there is a boy in the group. Good rule!!!

She is absolutely LOVING the classes and talked to Ray about all her new revelation. She is "getting use to" the worship. A little different but she is beginning to love it. She has decided to audition when the time comes that she can.

1 week into her prayer sabbatical she feels that she probably isn't called to IHOP longterm - she feels that she is there for a refreshing, new revelations in her life and healing so she doesn't think she will be there more then 3 months but she didn't promise anything!! We will continue to trust God that she will hear His voice for her next move in life. The world is her limit.

We are VERY excited for her!! I was so antsy before she left and when I last blogged. I just had NO IDEA what to expect. She told me at lunch before she left that she had NO EXPECTATIONS herself. As her parents we just needed to hear her say that this is where I am suppose to be. Which gave me a HUGE sigh of relief - especially since I was the 1 that encouraged her so much to GO!!!

Our family staying up with her for her watch has gone SO WELL!! I think everyone has had a watch but Rachel. Grandma has been handy because she can "cat nap" through the evening and take the 3 to 6 shift. Ray and I have split the time so that is working. Sweet Liv has been the most faithful. 1 night she was at Megans and I had the 12to3. Well I knew she was up and I texted her at 1:30 and told her that I was really fighting to stay awake. She writes back and says, Mom you have to do this for our girl - you can do it. Of course I did it and she writes me right at 3 and sees how I am. Well I wrote her back and asked her WHY are we both up - you could have had the watch!!! She is silly!! It was awesome to write that 1st blog and have SO MANY people write me messages and they all talked about our families unity and how great it is that we support each other so much. I was taken back because I just don't think it is unusual but I guess it is.

So that is our 1 week update - 1 will let you know if anything new happens like - "Mom/Dad HE found me"!!! HA!! Just kidding!! She will kill me for that comment!!

Well Sarah if you read this WE MISS YOU but we are SO BEYOND BLESSED, HAPPY, ESTATIC, PEACEFUL and PROUD of what you are doing!! You are sacrificing A LOT to OBEY the Lord and what a reward you will have. LOVE YOU!!!

OK - I swore to myself I would never have a blog without pix. or videos so I will hunt for some pix. Blessings to ALL!!!

She was TRYING to eat a hot dog but MOM had the camera!!! Isn't she PRECIOUS and her new haircut is HER!!!

Liv, Coty and Sarah



Sarah and BlaireOK - I am sad now!!! All I want to do is pinch her cute cheeks and give her a hug!! We found out yesterday she can't come home for Thanksgiving so that is sad but the Lord will find her some family to share it with I am sure!!

Sarah is Kansas City BOUND!!!!

Well, about 3 hrs. ago (45 min. later then planned) my Sarah headed out to Kansas City, Missouri to go to IHOP (International House of Prayer) for 3 MONTHS!!! Ray, Hannah and Olivia drove with her and then they are going to help set her up in her apartment and fly home tomorrow. Coty followed them but that is for my next blog!! I know that 3 mths. isn't long to most but in my families mind that is a 1/4 of the YEAR!!! WOW!!! She has traveled for long periods of time - 3 weeks in India - 1 mth. in Israel&France - 2 weeks here and there, Philippines - also 6 weeks for 2 summers in a row at Camp (YFN). But NOT 3 mths!!! She may come home for Thanksgiving but that is not for sure - SO, she is GONE!!! YIKES!!!

She is my VERY most independent child and she was created to do what she is doing!! Her independence has driven me crazy over the years from the time she was LITTLE bitty, but I have grown to LOVE the independent woman that she is. The Lord has stretched her in more ways then she has agreed to lately but through everything she has walked a testimony of trusting the Lord with her life!! SO....she is gone for 3 mths. - we pray!! Her desire is to come home but she has NO IDEA what the Lord may desire - that is were I come in - not wanting to give her physically up, but knowing I MUST!! It is a very different season for Ray and I - the sisters aren't happy but KNOW that she is walking in God's will - Grant isn't happy and doesn't really care about God's will at this point. Grandma is SO HAPPY that her "Sarah Belle" is going to do what my mother is SO PASSIONATE about - PRAYER!!! The only way that as a Mother I can explain how I feel is this --- I have had this quiver full of arrows (our children) and I feel as though I have reached back and got 1 of those arrows and launched it into the sky!! Not really certain where it will land but confident, FULLY relying on God to take care of that arrow and make it land EXACTLY where HE needs it to BE!!!

We are all looking forward to Sarah seeking the Lords face and beginning a brand new season that is going to re-fire her desire to run this incredible race that she has ALWAYS ran, but just slowed down for a time!! She is SO FOCUSED on wanting what the Lord wants for her life!!

