this christmas

Only ONE more day of school left before Christmas break!! I am SOOOO excited (to say the least). I can't wait for some down time with my family. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. This Christmas we're going to be hanging out in Munfordville, for the most part. Leah has her Christmas program at church this upcoming Sunday night and her preschool party was today (see the picture of her as Mary below). Lex is enjoying disassembling my Christmas tree on an hourly basis. I think when we put the tree up next year he'll call it a "no-no." Both of them are excited about the presents under the tree and Leah and I have enjoyed trying (key word, trying) to bake and decorate some Christmas cookies this year. (Too bad we eat them all before we give them away to anyone else.)

Things we are thankful for as we celebrate this Christmas season...
OUR FAMILY - God has blessed us with a wonderful marriage and two beautiful children. And they have both been so easy!! I don't know why He thought we deserved easy kids, but I'm glad He did.
GOD'S PROVISION - Dispite our circumstances the latter half of the year, God has continually provided for us. It's amazing the many different ways he has rained down his "manna," but through the entire time there has never been a time where we worried we wouldn't be ok. (And being the number cruncher that I am, I never imagined we'd make it this long with Doug at home with the kids!!)
OUR FUTURE - We don't know exactly what God has in store for us next, but we do know that He knows!! Doug starts seminary in January, FINALLY - so be in prayer for him!!

Leah as Mary (Joseph doesn't look too happy - probably because he's the ONLY boy in a preschool class full of girls!!)

I was so busy the end of last month and the beginning of this one with OTHER people's pictures and Christmas cards that I waited almost too late to order my own Christmas cards!! So we'll only be sending out a few this year (and they may not actually get delivered until after Christmas =) MERRY CHRISTMAS ANYWAY!!

santa

Seeing as this is the first year EITHER of our children have ever sat on Santa's lap we HAD to buy the photos!! Leah went first - she was SO excited about talking to Santa this year (finally), but I think once she got there she went blank. Santa had to do all but pull her tongue out to get her to start talking. But once she did, Lex started reaching for her. So we sat him there too - suprisingly enough he liked Santa too!!

Anyway - all is well in the Bratcher house these days! Sorry that our posts have been few and far between lately!! We are looking forward to spending more holidays with our family. I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!!

justin

Some of you may already know, but my 20-year-old brother has been in the hospital this week. Early Monday morning he was having "chest pains" so mom had him call the nurse-line at U of L and after answering several questions, the nurse told him he had to call 911. On arriving at the hospital they were first suspecting that it had something to do with his gallbladder. But after further review and a few tests they realized it was his appendix. So they removed it on Monday afternoon. After the sugery his blood pressure started rising and his hemoglobin started dropping so yesterday morning they decided that he was probably bleeding internally. They finally got a CAT scan done around 4:00 and went straight back into surgery after that.

Doug and I arrived at the hospital about 20 minutes before the surgeon came out with good news. She said that apparently after they'd sewed him back up the "stump" started bleeding. And although they had to clean up a lot of "old blood" in there, there was no new blood. So she was pretty confident that he was no longer bleeding internally.

Anyway, he did great through the night last night and this morning ate two solid meals. His blood levels and blood pressure have been great since the 2nd surgery too so they sent him home this afternoon.

Thank you for all of your prayers!! We are so thankful to be surrounded by so many people that love and care about us.

it's been a while

WOW!! It's been a while!! I didn't realize how long it had been since I've posted!! You haven't even seen the cutest poodle and turtle in the world yet have you =) Much has happened in the Bratcher house over the last several weeks....Leah started Upward Basketball, we had a great Halloween, Doug and I worked a Chrysalis in Elizabethtown, our car broke down, and my brother is currently in the hospital having his appendix removed!!

All is well though. Let me see if I can give you the "short" story on the most exciting of these happenings...

First, our car broke down while Doug was in Lexington last week trying to help a friend move. Unfortunately the friend had to help Doug get his car back to Munfordville (and what an extravaganza it was)!! Thank God for true friends and THANK YOU ERIC for taking care of us!! We still have no idea what's wrong with our car, but seeing as Doug is staying home with the kiddos right now, we are surviving just fine with only one vehicle.

