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New Glasses!

2012-02-04T19:47:00.001-08:00

Elli went to the eye Doctor a couple weeks ago and was thrilled to find that she had to get reading glasses. She is such a big girl, 7 now.

New blog coming soon.

2012-01-28T20:59:00.000-08:00

We are hoping to spend some time over the next few days "Remodeling"
our blog and getting it back up and running again. Send me a comment
and let me know if anyone out there still spends any time reading blogs
:)

2010-08-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

Greetings friends, I am writing to my family and friends to tell you about a unique missions trip opportunity I am a part of. I will be boarding a Missionary Flights International (M.F.I.) flight August 17th. with a group of other short term workers, to fly down to Grande-Rivière Haiti. I will be working, with the rest of the team, for a week to build new bunk beds for the boys who live at the Hope International Missions (H.I.M.) orphanage. I am very excited about the trip and have been busy preparing to go. Tasha and I have been sorting donations for the past two months that have come into H.I.M. for Haiti, and it is a very special privilege for me, that I now have the chance to be a part of the team taking the supplies to Haiti. Tasha and I are leaving bright and early Monday morning to go to Miami to finalize my passport. Pray for us we have a lot of paperwork to finish. You can be an arm extended by helping me to finance this trip, I need to raise about $500.00 to $700.00 for this trip. I am trusting that God will supply this need through your generosity and continued prayer. I look forward to seeing what God has in store. God Bless.

Donations can be sent directly to:
Greg Quakenbush
P.O. Box 1065
Hobe Sound, Fl 33475

Please e-mail any questions to:
gregq122@gmail.com

So Much to Catch Up On....

2010-08-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

I have so many things to catch you up on. Our going away party, our trip here, Skyler's birthday party, pictures of life here, etc.... Hopefully I can do that soon. Right now the biggest news is that Greg is going on a work trip to Haiti to build bunk beds for the orphans. We will be getting his passport, Lord willing, on Monday. He still needs to raise the funds to go, but God knows that, and He will supply! Please pray for us as we have lots of things to do between now and the time he leaves. I will post more soon! Thank you!

Happy Father's Day to One Great Papa!!!! :-)

2010-06-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

( This picture was taken before we left on our trip to FL)

Happy Father's Day Gregory Daniel! You are an awesome dad. Very involved, loving, caring, tender, not afraid to cut-up.... You are the spiritual leader of our home, and I thank you for that! We truly are blessed to have you in our lives! I hope that your day is very special. We love you VERY much!

F- for all the love you show each child.
A- awesome, you are one of a kind.
T- thank you for not just saying that you care, but showing it too!
H- head of our home, not just a title, but something that you take seriously!!
E- eternity, you want your life to matter for eternity.
R- role model, a Godly role model you strive to be!

~We love you very much, and I am thankful that you are the Father of my children.

All My Love,
Tasha

Emma's Dedication

2010-06-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

We had Emma dedicated in May at our home church. We wanted it to be done by our pastor (Dan York) before we moved to Florida.

Standing in front of the church.

Pastor York holding Emma Jane.

Presenting us with Emma's first bible. It is a pink New Testament.

The dress that Emma wore is the same one that Elliana wore on her dedication.

*****************
Here are a couple extra shots- just for fun!! :-)

I will try to put more posts as soon as I can. We are hoping to head out to Florida either on Sunday or Monday, so we will see! Please pray for our family, for safety on the highway, if God brings us to your mind! Thank you!

New Header....

2010-05-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

I was playing around with "print shop" tonight and came up with this new header for the blog, let me know what you think.... I like it, (even if I do say so myself...) lol..

~ Emma, not quite 2 months old

2010-05-13T18:14:00.000-07:00

Please Pray

2010-05-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

We are asking all of our blogger friends and family to please pray for our family as we have some really important decisions to make. God is in control, this much we are sure of. Thank you for taking the time to pray for us!!!!
*******
On a lighter note, Emma went for her 2 month check-up today and weighed in at 12 lbs. 5 ozs. and 24 in. long. ( She won't actually be 2 mos. until the 18th.) She is growing waaay too fast, but very glad that she is a healthy girl. :-)

This and That....

2010-05-07T18:02:00.000-07:00

My best friend Elizabeth got this cute little jumper for Emma.

Daddy and Emma's sweet little hand.

I love this little jean dress of Emma's.

We were privileged to celebrate Greg's 39th Birthday in April.

Elliana was sick for close to a week, and spent most of it on the couch.

Wes is a very happy, busy two year old!! :-)

Daddy "playing" with Emma!!

This is an outfit that a couple from our church got baby Emma.

My Mama got this cute outfit for Emma. It says "Kiss Me" on the bottom of the feet.

All three of the older boys on a hike with Daddy for school to collect things for their diorama. Cory is hidden behind the the greenery. ;-)

Tanner and Cory celebrated their birthday in April as well. Tanner is now 12, and Cory is 9.

~Emma is now 7 wks. old, and weighed in at the Dr. yesterday at 11 lbs. 12 ozs. Time is already going waaay to fast. We are just eating her up. Our family already wouldn't be the same without her. ~

2010-04-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

Tanner Joe!! Now 12.

Skyler Morgan, 10 years old.

Cory Jean. 9 years old.

Elliana and Emma Jane.

What a smile!!

Our Handsome little two year old. "Alfred Wesley"

2010-03-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

Mommy spending some time with Baby Emma.

Welcome to ~Emma Jane Quakenbush~ Born at 3:29 P.M. 9 lbs. 2 1/2 oz. 22 1/2 inches long.

Daddy and Emma.

I will post more later, we have visiters. LOL ;~)

2010-03-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

9:40a.m. ~ They just turned Tasha's IV up as high as it can go to prepare her for an epidural. Then they are ready to break her water. She's getting a little bit frustrated at this point. We were hoping to be further along, but once her water is broke, she always progresses quickly. We value your prayers.

Maybe a little after lunch????????????????????????

2010-03-18T05:05:00.001-07:00

Tasha is doing okay, we finally fished all the paperwork about 2:00 A.M. and by 4:00 Am she was having heavy contractions every 2 to 3 minutes. So much for getting any sleep, Poor thing, she is SOOO tired. Things are progressing, not as fast as we would like, but at least we are moving in the right direction.

2010-03-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

It was a fun night having family prayer time before bed.

The four older kids wanted to lay hands on Mommy and Baby and pray for safety. It was a very special time.

Elliana praying for Baby sister,,,, she is SOOO excited to see her.

We are finally ready to go. It might be a long night, but I think we are ready for it.

Needles! Tasha really doesn't like those things, but it is a necessary evil.
I will try to post more as time permits.

2010-03-14T15:37:00.000-07:00

Tasha says I will have to learn to share the part of my heart reserved for baby girls with the new baby. Right now it seems pretty full.

That being said, about one nanosecond after new baby arrives, Daddies heart will grow again. Then I will have plenty of room.

Daddy and Elliana, we are the best of buddies! ;~)

Our new blessing (otherwise known as a ford 15 passenger van.) We were out enjoying the warmer weather, ready to take a walk down to the Flowers for an impromptu cookout.

2010-03-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

Mommy and baby number six, **** **** Quakenbush, (sorry, you have to wait till she is born to find out her name.) LOL.

Mommy looking very beautiful, pregnant! We are getting ready to bring baby home.
We are excited to welcome our new little girl home.

Happy Valentine's Day, Love!!!

