volleyball game

We went to the high school vball game last night. First time for Nathan and Wes to go to something like that. It was pretty fun. Overall, the boys did great. Wes just wanted to crawl around and be thrown in the air. Nathan watched for a bit and then just wanted some snacks :)

Its nice to be able to do stuff like that, now that Wes is a little older. And hopefully when we move we'll be able to walk to the school for stuff like that. Its just so dark when the games are over.

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that we have a life outside of our house. Still don't have one outside of church stuff :)

More to come... (will we ever get pictures?)

new house

This week has been pretty busy, so we haven't blogged about this new development. About a week and a half ago we made an offer on a house and were accepted. (btw, its a lot different real estate market around here) We don't know for sure when we close and move in, but at the latest it will be the 20th of next month. We are pretty excited about the new house and its location. It is right behind the school and close to the park (as well as being "in town"). We are going to miss living next to our friends and the people who let us rent their house, but we know we won't be too far away.

We just wanted to let you all know what was going on. Please be praying for us as we make this transition. There are a lot of things we have had in storage for over a year, so we don't even remember what all we own. Again, I wish we could put a picture of the house on here, but I can't. But our move will change that as we will get internet at home and I will be getting a new computer at work soon (hopefully this week) and I will be able to do it from work now too.

Anyway, just wanted to update.

family visit

Today, we get to enjoy another family visit. (One of the great things about living semi close :))

Amy's mom and sister are coming in for a few days. Nathan is super excited. As are Amy and I. Wes doesn't really show too much change in facial expression (but then again he doesn't really understand all we're saying). We're all looking forward to the time we get to spend. Tonight is going to be pretty segmented, due to our small group that meets at our house, but we will just consider it special boys only time with the family.

Hopefully, we will be able to post some pictures in the next few months :)

No really, I've tried everything I can think of to get pictures on my computer at work, but alas it is not going to cooperate. So, until I get my new office computer or we get internet at the house or we move, you won't be seeing any pictures on here. That is, unless we can try to do it on a friend's computer.

rain, rain, rain

Today and yesterday have been filled with one thing... rain (as if the title wasn't enough of a clue).

We needed the rain. Amy mentioned yesterday that she looks at rain differently now that we live in an area that depends so much on rain. I agree. Its not a problem when you know your friends really need it for their crops.

Other than the rain, things have been rather dry :)

Wes is really starting to want to stand next to everything and will even stand on his own for a brief bit. Nathan is really growing into a little boy. And his memory is incredable. Everyday it seems like he amazes us with what he remembers.

We've been able to have a few visits from family lately and that has been great. And we look forward to many more to come. More later...

lots going on and no time to write

and we don't have any internet at home.

Let's see what has been going on: Summer in the Son (a great week with some of the high schoolers), getting settled into our temp house (fun, fun, fun), VBS this week (getting to know some of the middle schoolers and other adults), Pork Day (best one ever), Wes is really trying to start standing and walking, Nathan is learning lots of new words and putting words together, and lots of little stuff that goes with moving across country.

We'll try to write more about Pork Day and the boys soon.

(I need to get back to work)

We are here

I know its been over a week, but its been pretty busy. We are here in IL. No phone or internet at home and some limited at work (due to being in the country and in some sort of "valley" that won't let the technology of the 21st century into the building :)). So, we haven't been able to do much updating.

Just wanted to let you all know we are here and safe and happy. Next week, we will be going with the high schoolers to Summer in the Sun. It'll be a great way to get to know some of the youth better as we start the ministry.

Hope to have some pictures up sometime soon (probably a few weeks).

Bob, are you serious?

Bob, are you serious?
Originally uploaded by lilkup.

Here is Wes on the Bob the builder ride at Chuck E. Cheese. He didn't seem to impressed with Bob, just look at his face (esp. the eyes)

Nathan's new hat

Nathan's new hat
Originally uploaded by lilkup.

Another great pic of Nathan playing with his favorite toy. The hat is one of Mike's old ones that Nathan wanted to wear - it doesn't fit that bad.

What is he eating?

What is he eating?
Originally uploaded by lilkup.

Its Crunchy Taco Hamburger Helper. But he really didn't eat it. Amy did accidently try to feed it to him, and he hated it. (Thankfully) He was a lot more willing to eat the baby food after he tasted this spicier mexican treat.

Amy takes a swing

Amy takes a swing
Originally uploaded by lilkup.

Here is a pic of Amy taking a practice swing with a seven iron. We never got to go play golf, due to bad weather. But I (Mike) like to believe that I would have still won, mainly because Amy has never played a round of golf before. It was a fun day.

Storage Room

Storage Room
Originally uploaded by lilkup.

This is our "storage room" as we have pretty much filled it up. It is just about as full as it will get and in a week, we get to empty it!!!

We are ready to not have a storage room, and actually put the stuff in a storage building.

we got it!!!!

