The backyard from Ava's bedroom window upstairs.
Kitchen
Dining Room with 5 (yes, including the ceiling) kinds of wallpaper!
Dining Room, Living Room, and sunroom. Again notice the wallpaper. Four more kinds in the living room. And paneling and horrible carpet in the sunroom. =)
Living room from the entryway.
Entryway. Isn't the woodwork pretty?
What you see when you drive up.
So there it is! It's a beautiful old house - with some rather horrible decorating choices. But we're renting, so I'm not doing much about it. It's temporary. And God is giving me humor to look at it and laugh instead of cry. Although when Caleb put the borrowed rugs down in the living room, I chose the latter. The poor man (and Alan) slaved over the wood floors in the dining room so I wouldn't cry over them too. Love you guys! =)
This move has not been easy for me. I'm pretty sure Caleb thinks I'm losing it. I keep crying for no particular reason at random times, and he keeps looking at me like I'm crazy. Hmmm...maybe he's right? Or maybe I'm just an overly emotional woman....
So, in the midst of the chaos and meltdowns, here's the things I am most thankful for in all of this.
1.) A HUGE house! Tam and I cleaned our Lincoln home on Friday, and I seriously have no idea how we all fit in there. We were getting on each other's nerves because we were on top of each other all the time! The kids love to play in their basement playroom here. And the fenced backyard is perfect. And I need MORE FURNITURE! I actually have spaces I don't have furniture for! AMAZING! =)
2.) Family close. Kayla and I took the kids to the park twice last week. Oma dropped by with lemon poppy seed bread. Yum! Becca stopped by for fun and went to the park with us. My mom and dad gave us furniture they weren't using. And Tam and Alan have spent so much time helping us move and clean and unpack. We would not have been able to do this without all of you guys!
3.) Caleb's job. He loves working on tractors and combines. And he likes the guys he works with.
4.) A good church. Although this church doesn't feel like home to me yet, we've been so blessed by welcoming people and solid Biblical teaching.
5.) Friends for the kids. People here have been so kind - inviting the kids over to play. We have neighbors (one of the pastors at the church) with kids almost exactly the same age as our kids. A boy and three girls. Ethan waits every day for Dakota to get home from school so they can play. Ethan and Kylie practically stalk their front door. Sorry JJ and Carol! Please send my kids home if they start to annoy you! =) I've tried to impress the importance of inviting others over to your house instead of inviting yourself over to theirs to the kids. So far it's not working. Apparently last time they went over, they rang the doorbell and announced, "We're here to play!" Nice.
6.) Friends from Lincoln who want to come visit us. Yay! We miss you guys!
7.) So many things being close. We walked to the library, the park, and the grocery store this week. I drove out to my mom and dad's in less than 10 minutes! And grandma - you're next! =) I suppose that balances out the extra hour it takes to get to Super Target now...
Hmmm....that's what I can think of for now. I have alot of thank you notes to write. I'm just so grateful that in the midst of all the chaos and stress, God has proven Himself faithful and gracious and loving. He is our perfect provider. He knows exactly what we need. I'm learning to trust Him more and more through this. That's the point, right?