2010-02-13T07:37:00.000-08:00

I am extremely greatful for God allowing my path to cross Gregory Daniel's. He truly is a blessing to me in soooo many ways. We met 13 years ago at my cousin Monica and her soon to be husband's (John Myers) wedding. Greg walked me down the aisle in their wedding, and little did WE know, we would be doing the same thing ourselves 2 years later, in the same church!!! God, however, had a plan for our lives. For that, I am thankful. Greg is a man of God first and foremost. He loves the Lord, and strives to do God's will and share the love of God with others. He is a wonderful father. He is very involved in our children's lives, and teaches them the love of God every day in one way or another. (I 'm sure as our new little one makes her arrival, and we have our even "half a dozen", you will be just as wonderful with her too!!!) :-) God knew that Greg was exactly what I needed as a husband. He not only loves me for who I am, but he excepts me just as I am. God has helped us through the difficult times to draw closer to Him, and to one another. We are committed to one another come what may, for God is the Head of our home. I am VERY excited to see what God has in store for our family as we strive to serve Him!! Thank you Gregory for choosing me to spend forever with!! I love you dearly!!!!!

2010-02-11T16:07:00.000-08:00

I Love Brownies!!

My wife made these wonderful brownies the other day. Very tasty!
She used her mini loaf pampered chef stone (pan) anyway, they turned out very good. Thanks Sweety!

Long list for the New Year....

2010-01-01T11:53:00.000-08:00

The New Year holds lots of things for our family this year....
We start back to school (homeschooling) on January 4th.
We get to celebrate Wesley's 2nd birthday on January 8th.
Greg starts his new class on January 12th.
In the midst of all of this going on we are trying to prepare for our new little one's arrival in March.
We have also, as a family, signed up to be the team leader's on a TLC (Touching Lives for Christ) short-term missions trip this summer. We are super excited about this possible opportunity. (More to come later on that subject.)

God has given us soooo many blessings this year it would be hard to recall each and every one. We found out that my dad had lung cancer this year, and it would seem that after surgery he is doing really well physically. Wesley was badly burned by the iron, 1st and 2nd degree burns in June, and the only sign that it ever happened is a couple of light scars. We are extremely greatful. We had the priviledge of another Quakenbush Family Reunion this summer, where I was able to meet some of Greg's family for the first time. My cousin Bud passed away this year, and while our hearts grieve here on earth for his absence, I am sooo thankful that just six weeks before he died he accepted Christ into his heart. God has been present in every situation, even those times when it seemed hard to feel His presence. He never leaves nor forsakes, and for that I TRULY am thankful.

This new year will bring challenges I am sure. For as long as we serve Christ, the enemy will be sure to throw obstacles our way. But I know that through the tough times, the hard and difficult trying times, that this is when Christ shines through us if we allow Him to. I want to make Jesus look so attractive to a hurting and dying world that they know exactly where to turn during these difficult times. By God's grace this will be another year of reflection on His undying love and mercy, come what may. May each of you have a blessed New Year!!!

Fun Fall Pictures !!!!!

2009-10-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

We decided to take some fall pictures today!

Here is Mr. Wesley at almost 21 months.

Looks like a "little Huck Finn."

Elliana, A pumpkin holding a pumpkin. :-)

One of our favorite spots at the park.

Cory Jean at 8 1/2 years old.

A "little bigger Huck Finn". :-)

I really like this picture of Skyler. ( 10 years old.)

Our boys are really starting to look grown up.

The oldest of the clan, Tanner at 11 1/2 years old.

This is the pond that Papaw Dan has taken them fishing.

O.k., I truly am ONLY almost four months, and
yes, there is ONLY one baby!! :-)

All four Quakenbush boys.

Elli has lots of brothers to protect her while
growing up.

We had to take this one quick because there
was a small creek below.

That's all for now. I'll try to do better in the
future! ;-)

10 years old- no more single digits.....

2009-09-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

In August Skyler turned 10 yrs. old. What a blessing he is to our family. He is a comedian, a hard worker, an animal lover, and he has an excellent memory!!!!! Skyler came into this world about two weeks early. He weighed 8lbs. 1oz. and I believe he was 21in. long. He was completely potty trained at 2 yrs. old, rode his bike without training wheels at 4 yrs. old, he seems to have the personality that once he sets his mind to something, he is going to accomplish it!!! Here are a couple pictures of his birthday.

Birthday Boy with his cake!!!!!

His birthday present from Aunt Glenna, Daddy and Mama. (Thanks Papaw and Grandma for finding just the perfect one!!!! ) :-)

We are looking forward to many more birthday's, and lots more memories with Skyler. We truly thank God for him!!!!

Hello To All!!!!!

2009-08-31T17:37:00.000-07:00

We have had soooo much going on in our lives that I don't even know where to begin. I am just going to post a few pictures and maybe little by little fill you in over the next few weeks!

These are some beautiful flowers that my mother sent to me. Thanks Mom. I absolutely love them.

Wesley is now 19 almost 20 months old. He loves playing outside, taking baths, his ba-ba, and making messes! :-) And yes, he is as ornery as he looks!!!! :-) Needless to say, he keeps us hopping, and our life would not be complete without him!!

Elliana just turned 5 in June. She will be starting Kindergarten this year when we start our year of homeschooling. She is full of energy, and absolutely Daddy's "little girl". Daddy says that she has a "Tigger Type" personality- she's always bouncing around. :-) She refers to the time when I do her hair as our "talking time". (I used to talk to her to keep her occupied while doing her hair.) She said to me one day while I was doing her hair- "Mommy you know this is our talking time!" We are thrilled that God answered our prayers for a little girl!

Cory Jean is 8 years old and going in to the 3rd grade this year. He has an extremely creative personality. I know it is something that God will use in his life. He is very tender-hearted. He really likes Bible Man and Larry Boy, and has an interest in cooking. He seems to enjoy school, and I would consider him a quick learner. What a wonderful addition he is to our family.

Skyler is 10 years old and going into the 4th grade this year. He is Papaw Dan's shadow. If papaw's doing it, Skyler wants to be there. He helps a lot with Wes- giving him baths, dressing him, cleaning him up after he eats, etc.... He has a personality that wants to please. Greg and I have said for a long time that with his personality, and energy, he will probably grow up to be a youth pastor. He has a great sense of humor, and truly is a joy. We are thankful for the gift God has given us in Skyler.

Tanner is 11 years old and going into the 5th grade. He and Wes are the best of bud's. He is growing faster than I am ready for him to. I'm sure that it's because he's the oldest. He is an animal lover, and says he wants to be an animal rescuer when he grows up. He is anxiously awaiting the day he gets his Cockatiel. He has been saving his money, when the other kids would buy things, so he could buy things for his bird. He already has shown small signs of dedication in this way, and I'm sure that same dedication will carry over in his service for Jesus.

I will post more later. God bless, and goodnight!!!
~Tasha

New Picture.

2009-06-18T09:30:00.001-07:00

I thought I would add a few pictures to let everyone know we are still alive and well.

Elli just turned five, can't belive she is this big. after only five or ten minutes she was riding her bike with NO training wheels.

Tasha took this picture, in my parents back yard. The kids are getting so big. I will post some other pictures when I find the time.

