Time Has Wings

Two whole years has gone by since my last blog post!  It's been so long, in fact, that months have gone by since I decided I would pick it back up again.  But I've decided.  And no, I'm not going to start from scratch and try to pretend that I'm not a major slacker who took two years to repost.  No sense in denying who I am!

My last post was the Father/Daughter Dance 2010.  Since then, Maddy has gone to two more with her Daddy.  Here is a photo from this year:

 

In March of 2010, we brought home our newest family member!  His adoption was final 6 months later, and we may post our (amazing) adoption story at a later date.  In the meantime...

Gus, age 2

Somewhere in the middle of 2010, we began to feel the Lord stirring us to "downsize" and felt strongly that we would be entering a time of full-time ministry (I had left the workforce 9 years ago to work/minister full-time with His Hands.)   So we sold our big house in the city and half its contents and moved into the tiny trailer in my dad's backyard and waited for the next step.  (We had lots of adventures in the woods behind my daddy's house, living in 650 sq ft with four children. Maybe we'll share some of that later, too. )

The next step became clear in the spring of 2011, and Casey left his corporate position at the local mental hospital to work/minister at Penfield Christian Homes, a men's addiction-recovery residence.  So we bought a house Casey had never seen in an on-line auction (!!),  packed up and moved to the tiny town about an hour away from.....everything....And the adventure continues!  

The high school is right around the corner from our new house, so CJ walks to school and usually brings several extra kids home with him in the afternoons--we love it.  He played Varsity Soccer and got good grades:

Varsity Letter Award and Scholar Athlete Award (A average).  I can't get this picture to upload right....Grrrr....

Cole had a bumpy start to the school year, so we began home schooling in January.  He really enjoyed the freedom to study topics he enjoyed (and some he didn't so much, like multiplication!).  He particularly enjoyed "projects" such as research and reports, etc.  Among other things, we raised tadpoles from eggs, studied bugs (harmful vs. beneficial), Daniel Boone, and Brazil.  At International Night, he gave a report about Brazil.  He was the youngest participant, and the only student to present alone.  I was so very proud of him!

 

Casey is enjoying his new job, I love our new house.  This move has meant a 40% cut in income for our family, but God has been very faithful to care for not only our needs (from someone buying us a brand new stove, to another showing up at our door with cash!), as well as our desires (free tuition for preschool, brand new bikes, and that oven--yes, it is my dream oven!)

We are very blessed!