those wonderful Friday nights

Our "Faithful Friday Friends" the Leatherbury ladies have been coming over a year now. Every single Friday Dave and I can relax or go out a little bit. Here are their thoughts:



"I love helping take care of the quints! It's special seeing them grow from helpless, tiny babies into inquisitive, sweet toddlers discovering the world around them. Abby Leatherbury

Manna fruitlessly rummaged through her cupboards and came up empty-handed. "I feel like a stranger in my own house!" she exclaimed. What newlywed couple could stand having their privacy invaded at all hours and days of the week? And have others organize, clean and run their their home? Only a couple that is filled with the grace of God and a mission so big and so important that their personal preferences take a back seat.One of the greatest privileges of helping Dave and Manna with their beautiful babies has been watching this new, young married couple mature into a wise, godly family full of patience, love, gentleness, sacrifice and hospitality. All of us who have been involved with this family have seen God show Himself every time we go. Before our eyes we watched these tiny, fragile, helpless babies grow into strong, healthy toddlers. And we've seen Dave and Manna grow confident, competent and joyful in this gargantuan task of raising quints--and we know it's because He is in their hearts, guiding and strengthening them. Watching this family grow in the grace and knowledge of Him is truly a beautiful thing! I have been blessed!"

Becky Leatherbury

Volunteers' corner

"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in it's various forms." -1 Peter 4:10

Welcome to our "volunteers' corner". This will give you an opportunity to get to know our dear friends and family who help us so much daily/weekly/monthly. Here we go.

"I am Barbara Manley, grandma ma of the beautiful Manley Quints. I feel so blessed to be a part of this wonderful experience of Love and Life seeing this tiny , tiny infants become these beautiful children , so different each and every one with gifts and personalities that are so unique. I can see how God creates each one of us into the image and likeness of his Spirit . These children have the most amazing little spirits. They are so much fun and touch my heart each and every time I am with them. I play and dance like I never do at other times. They make me feel young and love in my heart. I feel they are Blessed with the most wonderful parents to see that they are loved and protected at all times. Dave and Manna have built the most loving community around the children to know what living on earth is really about.Serving God and Serving the World. I am so happy to be a part of this grand plan of Loving Service.
Namaste, Love and BlessingsBarbara"

At the beginning of 2007 we asked the Lord how He would like us to service Him in the coming year. We had no idea how our lives would be changed, enriched, fulfilled, and loved over the next year. Our prayer to make a difference in kids’ lives came to light in five precious babies. There have been so many special moments but we will highlight a few. Watching Hanna take her first steps being so careful and graceful was so precious. Her concern and love for Mate as she patted him on the head was beyond words. Tomi doing his army crawl, using his elbows, was fun to watch. His contagious smile that greets you in the morning is so sweet. Annabelle is a determined little girl. Her little laugh and desire to be squeezed is a special joy. Her discovery and exploring what snow was about was fun to watch. Lili is a quiet Queen whose darling laugh, disposition and smile brighten up the room. Her love of books is special because we would read books to her so she would finish her bottle. Mate is nothing short of a continued answer to prayer. We will never forget the day he started to crawl, it brought tears to our eyes. He has the most precious smile and will steal anyone’s heart.

Cliff and Debbie

Milk...milk and milk

This post is dedicated to a very special organization to Indiana Mothers' Milk Bank. Through them a dream of ours came true because with their help we were able to supply our children exclusively with breast milk up 15 months of their life.

According to their calculations, they have provided 15,892 ounces of milk to the quints since they started receiving milk as an outpatient on 1/28/08. That is about 125 gallons (473.2 liters) of donor milk! Amazing! In addition to that, they provided milk for the first three months of our baby's lives as well, with 1,108 ounces. Thus, the grand total is 17,000 ounces. Right on the dot!

The beauty of our story is that during all these months the Milk bank kept supplying us generously not knowing if insurance will reimburse them while our paperwork was pending for months. In the very beginning while we were still adjusting to our five babies at home they delivered the milk personally, which led to a very good and personable relationship between us.

Good news insurance ended up reimbusing the costs up till January 2009.

One of our sweetest experiences with them is the following.

Last fall we flew to Hungary with all five of them. We were firm about not giving them formula overseas. The Lord provided through the Milk Bank again. They took care about us even though their pasteurizer machine just broke down before our trip.
They supplied us with two huge boxes of frozen donor milk on dry ice. 540 oz total.
You can imagine the logistics of it and the joy of the airlines .

Due to the overwhelming demand for pasteurized donor human milk, the milk bank needs more donors! The screening process is fairly simple and the milk bank covers all costs associated with donation - blood draw, shipping, bags, etc. We can accept donors from throughout Indiana and all over the midwest. For more information, please visit the "How to Donate" tab of the milk bank's website at http://www.immilkbank.org/or contact Dane at 317/329-7146.

If you would like to read a beautiful story about extremly premature triplets and an amazingly dedicated mother please click on this link http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200903_omag_milk_bank/3 You will also learn fascinating details about the milk banks in the U.S.