~Greg

We're still alive..... :-)

2009-05-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

Isn't Spring time such a beautiful time of the year? Today it feels a little more like Summer though! There seems to be a lot going on in our lives right now! We found out a few weeks ago that my dad has cancer in his lung. He has already had surgery, and we are waiting to find out about chemo therapy. He had an appt. with the Dr. today for his post-op check-up. Please pray for my mom as this is a lot on her right now! God is helping her to stay encouraged. What a shining example my dear mother is! Wesley is really starting to repeat words that you tell him to say. One of my favorites is " Uv ooh" ,his version of "Love you"! How truly blessed we are. The boys and Elliana have learned, and recite really well, Eph. 4:22-32. I am sooo proud of them! We have been learning this in our Bible time during school. It looks as though Greg will probably be having surgery on his gallbladder soon, unless God chooses to heal him. We are praying and waiting on God's direction in our lives right now! God is helping and working in our lives, and I TRULY do want to praise Him! Have a great Memorial Day weekend!! ~Tasha

Sermon............

2009-04-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

God has been helping me with a sermon on self control. Besides being one of the fruits of the spirit, were you aware that in Galations "outburst of wrath" is listed in a group of other "sins" including Murder?
In view of this, how then ought we be speaking to one another? I have had the occasion to be with families that are "Christian" people that would give the shirt off their back to help someone in need, they seem to have things in order, but yet they speak in harsh, quick tempered tones with their spouses and children. In the words of the holy scripture, "this ought not be...."

~Gregory

New house.........

2009-04-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

We are in our "new" place, can you belive we can't find an affordable internet provider, so once again we are having trouble loading pictures and such. The house we are in is small and hopefully very temporary until we can find a little larger place. I am waiting for an interview with a local law firm, when I get the job, we should be able to find a larger house. Maybe we can just call it home for a very long time. God has surprized us lately, we wondered if perhaps it was His time for us to enter a missionary endeavor, and to our surprize it seems that may be the case after all, just not the type of endeavor we imagined. (More to follow at another time.) God is good! When we surrender our will and wants to His, things start working for His glory and our good.
Blessings~
~Gregory

Thank you............

2009-04-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for Tasha's family. Keep praying, this is still a very urgent need. Tasha and I have another request in our own family that we would like you to pray about, I know unspoken needs are no fun for the general public, but some things are so close to your heart you can't mention them. God bless.

~Gregory

Hello.....

2009-04-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

Just a word to say hello to everyone, we are trying to get our new home remodeled enough to move into. We have been so busy we haven't had time to post anything. I am hoping to be in our place soon and to have the internet up again.
We have some health concerns in Tasha's family that we are asking you as believers to please help us pray for! These are urgent needs in our human eyes, but we know that God will give grace where grace is needed, and the strength to go on~ God's will be done!
Our family was to be the team leaders for a TLC trip to Mexico this summer, but alas, the trip was canceled. While we were disappointed, I am sure God is in control and will work things out in his time. God's blessings on you, we will try to get reconnected soon.

2009-03-17T14:30:00.000-07:00

Spontaneous pictures are always great. Then there are those that you have to work at for what seems like hours or days. Bet you can't decided which this picture was? It only took a couple seconds to throw this shot together, not bad guys!!!!

New favorite link......

2009-02-25T17:04:00.000-08:00

Check out our newest favorite link. (hint: it's called Quakenbush Queen)

Girls Night!!!

2009-02-20T18:18:00.000-08:00

Every girl needs one-on-one time with her mommy.
This is exactly what Elliana and I had tonight...
" Girl's Night"! We BOTH enjoyed ourselves.

Elli had set up a spot in our bedroom of some
of her things for us to do.

She took this picture of me. :-)

Mama and Elli...

We had this movie playing while she mostly
did my hair.

Here is our basket of "hair pretties" as
we call them.

This was about the time we had a ball
tickling each other!

After all that playing around a girl's gotta
have a snack! :-)

Elliana enjoying her popcorn.

This is a collage that we made titled
"Girl Stuff". We cut stuff out of magazines
and glued them on here.

We also played with Polly Pockets and some of
Elli's doll houses. I recall her saying several times
" This is the best night ever" or "This is the best
night of the year"! What a sweetie! Just think, this
didn't cost me anything but time- boy what a way
to invest my time! I'm soooo thankful that God has
given me my little girl. Her name means " God has
answered me". I prayed for her for about two years.
I don't ever want to get too busy, and forget that God
has answered me. I'm thankful for all five of my children.
May God help me to remember that "things" can wait,
my children will one day be gone on their own and these
moments will be far and few between.

P.S.
Elli has our collage sitting up in her window!

Boo-Boo's!

2009-02-19T14:22:00.001-08:00

Poor "little Wes" has had a time lately. I suppose it's because he's officially a toddler. He was walking to me a couple days ago and ran into the wall/trim and got a bruise above his right eye. Then later that day I think that he was upstairs (which he climbs all the time) when he got the scratches under his eye. ( Still not too sure how those happened!) He looks like he's been in a fight, and didn't come out on the winning side! :-) I thank God for watching over all of our children, as the boys have been mischevious lately as well! :-) Hopefully the little guy makes it to his second birthday without breaking any bones! LOL!
~Tasha

Strange foods.....

2009-02-18T19:37:00.000-08:00

O.K., here's a question for all of you. What are some of the wierd things that you eat? Here's a small list of mine... Greg might tell you that there are many more! (This coming from the guy who likes P.B., tomato, and pickle sandwiches. ;-)
1. I like to eat P.B. and mayo sandwiches.
2. I like to eat cottage cheese and Doritos together.
3. I went through this kick of liking to eat a slice of cheese, and a slice of pickle w/ mashed potatoes on top. I also had this seasoning called " Old Bay" seasoning that I used on it sometimes.
(I know what all of you are thinking... that I ate these things while I was pregnant. While that may have been true SOME of the time, I'm sure that it was not the case ALL of the time!!! :-)
4. I also like to eat ketchup on my mac-n-cheese sometimes!
*****
So how about you? What are some "different" foods that you like? It's o.k., share with us! ;-)
Well, as Tigger would say "T.T.F.N." or " Ta-ta-for-now!
~Tasha

More Pictures......

2009-02-15T16:52:00.001-08:00

Elli decided to spend a little time with Grandma
Grandama Brenda came to visit, Today (Sunday) is my Parents 40th. Anniversary. Happy 40th. Mom and Dad!!!!! .

Mommy decided to take a couple pictures before going to church tonight.

A Good chair and a nice fireplace, all I need now is a good book by Ted Dekker.

Cute Kids!!

Happy Sunday!

2009-02-15T13:39:00.000-08:00

Just thought that I would send a quick post to tell everyone Happy Sunday! :-) I hope that you are having a Blessed Sunday with the Lord! What an awesome God we serve - not only in the good times, but also in the trying times! May you feel His presence ever so real today! :-)
~Tasha

2009-02-14T18:15:00.000-08:00

God is so faithful! It just amazes me that even though we may really mess up sometimes, God still loves us and is standing with arms wide open ready to forgive! I certainly want it to be said of me that I was always ready and willing to forgive as Christ has forgiven me! I want Christ to so shine in me that the joy and peace I have from knowing that I'm in the center of His will flows over onto others. A dear friend of ours from Hobe Sound told me something that a pastor had shared with her, it went something like this - " God is most happy with us when he looks down on us and our heart is polished enough that he sees his own image in our hearts." I want God to look down on me and my heart be so polished it's like looking in a mirror.
Well, I should go for now. May we all shine for Jesus!
~Tasha

A Couple Pictures.