Justin went to the hospital early this morning with "chest pains" (in the lower chest/abdomen area). They ran several tests and finally realized that his appendix was swollen and "yucky." So they removed it today (around 2:00 or so). He is still in recovery, but Dad said that everything was fine and the surgery went well. He should be out of the hospital by Wednesday. I'm just thankful that it wasn't any more serious than a bum appendix!!

Here are some pictures of the kiddos at Halloween. Leah was a pink poodle and Lex was a turtle. They had a blast!! I was suprised that Lex actually liked his costume and he LOVED Leah's - he just wanted to hug her and pet her whenever she had it on.

A poodle (Leah) and a turtle (Lex) with Nana and Pop!

This was just TOO cute!

our job status

Many of you have been asking about Doug's job situation and honestly, I didn't realize we hadn't updated you on the events since we first mentioned possibly moving back to Campbellsville. Let me try...where should I start...well, first of all, Doug is not teaching anymore. We really had to make a decision about whether or not he would be teaching again when the end of July came and the folks at CU were still saying that they might have a position for us. And honestly, we really felt like that was where God wanted us to be. So he quit his job on faith that God would work it all out. Now, two and a half months later, we're still here in Munfordville....and it hasn't worked out. Well, OUR PLAN hasn't worked out!! (Good thing God is smarter than we are!)

So right now, Doug is staying home with the kids (which has actually been a huge blessing)!! And he loves it (and I love it too)!! So honestly, we feel like we're kind of in the desert at this point. Like God has lead him out of teaching and now were waiting to see what "promised" land he'll lead us to next (as we know Doug is called to full time ministry).

He is all signed up to start seminary in January and we've come to the conclusion that we'll just be content in the desert and let God continue to provide for us. The hardest part of it all is not stressing over the financial aspects and just letting God bless us with his tender mercies.

I read a passage of scripture last week in Exodus 16 after Moses had lead the children of Israel out of Egypt into the desert. The Israelites had been complaining that they were hungry to the point that they were whining to go back to their slavery so that they could eat. And here's what God said...

"I have heard the grumblings of Israel; speak to them saying, at twilight
you shall eat meat and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and
you shall know that I am the LORD your God." (Ex 16:12)

"The sons of Israel did so [gathered the quail and manna], and some gathered
much and some little. When they measured it with an omer he who had
gathered much had no excess and he who gathered little had no lack; every
man gathered as much as he should eat." (Ex 16:17-18)

Oh that I would go to the LORD daily for His provision. It is THEN that (no matter what He gave me) I would have NO LACK!! I praise Him for the provisions that He has given to us so far in this desert period and I continue to pray that we would seek His face daily in order to gather His blessings!!

a visit with Doug's mom

We have finally gotten to visit with Doug's mom (who had never met Leah or Lex)!! Needless to say everyone was excited. Doug's brother Stephen (in the yellow) is in the 8th grade and sister Alicia (holding Leah) is 19 and living in an apartment in Richmond. His mom is in the middle (with the biggest smile of all)!! We had a good time, but weren't there near long enough. Leah and Lex really enjoyed their new family members.

the beach (again)

Well, we've been to the beach AGAIN!! Thanks to mom and dad we had another great week on the Isle of Palms (Charleston, SC). It was great to get away to Pigeon Forge last weekend for our family renunion (that is ALWAYS too short) knowing that we were still going to get to relax at the beach for almost another whole week. Leah and Doug built a sandcastle and Lex actually got in the sand this time (we're making progress). Here are some photos...

THE castle!
OK, so maybe the sand isn't so bad afterall.
What a happy family =)
Notice how far the next family is on the beach!
I LOVE the beach on fall break!!
This is Lex saying PLEASE, OH, PLEASE don't put me in that water daddy!
Leah and Pop collecting shells (their daily routine)!!