Moving out!

I still don't have Internet! UGH! 

I am working from Graham's office trying to catch up on some things.

Here are some pics from our final night in Fort Smith.  We all crowded in our master bedroom...

I am getting adjusted to our new life in Texas.  It's gonna be great, but moving isn't easy and change is tough at first. 

It has been one of those weeks!

Well, we are here--in Texas.  It has been a crazy week! 

The guys loaded our moving truck all day on Monday.  I am so glad we hired people to load our things.  They did a good job!  Tuesday was moving day.  We woke up, finished cleaning our empty house, and headed to Jacksonville.  It was very sad to leave our home.  I couldn't believe that I got so emotional--but I did.  I walked back to the nursery and cried.  Both of my babies came home to that room.  It was tough.  We pulled out of Fort Smith at 9:30am and made it to Bullard, Texas around 5:15pm.  It was a long ride.  When we got to our new place, lots of church guys were there to help us unload.  They were quick.  The rest of this week, I have been working on unpacking.  I feel like I have moved a mountain.

On another note...how bad is our health care?  SO BAD!  Since I am not teaching right now, we have a private health care plan.  Guess what? They denied any treatment for kidney stones AND Graham's back issue.  WHAT?  Kidney stones aren't preexisting.  Plus, Graham has not had surgery for his back in almost ten years AND he doesn't take any meds for his condition.  UGH!!!! I could just scream!  When Graham questioned the kidney stone exemption, the representative said that they denied it because it was reoccurring.  Really?  We get colds each year, too.  What's next?  Are you gonna deny treatment of colds, too?

By the way, since we are living in the country, we have little to no cell service and no Internet.  We are working on the Internet thing, so I will be away from the computer for a bit.  I ran up to the church to catch up on emails, etc. 

Sorry for the ramblings, I gotta get to Walmart and then we are headed to Tyler to look for a new couch!  I'll blog when I can. 

Packing Up!

Whew! It has been a really long couple of days...or months, rather. We have been packing up our things for our upcoming move to Texas. No, our home here in Fort Smith has not sold, but a very kind family in Jacksonville is letting us live in one of their homes. We can't thank them enough for their generosity. It is such a good thing that our family will be together again. It has been almost two months since Graham moved down to Texas without us. Boy oh boy, tough doesn't even begin to describe it. We have had to go weeks at a time without seeing one another (except for Skype!).  I am ecstatic about being together.

Thankfully, Missy came and got AG to play with Mylea a couple of days. That was such a blessing because we were able to get a lot done.

This is just a must! Gotta put a kid in a box.

The girls are loving the empty house! Edy has a lot of room to crawl and AG has a huge dance floor.

We did opt for a moving company to load our truck for us. Tomorrow the guys will be here to pack our things onto a big truck.  We should be pulling out bright and early on Tuesday!

I don't know when I will have Internet access again.   I will blog again when I am all set up in Texas. Please continue to pray for the sell of our home.

Trust in the Lord!

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Life has been a bit tough for us lately (i.e. living in different states, traveling, trying to sell the house, lack of stability for the girls, etc.). We have been going like crazy and I have been trying to keep my mind off of things, but that can be a hard thing to do. I have been praying and searching the scriptures for comfort--which helps a lot! I've been reading about Job. Boy, do I have it easy! Whenever times get tough, just think about Ole' Job. That'll put things into perspective quick!

Today, I traveled from Magnolia back to Fort Smith. Graham made the trip from Jacksonville to Fort Smith and now we are all here as a family. It's so nice. We will have to part ways again soon, but for now it is nice.

