David is 12!

Just a few photos to share of David's most recent accompliment. He has lived to become twelve! (And we thank God for that daily!) It seems not that long ago he was toddling around sucking on his pacifier and trying to talk everyone's ears off even with it in his mouth. The only thing really changed is the pacifier is gone-- he still loves to chatter!

He decided to have a joint birthday party with Alec, a new friend of his from church who's birthday is the 12th. Alec spent the night Friday night, then Saturday they had some friends here to watch Star Wars in our theatre and have a ball. Below are a few pictures of the fun!

David received his gift from us on Thursday evening. Daddy just couldn't wait a day longer...


Before the cake, they had a blast playing Star Wars in the house.


David was a fearless leader...




The cake and the party boys.



Then came gift time!






Here are a couple of group shots. The only girl besides the moms is Alec's sister. Alec is the one next to David on his right (orange shirt).



Hope you enjoyed a little bit of the fun you can tell they were having! I am sure we will update again in the not too distant future, so stay tuned...

A few recent pics

The job hunt is still going. But God is good and we are not starving! Here are some pics of a trip we took into the mountains while John's parents and grandmother were visiting. All the way north to McCall we followed a river. We stopped to throw snowballs and take a few pictures. In McCall, there was a lot more snow and a gorgeous mountain view over the lake. Enjoy!

OK - I've been neglectful (Long Post)

It's been a while since I posted. I know that. I mean to do better. Honestly!

Let's go backwards in time to fill in some blanks here. The last post was from Steph posting pics of our new place. I was in Virginia to get our stuff from storage. Let's pick up the narrative from there. Alex and I flew out of Boise Monday night to San Francisco as a 3 hour layover for our red-eye flight to DC. He loved his first ever trip in an airplane and was excited to go to California. Unfortunately it was dark when we arrived in the city by the bay. We were able to look out over the ocean during our approach and see som fading sunset colors - but most of the view was the lights in the city. I had been told to not leave the airport - that a 3 hour layover wasn't enough time to go anywhere and get back for a flight so we stayed put and sat down at a pub for dinner. We watched the MNF game and tried to relax. Alex started feeling sick and was missing mommy. He didn't want to get on the plane and actually sat down and cried at the gate. The gate attendant was wonderful and offerred to let us take a flight the next morning - but we had someone scheduled to pick us up in the morning at BWI and he was going out of town that afternoon. So I prodded and got him on the plane. 15 minutes later he was feeling better and told me thanks for pushing him on. Whew!! Big relief on my part!!

We got in to Fredericksburg and checked in with a few people and then waited on the truck to arrive. Carolyn, Ariel, and Elizabeth arrived to help get things loaded and they were an incredible help. We got boxes loaded in the front of the truck and had it packed from floor to ceiling! Michael and Darryl came after work to help get big stuff loaded. We got most of the furniture loaded and then called it a night. I picked Alex up at Timmy's house (wow - were they excited to get a play day together!) and then headed to Michaels house to spend the night. Thanks again to Michael and Alicia for putting us up for two nights! The next day, Carolyn brought her kids back again - this time including Solomon who is an incredible worker. Mark came to help out after a funeral he had to attend and together we got everything loaded by 6:15 PM. Almost everything fit - and Carolyn was happy to have our leftovers. We prioritized what got loaded and it worked well. I took them to dinner to say thanks and we enjoyed hot wings at BW3.

Thursday we left for Dayton - to have a birthday party for Alex with family and get some rest before the LONG drive on to Boise! The van started acting funny as I got off the highway to go to my inlaws - I figured to check on it in the morning before I left. We had a good time with grandparents, uncles and a friend. The next mornign, I asked my father-in-law to test drive the van and see what he thought was wrong. It wouldn't go into reverse!! Finally it did - and then showed it's true colors - only having 2nd gear available. I took it into a Dodge dealer to get the transmission checked and sure enough - it needed replaced. Fortunately it was under warranty - 18 months ago we had put a new transmission in. So I was stuck in Dayton. Well not really stuck - all our family and several friends are still there so I made good use of the downtime. When the van got fixed and I was preparing to leave, my parents said that if I would wait two more days that they would go with. Cool - that meant 3 drivers for 2 vehicles on a long haul. So on Thursday morning we all headed out (mom, dad, grandma, Alex and myself) We arrived in Boise Saturday evening about 2 hours after the friends that helped Stephanie unload the truck had left. Everything was in the house and garage - now the long task of setup could begin.That night we set up a few beds and then crashed for the night. It had been a long few days - but it was good to be home!!

