October in Images

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October held more business than we are used to.  We installed a door from our garage into the backyard (because there wasn't one.....who builds a house without a door from the garage into the backyard?!)  I traveled to Denver to visit my dear sister and her family after my precious niece had surgery.  I spent a few days there over a long weekend and came away with NO pictures of Sarah and I together - good gracious!  I did a solo project in the dining room while Josh was gone at a med conference for the last half of a week - it was exhausting and probably too much while I was solo parenting, but worth it.  
We undertook a massive kitchen redo project that extended well into November and proved to be frustrating and a testing of our graciousness and patience with a local contracting company that bit off much more than they could chew, and never owned up to it.  We have a kitchen that looks worlds better than it did, but we will most likely need to replace counters before we sell, as they failed to do a professional job in many areas that we predict will significantly decrease the lifespan of the product we had them install.  Oh well, it looks beautiful!
We also hired a contractor to put in a bedroom in our basement where the perfect little nook already held promise.  It's been heavily populated since being finished in mid Nov.  
We visited a pumpkin patch nearby that is well known in this area.  It was incredible and such a fun day!  I'm not sure how many acres it spans, but it is well worth the visit once a year!  

 

September in Images

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Our precious friends from our time in Portugal live in Kansas City (have since leaving the island in 2014) and we didn't waste any time getting together shortly after we moved to NE.  The backyard is such a source of joy for us - four boys need room to run and climb and BOY to they ever have that space here!  We started school with the boys this month and did our best to stay the course though the zoo, friends visiting and time in our backyard and working on things around our new home pulled much of our attention away.  

August - with some explanation and a few images

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  We spent the last few weeks of August packing out of our home after less than a year in it in Minot.  It was no less painful to leave our community in Minot than it has been to leave anywhere.  It was a different pain, but not less.  Burying roots is something I can't not do, and with each move I expect uprooting to get easier, but it doesn't.  I'm thankful that the Lord provided me a husband who moves easily and is eager for "new" as we walk into the next chapter, each time.  The pain in moving feels nearly crippling at times, but Josh's excitement, drive and encouragement help pull me out of the fog of the heart pain.
  This move brought us out of the Air Force life, nearer to family than we've been in nearly a decade, and to an area where our hope is to bury roots deeper and find a community and church home that can be our "sending" body as we look to the Lord for His timing in us launching into overseas missions.  We are not certain how that will look, when it will happen, or even what capacity we will go in ("creative access" to somewhere truly unreached or to a well established missions area), but we are excited to have our AF commitment time done, so we can actively train to be sent.  So this move feels different - not more final, but more intentional as we, instead of the AF, chose where to go and why.  Transitioning out of being part of the AF community has been bitter sweet.  I hold those years dear to my heart and will continue to all my life, but it's refreshing to be able to walk forward with the dream we feel the Lord has been putting on our hearts since medical school.  
The last few months have been filled with settling into our home, redoing some of the areas that we (mostly me) felt would be beneficial to change right away, hosting holiday dinners, catching up on much missed time with family after years of being overseas and across the U.S. - out of pocket.  What a treasure it is to be nearer!  It's surreal, honestly.