Sad news

On Saturday, after our Christmas Party for the high school, we got a phone call from a friend in GA. She told us that one of our good friends passed away just an hour before she called. He was more than just a friend or father to some of the students in our youth group - he was part of our family. Their entire family was more than just some friends, over the years they had become our family.

We are planning on making the trip down for the funeral. Please pray for safe travel as we will be doing a lot the next few days.

Not much else to say, we're just at a loss for words. Amy and I did try to talk with Nathan about it today, as he loved Ron (and Ron loved him). Its not fun to try to teach your 2 year old about death.

Christmas decorations

Yesterday we put up some of our decorations. It was fun. It took longer than it "should" have because the boys helped. But I don't think Amy or I would want to do it any other way. We put up some new village scenes we've had for a few years but haven't been able to put up. We put up our tree. This year, Amy and I decided that all we are going to put on the tree is a strand of lights, that beed garland and one ornament. That one ornament is of Jesus in a manger (with a sheep next to him).

There are several nativities up (now the one on our microwave has more friends and doesn't feel so alone). We were able to get out the advent calendar and Nathan gets to start it today.

Overall it was a great day at home - though the weather started to change for the colder.

we might try to put up some pics of the decorations later

thoughts on Thanksgiving & pictures :)

Amy and I were completely blessed to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with family. It was a little strange not being with friends from GA (since that is who we have spent the last 5 Thanksgivings with) but nothing that we would want to miss out on with our family. Nathan continues to talk about all the people he got to play with over the past 2 weeks. :)

A few pictures for your viewing pleasure...


Becca and Nathan enjoying a little snack.


Wes wanted to wear Nathan's fireman jacket all day long after we got back.

NYWC over

We are back with family after the convention. It was a joy to be at the convention, but it is great to be back with the boys. We sure did miss them!

We got back earlier than expected last night and were able to see the boys before they went to bed. What an honor that was.

I'm going to go spend some time with them now. We'll post more later

away from the boys day 6

Its been tough. The boys are doing well, but Nathan is really starting to miss us too. So, that makes it hard to call and talk to him. He told Amy today that he cried because he missed us. :(

We can't wait to get back to see them!!

We know they are having a great time with Nene and Poppy, so we're not worried. Its been good to hear how mom and dad are doing and how much of a blessing it is to have them have the chance to be together for more than a few days.

The NYWC is going great. It has been long days, but a great uplifting to talk to others who are youth workers. God has showed up in some rather "normal" circumstances.

dropping off boys

Last night we arrived in Fort Wayne to drop off the boys and dogs. Sticky and Sadie were quick to remember grandma Carol. Nathan and Wes were equally well adjusted after just a few minutes.

Today we leave for cincy. It will be tough to leave the boys, but we know they will be more than fine here with family. They will probably forget we are even gone :)

less than a week

On Sunday we are driving up to Fort Wayne. We will be leaving the boys with grandpa/grandma and they are both excited. Even today at lunch, Nathan was talking about the trip and how he was excited!

Then on Monday, Amy and I are off to cincy for the National Youth Workers Convention. We are both pretty excited about this. This is her first time to help at the convention and my third.

Then on the 20th, we are back to Fort Wayne to spend a few days with family for the Thanksgiving holiday. Looking forward to this little vacation.

Lots to do b/w now and Sunday.

Photo Friday

Wes loves to be thrown in the air. Here is a pic from our old house where we tried to capture him midair. Not too bad.


Nathan got to get up close with the tractor that pulled the hayride. Needless to say, he is a little tiny compared to the huge tires.


Wes trying to share some of his birthday cake with Aunt Kim. He didn't get near as messy as Nathan did.


Aunt Kim visited and the boys (as well as Amy and I) loved having her with us.


Here it is. The final picture of our boxes. Thanks Aunt Kim for taking them away for us :)

Halloween

Here is a picture from the Trunk-n-Treat at church. What a cute Darth Vader! Hey, look at that big boy fireman.

Gotta love boys.

What a weekend

Aunt Kim visited this past weekend. It was great

Had a trunk-n-treat at church. Nathan was a fireman and Wes was Darth Vader. Sorry no pictures, but I'm having trouble getting them to load.

