Where is the time going???? The move is coming up so quickly

We have been working diligently at packing and preparing for our move to Elgin.  Today so far has been a busy phone day.... calling new eletric company, calling to change addresses, renter's insurance, and more.  I know that I am not done with all that stuff, but at least I have a good start on it all.

Last Thursday we took some time in the evening and went to the Iowa State Fair as a family.  The Knudsen family joined us as well.  We had a great time and the weather was fantastic!  We enjoyed looking at Daniel's pictures again that werre choosen for display at the fair....so proud of our Daniel!  We ate some great fried food and just enjoyed being together (and not packing!).

A few weeks ago Johnathan and I were talking about the possibility of me learning the guitar.  He was so excited and continued to talk with John about it.  Monday night they suprised me by taking me to our friend Mike's house to pick out a guitar.  Mike is the worship director at Grace West and also has a business of buying, selling, and repairing guitars.  I just love my guitar.....however Johnathan has already proven to be a tough teacher. :)  I am working hard to learn my chords.....we will see how long it takes before I am able to play a song.

Also, this week my Dad's uncle has been in town and we have had a good time visiting with him.  It is fun to hear stories....last night he told us a story of my Granpa when they went camping in a pop-up camper and how he hit his head on the bottom bunk.  He was laughing as if it had just happened....fun times.

We received a great blessing from my parents....they have traded their electric piano for our Baldwin spinet piano.  I know some of you are thinking....why?  Well, moving to an upstairs apartment would be too much for all of us with a piano.  The electric piano breaks done and is much more mangable.  So, in order to save every one's backs and knees we called a professional piano mover to move the piano from our house to theirs....wow, they made it look so easy.  Almost like it wasn't worth what they were charging for it, but we know that it was well worth it.

It's getting harder to look at the calendar because we realize how close the move is....and good-byes are not easy! This coming Sunday John will preach his final message at Grace West and then in the evening they will have a potluck in our honor to say good-bye.  I am sure there will be tears, but we know that we are following God's plan for our lives. 

Support letters have been mailed out!  Also, a special offering has been taken at our church to help us raise the support that we need.  We are so grateful for the blessings that we are seeing!!  God is so amazing....He truly makes the impossible possible.....we just have to have faith!

This Summer is Flying By....

We all went to Arizona for a nice 2 week vacation.  We spent our time just relaxing and enjoying family!  What a blessing that time was.  The kids were in the pool about 3 times a day.... I think they started to grow gills.  :)  It was nice to get away and have this time together before our move to Elgin.  We stayed with John's parents and spent much of our time just hanging out at their house.  We were also able to visit with my family while we were there....we had a GREAT time!

Now...back to reality.  We are working hard at packing up the house.  Today the kids and I packed a ton.  We plan to make a trip to Northern Iowa on Thursday and take some things up to a storage unit we have secured up there.  The packing just takes so much time....I put together a list each day as to what I would like to get done and of course we are never able to complete the list.  I know that we will get it all done, but just wish it was going faster than it really is.

I originally thought that the kids and I would start school at the beginning of next week, but with packing and my mind being taken in so many different directions we decided to wait until we get to Elgin to start.  We will just not have as much time off around the holidays to make up for starting a few weeks later than normal.  I am ready though.  I have all the lesson plans ready and have purchased all the stuff that we will need.  The only thing that I have left to do is to print out the CPI forms and turn those in.  We have decided that since we will only be in Elgin for 5 months that we will complete the CPI's forms and file them here in Iowa.

We are working on a support letter to send out.  So things you can pray for.....packing, the sale of our home, raising our support, our upcoming move, the training while in Elgin, and the church plant.  Thank you for taking the time to pray for our family!