Thanksgiving Preparations

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope that you all did too!!! We enjoyed a wonderful day together as a family. Here are some pictures of preparations that we were blessed to be able to get done in advance. Everyone participated in the cooking/baking this year. It was a lot of fun!

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, For His mercy endureth forever."~Psalm 106:1


Stasia and I (with a little help form the boys:) made the Chocolate Chip scones. Daddy and Mommy always surprise us with a special breakfast table, beautifully decorated on Thanksgiving morning. We enjoy remembering the pilgrims and our heritage as we discuss around the breakfast table.


Sabrina and Sienna did the Cranberry Casserole together.


My Apple Pies and I!


Sabrina's Pumpkin Pies were fantastic!!!


Seth made the Green Bean and Mushroom casserole. (One of my personal favorites!:)


Sabrina made the dressing this year. She did a great job!!! It is a special tradition we always do using my great-grandmother's recipe. Actually, she didn't cook with a recipe and it probably dates back farther than that!


I made the Mashed Potatoes. A Cochran family favorite!


Icing roll-out cookies...


The younger ones enjoy doing it too!


Sabrina knitting


The kids coloring Thanksgiving pictures.

Mommy's Birthday

November 8th was mommy's birthday. We love you mommy!!!

Welcome Baby Wallace!!!

On October 4th, 2008 the Ocker family was blessed with the birth of their son Wallace Jude.
He is such a cutie!!! Last Sunday, our church had a baby shower for them. Here are a few pictures.


The Ocker Family


Mrs. Ocker and Wallace


The Baby Shower Table

Stasia's Birthday Oct. 20th

Last week, we celebrated Stasia's 7th birthday. We love you Stasia!!! Happy Birthday!!!


The Birthday Girl


Stasia's Birthday Prayer


Stasia and I


Stasia and Sabrina


Stasia and Sienna


Stasia and Seth


Stasia and Sayer


Daddy and Stasia next to her birthday countdown sign.

Cochran Family Chronicles

It's been a while since I've blogged so, here is a quick update...

Our family is doing well. Keeping busy with day to day life!!! We've been doing a lot of work around our property. Cleaning things up and getting ready for winter. We also had a new driveway put in a few days ago which is SO nice! We don't have to worry about getting stuck in our old sandy one anymore! :)

Preparations for winter are underway. We still have quite a bit of stuff to do to see to it that our animals are ready to go.

With each passing day, the time is drawing nearer when we will have another little baby around the house! We've been getting all of the baby stuff ready to go! Thank you to everyone who voted on our blog polls. It will be fun to see how everything turns out!!!

Below, I've posted a poem that our family really likes. As well as the latest in "Cochran Family Funnies." Enjoy!!!

Well, happy fall and happy trails!

~ Savannah

Only One Life

Two little lines I heard one day,Traveling along life's busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart, And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one, Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in 'that day' my Lord to meet, And stand before His Judgement seat;
Only one life,'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last.

Only one life, the still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave, And to God's holy will to cleave;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last.

Only one life, a few brief years, Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill, living for self or in His will;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last.

When this bright world would tempt me sore, When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way, Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last.

Give me Father, a purpose deep, In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e'er the strife, Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last.

Oh let my love with fervor burn, And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone, Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, "twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one, Now let me say,"Thy will be done";
And when at last I'll hear the call, I know I'll say "twas worth it all";
Only one life,'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last.

Author Unknown

Cochran Family Funnies #3

The other day, Daddy, Sienna and Seth went to the store. While they were gone, I overheard this amusing conversation that Sayer was having between himself and Daddy on his play phone. The conversation was...

"Hi Daddy! How are you Sienna and Seth doing?"...

"Good"...

"Oh, and Daddy, do I have to obey Savannah?"...

"I don't have to obey Savannah?"...

"Okay! Let me put you on speaker phone"...

Note: If I'm having difficulty with a little sibling while Daddy and Mommy are gone, I put them on speaker phone to talk to whoever it is :)

Picking Apples

A couple of weeks ago, we went to our neighbors house down the street and picked apples. We picked about 88 pounds and it was so much fun!!! We also made/canned applesauce and apple butter for the first time. We were so excited!!!