2009-02-13T12:50:00.000-08:00

Tanner standing next to my new toy.

My beautiful wife!

This is the back of the house.

The garage, wow we have a lot of junk.

Here are a few pictures of the house that we are currently in. I have been trying to get more together, but we have been having trouble with our camera. I figured out how to fix that, then we started having trouble with our computer. With regard to the computer we have presently, the pictures may or may not load correctly, so I hope they look okay.
~Greg

Thoughts.......

2009-02-12T14:55:00.000-08:00

Howdy, Howdy!! Thoughts come and thoughts go, but it's the one's you can't get away from that you have to sit up and pay attention to.

I have recently been giving a lot of thought to our future, it didn't take very long thinking about the future until regrets from the past came knocking. While I am smart enough to realize that you can't live in the past and in fact you can't even change the past, I think most of you would agree that you can, and definately should, LEARN from the past. Wow, don't you wish you could go back in time and change things? My dear Grandpa Collins was famous for saying "Hind sight is ALWAYS 20/20" Man, was He ever right. That being said, how does one go about learning from the past, without becoming too involved? Is there a healthy mix? I think there is, let me know what you all think.
More later.
~Gregory

Happy New Year!!!!

2009-01-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone. We had a very blessed Christmas spent with family and friends. We are hoping to be back on line soon so that we can update some pictures. Until then thanks for your understanding.

Greg

Long time ~ no post...

2008-12-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

Wow! It seems like forever since I have posted. ( That's because it has been , huh?) :-) Anyhow, God has been so faithful to our family in sooo many ways. I recently was sick, and unsure of the outcome, but God showed us that His will was to touch me and make me well. For that I AM truly greatful. As Greg already posted, we have turned in our Missions application here at H.I.M. and things seem to be happening really quickly to my human eyes. However, I KNOW that God's timing is perfect and He is allowing things to happen according to His perfect plan. When I say "quickly" I mean that in a positive way. It just amazes me how once Greg and I felt God leading us in a certain direction, and we obeyed Him, things that we have prayed about and discussed for quite some time are starting to take place! God truly is WONDERFUL!
*********
The Children are doing wonderful! I think this Christmas is going to be really different for them (and us) without snow. We have our tree up, and our decorations out, and our air conditioning on!! :-) We are still going to make it as "normal" as possible for ALL of us.... making Christmas candies, shopping, wrapping presents, eating our Christmas candies, sending out Christmas letters and photos, doing our Christmas puzzle, did I mention eating our Christmas candies!!! :-) Wesley is REALLY close to walking, and he now has seven teeth. I am going to have to bring this post to a really quick close because the library here on campus is going to be closing in about ten mins.
*********
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and a wonderful week in the Lord!!
~Tasha

We're still alive!!! :-)

2008-11-10T10:27:00.000-08:00

For those of you that have seen our previous post hundred's of times, I apologize! We are not able to keep up with our blog like we would like to. Life has been incredibly crazy. God has been showing me some things since we've been here! ( Maybe I will have the liberty to post about those at a later date!) In the meantime, as our friends and family my one request is PRAY!!! We need your prayers.... If God brings our family to mind- please pray, as we will do the same for you as God brings you to mind!

Well, I should go for now! I need to get to work! Have a great week!
~Tasha

P.S.
Bottle up some cold weather and send it our way! I think it's supposed to be in the 80's here today! :-)

Nice breeze.

2008-10-27T06:04:00.001-07:00

Hey it's finally a little easier to breath, the temps are falling and so is the humidity, (thank God!) The house we have been in, has some serious electrical problems, so we are moving to a different house. The new one has extensive termite damage, so I have been ripping things out and repairing everything from window sills to built in shelves. I have inadvertantly become a painter down here, I am getting one house prepared and the post office. After a few years these block buildings can use a good paint job. Well, enough of my rambling. I need to get to work.

~Greg

....and Church History makes two.

2008-10-15T06:10:00.000-07:00

Hey, I received my books and other materials yesterday to start class. I will be taking Church History and Intro to Counseling. It's a start......

I am starting art class for the boys this week, to supplement the curriculum we are using. Our first project looks like it will be a load of fun. We are studying different Buildings (structures, arcitecture.) then to just add a bit of fun I am taking them down the road a couple miles to lego city. At lego city we can pay a little less than a dollar a piece to "build" the structures we are studying, then of course we can just play the rest of the day. I will be sure to get some pictures.
Have a great day!
~Greg

Prayer request.

2008-10-14T07:18:00.000-07:00

As some of you already know, we are in a VERY small house (family of seven in 500 square feet.) As you can imagine things are pretty tight. We have heard that FEA will have a house empty the first part of November, and it is 4 bedroom 2 bath. As you can also imagine this house would be a HUGE blessing for our family. Please pray that the powers that be at FEA will allow us to move into this new house. Everything is progressing with my classes, I will only be taking two (starting next tuesday.) Church History, and Intro to counseling. I am excited to start. Tasha and I also have another prayer request for all our family and friends. In January there is a TLC trip to Nicaragua, it is a "backpack project" to take over one thousand backpacks filled with school supplies to needy children. I am signed up to go on this trip. Please pray for everything from my passport getting here on time to evengelistic oppurtunities. I am very excited to be going. I will be involved in some roofing projects as well as possibly having some preaching oppurtunities. Pray for God's direction. God is good!! Keep us in your prayers, as you might have already guessed we are a little homesick. The kids are making a lot of new friends, but they miss the ones from back home. Well I really need to get busy, Tanner had to come to the library for some of his school work so I thought I would take advantage of the time to write a short post. Take care!
~Greg

Blessings.

2008-10-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

I had believed that I would have to wait until the January session to begin my classes, but I was just this morning told that I will in fact be able to begin October 21st. (By going through the adult distributed education department.) and that my pell grant will cover the complete cost of my first three or four classes. Praise the Lord!!! This is such a blessing to me. We were also offered another part time position in the thrift store this morning. This will help to supplement What we are doing in the housekeeping department already. So, as you can see, (as you said Liz,) where God guides He most certainly provides!! We are enjoying the ministry of the church as well as the relationship God is helping us to build with Hope International Missions. Keep us in your prayers, I have a feeling that things are about to get busy. Love to all!!

~Gregory

FINALLY.... some pictures of our trip!!!!!

2008-10-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

We left Bluffton, Indiana at around 6:30 p.m. Monday Sept. 8th. We drove as far as Lexington, Kentucky before we stopped at our first hotel. The next day we headed out for Tennessee. We drove as far as Valdosta, Georgia. On Wednesday we continued on in Georgia. (Did I mention how LONG you are in Georgia?) We arrived in Florida at about 3:45 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. The children were WONDERFUL, the trip however was long. However long the trip, God was faithful, and we arrived to our destination safe. Here are some pictures of the trip and a few of our new life in Florida. I hope that you enjoy them!! :-)

Greg bringing the moving truck to our house in Bluffton to load.

Our dear friend Danny Flowers (Greg's "other" brother.) helping us load the truck.

This is the van that the Lord supplied for us the Saturday before we left!

The kids LOVE it!!!

Elizabeth (my best friend) kept Elli and Wes while we packed the truck. What a life saver she was. She also prepared a pork roast that we used to have pulled-pork sandwiches with. Thanks Elizabeth. :-)

This is what I saw for 2 1/2 days. It became a comforting sight to me that I didn't want to lose sight of!

