So here are some pics of what we have been up to. We are having company over soon so this is it for now. We have worked on our house quite a bit today so will try to post pics of it in the next go around. Until then...

Some things we did today.

Glenn: Worked 8 hours as a PCT at Highland Hospital. Got to work on secondaries and enjoy the outdoors some with Sonja and the kids.

Sonja: Home schooled Caleb and Hannah. Went on a picnic in Highland Park. Played "Catch A Leaf". She also made yummy quesidillas for supper.

Caleb: Was schooled by mommy both educationally and in battleship. Played in the park Mom's new "catch a leaf game".

Hannah: Did school. Read her first book in school "Hot". She also played Tic-tac-toe with Caleb and Mommy.

Lydia: Played with Abigail. Visited Daddy's work before the picnic in the park.

Abigail: Played with Lydia met Felix the new baby downstairs. Went on a picnic and whined.


Funny things heard today.
Sonja: Oh, are you guys playing monkey in the middle? (keep away)
Caleb: Yeah, I am the monkey.
Lydia: And I am the Lion, Raaarrrrr!! Raaarrrrr!!

Sonja and I laughed so hard.

Cooking without Fire

The other night I was making biscuits and gravy. Things were going pretty smooth... I'd browned the sausage, started the biscuits and got them in the oven and I was working on the gravy but it just would not thicken. I added more flour... it still wouldn't get any thicker. I was so confused and frustrated and my family was hungry... what was I to do? I had been standing there stirring the gravy for 15 minutes. It never takes this long. Finally the biscuits were all done and everyone was ready to eat except for the very runny gravy then I looked under the pan... no flame. I'd been breathing fumes but had no fire. It made me think of a verse in 2 Peter 1:3. "seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything we need for life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." God has given me everything that I need, just like I had everything that I needed to make gravy, but I just needed to tap into the source. Lord, light the fire in me.

Zoo... Laser Show... Corn Maize

This has been a busy week with school. We are learning lots and having fun. The highlight to Caleb's week for school was playing addition war - a game of war that I made up using addition flash cards. Hannah is loving learning how to read new words.

We are loving our Seneca Park Zoo membership and went to the Zoo three times this week. We are getting to know the animals better and learning some of their names from zoo keepers and docents that are around. Cool things from this week include the male cougar jumping on the head of Glenn and the kids when they were in the peaking house, the brother and sister tiger getting into a spat, the arctic wolves howling, getting to see a big frog up close, and getting caught in the rain right by the sea lions so we got to watch Puff and Flounder for a long time. We always go to the zoo on Wednesday before AWANA so we don't have to drive through rush hour traffic on the way to church. We were up north yesterday and stopped by on our way home and we decided to stop in quick after church today. It is so fun to live near a zoo!

On Friday night we went to a Laser light show and fireworks downtown at High Falls. Russ stopped by after dropping Camy off at work and went with us. We can remember going to it once as kids during a Gideon convention. It was fun to stand on the bridge and see the show and all the cool things they could do with the lasers.

Yesterday we wore the kids out. In the morning we went to the Public Market to get some produce and ran into Russ and Camy. Then after a quick stop at the bank to get cash (our ATM card isn't working so we are thankful for shared CU branching!) we were invited to Brian and Christina's house for pancakes. We hung out there until about noon with Brian and Brad and Melissa, another couple from our community group. After leaving Brian's we drove out to Hilton to Zarpentine Farms for their corn maze. They were having a special day for people with Time Warner Community Rewards cards where you could do the maze, get 3 shots with the corn cannon and a cup of cider and a donut all for $1. It would have normally cost over $30 for all of that for us as a family but instead we got it all for $5 for all of us. We don't even have Road Runner anymore but we still have our card that hasn't expired yet. Yeah! Anyway, it was fun but it tired us out. After the Maize (Noah's Ark theme - check out the photo of it from the air) we headed to wander the zoo then got groceries and headed home for a late supper exhausted. Once again, we are so thankful that God has brought us here. We have had a lot of fun since moving to Rochester and are looking forward to another fun week!

Summer Pictures

Just in case you want to see what we looked like this summer here is a link to a facebook photo album I made.

Pictures of our house will come soon.

