Kayla Nicole

The purpose of this blog is really two-fold. First, for those of you who may not have heard, Kayla asked Jesus into her heart on Sunday night, October 12th. She came to us on her own after church and said she was ready. Of course, we wondered at her young age if she truly understood. We questioned her thoroughly and when all was said and done, it was apparent that she was ready and determined to know Christ and know that her eternity in heaven was secured. As we knelt by her bed, tears filling our eyes, Kayla, all on her own, asked the Lord to come into her heart and forgive her of her sins!! Her simple childlike faith was refreshing and rebuking all at the same time. She was so excited and resolute about what she was doing. Oh to be able to clear the "clutter" of life and to simply take Christ at His Word and trust Him every day just as a child! Anyway, she has been testifying to all she knows of her new found faith in Christ and we wanted to be sure and share with our "blogging" friend as well.
The other reason for this post is quite obvious. I am very thankful to have such a sweet little "mommy's helper". Kayla especially loves to help in the kitchen - baking, cooking, setting the table, anything she can do by my side. It is so fun to have such a eager little helper. On this particular day, she was decorating cupcakes for her daddy. She knows daddy loves chocolate, so she was very intent on making these cupcakes look "perfect" for her favorite man! Kayla - we are so proud of you and thank God so much for the little girl he has given to us!

Kayla - "pure"

A Few Pics of Our New Home

Many of you have asked me to send pictures of our new home. Here are a few we have taken so far. Please realize it has only been three weeks and not everything is done so this is all we have to offer so far. We are so blessed and humbled by God's goodness to us. The invitation is open to all. Please come visit us sometime. We'd love to open our home to you in little Greenville, Wisconsin!

A Few Pics of

Family Trip to the Little Farmer - Malone, WI

First Field Trip

Well, I figure it's about time to catch up! We are beginning to feel settled with having been here for just one week now. So much has happened in the last month that it will take me a long time to fill everyone in. God has been so good to us as we have seen him answer prayer in amazing ways over these past few months. As for Hunter, he is doing very well and loving school. For those of you who do not know, we put him back in Kindergarten as he was a little too overwhelmed in first grade...i.e.- socially just not ready. He is doing so much better in kindergarten and loves his new friends and teacher. This past Wednesday, I had the priviledge of being a chaperone for his fieldtrip to my favorite fall place in Wisconsin - The Little Farmer. It is the best!! There is so much to see and do. We were able to pick apples in the orchard, tour the bee and apple house, go on a hayride through the forest to pick pumpkins, and finish the day with homemade caramel apples!! It was a great day...cold and brisk, but so much fun!! I was thankful for the chance to see Hunter interacting with his classmates and also some time for the two of us to do something special together. We will continue to share more posts of the past months over the next few days, including pics of the new home God has provided us. Stay tuned...we are still alive and back to the blogging world!

"Firsts"

Today was a day of firsts for Hunter. He woke up this morning and dressed in his first school uniform, he packed his first backpack and lunchbox, he took his first ride to school, he made his first entrance, he found his first desk, put his belongings in his first locker, met his first grade classmates, has a new first grade teacher and all of this on his first day of first grade. Looking back on the day he was born, we realize what a miracle this day of "firsts" really is. God is sooo good in bringing him to this point! We never imagined that Hunter would have an opportunity like this. Oh....we miss him terribly!! The house is way too quiet! But, we wouldn't trade this opportunity for anything. We thank and praise God alone for allowing us to have this day of "firsts"!! We pray that this will be the first of many blogs to come sharing with you the memories of first grade!!

"Prayer Changes Things"

Well, we arrived home about a week ago now from our long, but enjoyable vacation to Mama and Papa's house in Colorado. I did not realize that I had forgotten my camera until we were already three hours from home. (now you know why there have been no new posts for weeks) The last week has been very tiring and busy. For those of you who have not heard, we did accept an offer on our house and after some minor obstacles and hurdles, the offer we put in on a house has now been accepted as well. All I can say is, "Praise the Lord" for He is the one who made all this happen. As we drove through the night to Colorado, Nick and I kept ourselves awake by delving into "theological" discussions. At that point we were still unsure how everything was going to work out with the housing situation. I told Nick that it seemed everything I prayed for just wasn't meant to be. In those early morning hours something simple and yet profound that he said really hit home. Nick (my "little" brother mind you) reminded me that even though we cannot fully understand it, "Prayer Changes Things". We discussed the mystery of it all how that even though God's divine plan is known from beginning to end, He commands us to pray and teaches us how to pray. Then in turn He hears and answers OUR prayers according to His will. Wow!! We have seen this first hand over the past several weeks. And now as the daunting task of moving approaches and as we prepare to send Hunter off for his first day of school next week, we are calmly assured of the fact that God will see us through it all. Please continue to pray as we look forward to closing on September 26th and before that on August 27th as we send Hunter off to school. Thank you to all who have upheld us in prayer up to this point. We KNOW God has heard!