At the hotels that we stayed in I needed something for Wesley to sleep in soooooo....
I emptied out our suitcase, laid down a towel inside and PRESTO~ a baby bed!! :-)

Day 2: Daddy and the crew ready for another day of adventure!!!

This is the first palm tree that we saw in Georgia. ( Notice that it is blurry, I took it going down the road while driving.)

After going through downtown Georgia, we stopped to eat at a Wendy's. This is what the boys saw out the window. They wanted me to get a picture of it! :-) Of course it says "eat more ckikin'!"

Day 3: Mama and the crew ready for our final day of adventure!

What a welcomed sign!

Our new home!

Skyler, "hanging out" at the park.

Elliana having fun at the park.

Tanner, well.... just being Tanner. He'll climb anything!!!

Cory enjoying himself.

That's a smile that can't even hide behind his foo-fee! :-)

I hope that you enjoyed some of these photos of our trip. I will post more of them soon!

~Tasha

New Faces, New Places

2008-09-26T08:24:00.001-07:00

We are so glad for what God is doing in our lives. Leaving Indiana (Home) was very hard for me, I think Tasha and the children are accepting the new-ness better than I am. I think in my old age I want to put down roots, but God has a plan, of that much I am sure!! I am waiting to start classes until next semseter (January) I am ecxcited to begin, so I can be finished. I want to be better prepared for what ever ministry God has for us in the near future. We have had a couple invitations already, as well as Hope International Missions always being a possiblility as well. Pray for us, that we will hear God's voice clearly amid all the noise. For someone with a passion for missions, Florida carries a lot of noise. The children say "Hello" to Grandma and pa Quakenbush, Grandma and pa Hood and to Ben, Becca, and Abby. We sure do miss all you guys. We have been comforted by the fact that I have a cousin and his family here, we go down and bug them as often as we dare:) I am working hard on getting our internet up. The IT guys says we can't do it in the house we are in, but I am out to prove him wrong! Tasha want's to get new pictures up. We are trying. More later.
Greg

We made it!!!

2008-09-17T12:45:00.000-07:00

Well, we are finally here in VERY sunny Florida. We cannot post any pics b/c we do not have internet at our house yet! Hopefully we will be able to get it soon! The trip went really well as far as the children are concerned- it was just really LONG!!!!! We are trying to find our "new normal", I know, normal is just a setting on your dryer! :-) But hopefully we will get some kind of a new routine soon!
Please pray for Wesley, he seems to be wanting to nurse a lot, and is really fussy as he is cutting teeth! Pray for all of us as we adjust to a lot of new things in our life right now! We love and miss all of you greatly and hopefully we will join the blogging world again real soon!
~Tasha

And We're Off..... :-)

2008-09-07T17:46:00.000-07:00

Well tomorrow is the BIG moving day! We're getting the truck by 9:00a.m., then loading, we'll be eating a meal with our BEST friends before we go, and then we're off! Please pray that all goes smooth, and that there is very little stress! Also, we got a "new to us van" that I will be driving so please pray that I feel comfortable with it. ( After two-three days of sitting in it I'm sure we'll know each other REAL well!) :-) One of my main concerns is nursing Wesley. We've tried two different formulas and he likes the second kind a LITTLE better than the first, but will only take a few sips! So I guess we will see what happens!

We will be sure to post pics of our trip as soon as we get the Internet hooked up in Florida. I will be anxious to catch up with all of your blogs when we get settled in- until then may God bless. Have a wonderful week!
In Christ,
~Tasha

Please Pray-Part Two!

2008-09-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all of your prayers from my earlier post! Things are coming around, however we have another matter of prayer! We have been battling the stomach flu since last Saturday. It has hit pretty much everyone except Wesley. I talked with the Dr. today and if I understood correctly he should be o.k. since he is still nursing! The reason I had to be at the Dr. today anyway was because I noticed that Wesley had a couple of patches of white inside of his mouth this morning. My first thought was thrush. He hollered out a couple of times last night, and I mentioned to Greg that I thought that maybe he might be getting an ear infection... Well then this morning I noticed that he had the white spots. I wanted to get him into the Dr. before our long trip, and also not knowing how long it would take to get into the Dr. down there. When I called the Dr.'s office she said that they didn't have any appts. available today and once I explained my need to get him in right away the Lord allowed her to work us in. Diagnosis: Thrush & an Ear Infection!! Poor little guy! Please pray that God will touch his little body as well as those of us who are recovering from the flu! We appreciate your prayers!
God Bless!
~Tasha

Happy Birthday!!!!

2008-09-04T02:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife!!! September the 17th. We will be really busy unpacking and getting settled in (in Florida) on your birthday, and I'm not to sure when we will get our internet back up down there, so I thought I better say Happy Birthday now.

Please be patient with us, we have a malicous virus on our computer (the one with all our pictures.) We can not even run antivirus programs on it. I am in the middle of saving our data to be transferred to a new computer. Moral of the story, Oh be careful little bloggers what you download!

~Greg

Busy Week!

2008-09-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

We are feeling a lot of emotions right now! It seems as though we have prayed for all of the details of this move to fall together for awhile now, and here we are just days away from departure! Feelings of excitement for what God holds in our near future, nervousness of the unexpected, sadness from goodbyes that we said to my family in Ohio this past weekend (and will soon be saying to family and friends here in Indiana), a lot of emotions.... but one thing that we know for sure that is not based on human emotions is that we are in the center of God's will and as long as we rest in that exact spot, we will be comforted and continue to see things orchestrated by God's almighty, never failing hand! Please continue to pray for us as this will be a busy week! Thank you for all of your prayers already, they mean more than words can express! May you have a blessed week in Christ!
God Bless!
~Tasha

Please Pray!!!

2008-08-26T10:53:00.001-07:00

Just a quick note to ask an interest in your prayers! Our family has a lot going on in our lives (Good things) right now and we would really value the prayers of our friends and family.

We have been praying for a while about selling our house. Just four days ago (I think) we finally put a "For sale" sign out front. Today I was at work and Tasha called me, I had been talking with the housing people at Hobe Sound shortly before Tasha called, and found out that they have a house for us. This is nothing short of a miracle, housing is VERY limited right now. So, anyway Tasha called me at work and told me that the same guy that I had shown the house to over the weekend was looking at it again, this time with his Father. Steve wanted to talk to me, so Tasha handed him her phone and Steve and I had this conversation.

" Hey Greg, your house is sold!"

.........." It's what?"

" It's sold! We want to buy it."

"Great!!!!"

At that time Steve asked his Father when they could get the money. He said they could get it tonight or in the morning. We are starting all the paperwork tomorrow. We should be packed and ready to move by the second week of September. Please pray that everything continues to move forward in God's time. Thank you to all of those friends and family members that have been praying for us concerning my returning to school.

Greg Q.

***Check out our handy dandy countdown at the bottom of the page......

A fun week!!

2008-08-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

This has been a week of fun activities. Here are a few pics of what we did...

On Tuesday we met our best friends, the Flowers, at the park and let the kids play for awhile. We then went to their house and had a cookout! Bottom row LtoR: Rebecca, Elliana, Skyler, Abigail, and Benjamin. Top row LtoR: Tanner and Cory.

Elliana on the slide.

Our boys LOVE to climb trees! This is Cory in a tree at the park...

... and Skyler...