Why we like Rochester...

We have been living in Rochester for almost a month now and we just wanted to write down a list of things that we like about living in Rochester.

1. Seneca Park Zoo - This Zoo is just a couple of blocks from our church and we have decided that we are going to visit it every Wednesday before AWANA after we get our school work done because then we don't have to drive through rush hour traffic!! We got a family membership for under $50 and we had SO much fun there on our first visit.
H: There's tigers there and snow wolves and sea lions.
C: My favorite animal is the sea lion.
S: I think that everyone's favorite animals are the sea lions. We made friends with them from underground first when Puff kept chasing Hannah all around and wanting to play with her water bottle. They also performed for us from outside showing off their skills of jumping on the rocks and throwing things on the rocks.

2. Strong Museum of Play. We have heard great things about this place and we had lots of fun there. I think that it will be a great place to go and play when we get cabin fever this winter! We got a membership there too but it was not quite so cheap. We first went last Friday with the Dawleys, some of our friends from Waterloo and the kids had a ton of fun! I can't wait to take Glenn.

3. Highland Library. It is right across the street from Highland Hospital, about a block from our house. We go there every Tuesday to pick out books.

4. EMS Grand Opening. We went to the new EMS store in Pittsford. It was pretty fun and we got a free t-shirt and free BBQ - yum!

5. Highland Park. This is our new playland. It is just across the street and we go out there ever day at 10am for recess. There are so many different kinds of trees and plants and they are all labeled with what they are and when they were planted. It is so cool! There is also a Reservoir with a fountain that we like to walk around and sit by. When we walk around the park you can easily forget that we live in downtown Rochester!

6. Mt. Hope Cemetery. We have driven past this cemetery tons of times over the years but we finally walked to it yesterday (it is a long block from our house). It is so cool! Some of the gravestones and mausoleums are so amazing. There is a really old fountain that still works. I guess that there are 14.5 miles of roads throughout the 197 acre cemetery. It is all "up hills and down dales" and I know that we will go back there to explore a lot! Fredrick Douglass and Susan B Anthony are two of the famous people buried there but we haven't found their graves yet.

7. North Baptist Church. We found our new church on the AWANA website and we are glad that we did. The kids are loving AWANA and their Sunday school and junior church classes and we have really been challenged in the services and community group that we have gotten involved in.

8. 60 Second Science. We went to this free hands on science event at the Rochester Museum and Science Center on Saturday. We made ice cream, disected seeds, looked at stuff under a microscope, made paw prints, played with air and made gases, and did lots of other fun things.

9. Public Market. We had heard raves about this from Russ and Camy and we went with them a couple of weeks ago. It is a huge open market with all kinds of things for sale. The produce was amazing and at such great prices, I can't wait to go back.

10. Christian Medical & Dental Association Quarterly Breakfast. Glenn was invited to this by our friend Matt Mack. He was so glad that he went. He never would have been able to go to it had he not been living in Rochester.

11. Linden Meigs Park. This is our local playground. It is about 5 blocks away. We had a big neighborhood picnic there a couple of weeks ago that was really fun.

Here is just a start. We are so glad that we moved here. We love our apartment and our park and all the activities that we are getting involved in. We are glad that God brought us to this place for this time. We want to take in as much Rochester as we can in these 11 months that we will live here. Keep posted for more fun in Rochester events (hopefully with some pictures) to come!

Orientation and school starts

We are here!!! Sorry no more pictures at this point but did want to write a quick update. We moved in on Tuesday the 4th with the help of Sonja's brother Russ and his wife Camy. (We also had help moving out from Amy Jo, Sonja' aunt.) We did not get electricity until Friday so we spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights at Russ and Camy's in Farmington about 30 minutes out of Rochester. Thursday night we spent the dark night here. When the power came on Friday morning the kids all cheered. We went to church at North Baptist this past Sunday. It is a bigger church but seemed somewhat friendly. We are planning on going back this coming week. Today was the start of orientation for Glenn and also the first day of school for Caleb and Hannah. Hannah was so excited to start school and had a good day. (Caleb had some power struggles with Sonja but the day went ok.) It is going to be an adjustment to teach two kids and Sonja would appreciate your prayers. Well that is all for now. Thanks for all of your prayers and keep them coming as the house is still far from settled (even though we did have company over tonight for supper as Russ and Camy were able to come over for Lasagna.)