Yesterday we went out and did some trick or treating with a friend. Nathan again was a fireman and Wes was a Duck :) Yeah we ended up with two different costumes for him, got them last year. Needless to say the duck was a little smaller.

Will try to put pics up again.

two more pics

Here is a pic. of Amy doing some painting on the new house. It is a lot different looking being painted and with all the stuff in it :) You should have seen it before we primed it.



Here is a picture of mike and nathan after a long day. (Well, it was probably closer to mid morning, but it was still a tough few hours)

Wes turns 1

on Sunday!

it is over...

the moving is done. We are officially in our new house. But for those who might be mailing something - it doesn't really matter where you send it to. You can use our old address, our new address, or just the city and zip. As long as it has our name on it, it will get to us. A joy of living in a small town.

Now, on to the unpacking.

moving

Tomorrow we move all our stuff into the new house. Fun Fun Fun. Tonight is the last home game for the football team and a 5th Quarter afterward. Then tomorrow morning is the mens' breakfast. Then we move :)

We are really excited about the move and can't wait to be in. More once we get settled

a few pictures (to go with the captions)

Our little guy sure is growing up!




Our first TP since we've moved. They also got our new house, but it was such a sorry job we didn't even bother taking a picture.



This is the last picture of any of our stuff in storage:) Thankfully this has all been moved to our new house - now we have to just organize it.



Here is Wes showing some love for GA (the state, not the football team)! Sure would love to be back in GA today, its like 42 here.

Walking

Wes is officially walking. Last week, he just woke up one day and "decided" that taking steps was not enough any more. So, now he will walk across the room and is actually starting to prefer walking to crawling :)

It has made for a few more bruises and bumps, but its a lot better to take him outside now. He actually almost ruined two pair of pants this summer from crawling outside. Nathan was too scared of the grass to crawl on it, but not Wes.

On the housefront:
we are almost done painting (should finish tonight) everything we want to paint before we move. We are planning to move in on Saturday. (wow, that seems quick - yet its been so long)

This move will mean that we can walk alot more places: the park, the school, downtown Albion :), the pond for some fishing, the ball fields, the pool. Mike will be able to walk to and from school related events (thus leaving Amy with the car if needed)

Please pray about the move and the transition. Thanks.

More pics (supposed to be)

Here are some more pics. (not really, because I am having trouble loading them. But I have left the captions in the post. If I can get the pictures loaded and on the blog I will.)

-Now, just imagine the pictures that go with the captions-



This was our storage building at its max. We have since emptied it and moved the contents to our new house. Even though they are still in boxes, pretty much like the last year, we feel better because at least the boxes are at our new house.



A little Georgia love. (not the football team, but the state)



Look how cute he is! Now if that doesn't make you smile...



Our little buckaroo is growing up into an awesome little boy.

a few more pictures

Here is a nice pic of Mike being a great dad. Wearing some really cool sunglasses and helping to 'fix' the mailbox with Nathan.











Here is Amy being a great mom. Its really cool to see how much Nathan loves his mommy.










Wes was ready to go back inside. (If you look closely, you can see him pointing to the door, his way of asking to go inside).










I tried to get some more pics up, but having problems. Will post more soon. Will the pictures be of our first TPing, the new house, the boys or what?

it finally happens

Today we are going to close on our new house. So that is good :)

Yet this means, a lot more projects to be done (as we don't have many, at all, now that we are renting) and grass to be cut. We are really excited about finally moving and being in a settled location. We'll try to put up pictures soon so you can see what it looks like.

More fun, fun, fun

It has been great to have the family together this week. Though tomorrow and Saturday I (Mike) will be gone to Promise Keepers.

It is def. starting to become Fall around here. Let's just say it is cold in the morning (not something I missed being in GA). It is actually really nice to have the changing of the seasons. The weather is pretty nice and it helps to not be so hot all the time. The boys have not seemed to notice too much. They have not minded having the jackets and sweaters on.

Please pray for us as our moving to a house is no hold. There are a few things that need to get completed before we sign and move. Hoping to not take too long, we are hoping to get settled and stop thinking about moving or the fact that we are in a constant state of transition.