Dearest friends and supporters. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and encouragement! We are very hopeful for receiving a pardon next week! The attacks have continued to come against us though. Our permit has been suspended thus leaving us with no current way to operate our business. We are working on getting them to reinstate it. Pray for favor. And pray that President Trump really will keep his word and pardon my sweet husband!!

This is our newest family picture! During visitation at the prison they have a prisoner who sets up a festive background (right now it is a beach theme! Oh how we would rather be on the beach! LOL) He can purchase photo credits from the commissary for us to get our picture taken. They print one out for him and one for him to send home to us. We are blessed that he is in Bastrop which has a little kids area in the visitation room and snacks we can purchase (Travis gets gummy bears to share with Daddy) which makes it less of a scary experience for the kids. It also isn't too terribly far for us to drive! 

For Father's Day there were very few things we could do for Chris. We went to see him and it was a 2 hour wait just to get into the room to see him. We did have a great visit with him! He is an amazing father! He deserves the world! But we were able to get him a book so he can read a book to the kids over the phone at night. This is the one he chose. "With Dad" by Richard Jackson. My boys love fishing and camping with Dad so it is so very meaningful for them! They talk about "When Dad gets home we will..." all of the time. Hopefully, this Supreme Court ruling will help that to happen much sooner now! He has to go for resentencing in DC next. We don't have a date yet, but his lawyer is working on it! LOTS of PRAYERS NEEDED for Chris, our family, and our country!! Keep Praying! God is Good All of the Time!!

I am absolutely overwhelmed with gratitude! God has worked so many miracles in our lives and sent so very many incredible "angels" to help us in our greatest time of need! In a moment of desperation I cried out to God, and literally less than 10 minutes later a precious servant of Christ called me with the answer! If I am learning anything during this season of life it is truly to TRUST GOD! Stop worrying and start praying! GOD IS AWESOME, ALL OF THE TIME! Thank you to all of our incredible "angels" who have come to our family's aid throughout this time in our life. You know who you are, and we will never be able to repay all of the incredible generosity in time, money, and talents that have been poured out on our family. We pray that your blessings will be multiplied in heaven!!

Travis will be graduating from Kindergarten next week! This is a letter he wrote to his Daddy not long ago. He adores his Daddy. At first he cried constantly. We listen to the bedtime story video that Chris made before he went in, and he tells Daddy goodnight every night. Many times when we have gone to see Chris, Travis will sit on his lap and eagerly tell him all of his stories and adventures he has been waiting to tell him, then he falls asleep peacefully in Chris' arms. It breaks my heart that he has to be away from him. 

Our Baby girl will turn 1 year old soon! Chris is so sad he will not get to be here for this big event! His heart is grieved that he is missing so many precious moments with her! We watch a video of him reading bedtime stories to her every night. So when she is tired she will start saying, "Dada" because she is ready to snuggle up and have her bedtime story with Dada.

Sometimes you just feel like a punching bag... they informed Chris today that he will have to pay $260 a month toward his fines or else they can extend his sentence by 3 more years. So I have to figure out how to at least have this much in his commissary account every month. Just one mess up and they extend his sentence! 

Chris has been taking a painting class with his friend. This is a picture of the paintings they did in class! He will also start teaching a watercolor class soon. His actual job in prison is teaching and he makes a wopping $.27 per hour! He is also going to teach a series of communications classes and help tutor guys on taking their GED or other courses. He makes sure to both take classes and continue working. These things will both contribute to him getting to come to his family sooner!

We got to go see my husband on Easter! We both firmly believe our children need to be in church, so when we visit on a Sunday we only get to see him for an hour. It was far from our normal family Easter celebration, for sure, but it was good for the kids to get to talk to their dad and even play with him a bit! We get to hug him at the beginning and at the end of the visit too!

Well, so many things have happened since we first published this. My husband went to trial and received a guilty verdict on all charges. Then at sentencing the judge placed all of the enhancements on him and sentenced him to 83 months in a Federal Prison. He has now been there for 7 months. He is a teacher within the prison and getting to put his masters degree to work, he is in a painting class, as well as scheduled to teach one, and he is an avid reader... so he keeps busy. He has lost 42 pounds in 7 months as well! His family has grown! We now have a beautiful baby girl in addition to our 3 boys. I, his wife, am now raising all 4 kids on my own, taking care of my 2 elderly parents, caring for a farm full of animals, and running our small business. We have had to greatly downsize the business in his absence. He literally did the work of 3 people! We still owe for his fines and legal fees as well. Any help is GREATLY appreciated! We know the Lord will see us through these difficult times and your prayers are definitely needed!

I am already overwhelmed and reduced to humble tears with all of the love, support, prayers, and help we have received!  I pray God will bless each and every one of you 1,000 times over for everything! His trial begins December 12 in DC for the many people who have been asking. I do believe that "God will make a way where there seems to be no way!" Thank you!