Changes, changes, changes...

We haven't posted on here in a while and I still have to post on Caleb's birthday and the rest of the summer so far but the biggest news is that Glenn got a job at Highland Hospital and we are moving to Rochester! We went for Glenn's drug test on Wednesday and to look for a place to live. We found this house on rentrochester.com and it is only about a block from Glenn's work. We will be living in the upper left apartment - 1090 South Ave. It is a two bedroom apartment with a big living room and dining room and kitchen and enclosed unheated front porch. It is a little more than we wanted to pay but being less than a block from work we will be able to get rid of the Corsica and we are just steps from Highland Park and there is a public library just across the street from the hospital. The only driving we'll really have to do is church and grocery shopping - yeah!

We also found a dining room table and 6 chairs and a set of bunkbeds on Craigslist. I would have posted pictures of them but they were yanked off craigslist so they wouldn't keep getting calls. We picked up our table and chairs on Wednesday and left it in Russ and Camy's basement. We will pick up the bunkbeds on Monday when we go up for Glenn's physical and to sign our lease.
Right now I am supposed to be busy packing so I better sign off. Just wanted to share the good news!

Stop Photography trial video^2

A little short we put together. Having fun with stop photography. Planning on making some more and the kids want to make some as well. So keep your eyes peeled for more fun videos.

New Bike... Slave Labor... Train

This has been an exciting week. Glenn's been looking at Craigslist pretty regularly for housing, bike parts, etc. and over the weekend he saw a Adam Tandem Trail-A-Bike for $95. Russ and Camy went and picked it up for us and Russ brought it to town on Monday. Caleb and Hannah think that it is great! We are planning on using it and our Cannondale Bugger that we got from the Masts (our friends from Fillmore Wesleyan Church) to get around to save money on gas. Here is a picture of us trying it out and after our 4 mile ride to see Kyle's practice and play at the spray park.

I was getting really tired of doing 3 or more loads of dishes a day and never getting them all done and I am wanting to have the kids get more involved around the house. The other day I was looking through some other families' chore charts online that had lots of kids. I tried looking at ones that had kids around my kids ages and I decided that in addition to their normal "kissing chair", set the table and clear the table jobs that rotate I would get new dishwashers. On Wednesday I announced that I would teach Caleb and Hannah how to do dishes and that from now on Hannah would be breakfast dish washer and Caleb would do lunch dishes leaving only supper for me, yeah! They were so excited to have these new jobs and Caleb even offered to do the supper dishes but I told him he was not old enough. When Lydia is 4 and a half she can take over breakfast dishes and Hannah can take over lunch dishes and Caleb can do supper dishes. They are actually looking forward to it. (me too!!) I took a picture of Hannah and Caleb on their first day on the job. They look like they are really suffering ;)

Also, on a final note, Lydia just ran through. She had been in the bathroom and as she ran in the bedroom she said she was going potty. I asked her why she was going into the bedroom without her pants on and she said, "THERE'S A TRAIN!!" I guess that explains everything. She always runs to the window when she hears a train it's just that, normally, she's dressed.

New Photo Album

Here is our latest photo album that we added to facebook. It is too much work to upload pictures here so I just thought I would add pictures there and put links here. We will see. These are pictures from April and May.

I saw the strangest thing as I was driving down 5&20

OK. Actually I saw some pretty interesting things... a dead bird, a dead turtle, some cool lights, a couple of big frogs, some cool mailboxes and oh, yeah, I wasn't driving I was walking. In protest of the high gas prices and as a matter of principle and to get better fit and to save a couple bucks we are trying to drive as little as possible. No one walks in this town so we are weird.

