Moving Day!

Well, we're finally moving to a new place this weekend.

We have been searching for a house to buy for months now, with no success whatsoever. It has been a very frustrating process, but certainly one that has taught us better how to depend on God for our family's needs and to trust His timing. We had said for months that we needed to be moved by September, because Anna will need to move out of the bassinet and into the crib...which we have no space for in our trailer.

Well, by God's grace he has provided a place for us, though not how we had imagined! Our friends Floyd and Li moved out of state before their house sold, and they have asked us to house-sit until it does sell. It allows us to have more space (their house is 7 times bigger than our trailer!), while continuing to save $$ towards our own place.

We realize we run the risk of the house selling and then having to move again, but we're trusting in God's timing and provision. It's no coincidence the way this has all worked out, with how many people have been interested and even put down money on their place only to have it all fall through, to have it available in the exact timing that we need to move...so we're trusting God for the end timing of the arrangement, as well.

Please do pray for the perfect housing for us to work out, and praise God with us for this provision right now! We're also grateful for all the help Mark's parents are this week...they've gotten so much packed already! We'll do the bulk of the moving Sunday afternoon, and then the hard part of settling in while not settling in too much will begin!

Needless to say, between moving, settling, and planning for school (I'm so thankful we'll actually have a room to do school in!), I won't be blogging much this week! But be patient and check back in on us every now and again!

Rides at the fair!

The boys both seem to be "riders," for which I'm delighted...as they get bigger, I'll have someone to go on rides with, since Mark doesn't care for rides at all. :)

They first went on the hot air balloon mini ferris-wheel type. Grandma went up with them, since we weren't sure how Jacob would react, it being his first ride.
We shouldn't have worried...he loved it, as did Andrew! (And Mom enjoyed them enjoying the ride)! :)

Being totally into helicopters right now, they loved the helicopter ride even more. Then Jacob went on a ride by himself while Andrew and I went on the little roller-coaster together. He's so fun! I even convinced to go "no hands" with me for a second, and we were in the first car (his choice).

Although we somehow (unbelievably) didn't take any pictures of Anna the whole day, she was a trooper! She spent most of her time in the stroller (we brought the double stroller for her and Jacob), and some time in the front-pack. There are a few churches, God bless them, who set up diaper-changing/nursing mother stations as an outreach. They certainly ministered to us!

All in all, it was a grand day that we all enjoyed, even though it was exhausting!

Fair-day Fun

Andrew peeking through the wall of the flower maze...












Enjoying the lumberjack show...
















Tired boy hitching a ride (not that he didn't have a stroller to sit in...dad's just more fun)!


















Now we all now how to milk a goat! (And considering that it only costs $1-$2 a day to feed a goat that will give you a gallon of milk a day, when buying a gallon of milk is $5, it's not a bad idea)! :)

Jacob's Pony Ride

Jacob loved the pony ride! It's so fun watching him grow up and have some of the privileges that come with being 36 1/2 inches tall. He showed no fear whatsoever...it was all fun for him!

Andrew's Pony Ride

This was one of Andrew's favorite memories from last year's fair, and he was so excited! He had a grand time, and was just as delighted for Jacob to be able to ride this year, too!

At the petting zoo...

Off to the fair!

Many smiles as we head off to the Alaska State Fair!

Grandma and Grandpa are here!

Mark's parents arrived safely on Wed. night (or, more accurately Thursday a.m.), and we're having a grand time!
Andrew put it quite succinctly, "I've waited a long time to see Grandpa and Grandma!"
Dad already has Andrew riding his bike without his training wheels, and the boys have had lots of bike rides, walks, and storytimes...we're so glad they're here!

Hmmm....

...the things that turn up on my camera when I'm not looking!

Orca Island Adventure

Last weekend, I was privileged to get away on a pastors' wives retreat on Orca Island in Resurrection Bay (Seward). Brenda, a friend of ours who works with the Baptist Convention, received an undesignated donation for ministry, and she decided to use it to give pastors' wives some rest, relaxation, solitude, and mutual encouragement (all things that are too often missing for us)!
It was a fabulous weekend! Orca Island has 3 cabin yurts and a houseboat, and we had the small island all to ourselves! We boated out on Friday night, had a delicious steak dinner (it tastes even better when you're sitting on a deck high above blue-green water watching fish jump and jellyfish swim in the ocean below!), and settled in for a weekend of no time demands!
We had some great talks about the joys and challenges of our particular area of ministry, shared a prayer and worship time, and enjoyed getting to know each other.
I had the extra blessing of having virtually uninterrupted time on Saturday to get some planning for starting Andrew homeschooling this year. All I had to do was feed and change Anna, then leave her with the bunch of Grandma's that were just soaking up time with her since they hadn't seen their own grandkids in so long!
Thanks, Brenda, for a fantastic weekend!



Anna got plenty of attention!

I know the picture of the door may seem like an odd picture, but it was my view upon sitting up in bed in the morning! It's not often you get to see ocean and mountains without even getting out of bed!

This may seem an odd picture, too, but the ceiling of the yurt with the skylight in the middle was just neat looking...and that's what has Anna so entertained first thing in the morning in this picture!

Anna's Bath

Andrew took this picture of Anna in the tub last week...she really enjoys her bath much better now than when she was first born!

Another successful date night!

Since I was going away for the weekend, we had Daddy Date Night on Thursday instead of Friday. It was Andrew's date with Mark, but I had the camera! Jacob and I (Anna was asleep almost the whole time) had a fantastic time together! We did several puzzles together, and then Jacob chose the game "Roll 'n Play," a great toddler game. You roll the soft cube, and then choose the color card that matches the color that came up on the cube. Then everyone who's playing does what the card says. Needless to say, Jacob really got into the game, we both laughed a lot, and still weren't done playing when Mark and Andrew came home from playing at the playground, getting ice cream, and walking to the creek to see the salmon!

Love those kids!

Fix-it man

Andrew is always fixing something! About every other day he "fixes" my washing machine for me, or a lamp that's not working, or a door or any number of things! We were at my parents' house the other day, and he came around the corner, with his face looking like this and black soot all the way up his arm, to inform us that he had fixed Gramps' "smoker." It didn't take much deduction to figure out the "smoker" was the exhaust pipe on my dad's truck, so we had an "exhaustive" lesson on the dangers of touching tail pipes, not to fix trucks without an adult to help, etc, etc. It will be fascinating to see what he does when he grows up!

And as my brother-in-law Jerry noted, white is really not his color!

Too adorable

I may be biased, but these were just too cute not to post!
(Thanks for the pictures, Tricia)!