Happy Birthday Ellie

Ellie turned four in November!  And with that has come a much anticipated hurdle in potty training!  Somehow all of a sudden it is just so much better!  Maybe she knows she is older and just has decided to stay dry all the time.  We are just proud of her.  She has really matured a lot lately.  She loves going to Awana and learning her verses.  She loves animals.  We hope to get a dog next year, but first we need to put in a back yard. We had just put in a backyard at our old house, when we had no idea that we would be moving so soon!

 

Another blessing for Ellie at our new house is her new friend Ellie that lives across the street and she is 4 1/2!  She is actually the daughter of a friend from my childhood.  They moved in a week before us!  Small world.

 

Ellie is very into Diego and Dora, learning spanish words, and still definitely loves to run and jump!

 

We love you, Ellie Ana!

Update on our New House

We moved in October 6th!  This house is such a blessing for us!  We now have 4 bedrooms upstairs instead of spread out on 3 levels like before.  An attached 2 car garage, so we don't have to trudge through the snow to the house.  Toby and I have our OWN bathroom, which we will appreciate even more as our 3 girls get older!  Not to mention new windows, roof, doors and INSULATION. We had an old house before with lots of character, but character won't keep you warm, like a new house.

 

As far as our other house.  We tried to rent it, but then felt it would be much easier financially if we sold it.  So we tried to sell it, but were not willing to drop the price so much to get it sold, so then we had it for rent and for sale.  The day after we put up our for rent sign, we got it rented to some excellent tenants.  We feel real excited about getting to keep it!

 

It has been a real walk of faith lately in all these changes.  Our big hurdle was getting loans we needed for the new house. The mortgage world is very cautious right now, especially for investors.  We had to do a lot to prove that we are actully living in the house that started out as an investment.  Now, that we kept our old house, it is still a walk of faith to believe God to provide.  But we really feel at peace about keeping it.  Part of our heart's desire.  We will see what unfolds in weeks and months to come, but I am expectant!  We have already seen some miracles and I really believe what we need is no big thing for God to do or lead us in doing.

 

I will try and post some new pictures of our new home soon!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had the pleasure of visiting family for a week and a half over Thanksgiving.  Toby worked at his old job for the week, so we made it a family trip.  One of the best highlights was getting to have Thanksgiving this year with my sister and her husband, Shane.  We really missed Tyson, though.   We were also able to spend time with Toby's family the next day, including Aunty Sylvia.  It is always a special time with them.  Since we get to be here so long (we are still here), I have gotten to see some friends that we hardly ever get to see when we come just for a weekend.  We saw Brian & Laura, Toby's cousin Luke and Michelle, Jess & James, Jen & Mack, and tonight, Karen and kids!