...and Tanner! ( Tanner lost his glasses at a "Men and Boys Outing" for church, but God has once again provided for our need and allowed insurance to cover another pair! PRAISE GOD!! He should get them soon!) :-)

My BEST friend~ Elizabeth and I.

Wesley "playing" with Caleb at the cookout that we had.

On Wednesday Aunt Glenna (Greg's sister) came over for supper. It was a nice visit.

On Friday we went to Janae's birthday party. (My cousin Monica Myers little girl.) I forgot the camera, so no photos! :-(

Today we celebrated Papaw Dan's birthday. (It was Wednesday.) We had a nice time visiting with Greg's family. His sister Glenna was there, brother Gerald and his wife Laura with there four children, our family, and of course Papaw Dan and Grandma Brenda! Here are a few pics of our time together.

Gerald and Greg. (Glenna says that the older they get the more that they look alike!) :-)

I took this sweet picture of Wesley holding my hand today at the party! I LOVE little dimples in sweet baby hands!

LtoR: Aunt Glenna, Uncle Gerald, and Grandma Brenda outside enjoying the swing! :-)

Here are some of the kids in the tree house that some of them helped Papaw, Aunt Glenna, and Grandma build. LtoR: Tanner, Chad, and Brianna. We love spending time with family, and really enjoyed ourselves this week!

I DID IT!!!!!!

2008-08-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

O.K., so to some people this may seem trivial- but I made lasagna for supper tonight and it wasn't too bad! :-) The noodles were a little under done, but a little longer in the oven the next time and I might actually have it!!!! This is an improvement to the last time! I didn't put aluminum foil on the last batch and the cheese burned and some of the noodles were crunchy. I put foil on this batch but only baked it for 45 min. at 350', maybe a little longer next time!(Thanks for the foil tip Elizabeth!) Anyhow, my family didn't starve and this one was better than the last, so there is hope! :-)

**** Does anyone out there have any tips for making lasagna, or extra good ingredients? How about any other good recipes? I'd love to hear from you!!!!
~ Tasha

Dog gone.

2008-08-17T05:39:00.000-07:00

Dog for sale!!!! Well, we don't really want any money for him just a great home. If anyone wants him or knows someone who wants a great dog, let me know. He is half Border Collie and half Australian Shepherd. He is about 3.5 months old. Let me know.
Greg

Give it a look see.

2008-08-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

Check out my new post on my page, click on the link called
From the desk of Gregory. over on the right side of this page.

See ya there friends............................................

Haircut Day!!!!!!

2008-08-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

Today was haircut day for 4 of the Quakenbush's! The real kicker is that I broke down and gave Wesley his FIRST haircut!!! It was really needed! ( If you saw my last post with the picture of Wes and Elli you already know that!) Here are a few pictures...

BEFORE...

THE FIRST SNIP...

He was very wiggly- it took three of us to get the job done.

But look at these results~ how sweet!

Look at all of these handsome guys, what great smiles!!
I am greatful that God has enabled me to do this for our family- it saves a fortune!!!

Please Watch!!

2008-08-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

I have just added a short video called "He's My King" at the bottom of this page. Please watch it and let me know what you think.

Gregory

Wesleyisms......

2008-08-10T17:34:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots of Wes, A.K.A. "Wesleyisms"!!!

I love this picture of Wesley. He looks like such a "little man"!!

This is Wesley's first 4th of July.

Snoozin' with Daddy! :-)

Enjoying his meal!!!!

Time alone with Mama. ( I will cherish these moments with all my children!)

That's a smile that can't even hide behind his Foo-Fee!!! :-)

A couple of shots with Elli. ( Notice his hair. I'm about ready to give him his first hair cut at 7 mos., but I love his little curls, especially when it's wet!)

Skyler put Wes in a little lawn chair, they have fun with "little" Wes! Speaking of "little" Wes, he weighed in at 22lbs., and I believe 28 in., at his 6 mo. check-up!!!!

7 mos. old and learning to feed himself.

That's ALL folks...

I'm tuckered!!!!!!

~Invitation~

2008-08-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

We have been blogging for a little while now and we have "met" a lot of nice bloggers out there. We appreciate everyone that returns to our blog from time to time to see what is going on in our family. I would like to invite everyone that "stops by" to, please leave us a comment, we really enjoy reading the comments and seeing who has stopped by our little spot on the web. Thanks!

Quakenbush Look-alike Meter

2008-08-06T15:06:00.001-07:00

****What do you think? Does Wesley look more like Daddy or Mommy? Let us know!!! :-) (One of my friends blogs directed me to this "Look-alike Meter"!)****

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family tree online - Roots

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!

2008-08-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

Happy 9th Birthday to Skyler!!!!

A boy who is all about fun.... :-)

But is also a great Big Brother!!!!!

You are also a hard worker. I'm sure that God will use your hard work and....

funny personality to minister for Him!!!

Daddy and Mama love you soooo much. We are extremely thankful that God has given you to us as a gift from heaven!! Keep your eyes on Jesus, and you will continue to grow into a Godly young man, doing the perfect will of the Lord!!! XOXO

To farm or not to farm!

2008-07-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

To farm or not to farm. Wow, what a question. We moved 80% of our belongings to our "new" place, the farm in previous posts. After being mostly there I was speaking to one of our new neighbor's and found out that he was the board of health commissioner. He stated that with our family size we would have to put in a completely new septic and all new lines. After checking things out I found that he was indeed correct. At the tune of $30,000.00. We decided that it was, again time to pray! After a lot of prayer we came to the conclusion that, since we had not sold our place in Bluffton, we would just move back. So a week later here we are still in Bluffton. At first we were a little dismayed and wondered why things turned out this way, but we still had a peace about everything. We still plan to sell our place here in Bluffton as soon as we can find something else. Pray for us, we are praying about starting a new ministry. Tasha and I were up late in the night last night with God as He was sketching out just what the ministry might look like. More to come in the next few weeks and months as God unfolds HIS plan for our lives. It is exciting indeed to dream of what God can do!!

Who's who?

2008-07-06T14:55:00.000-07:00

DrownerPro, you have left a couple comments, I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. Who are you?

~Greg Q.~

Moving Day!!!!

2008-07-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let all of our Blogger friends and family know that we will be moving on Wednesday July 9th and probably will be without internet for a couple of weeks! ( I have no idea how I will ever survive :-) ) I am looking forward to cathching up on everyone's blogs soon!!!!!

NEW POSTS!!!!!! KEEP READING.........

2008-07-03T19:05:00.001-07:00

There are four NEW posts, so keep on reading!!!!

Dreams really do come true!!

2008-07-03T14:56:00.000-07:00

I wasn't really thinking a lot about buying a farm. In fact I am pretty sure I didn't want much to do with it. Then Tasha and I got married and she started "working" on me. After almost ten years I am starting to catch her vision. Well, truth be known, it is a bit more than that. I can't wait!!!! to get to the farm. (Next week) I suppose you are thinking that the title of this post, as well as the first paragraph, will lead into my talking about the farm being the "dream come true." Well, just to keep you guessing.... You are wrong! My "dream come true" is Tasha

Ha! Surprised you didn't I? I suppose that some women tolerate their husbands and don't mind being a mother. Tasha more than tolerates me......... she loves spending time with me. She loves going places with me. She will even watch over my shoulder as I try to explain things such as, why I love cars, or action movies ( Lord of the Rings) or why it is important not to have the ash borer beattle in our trees. (Just kidding about that one.) All joking aside, I could not have asked God for a more remarkable women to share even the silly things I love, with. I have seen her grow so much in the last ten years. She is a truly marvelous mother, I know five children that are very fortunate to call her "Mommy" (Never MOM!!:) I grow to love you more every day darling. Thank you for being the incredible spouse that God knew I needed.