Some of you have already heard, but for others here it is. We got the job in IL. We are pretty excited to be heading back into ministry. I (Mike) am really ready to get back into it. Its been a long 11 months, and God has been faithful the entire time.

We will be moving in 2 weeks - so its almost over :)

Mmm...good

Mmm...good
Originally uploaded by lilkup.

Nathan really likes oreos! He had a few on the trip and didn't want any of it to go to waste, so he does what we all do and licked his fingers. Despite the messy clean up it was pretty cute.

Wes starting to crawl?

Wes starting to crawl?
Originally uploaded by lilkup.

Here is Wes this weekend deciding that he wanted to try this crawling thing again. He hasn't been able to crawl yet, but he started rocking and scooting himself backwards.

another great trip

This past weekend offered us another great trip up north. The drives went well, with the boys doing great. We had a couple great opporutnities to just hang out with people (a women's banquet, softball games, ice cream social) and some more formal opportunities (Mike preaching, visiting SS classes).

We feel really good about the vote next week, and so does the leadership. We will finally know for "officially" on Sunday afternoon. Please be praying for the vote and for the next step.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Today is our 5th anniversary. Happy anniversary babe.

For our anniversary, I thought we could take an 8 hour trip :)

weekend to come

First, the pictures are coming. It's been pretty busy around here this week. Yesterday was Mike's last day at the dentist office and next Wed is his last day at Target. He wanted to have some time off before the move and start of a new job.

This weekend we are heading back up to IL for one last visit. We are excited and a little anxious. Please continue to pray for a safe trip and for the overall trip. We want to be ourselves and get to know a few more people. Thank you for your continued prayers and thoughts. We are thankful for all the support we have received the past 10 months.

Well, gotta get packing. Will post probably on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend.

100th post

This is our 100th post!!

(pause for spontaneous celebration and balloons - a streamer or two if you must)

Back to the post...

Well, today was a great day and a long day. Since we are hoping on moving in the middle of June, we decided to go ahead and put our house on the market. We thought it would take around a month or so to sell our house. This would allow us to be able to know for sure what was going on before we would sell the house. Well, let's just say it doesn't seem to be working that way. Today we had 4 people look at the house (with at least 1 more wanting to look tomorrow). Out of the 4 people who looked at the house, we received 4 offers on the house tongiht. How crazy is that - 4 offers in one day.

We will hear back tomorrow on the offer we "accepted" and countered. Now we just have to hear back from the church and see what happens :)

Just wanted to update. We'll post some new pics soon.

roller coaster weekend

This weekend was filled with soem great highs and a horrible low. Let's start with the low.

On Thursday night, after work, I (mike) went to the hospital to visit our friend John who was in the ICU. His wife was not there, so I had a chance to talk with one of his sons for a bit. Then when I was getting ready to leave, his son asked if I wanted to go back and see John. I had not thought about doing it, but since I am a minister Josh (the son) said they would let me. I went back to the room and as soon as I saw him I started crying (not just those "end of a sad movie tears" but the real "weeping" I can't believe I am looking at you in this condition tears) and couldn't really control myself. I prayed with him and cried.

Well, on the way up to IL, we got the call we didn't want to get. John passed away on Friday afternoon. It was a tough ride after that point. Because we were out of town, we did not get to go to the viewing or funeral.

But we had some great news this weekend, too.

The weekend went great. We had a chance to get to hang out with some of the youth and coaches/elders/staff on Saturday night. It was a fun time and we felt right at home. We even said it didn't feel like an interview. It was a great feeling to just be "right back at home" even though it was the second time we were there. We stayed with a great couple, we much prefer this over a hotel :)

On Sunday, I was able to teach the jr. high sunday school and the sr. high sunday night classes. It was good to be able to teach in those settings again. We felt like both classes went well and God used the subject matter to reinforce some things that have been taught over the last few months. We still haven't been able to meet all the youth yet :) (they must be scared of my overwhelming personality :))

Anyway, on Sunday afternoon we had a lunch with the search team and elders again. At the afterlunch meeting there wasn't too much discussion about new stuff. It felt like everyone had already made up there mind as to what they thought about me and the open position (probably didn't hurt that everyone loved Amy and the boys). So they decided they would have a meeting right there after we left. They met and decided to ask us back in two weeks to preach and meet the "rest of the congregation" - you know the people who don't have children and those who don't work with youth or are not elders. They want to give every opportunity for the people to get to meet us. We will also be visiting different SS classes during that trip.

I was offered the job and we accepted. This next trip is almost basically about "PR" with the congregation. We are looking forward to it.

Hopefully, we will be able to move and start in about a month or so. Wow that is strange to type. It has been almost a year since we started this process. Throughout the entire time God has been good, no great.

Wes sitting up

Wes sitting up
Originally uploaded by lilkup.

Just wanted to show a good pic of Wes sitting up all on his own.