I have been on the road a lot lately. The girls travel pretty well, but today was hard. About an hour out of Fort Smith, Edy started crying hard. I mean REALLY hard! It is unusual for her to get so upset, but I couldn't do anything. My hands were tied, figuratively speaking--technically on the steering wheel.  So I asked AG if she would talk to her sister and try to make her shut up calm down. This much I know is true--Edy LOVES watching Ava Grace. Next thing I know, I hear Ava say, "It's okay, Edy. It be okay. I wub (love) you. I promise." It was just so sweet! I was all wrapped up in the moment until I heard her say, "Okay, okay, STOP CRYING. YOU HEAR ME, I'M THE BOSS!" Oh well, I'll take what I can get!

Back to the point of my post--I am going to continue to trust in the Lord through this valley.  In Him alone will I find strength.

Together as a Family

Graham is officially on staff at Fellowship Bible Church in Jacksonville, Texas. We are so excited about this new chapter in our lives, but we are still kinda living in limbo. We are currently trying to sell our home in Fort Smith. The current market is tough and selling has been a challenge. We went to Jacksonville about two months ago to look for a place to rent. We didn't have any luck with that, but we did find a cute little house that we liked and we decided to make an offer. We were shocked when the owners accepted our offer without any counter offers. Of course, the offer we made is contingent on the sell of our current home in Fort Smith. This has been a trying time for us, but we know that the Lord is working out all of the details--in His time.

Since it has been a while since the girls and I have seen Graham (14 days), we headed down to Jacksonville to visit him for a couple of days. He has been blessed with a little cabin to live in while we try to sell our home.

Ava Grace went fishing. She even got a couple of bites, but didn't catch anything.
For her birthday, my mom and dad bought her this cute dress up toy. It's kinda like paper dolls, but it's made of wood. Ava calls it a puzzle.
She loves making matching outfits. When I put outfits on the dolls that don't look quite right, she says, "That don't match." It's cute.

Edy loved being with her daddy.

Please continue to pray for our family as we try to sell our home in Fort Smith and make the transition to Texas.

Little Friends

In December of 2006, we bought our first home. We were so excited to have a home, but more excited about having a new addition in our family--a little one. Soon after moving in, we met our neighbors: Curtis and Bethany and Landen and Missy. Landen and Missy already had a precious little girl, Leightyn. Turns out, Missy and Bethany were expecting, too. I was due in August and Bethany and Missy were due in September. It wouldn't be long before we all found out the same news--It's a girl! So exciting! I could only imagine all the fun our girls would have together--and THEY HAVE! They have become best friends.

Our girls: Mylea, Macy, and Ava Grace

Mylea and Edy

Leightyn (the big girl), Ava Grace, Mylea, and Macy

Silly faces!

Playing Twister...Notice Leightyn, she's callin' the shots. She is so good with the "little ones" and they all love her so much.

Playing Perfection

Oh, and the story continues...

In May of 2009, I found out that I would have another little baby. You know the outcome--Edy Rose was born in January. Bethany, my neighbor, also had a little girl--Mady was born in March.

Mady and Edy

Our girls!

All the girls!

from l to r: Missy, Mylea, Leightyn, Ava Grace, me, Edy, Macy, Bethany, and Mady

Hugs!

What a wonderful blessing to have these sweet girls in our lives. We sure do hope that we have neighbors like this in Texas.

Farwell

Today was our last Sunday at Fellowship Bible Church in Fort Smith, Arkansas. It is difficult to say goodbye, but we look forward to what the Lord has planned for us next.

Graham preached this morning on his prayers for the church.

After church, we had some hamburgers. It was a great time for us to talk to everyone.

I will always have a special place in my heart for Fort Smith and Fellowship Bible Church. For one, our family grew from two to four here. Also, this was our first place to serve on staff and we have learned so much.

We have made some lasting friendships here and we are looking forward to spending some quality time with some of those friends throughout the week!

Moving

That's right, our little family is moving to Texas. Graham has taken a position as the pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Eastern Texas. We are saddened to leave our church family and friends here in Fort Smith, but we are looking forward to what God has in store next. Plus, I am going to be a stay-at-home-mommy for a while!

More on all of this later...

Now, someone buy our house!