I love you deeply!
~G

This place is going to the Dogs (Literally)

2008-07-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

Well, Tasha told everyone that Tanner would be getting a pup. We finally got some good pictures of her.

This is our smallish little lady, "LILLY" she is a fullblooded Mini Schnauzer. She should be getting her "beard" about the same time she comes home to live with us. She will be coming home in about three weeks, as soon as she is weaned. Tanner intends to have her ready for the 4H dog show next year. (July 2009) I am sure that we will have pics of that event when it happens.

Tanner and Lilly.

We intend on starting a goat farm once we get settled. This is a BOER goat and they are somewhat in high demand. Now , I was thinking, (Dangerous, I know) when our herd gets up to 30 or 40 percent does, and its time for me to inoculate (give shots) to 30 or 40 beautiful little girls, I DO NOT want to be chasing them all over the pasture to "round them up" to the barn. So.... we decided we should look into getting a working dog with "herding" instincts. We found a perfect dog and brought him home a day or two ago. He is half Border Collie, and half Australian Shepard. He is a very smart little guy (only 11 weeks old) we are seeing that he is VERY trainable already. I intend to visit another goat farm in the area as much as possible to let him interact with the goats. (W won't get our first Boer goat until August.) I will also be starting his "formal" training next week. Pray for me, I don't know who needs training more, the pup or me! Oh yeah, his name is "Logo". :-)

Like I said, This place is really going to the dogs!!!! (and we love it:)

Dedication and Minister's License... Sorry so late!

2008-06-29T12:33:00.000-07:00

I am sorry that I have not posted these sooner! And now that I am trying to get the video to upload it's not cooperating, or I'm not doing something right, one of the two! ( Probably the latter!) :-) Anyhow, here are a couple of pics of Greg and I receiving our Minister's License!

Here are a few more random pics. Some are from when my mom was here visiting with us, others are just ones that I wanted to share!

Grandma surrounded by six of her nine gifts from God! ( I absolutely love this picture!)

This is "Little Miss Elliana Christine"!

Wesley, what a little ham! :-)

This is Sasha and her new babies. Tanner lets them out to go potty for some friends of ours from church. Tanner has been saving to buy a B.B. Gun, but has recently decided after getting to hold the puppies for the first time yesterday, that he wants to purchase one of the puppies. (They are all girls, as the boy didn't make it, and Tanner has come up with two names~ 1. Cassidy (Cassie) or 2. Lily. Tell us what you think. He still has three weeks to decide!

This is one of the most beautiful things about living in the country! ( Taken at our farm!)

This is Elli and her friend Abby in front of our barn!

This is our children and our dear friends the Flowers three children. They should be having number four any day now!

I will try to post some more this week, however we will be packing to move to the farm, so we'll see..... :-) Have a wonderful Lord's day!

Fun with Grandma and Makenzi.....

2008-06-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

My mom and niece came up to visit on the weekend of Wesley's dedication. (6-8-08) We went to the zoo, took them out to see our new farm, she took the kids shopping for their birthday's (thanks Grandma Sheila), and we gave Mom and Makenzi both of their birthday presents! It was a short weekend, but a lot of FAST fun!!! We always enjoy our time with them, however, it always seems to go by sooo quickly! Here are a lot of photos of our fun weekend!

I believe that this is on our way into the zoo.

All the kids L to R: Skyler, Cory, Makenzi, Tanner, Elli, and Wesley.

Me and my Mama!

My forever Love... I love you Honey! :-)

Our kids really like this tree house~ notice Cory's face!!! (The one on the far right!) :-)

Daddy and Elliana~ what a great picture!

This is such a great picture of Skyler, what a handsome smile!!! :-)

In one of the journal entries that I had them do this past school year, I had them write about their favorite "Hero". Cory chose Tanner as his hero, so I couldn't resist this picture!

Grandma and the crew!

Greg only had a couple of seconds to get this picture... I think he did well! :-)
The boat only held six, enough for grandma and all the kids~ and she didn't even get all wet!
( We'll have to try harder next time!) ;-)

~Daddy and Wes

~Kenzi and Grandma

We plan on our farm being a goat farm. (Boer goats) Skyler seems to be off to a good start! :-)

~ I have a video of Wesley's dedication, as well as a couple of pics of Greg and I getting our local Minister's license through our church. We are the youth pastors at our church, and we count it a priviledge that our Pastor would ask us to get licensed. I am thankful that my Mama got to be there for BOTH of these special events in our lives. We love you Mom and Makenzi, and can't wait to see you again! (I'll try to upload that video later. For some reason it's not with the rest of these pics.) Goodnight!

Zoo Day!!

2008-06-01T16:50:00.000-07:00

Our family went to the zoo on Memorial Day. We got a pass this year, seeing how with a family of our size it cost close to the same amount for one visit anyway, we opted to get one!! We enjoyed ourselves, and we are looking forward to many more trips!!! :-) Here are some photos of our fun day.

I asked a lady if she would mind taking our pic at the entrance.

The kids enjoying the water... it was a warm day!

Cory has had a (TOY) monkey affectionately named "Boots" since he was 2 or 3 yrs. old that he just adores. He looks very similar to these little guys, so this was a BIG highlight for him!

The kids and Daddy went through Maza palooza, which they really enjoyed!
( Not exactly a srtoller friendly activity for Wesley and I.) ;0)

The boys might be younger, but Daddy and Elli won!!!!!! :-)

Daddy and Mommy's little "Hatchlings"!

Mama and Wesley!

What a beautiful peacock!

Everyone enjoying our picnic lunch!!

Mama's little monkeys (LOL) in the Amazon Rain Forest!

Alfred Wesley 4 1/2 mos.

When we got home that night, Greg (my sweet husband) went to work right away putting in a garbage disposal and hooking up our dishwasher! I am ever soooo greatful, as I'm sure he and the boys are too! (Truth be known, Greg and the boys do more dishes than I do!!!) ;0) They sure do spoil me!

Here is my BEAUTIFUL dishwasher that honestly does make my days feel stress free when it comes to having a clean kitchen!!!

I hope that you had a wonderful Memorial Day with your family! I surely enjoyed making memories with mine! Bye for now!

Say cheese.....

2008-05-29T18:44:00.000-07:00

I know that I posted earlier today, but I just had to let you know a tidbit of news...
Wesley has been cutting teeth for a few weeks, and you could see where one was
going to come through, but today I could actually FEEL it!!! :-)
He's growing soooo incredibly fast!!! Well, I'll post more soon!

Pics,Pics,Pics......

2008-05-29T11:16:00.000-07:00

This is just going to be a few random pics that I've taken.
I hope you enjoy them as much as we do! :-)

This is Tanner (our oldest) at 10yrs. old, he just completed the third grade.

This is Skyler at 81/2yrs. old, he just completed the second grade.

This is Cory Jean at 7 years old, he just completed the first grade.

This is Elliana at 31/2yrs. old. She is learning to write "Elli", as that has been her nick-name since she rested comfortably in her Mama's tummy!:-)

This little Piggy...

