We bought a house....

Well, it's been awhile since I've blogged, but we will be closing on our new home in East Medford, OR on May 28th. We sign our loan papers today and then we sign closing papers and snag our keys on May 28th. As often as we searched ourselves, we found nothing......however, when not searching, the Lord placed a very nice 3 bdrm, 2bthrm, 1700 sq. ft. home built in 1998 into our laps. It was quite shocking, but something we felt we weren't supposed to pass up. So after much prayer and support from our church family and friends all over the U.S.......:) we were able to purchase this. God has given us a real peace. Todd's job is going well and Brendan (after a little worrying and a few tears) is looking forward to starting at Kennedy Elem. in the fall for First Grade! So, on goes our journey in Medford. As soon as I get some good ones, I'll post pictures of the new house. The house has been bank owned for over a year and we were fearful of what it might look like when we took our first walk through.....but to our surprise we have brand new carpet, brand new paint, a brand new gas stove and a brand new microwave. Everything is in working order. Our big project will be getting the front and back yards in order. They are pretty rough right now, but we look forward to summer fun fixing up our yards.....this will be a great learning experience for us! ha! We are giving God all the glory for our home and thanking Him for his faithfulness daily!

Having fun teaching

So, I've been teaching the 4,5, and Kindergarten class at church on Saturday nights. It's been a little skimpy when it comes to how many kids i have. I usually have my two plus one or two more. It's been ....enlightening I guess I would say to see how kids learn in the classroom. It's been fun. I posted a picture of Brendan, Madisan and I getting ready for class. They are quite happy that I am teaching their class, so that makes me feel good. I was a little worried they wouldn't be as excited as I was! So, if you ever want a good challenge, a good laugh, and some very rewarding times with kids, volunteer to go and teach a 4 & 5 year old class. You'll be surprised at how much they know and how much they are willing to tell you! :)
Peace out my friends!

Almost forgot...the house we put an offer on fell through....

So, I forgot to update about the house. In September 2008, Todd and I felt that God was giving us a nudge to settle down here in Medford and stop renting. We've been waiting on the market for quite awhile now and a very nice home on our street went up for sale 8-10 months ago. We waited and waited and it eventually went to short sale. It looks exactly like the one we are in now, so we were happy with the floor plan and most of what we saw. Gradually, the price came down to where we liked it and we put an offer on it and waited 3 months for the bank to decide if they'd accept it or not. As far as we know, we were the only offer, so we were feeling good about it. Through much prayer, God began to give both Todd and I a serious peace about being content whether the deal went through or not. We have great Christian landlords that we rent from and so we are able to stay here for the time being....they have no plans to move back to Medford at the moment, so we are in a very good situation with little stress! whew! So, all to say, before we left for Idaho at Christmas time we got a phone call that the house and offer stuff could go through and be done in a week to 10 days, so we got all of our funds ready and we were ready to sign or fax anything we needed from Idaho. We never heard anything about it until New Year's Eve when we got a phone call that the bank countered with an amazingly RIDICULOUS OFFER and we immediately had our agent counter with our exact same offer. Needless to say, we heard back that the bank denied it and it will go BACK onto the market. So, nothing has changed. We continue to rely on the Lord for a house or more direction in what to do next. :) We will continue to look for this house and see if it goes back on the MLS and then depending on the price, we may make another offer. We'll just wait. We are content where we are at......I've had many people ask what the outcome was or where we stood with the house and I wanted to get an update on the blog! Thanks for holding us up in prayer!

Good memories from the big "4 year old"'s birthday......

This sums up a lot of the day...this smile never left

Ahh....brother and sister having fun in the snow...

Having more fun.....sledding

"The girls", cousins Stacia and Shianne at Maddie's party in Idaho

Present time!!!

Madisan, for those of you that know her well......is ...uh....well she can act and talk like she's 10 sometimes. (It's down right scary to me) She will warm your heart with her genuine hugs, genuine smiles, and grown up way about her (this little one just loves people); and then.......... she could talk to you like she owns you and it's all about her and you (although you are her friend) know nothing really ..in the next breath. Split personalities is what we call it....???
Maddie is our outgoing, bubbly, exuberant, princess-like, sporty, singing, dancing, acting, big-eyed, love bug. She has the Sanguine in her, with the Choleric in there too. She's outgoing, change your clothes for every occassion, fun type.....all the while, certain things have to be in certain order, a certain way, or someone said "such and such" and it hasn't happened yet, so we need to make it happen for them, otherwise, all is not right with the world...or there could be tears. Well, you get the picture. She is very proud to be 4, and our family would not be the same with out her! And, so starts my journey of no longer having a toddler, but a "kid"! :)

Trying to look younger........

This is me trying to look younger.......
This is not one of my favorite pictures I don't think, but I thought I could show off my attempt at putting my hair back and looking younger.....How do I rate??
I think I look older.....
Todd however will be older than I am come April 2nd and I have no problem with that! ha! Todd hits 37 this year, ...that much closer to 40-- and boy, I am wanting to make that a big party!!!!! Anyone want to come??
Brendan is doing well back at school. He has the best Kindergarten class, the best teacher and classmates. I was recently told how smart the whole class seems to be and how far ahead they are in the learning process! Exciting. Brendan comes home having learned something new everyday. He's all boy and occassionally likes loving on mom, dad, and Madisan. He loves to play the guitar and make up drum beats as often as he can......however his most beloved hobbies are drawing/coloring pictures or playing and creating things with his legos and K'nex. He's full of energy and loves to share it with us! He keeps us young! :)
Madisan is quite the little learner. Her and I love to stay at home and sing, read, play board games and work on her abc/123 workbooks. She is learning to write her name all by herself. We are very impressed. She remembers everything and is very attentive, not letting Todd or myself get away with anything. She loves to talk, skip around and just generally is a very happy girly girl! Our kids are such a blessing to us....and we wouldn't be the same without them!

Happy New Year 2009!

So here are a few pics from our last few weeks! We've had a great Christmas and New Years! Hope you all have too. Blessings to you and your families as you start a new year!