God is so good to me - when they left Grant was upset and I told him I would go to McDonalds to get him a burritos (to get his mind off of things). When I got in the truck a CD was playing - it was Misty Edwards singing "Finally I Surrender" and the 1st words from the song are - All I want is, YOU to have your way - WOW!!! That has been my anthem for ALL the years I have been a Mom but OH GOD did I need that song!! I cried all the way there and back. When the words - I surrender all came on I knew that I knew that the Lord wanted me to surrender her to HIM - again!!! It was so precious of Him to give me that song! I can't wait to tell her later about that.

I just wanted to take a second to tell all of Sarah's friends how overwhelmed we all have been with your love and support for her!! You would think that she was going to war with how much support she has got. My kids have some of the BEST FRIENDS in their lives. You ALL make them better. She has had more lunch and then dinner dates in the last 10 days - in the last 2 days I bet we have had 20 friends come to say goodbye, bring her stuff (Casey), just LOVE on her and reluctantly let her go. Sarah is a VERY unique person - she is so many different things to all of us. To me she is my source of STRENGTH on earth - she has gotten me through some tough times in my life. When Ray isn't here Sarah is who I go to when I need prayer, when I need a stern word to TRUST GOD. Her faith in the past is unwavering (I can't wait to see that again)!! Her black and white personality has always WOWED me!! OK - I was doing good till now - tears flow - To her sisters she is their ROCK!! I think it has rocked our family to see her go through trials lately because Sarah isn't usually shaken by much!! To Ray she is a friend that he can spend hrs. talking about the Lord with! To her friends she is MANY, MANY things....and the girl has friends!!! ALL OVER THIS WORLD!!!

Since I want to put some pix. and videos in this blog (because that is fun) - I will tell you about Sunday. Sunday during our worship time I took some video on a camera - not the best sound & its dark - but I will share that with you all. For those of you that haven't seen her worship, that is her HEART - if you truly know Sarah you know that she is the MOST fulfilled worshiping her GOD!!! It was a powerful time and then came the time that we put her in the middle of the living room and we ALL prayed over her. To hear every one of her sisters pray a POWERFUL prayer over her and her Daddy of course, it was truly unforgettable - and I knelt at her feet, unable to pray, just ugly cried!!! Then so many of her friends prayed, it was AWESOME. Everyone covered EVERYTHING, spirit, soul and body!! She is coveredd!! So here is a song from Sunday. It's VERY interesting how the song she is singing says - Lord have YOUR WAY!!



And this is another song~


So that is a little of what she is going to do in KC - WORSHIP at the throne of God and PRAY to the Lord for His kingdom to come and His will to be done!!
She is going to be having the midnight to 6am prayer watch - which will be a stretch for my Sarah!! She has worked the last mths a job that she had to get up early so she is in the habit of going to bed early!! So, it will take her body some getting use to!!! But we as a family are going to be doing the watches with her. There is 6 of us and we are going to take 1 night a week each and stay up with her (she has 1 night off). On our watch we will watching on the internet what is going on in the prayer room that she will be in and we will be praying for all the things she is. It will be our way of joining in with her prayers!! Then 1 day a week she has to fast and we are going to fast as a family with her. I believe it is $10.00 a mth to subscribe to IHOP's prayer room - and if you do you may just see Sarah praying heaven down - and after she has been there a mth. she can audition for a worship team and she would be up doing worship!! Very exciting for her!!!

Well that is what is going on with 1 of the Baker kids and for all our friends on Myspace I wanted to share some of the details of our journey. OH, to pictures - my favorite. Yesterday we had an AWESOME day!! The 5 kids were gonna go on a date. Ray couldn't get away from work (which NEVER happens, but it did yesterday) so he left Grant with plenty of money to take HIS girls out for a DATE!! Well I got invited so we all 6 went to Pappadeaux for an AWESOME lunch (thanks to Austin for recommending yummy dishes)!! Of course I took a camera and that restaurant has some really pretty areas outside, so we just had to have a little photoshoot!! So here are a few of them.....

The FIVE!!!


On our way for the day!!


At the restaurant - Grant had ALL his weight on Sarah's shoulders!! We also couldn't stop laughing because the boy CAN'T smile!! AND he talks ALOT so every picture is him in mid sentence!!



Then 1 of Sarah and her guy!!!!


OH, and 1 more of Grant and Sarah - my fav!!!



Well that is all for now. If the Lord places on your heart to pray for Sarah, please do. She will probably be praying at some time for all of us!!! So Sarah if you see this don't be mad about the video clip - YIKES - and have the time of your life - meeting new people from ALL over the WORLD - spending time with just YOU and JESUS - spreading your wings and FLYING!!!! Know that you will TRULY BE MISSED and it won't be the same around here without you!! I love you my little one!! Go in PEACE and SERVE GOD WELL!!!! Walk in the FAVOR of the LORD!! We will see YOU in 3 mths. - I PRAY!!!!!