Wesley has discovered his piggies recently. :-)
Here are a couple shots...

...boy I wish that I was that flexible...

We had a cookout on Daddy's new grill, and the kids were out enjoying the weather.
Here is some pics of the fun they were having and the yummy food we got to enjoy.

They seem to be having fun!!!!

A work in progress......

Here is the end results!

I hope that you enjoyed a little glimpse into our last few weeks.
Hopefully I'll do a lot better at updating all of you in the future! ;o)

2008-05-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

Brain Dump/Picture Dump....

Have you ever heard of a brain dump? One of my husband's professors in college would have them do a brain dump. Basically it's a bunch of thoughts and ideas written down on a certain topic, etc... Anyway, that's pretty much what this is going to be tonight- a bunch of random pictures, and thoughts because I've been soooooo bad about blogging lately! We have recently gotten a new camera ( our other one fell and wouldn't work anymore) so I am able to take pictures again. You don't realize just how much you would/could use one until you don't have it! Anyhow, here goes.....

Last week we met my Father-in-law at a Mexican restaurant in Decatur and had supper. Skyler was going home with him for the weekend! Here we all are sitting in the restaurant waiting to eat our yummy food! Did I mention how much we really like Mexican? :-)

Wesley seems to be enjoying himself!!!

Papaw and the crew as we were leaving.

That same weekend was our mother/daughter banquet. This is a picture of Elliana and Mommy. God truly did bless me with a wonderful daughter! What a great smile, you would've never guessed that she never used to smile for pictures! :-)

My mom lives about 3-4 hrs. away, and my dear friend Kate's daughter couldn't come, so we adopted each other for the day. Thanks Miss Kate! :-)

Here is a picture of Cory and Tanner with some new toys that they bought with their birthday money.

Skyler built this ship. My kids love legos!

Cory and Elli, aren't they sweet?

Our not so little Alfred "Wesley".(He weighed in at 20lbs. on his 4 month check up.)

I have quite a few more pics. to post, however while my "not so little Wes" is sleeping I should probably go get some rest myself!!! Goodnight!! :-)

Dishes, carrotts, and humming.....

2008-04-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Tuesday afternoon (4:00 o'clock to be exact) and we just got done with school about a half an hour ago. I have just introduced Wesley to stage one baby food, about a week ago, and he tried carrotts for the first time today. He seems to approve! :-) While I was feeding him his carrotts and cereal, I was having Skyler do up the dirty dishes and this is what I heard~ Skyler doing the dishes all the while humming ' God Is So Good' ,what a great attitude!!! I love moments like this, it is God's little reminder to me that all of our consistant efforts to teach and show our children God's love is really being absorbed in their little minds!!!! Isn't God good?

Homeschooling.

2008-04-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

Tasha and have been praying and we had decided to homeschool the boys next year. We have been looking at all our options, but was in no hurry because, after all we have all summer to pull things together. Well God had other plans, after having problems at the school they were attending we discerned that God's timing is perfect and TODAY was our first day of homeschooling. Tasha and I knew it was time to pull the boys out of public education. Today we have noticed a huge improvement in 1.) Attitudes, 2.) Willingness to help 3.) Atmosphere are all these things changing because of environment? Is it possible to notice changes this quickly? What do you think?

Birthday.

2008-04-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

Today was my 37th. Birthday, my boss wanted to take me out to lunch -NICE- We decided to go to this new place, it just opened last week. We sat for 10 minutes before they took our order, then in another 5 minutes they brought our drinks. After waiting for 5 more minutes I finally asked the bus boy to get us a couple straws:) After 43 more minutes of waiting for my cheeseburger and fries, the waitress came out and said she didn't think the cook had even started our food yet! 63 minutes into our 30 minute lunch break we left, still hungry!!!!! We drove down the road to Taco Bell for taco's (my fav!) The funny part is this, we order our food and my boss pulls out his wallet to realize, -no money- so I bought his lunch for MY birthday. Am I a great guy or what? At 5:00 when I got home, my wife and children had supper and a homemade birthday cake ready. I also recieved a new charcoal grill that I have been wanting. Everything was great, but the best thing I recieved was 6 handmade birthday cards from Tasha and the children. They know that is one of my favorite things. So, it has turned out to be a pretty 'okay' day, even if I did get older.

Greg

Gossip chain

2008-04-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

What is Gossip?
Before I share stuff with others I should take this seven point test.

Is the Information true?
Is it necessary for me to share the information?
What is my motive for sharing the information?
Will it hurt the person's character or reputation?
If the information was about me would I want it shared?
If the person were here with me would I share the information?
If Jesus were here with me would I share the information?

Another thought, the information that we share does NOT have to be UNTRUE for it to still qualify as gossip. What does this mean realistically? Even if what you are telling me is true, you can still be guilty of gossip. Let's keep our conversations healthy and Holy, shall we?

2008-04-05T19:22:00.000-07:00

This is our newest addition, Wesley. (Wes-ol-bug) He was born 1-08-08 at 9lbs. 9oz. He is now three months old and weighs in at about 18 lbs. He is starting to laugh at Mommy and is finding his voice real well. His is very quiet and laid-back.(unless he is hungry) What an absolute wonderful addition to our quiver.

2008-04-05T19:15:00.001-07:00

This is Elliana our three year old. Elli and Daddy are buddies. She loves playing with her polly pockets, and mostly anything her older brother's don't want her to get in to :) "Elliana" means "God has answered me" Tasha had been praying for a girl. God said yes. Our home wouldn't be complete without our little bundle of joy.

2008-04-05T19:09:00.001-07:00

Cory Jean is number three, Cory was born on Tanner's third birthday, Cory is a sweetheart, he still gets shy when you talk to him. Cory is serious about having fun, loves kid's Church, What an absolute fun little guy.

2008-04-05T19:01:00.001-07:00

This is Skyler. He is next to the oldest. Skyler will be 9 this August 4th. Skyler has loads of energy. Fortunate for Mom and Dad he loves to help with almost anything. Skyler loves to read. The dictionary, Dad's theology books, commentaries, it doesn't matter ;)

2008-04-05T18:49:00.001-07:00

This is Tanner our Oldest. "Tay" loves collecting almost anything, especially, Tech Dech Skateboards. He also likes to draw. Mom and Dad remember when Tay was quiet and reserved, well with the onset of the "tween" years He is coming out of his shell. Tay likes to discuss deep thoughts about the Bible, Jesus, and sometimes pancake recipes :) He is a wonderful big brother.

Laundry!!!!

2008-03-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

If any of you other bloggers out there have any great suggestions on how to get caught up on laundry once you're behind, I'll welcome any suggestions! I am soooo far behind that it's hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel! I know with God's help (and discipline on my part) it'll get done eventually. I was folding laundry in Skyler's room tonight after he was in bed and he said " You did all of that today?" (Trust me when I say it wasn't as much as it should have been!) I told him "Yes." but that I had a lot more to do. He then said " Are we going to have a party when you get it all done?" I told him that that would be a good idea!!! :-) What a cutie! I'll let you know if we do!! He! He!

Welcome Friends!

2008-03-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome to "QuakenbushTribe", our own little tribal space on the web. My name is Gregory, my beautiful spouse is Tasha. We have five wonderful children Tanner, Skyler, Cory, Elliana, and Wesley. We have been wanting to start a blog, but haven't had the time until recently. We hope to update our blog as often as we can. We look forward to talking to you again real soon.