Picking apples


Up the tree!


The boys have a turn up the ladder.


Stasia


Sabrina

The Glass-Pecker?

For the past three days, this woodpecker has come to our glass doors and pecked at its reflection in the glass!!!
It is such a beautiful bird and so funny to watch!!!

Blog Polls

I thought it would be fun to do a couple polls having to do with the new baby!!! Please be sure to vote and let us know what you think!!!

- Savannah

A Day In Tulsa July 26th

Last Saturday, our family went to Tulsa for an appointment with mommy's midwife. This is how we spent the day.


First, we went to see mommy's midwife, Ms. Ruth. Her office is in her home and she is very nice.
We got to hear the baby's heart beat too which was so exciting!!!





Then, we met the Ocker Family for lunch at Famous Dave's BBQ!!! The Ocker family lives near there and it was so nice to be able to see them. We had such a great time!!!


Our next stop was Hancock Fabrics. We have a very limited supply of material stores in Enid, so it was nice to be able to shop and find what we needed.

It was a great day!!!

A Wonderful Visit With The Sanders Family July 19th-20th

A couple weekends ago, we were blessed by a visit with the Sanders family. We had such a wonderful time fellowshipping with them! Thank you all for coming!!!


Going through the food line.


Sayer helped Abbi and Rebekah do laundry.


Sweet fellowship


Grace and Sabrina


The boys playing legos.


Last minute fellowship.


The ladies


The gentlemen


Mommy and Mrs. Sanders

Water Balloon Fun!!! July 7th

We all had a very fun time with water balloons!!! (I didn't do too much. I just got a little wet.)
After we were done with the water balloons, mommy fixed us a delicious lunch! (I wish we had pictures!)


We were a wet mess!!!


Filling up balloons.


Me and my new little kitten Bandit.

Daddy's Birthday July 6th

Happy Birthday Daddy. We love you!!!


All of us kids with daddy on his birthday.


Daddy with his birthday cake!


Daddy's birthday prayer.

A Man & His Horse

Besides great fellowship the children enjoyed horseback rides on their
horse 'Sangho'.

Great Food & Fellowship

Last night we had a wonderful time fellowshipping with our good
friends Ron & Barbara and their family. The Crains are Christians and
fellow laborers for Christ and sustainable agriculture in Enid and
surrounding areas. Their dairy, 'Wagon Creek Creamery', produces the
finest cream, yogurt and yogurt cheese I have ever had. You can read
more about all their fine products at www.wagoncreekcreamery.com.

A while back Ron and I were discussing doctrine, a Biblical world view
and how each related to sustainable agriculture. I was extremely
blessed by Ron's statement -'I want to influence culture and change
history in this area.'

Advancing the crown rights of our Lord Jesus Christ. Outstanding!!

Happy Fourth Of July!!!

"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth." - George Washington, 1788

"God grants liberty only to those who love it and are always ready to guard and defend it." - Daniel Webster, 1834

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." - Declaration of Independence

We hope everyone had a great Independence Day. God Bless America!!!

All In One Weekend: A Visit From Family, Trip To The Hospital and Surgery!!

Yes, last weekend turned out to be quite different than what we expected and quite the adventure!!!

I will try to describe it as best as possible...

Grandpa and Grandma from Kansas City along with Aunt Merilou and her youngest Issac (they were visiting from Virginia) came to visit us for the weekend. It was such a nice visit and we are so thankful that they were able to come. My Grandparents no longer drive long distances, so we were very thankful that Aunt Merilou brought them along with her and our cousin for a visit. Regrettably, our main photographer (namely me!) was out of commission and unable to take pictures of their visit as you will see why in the following.

