It's Christmas Time with Shutterfly!

Have you checked out yet the Christmas cards that are available through Shutterfly? I’ve loved looking at the fun graphics and beautiful layouts. I can’t wait to pick out the design that we will use this year. In the past, I have always designed my own, but this year, due to some great deals, it’s actually cheaper for us to get our cards through Shutterfly. I also love the deals that are emailed to me weekly. You can sign up here to receive these emails as well, and get offers for calendars, photo books, stationery, and more. Here’s a peek at some of my favorites…

I love the sepia prints on this...

These are fun colors...

What a simply elegant layout...

This is a fun way to show all of the family...

I love the elegance of this card...

What a great way to combine a letter and photo....hmmm...I really like this!

Nice bright colors...

This one would be great for one good photo...

This card would let me have separate family photos.

Another project that I have enjoyed through Shutterfly is their great photobooks. Since digital photos most the time end up stashed in some file in the computer, I have been working on putting together a photo book for each year. Now we will actually be able to enjoy our family prints, and not have to search for them on the computer. These photo books are a great price, and definitely worth enjoying family memories.

So, pop on by the Shutterfly website to see what fun things you can design for your family and others!

Time for some new pictures!

It's been a bit crazy around here lately. We've added a new little person to our family, moved to a new home, been finishing out Justin's quarter in seminary, and more. I haven't had much time for blogging. However, I will not write much, but thought I would at least put up some pictures of our precious boys, since they have been growing so much lately. Hudson is now 6 weeks and Joel is 22 months. My, does time fly!

Welcoming...

God blessed us with a precious baby boy. Hudson James Schroeder was born Monday, October 12, at 4:09 am. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and measured 20.5 inches long. We praise God for this precious gift and stewardship!

Ready to Welcome Home our New Baby Boy

We have raised the crib and finished moving over Joel's clothes to make room for the baby. We are hoping to welcome him home soon! Here's some pictures of their cute room. :)

Slice of Everyday Life

...helping mommy unload the dishwasher...

...daddy made a mask for Joel...

...time to get a haircut...

Baby News

We have two new family members! Our nephew Brennan Andrew was born yesterday, on his due date, at 9 lb 4 oz and 22 in long...a big boy!Our little niece Elianna was born last Wednesday. Another sweet baby girl. Hadessah is enjoying being a big sister. :)
Also, Joel moved into his "big boy bed" this week to get ready for his little brother's arrival. Here's a cute video of him playing around as we put the sheets and such on. We love this kid!

Family Picture

We just celebrated Ross' and Katelyn's birthdays yesterday, and, in lieu of Ross leaving for college, took a family picture for him to have in his room. Here's how it turned out...amazing everyone is looking at the camera at the same time! We are so thankful for our family. :)

It's a ... boy!

We found out a couple weeks ago the gender of our little one. We are rejoicing in the blessing of life, and the fun and adventures ahead with two boys! Nine weeks till our due date, but we'll see when this baby decides to arrive. :)

Ukraine Update

Here's the update we just sent out this week...

We are now home, and rejoicing in how God worked during this Ukraine trip! Over and over we saw God work in supernatural ways. We had many obstacles in getting to Ukraine. However, in the providence of God we finally arrived after three days of travel, and our luggage followed us three days later. Yes, the entire team was without their luggage for six days. J While in Ukraine, our primary ministry was helping Revival Baptist Church run an evangelistic camp for children. Many of these children came from the Chernobyl area of Ukraine, which is about sixty miles north of Kiev. This area is known for poverty and disease. Some of these children were orphans and others were from terribly abusive homes, and many of them had never before been to a church or had ever heard the gospel.

It was a wonderful privilege for our team to be used by God to point these children to Christ. When camp first started several of the children were spiritually hard and very rebellious. However, the Lord began to soften hearts by the power of the Spirit of God. The camp lasted for ten days, and as camp went along hearts began to soften to the gospel. Only God truly knows the hearts of each child, but we know of twenty-six children who repented and turned to Christ. Please continue to pray for these children that the gospel would take root and bear much fruit in their lives. We rejoice in the power of the gospel that is able to transform even the hardest of hearts.

We knew that in going to Ukraine to exalt the glories of Christ, God would teach us many things. He taught our team the power of prayer in a wonderful way. Almost all of our travel plans did not go according to our plans, but they went according to His plan. Through all of our struggles and trials our team learned how to “wait on the Lord.” They learned to “cast their cares upon Him.”

It was very evident during our trip that God answered prayer. We are so grateful for your support and encouragement. We were so thankful for the ability to serve on this trip, and to grow in our own walks with the Lord, as our view of God’s glory grew. We know that God has used you to enable us to travel in this way, and we praise God for you! We trust that you are able to rejoice as well, as you see how God used YOU!

Thankful for His saving grace,

Justin & Katelyn Schroeder

Ukraine

Please pray for us while we are away. We will post updates at www.ukrainetrip2010.blogspot.com. We are eager exalt the name of Christ in this country!

Snapshots of Life

Summer Days

Last week we took a day trip with the youth group to Santa Cruz. The weather was absolutely perfect and we had a great time playing football, volleyball, strolling the boardwalk and playing in the sand. Joel loved it too, and didn't slow down all day!

Last week we also celebrated Justin's 25th birthday. I am so thankful for my faithful and loving husband. I'm excited to experience life this next year with him as well. We had just a little dinner, because he had a bigger birthday celebration over the weekend when the family was all together on Father's Day.

Last weekend my dear friend Andrea got married. What a privilege and blessing it was to share in this time with them in PA. It was a fast, but great trip, and I'm so thankful that God has brought her such a Christ-loving man!

Saturday Morning

What a fun morning we have had. Joel's been waking up earlier because of the brighter mornings, so we were all up and getting breakfast going by 7. Joel ran all around the house in his diaper (which is super cute) and Justin read to me from The Gospel Primer as I made some muffins and maple sausage. After breakfast, Justin settled on the couch to begin his day of seminary study. Joel, though, wasn't about to be left out. He brought over one of his books and settled next to his dad for some study too. I had to pull out the camera for this!

Also, we have a chin-up bar in our doorway, and Joel is determined that if daddy does it, I need to do it to. He's got down exactly what he needs to do, even down to the grunts as he pulls up and down. And we think little kids don't notice things...ha!

By 8:45, Joel was wiped out and ready for a nap. I'm so thankful for my precious family, and for the blessing of a morning to be together and enjoy this gift!