Newsflash from the Cave

Okay, I know I have been in a bit of a cave lately. No, I haven't moved to Afghanistan, been abducted by aliens or joined up with any bizarro cult. Life has been a bit of a roller coaster. So, let me give you the reader's digest version.
The fall and early winter have been very difficult for our family. Without needing to bore you with the details, my husband has decided to resign from his position as pastor of our church here. It has been a difficult and painful decision, but we believe it is what is best for our family (and believe it or not, for the church). So.... what that means, unfortunately, is that we will be looking for a new call (that's what they call it when a pastor gets a job at a new church), and will be selling the house, and moving who knows where. Now that I am over the initial bummed out stage, the reality of all that needs to be done has set in. We have a great house, but this market can be scary. So, we are doing every last little thing possible to get the house in tip top shape and staged to sell. I actually enjoy some of this type of work, but it is hard to get done with three kids- two of which I am homeschooling. Once my hubby is all finished up with what needs to be finished up with church and sorting through his office- hopefully this week- he can help with school and the tasks at hand.
While all of this is sprinkled with a healthy dose of sadness, I am looking forward to my husband having some time to de-stress and to having an unprecedented number of consecutive Sundays where he will be sitting with us in church rather than standing up in front of us. I am relishing in the fact that I will have him there to worship with and to help in training our children in the pews. This is not an easy task. If your pastor's wife has small children, do her a favor and watch for ways to help her out. Trust me, it is greatly appreciated.
As for where we will move, who knows? Almost surely not here in Colorado as there are not many open positions here in our denomination. There certainly is a job out there for him.
We will be looking very carefully at the "fit" in deciding where it will be best to apply and pursue. This process is not known for being a quick one. We know it will take time, and don't know how all of the timing will work out with selling the house. BUT, it will work out. We are trying to approach it as an adventure. Thankfully, homeschooling will make the process and transition to our next home fairly seamless. While it hasn't been easy, I am glad we won't be juggling the stress of questioning where we will be finishing the school year. That question won't need to be addressed at all until fall when we determining what to do for the 09-10 school year.
So, for those of you who have been asking, emailing, or otherwise haranguing me about why I haven't been blogging, now you have a better idea. I will try to be better about it. The fog is lifting and hopefully, in a week or two, I will actually have some more time on my hands.

A Few More Photos from Yesterday

She was fascinated by the reflector to her right, so I just snapped her looking at it and thought her expression was sweet.

This was the one that I loved, but this was as good as I could repair the botched exposure. It was like a white ghost photo to begin with...

Pictures in the Snow

Today we awoke to a beautiful blanket of snow, which of course made me think... PICTURES!! Yes, I am slightly obsessed with photographing my children, but it is just because they are so darn cute. I have been experimenting with some different types of shots lately in my quest to become a decent photographer and today was no different. Unfortunately, my favorite shot of the kids expressions didn't turn out so well, but these were a few that I am fairly happy with. You know what they say, practice makes perfect. I guess I will just need a bit more practice.

Thankfully, Ellie is always up for letting Mommy get in a little practice, so we took a few more once we got home. Our dog Cooper joined in before too long. She loves that little beast!




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Happy Thanksgiving

Well, I guess it is time to come out of hiding. For reasons I don't care to express here, October and November 2008 will not go down in my records as the best of times, but as the fog seems to be lifting, I figured I would post. I am sitting at the computer with my little peanut in my lap smelling the smells of thanksgiving bubbling away in the kitchen. It is very quiet... something I have grown accustomed to not having at home very often. All of my boys are off playing flag football with a sister church of ours in Parker. And, for I believe only the second time in our 15 years of marriage, and I believe the first time since having had children, we will be spending Thanksgiving just us. I guess it is a good time to just stop and be thankful for just that... our little family. God has been good to us through all of life's difficulties and has continued to knit our hearts together. While we are not where we want to be yet, Ellie has come such a long way in her attachment since last Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for that. I am also thankful for three healthy and growing children with incredible individual gifts and personalities. They are a blessing that I still cannot truly believe that I we have been given. I am also so very thankful for my husband, Milan. He is a good man, an amazing father, such a hard worker, and has such a big heart- far bigger than many people know or appreciate. I am lucky to be his partner. While we will not be together today, I am also so thankful for our extended families and for the never ending support and love that they give us. We are blessed beyond measure. Friends like the Gritters, the Finleys, the Gesses and others are also precious beyond measure to us and we again thank God for their friendship.
I hope that today finds you all thankful for those in your life that love you, extend grace to you, and hold you up through the good and bad. We all have much to be thankful for regardless of our circumstances. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

I Loved This...

I am hoping to get the kids to the Palin rally tomorrow in Colorado Springs... should be a great educational experience for them. I must admit, I wish she were on the top of the ticket. Anyway, I loved this video from SNL on Saturday.

Reformation Day Party

Last night was the Reformation Day Party for our church. Stefany Gess planned and basically implemented nearly all of it herself. She is amazing and did a fantastic job. The kids had a great time. Elijah's comment was that it was the most fun he has had in his entire life. The kids looked great in their costumes (I am sure glad to be done sewing for a while) and they learned about the reformers and what happened at the time of the Reformation through games and characters. I have loaded some pictures in the album below. Milan was Martin Luther and I was his later wife, Katharina Von Bora.

Reformation Day Party

Halloween Trick or Treating

We went trick or treating with the kids last night. Ellie was a lady bug, Elijah decided last minute on Darth Vader and Noah went in his Reformation Day costume. We will have our Reformation Day party tonight which they will all dress up for in period costumes. They sure look cute.