Getting back into a routine

     With Christmas quickly approaching, it has been hard for us to focus on school- both the kids and I.  But we've making the best of it.  This paper Ev did cracked me up:

Atleast she said I cook very  good!  Tomorrow is the last day of our month long Christmas study.  The weather has also been gorgeous so it's hard to get everyone to focus when all they want to do is play outside.  Yesterday after school, they were playing in the woods.  They found an old car bumper and drug it into the yard.  Jake said if they could find all the parts, we'd have another car.  Ha!  There are also many neighborhood pets, many which like to come up on our deck and look in our windows and say, "Hi" to us.

Isn't he the cutest, little, ugly dog you've ever seen?  The kids thought he was so smart because he would sit when they told him too.  He was very friendly and liked to give kisses.  They were voting on names- Simon or Sparky, but I don't think they ever decided.  That's ok because we can't have dogs here anyway.  We did see him in yard again today with another dog, so they were happy he made a friend.

     Last night we skyped with my parents.  The kids really enjoy being able to talk to and SEE them.  It was lots of fun chatting, except the part where Claire blurted out to my mom what her Christmas gift was.    Oh well!  

     Well, hope ya'll have a very Merry Christmas!  My next blog post probably won't be til after the New Year since we're getting ready for a trip back up to Ohio and when we come back to Georgia we'll be having houseguests for a few days.  May God bless you all richly!

Getting All Settled In...and a Trip to the Smoky Mountains

     As most of you know, we finally all moved down to Georgia the day after Thanksgiving.  Matt's been down here since May b/c of a job transfer and it was really hard being a apart.  Our house back in Ohio is still for sale, but we are trusting God it will sell soon!  We decided it was time to take this leap of faith and move us all down and trust God with the rest.  Since making that decision, we have been blessed in many different ways- Matt got an unexpected raise, we have received unexpected financial blessings in the mail and from people at church- it's amazing to see the ways God is providing for us!
    It was sad packing up our things and leaving our first home, but the excitement of all being together again overpowered the sadness.  We did have to make some tough decisions on what/what not to bring, as we ran out of room in the moving truck.  But those are just things.  It was fun watching the kids run around and explore the new house.  Here is a pic of our Georgia home.

The kids have had fun exploring the neighborhood and have even made some friends.  Ev had a fall down the hill the first day here and scraped the whole front of her face, but thankfully she's fully recovered.  They've also made new friends at our church.  I must say we are so blessed to be able to attend this church.  Matt has been going there since July and it was wonderful to finally meet everyone.  The kids love their classes and the older 2 are getting signed up for discipleship classes so they can be baptized.  On Wednesday night, the kids have AWANA and Ev is already memorizing her verses like crazy.   Wednesday night, Matt and I sat in on a prayer meeting led by the associate pastor and it was such a blessing.  You could feel the power of the Holy Spirit present.  He was prophesying over the upcoming year.  I can't wait to hear him again this week.  Here is a pic of Claire Wednesday night before church.

     This past weekend we took a little weekend getaway to the Smoky Mountains...Matt still can't get over how close we are to there.  We always love our visits there.  We stayed the night in a cabin with Matt's parents.  They warned us that the drive up the mountain was steep.  It was!  It was a narrow road with a cliff on one side and a deep ditch on the other.  Then add in darkness and rain.  Got almost all the way up and the van wouldn't go any farther.  Matt had to back down in the dark- I have never prayed so hard in my life. That was terrifying.  Thankfully, we found a spot to park and hiked the rest of the way up.  It was a beautiful view and we had a blast celebrating my father in law's birthday.  Here is a pic of the kids.

As the weekend winds down, we are reminded of just how blessed we have been this past week.  Looking forward to getting more settled this week, back into a better routine and hopefully a lazy weekend ahead!