In Loving Memory

It is always hard when you lose a friend, but to lose someone who is completely healthy in a car accident reminds you of how short our time here on earth is. On Monday, one of our close friends from Messiah College died in a head-on collision in Dayton Ohio. Below is the news video about her accident. She was an only child, and we are praying for her parents as they have gone to Ohio to coordinate services and bury their baby.

Teri Lee Carl
Born: February 28th, 1979
Died: December 1st, 2008

We miss you Teri Lee... See you in heaven.

The Ring's Visit

We are sooooo happy that the Ring's are visiting us!! They arrived here yesterday, and we've been able to spend some awesome time together. Today we went to Monkey Joe's, an indoor moon-bounce/gymnasium, where the kids went crazy and had a blast. We came home and watched Veggie Tales Jonah, and let the kids rest a bit. It's always great to see close friends, and we hope that all our friends from VA come and see us soon!! We miss living in VA, and we miss Calvary Baptist Church.

Our Texas Family

Just wanted to write a note to all our "family" in Tx. We are praying for you all! If anyone else is reading this, please pray for the Adames, the Stoners, the Dittmars, and the Tardys. These families are all living within the general path of IKE. Love you all and pray for God's safety over you!

Happy 30th!!

Happy 30th to my wonderful Hubby!! Today he has entered his 31st year and fourth decade of life! (I'm only sharing this tidbit of info because I heard this for a week before my 30th birthday!)

My love
Adores the LORD
Trustworthy
Tolerates my moods
Hottie
Energetic
Witty

Honey, I hope you have a great Birthday! We love you!

Nothing like a older home!!

After two weeks of being in our new home, we are well overwhelmed with the tasks set before us! We have been blessed to be able to accomplish one so far...the electricity. We were without electricity for two days (only for eight hrs. each day) so we could be "upgraded" and improved. We have also come to assume our home has three ages. First as a small first floor ranch, then as a cape with two dormers added to the front of the roof and one larger roof area added to make two bedrooms and a bath upstairs, and finally, an addition with two smaller bedrooms upstairs and a family room (we're making it a dining room) off of the back of the home. Along with the three stages, also come three different kind of walls (plaster, drywall, and hardboard) and three ages of windows. The oldest windows remind me of the home I grew up in (which was built in 1861 and torn down in 1992).

Don't get me wrong...the charm and character totally outweighs the tasks but knowing that we somehow have to find the time and the means to accomplish them is very overwhelming for my Type A personality. I know it can be done...many of our friends (military/with kids) from VA can testify to that!

We have some photos of the new place and the kids...I will do my best to get them up as soon as I can...but I cannot promise anything! I'll probably do it during one of my "I need to rest" moments!

Hope you have a great weekend! Please let us know how you're doing!

Eleven more days

until we are in our new house! There is some excitement and yet some hesitation with the new home! I am really looking forward to living in our own space, just to have our children in their own rooms!! The kids have shared a room together ever since Daniel was about twelve weeks old. For the past four months, they kept each other up at night. Daniel has been crawling out of his pack and play for the past two weeks. Due to our current hotel quarters, we only have a small space between his pnp and a bed (at this hotel, it's our bed). Therefore, he uses the bed to pull himself up the side of the pnp and just makes it a game for about an hour each night. I am so tired of it...I get so frustrated and mad. When Matt is away, it just worsens. I don't know how single parents maintain consistency, or even sanity!

During this time, I have really thought about whether or not we should have more kids. I get so frustrated w/ the two we have, I don't know how I'd do with more! For those of you who have more than two, please tell me why it's good to continue growing our family??

Well, I'll stop w/ my frustrations. I will leave you all w/ my life verse that I must constantly remind myself of: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Phil. 4:13

Fourth of July

Happy fourth of July! Hope you had a great day with your family! We had a good day! We got to enjoy our first of many family cookouts at Matt's Auntie Tina's house! They have cookouts three times each summer! They are great! Matt and the kids got to go swimming with Matt. They all had a great time.

Last night we spent the evening with our niece Sarah so that her parents could go to a wedding. We had a great time with her. Sammie and her are so much alike; our time is usually spent encouraging the two of them to be more loving and giving with each other.After Sarah and Daniel were down for the night we got to watch the great Boston Pops and fireworks (on TV)...the bonus was RASCAL FLATTS! Sammie was so excited to see the fireworks. Sadly, she fell asleep five minutes before they started! As soon as the fireworks ended, Matt joined her in dreamland.

Lord willing, this will be our last holiday in the "midst of transition" for at least a couple of years. We had to move into another hotel on Thursday so that we wouldn't have to move three more times at the other hotel. We had already moved twice there and I was just not willing to let them shuffle us around two/three more times! It has been great to be near family but doing so in a hotel has been an adventure in itself...realizing what a family can and cannot live with! Look out Yard Sale!!

Have a great fourth weekend!

LIfe Changed again...

well, it's been quite some time since our last blog...we no longer live in va. we now live in ma. what a change! we are in the process of looking for a home and Lord willing, will have the answer on monday. we have put in our sixth offer on five homes. this last one was accepted and we're awaiting the home inspection on monday. i will do my best to keep all of you posted on it. since we're in temporary housing, my to do list is much smaller...not as much house cleaning and limited laundry time since we have to use a laundromat...can't do that while Daniel is napping.

matt is adjusting to his new job and working hard. for now he has the same work schedule--every other friday off but after we move, he may change that since his commute is longer and we won't have to travel to visit family as much. we will be living about 15 mins from my sister-in-laws house and about an hour from the parentals. Therefore no more need to figure out trips to new england and pa, just pa and va...much easier to do in one trip!

don't have pics to put on right now, but maybe someday will be able to do it!