Last Friday about noon my stomach started hurting. As the afternoon went on, it got worse and I began to feel somewhat nauseated as well. We didn't think too much about it and continued our preparations for the arrival of our company. Everyone arrived late afternoon and we sat down to dinner after showing them around the house (they hadn't been here before). By the time we sat down to dinner, I was feeling quite awful. The pain was not only in my stomach, but had switched to my right side as well. We were beginning to wonder if this was something a little more serious. Mommy told me to go lay down which I did and my pain just kept increasing. We thought there was a possibility of it being appendicitis though we weren't sure and Daddy and Mommy decided to take me to the emergency room if my pain got any worse. My pain kept getting worse. It was such a blessing that our family was in town. Daddy and Mommy were both able to be with me while they stayed home with the rest of my siblings.

We got to the ER about 8:30 p.m. and they got me back to a room pretty quick. They said my symptoms did point to appendicitis (by this time I was running a fever), but they weren't sure. They put an IV in my arm and ran a lot of blood tests. All of this was so strange to me. I don't remember ever having to go to the ER before. The doctor wanted to do a CT scan, but first I had to drink three different dosages of this really awful stuff 45 min. apart. It is supposed to make your major organs stand out better in the scan. We like to do things as natural as possible and I didn't even want to think about what I was putting inside of me!!! :) I would gladly go my whole life without drinking that again!!! Anyway, I didn't get done drinking that awful stuff until about 11:30 p.m. It was such a long time to wait and I was really not feeling good at all!!! The drink made me sick and I was praying I could keep it down long enough for the scan or I would have to repeat the whole process again!!! Thankfully I did. :) While we were waiting, we talked, prayed, listened to "Charlie Zahm" on daddy's phone and made phone calls (thank you so much for all the people that were praying for me. It was such an encouragement to me.) About 11:45 p.m., I had the CT scan. More waiting...

The results came back that my appendix was inflamed and between that and my blood count (which wasn't good) the doctor thought the surgeon would recommend surgery. So, we waited for the surgeon to arrive. The surgeon arrived and seemed like a very nice man. He said that he would recommend surgery immediately. So, the plans went forward. More blood work, paper work and IV lines. I was nervous, but the Lord was my strength and He gave me courage. I like the definition of courage that I read once: " Courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to do one's duty in the face of fear."

I went into surgery about 3:00 a.m. I don't remember much. They put me under pretty quick. I do remember them asking me a few questions and then switching from the hospital bed to the surgery table. The nurses were so nice. Daddy and Mommy said that I came out of recovery at about 5:00 a.m. I was still out for the most part although I do remember waking up and seeing Daddy and Mommy just for an instant before I went back to sleep. When I woke up, it was bright sunshine. I was in my hospital room and Mommy was there with me. Daddy had gone home to get a few things. I was still under all the pain meds so my incisions didn't hurt much. But, I was miserably nauseated. Thankfully that died away. Getting out of bed and walking was quite an effort and hurt, but it went alright. Daddy then took Mommy's place and she went home to get some much needed rest. Daddy read some G.A. Henty to me and I slept some more.

We were able to go home at about 3:30 p.m. It felt so good to get the IV out of my arm!!! It was a blessing to be able to go home so soon. We had a wonderful rest of the visit with everyone and I so thankful that we got home in time to still spend quite a bit of time with everyone before they left on Monday.

I am recovering quite nicely I think. My family is taking great care of me and won't let me do anything but sleep, eat and rest!!! I have three one inch incisions. My pain level is decreasing, but has been quite severe at times. I am moving slow, but getting quicker (or at least trying to :) I am thankful that it all went well and I still can't believe I had surgery!!! The Lord is good and faithful. - Savannah

Mommy took the following pictures...

Aunt Merilou, Issac, and all the kids


Grandpa and Grandma

Fathers Day - June 15th

Happy Father's Day Daddy!!! We are so blessed by the father that the Lord has given us. We love you!!!

Random Pictures- Some of Our Days

The boys playing marbles.



There is nothing like a deli sandwich lunch after a morning of hard work in the chicken yard!!!









Building Magneto Towers With Daddy...




Remodeling Days...

Daddy's little helper

Do You Think He Enjoyed His Breakfast?!


Lady Frita and Sir Knight Edmond (the wonderful stories of G.A. Henty! :)