We spent the next week setting up the house - by Wednesday we were able to pull both vehicles into the garage! Things have been progressing more slowly now - but it's getting done! My dad has been off of work for the last year due to surgeries on his knees - he's had both of them replaced. A day before the first surgery he received notice that he was being laid-off from his 16 year job at Panasonic - but it wouldn't take effect until he returned from short term disability of the surgery. Anyway - he has decided that he really likes it here in the west and is looking for work here now. Dayton's economy is going down the tubes now because of companies like Delphi and Panansonic and others. So it makes sense to look for work someplace where the economy is growing! We're excited about the prospects too. Could be a good thing. So they are still here (they're staying in the RV) for a few more days at least while dad sends out resumes and tries to get interviews.

I have sent out nearly 100 resumes and have specifically applied for a few positions - nothing has come of it yet. God will take care of us - I know that! It's just a matter of how! Anyway that kind of brings you up to date on what's going on in our lives! I'll get Steph to post some more pictures in the next few days!

John

As promised: A Virtual Tour

I won't be overly wordy here. This is simply to show you a few pics of our rental home. It is still quite empty, so bear with me-- and use a little imagination!

First, we'll begin out front. Here is a picture straight on from the cul-de-sac.


This one is from our neighbor's driveway so you can clearly see how to get to the door.


Here is a picture of what it will look like when you walk up to ring our doorbell!


Inside, this is the entryway and front living room. I love the bay windows!


Straight back from the entry, you look directly through the house to the back door and dining room!


From there, if you walk past the partial wall that divides the living room and kitchen, you can clearly see we got a lot more cupboard and counter space than we had! The boys SO enjoy having to do their schoolwork here...



If you notice, you can see the pantry door open on the far left side of this picture. It is incredibly nice to have the pantry. I hardly know what to do with all my cupboard space! BTW- Zach is now hiding behind the counter!


Going through the door off the dining room, you enter what we affectionately call our theatre room. Notice the aforementioned 30 thousand dollar screen and the wonderful makeshift media center...




Going into the room and turning right, you first come across the fourth bedroom, which of course we aren't using as a bedroom. It is going to be our office/school room. Notice how the clutter has already begun?


On your left down the hall a few paces further is the door to our downstairs bathroom.


Through a door at the end of the hall, you then enter the laundry room. In it now resides a brand new washer and dryer compliments of my darling husband.


Lest I forget, I will also show you the great "back-doors." (Yes, I know I am not really funny, but if not for poor attempts like this one, this post would be WAY dull!)




As an afterthought, I figured you might want to see the view from my back door. See how easy shopping is for us. Oh and banking is just a stone's throw away...




I did not take photos of the upstairs rooms, as they are empty shells of what they will be. It really is hard to gain perspective from 4 empty white walls. When furniture arrives next week, I'll be happy to show it off. Till then...

Ta-Ta!

PS- Hi honey, I miss you!

Alex's 8th Birthday

Well, we may not have been here very long, but we have definitely made some friends. We invited over 4 familes to help us celebrate Alex's birthday Sunday, and we ended up with 20 kids here! And all we had was 5 lawn chairs! It was great fun though and Alex had a blast while receiving a few gifts. I think he felt special!



















Today, Alex and Daddy took off on an airplane to San Francisco then catch a red eye flight to DC. Before John left, he was kind enough to build our very own 30 thousand dollar projector screen. See, if we bought it, it would've cost a thousand dollars. But we made it, so it only cost $30. Cute, eh?



Don't suppose we told you that God opened the door for us to rent a 4 bed/3 bath/3 car garage house in a very nice and centrally located area of the city. We moved in less than one week after we decided to stay. It was really quite neat how it was laid in our laps-- and at an unheard of price tag!. Just another confirmation from above that we are where we are supposed to be right now. I take some photos of the house and post them. Hmm, maybe tomorrow!