A Much Needed Update!

Well, I thought about just giving an update about what is going on right now in our lives, but I could not leave out the past month or so. So much has happened!! So I will write briefly (well maybe not briefly !) about the last month or so and include pictures of course!!

At the end of July, my church in VA held a baby shower for me. It was so wonderful. My mom was able to make it as well as most of my sisters/sisters in law-Karis, Bethany, and Laura. That was so special for me. My mom ended up coming out to VA for a few days so we enjoyed that so much. My nieces Kayla and Krista stayed with us a couple of nights so Dan and Karis could get stuff packed up to go to Cameroon. We had so much fun. The shower was great as well. The church people were so generous, and I received so much. I am so thankful for Colonial!

Tim and I ended up quitting our jobs on Aug. 9. We wanted to have time to go see his family in Florida before we moved. We headed out Aug. 10 to Florida where we stayed at his family's house for a little over a week. We had so much fun with them. Both of Tim's sisters live there so we got to see them as well. We spent a lot of time playing with the kiddos!! (1 nephew and 3 nieces...including a niece that was just 5 weeks old..so so cute!) We had a lot of fun activities we did while we were there. Tim helped his Dad build a shed in their backyard. We also enjoyed a meal at the Melting Pot...it was my first experience. My favorite was the dessert!! It was so good. We also went to a great Japanese restaurant and even to Chuckie Cheeses with our nieces. Of course, we both loved Chuckie Cheese! We did a lot of swimming in his parents pool as well. We were both so thankful for the time we got to spend with his family. We had not been there since we had been married.

The next week was the week that Karis and Dan were going to leave to go to Cameroon. So we had that week to hang out with them as well as pack up our house for the big move to Kansas!!! Both my parents and Dan's parents were in town this week, so we enjoyed having a lot of family time this last week. Bethany had us over for a wonderful supper on Tuesday night. Then on Wednesday everyone hung out at my house during the afternoon, and that night we went to Jason's Deli as a family. We threw a surprise Dora birthday party for Kayla which was so much fun for all of us. (John and Bethany actually put the party together!) Then on Thursday we were able to enjoy one last breakfast together at Cracker Barrel before they headed to Africa. It was such an enjoyable week, but very emotional as it was hard to say goodbye. (Poor Tim, I had been crying to him for a couple of weeks I think...being pregnant probably did not help my emotional state) We had prayed so much for them to raise their support and for them to get to Africa. The Lord provided and we were so excited to see the Lord work out all the details for them to go to Africa. With being so excited though, it was so hard to see them go knowing that we may not see them for 4 years. The girls will be 7 & 4 years old then. Tim and I have both enjoyed so much time with our nieces and they are so special to us. And Dan has been a great brother in law...who also put up with me for a whole year when I lived with them. But at the time came closer, I hurt more seeing Karis leave me for 4 years. She has been my closest friend since my high school years. She has been such a wonderful sister to me and helped me through so much with her encouragement as well has hard talks she has had to have with me. She helped me in my single days, dating years, my engagement time, my first year of marriage as well as my first pregnancy. She has been such a godly influence in my life, and I really struggled saying goodbye to her....But we made it through the day. What peace we can have knowing they are in the center of God's will which is the safest place to be for them.


The next week was the week we would be moving to Kansas. So we were very busy getting everything boxed up. My family was a huge help in getting everything boxed up. We loaded up the truck the Saturday following the Seelys departure. God provided so many guys to help load up the truck as well as some of the ladies from the church to help clean the house. It was such a blessing to have so much help!! We were able to hang out with family and friends the last couple of nights there. We were so excited to move on to our next place of ministry. Again, sad to leave friends and family, but so thankful for the Lord to work out this opportunity. Tim and James drove out the big moving van on Tuesday the 26th (Thanks James...what a huge help he was!), and then Laura and I flew out the a couple of days later.

We are now in Kansas and getting settled here. That is for another post and I promise it will not be a month from now to get the update in. I am determined to stay caught up better on this blog. I do not blame you if you did not read down to the bottom of this as it is so long, but I really wanted to share with you our last month as so much has happened.