Whenever possible except for in extreme snow I walked to Bible study this year, except for the few weeks when I went to the laundry mat directly after Bible study. Everyone was amazed that I walked. It was less than a mile and the kids enjoy it. We always walk to my grandparents house about a half a mile away. Everyone thinks that is strange and my grandparents often ask if we want a ride home at the end of our visit. Today we actually walked to Paul and AmyJo's house which is about 2 miles. I grew up in that house and I don't think that I have ever walked between here and there before. Well, now I have. Caleb and Hannah rode home with AmyJo and Glenn and I walked with Lydia and Abigail in the stroller on the way there and it took us about 30 minutes. We played and had dinner together and then all 6 of us walked home. We were going to have the girls switch out riding and walking but then Hannah tripped and skinned her knee really bad and Lydia was so tired that Glenn carried Abigail and Hannah and Lydia got to ride until we were about 1/4 mile from home. We had a couple of flashers on our backs and Glenn's headlamp on my head and everyone was carrying one of the really bright LED flashlights we got at Real Deals Dollar store. We got some funny looks I'm sure, most of which we couldn't see. We did have one brief encounter with the police coming to check out the weird lights but it was just Dave, Paul's friend and it was no big deal. Caleb walked the whole 2 miles home and we are so proud of him!! My feet hurt and I'm tired but I am sure that we will do it again. We are trying to figure out a way to get all of us around on human powered wheels as it is a lot faster! Right now we just have one kid seat and a trailer that holds 2. Caleb is doing great riding his bike but I don't know that we can trust him to ride on 5&20 yet. It took us a little less than 50 minutes to get home which wasn't too bad since we stopped a couple times to fix shoes, kiss boo boos, etc. A quick first aid site was set up to assess the damages and apply bandaids then to bed for a well deserved good night's sleep.

I think that we need to wear signs that say "Pass Gas". It is the HPV (human powered vehicle) motto. Even if we can do it part of the time it sure will save us money in our gas guzzler Suburban.

That's all for now. I need to post some pictures of our last couple of months, I just never put pictures on this computer, so, if we get a rainy day and get our school work done early.... neither of which happen often but I can always hope.

Oh, and the title of this post is what we think other people were saying/thinking as they drove past.

Going in the great outdoors

We have been taking walks out back behind our place and walking around the pond. We have located a Killdeer nest, a Robin's nest and a Canadian Goose nest. We know that there are more Killdeer nests out there because there are several momma's that pretend that they have a broken wing as we walk around. Tonight we forgot the "make sure you use the facilities" message before we left. While we were out there both of the potty trained girls decided they needed to go. Glenn waited until I got there and they came running up to tell me. They then dropped their drawers right in the middle of the path. Hannah got the back of her shorts wet. I think that Lydia liked feeling the wind on her bum because she kept deciding she needed to go again and again. We finally got through to her that she needed to get off the path before undressing. She never got more than 2 feet into the weeds though. We will have to work on that. Glenn's MCAT is on Friday then we are going camping!! Can't wait. I guess today was practice for next weekend.

March in Pictures

Since it is the last day of March and I just downloaded our pictures to our computer I thought that it would be fun to put some of our pictures from this month on our blog so others could see some of the fun that we got into. Caleb is really enjoying reading and he likes to read to us. Here he is reading Go, Dog, Go to us on his bed.
Kyle turned 6 this month and we were invited to his birthday dinner of hot dogs and vegetable lomein. It was fun. Caleb and Kyle continue to be best friends and love to play together whenever they can. They are shown here with Kyle's new Nerf dart gun set. Caleb got to go away for the weekend with the Nelsons to Ehren's basketball tourament in Oswego. He was excited because he got to stay at a hotel and go swimming.One exciting thing that we have just discovered since it is lighter later is that Dollar General, next door closes at 6pm on Sundays. They have a nice parking lot that isn't used after it is closed so we are going to use it to ride our bikes on. It was fun riding our bikes for the first time this spring.
In math lately we have been working on fractions. For one of his lessons he had to read a peanut butter cookie recipe and follow it. He was so excited! He's pictured here enjoying the first fruits of his labor.
Every Tuesday, after Bible study at the rec center we go to the laundry mat to do our laundry. While our clothes are washing we head over to the library and check out books. This week Hannah picked out a really cute book called Fancy Nancy (a must read for any little girl that likes to dress up) about a little girl who likes to dress up fancy and tries to teach her family how to dress fancy too. We all had to dress up like Fancy Nancy out of our dress up bins.
And last, but not least a smile from our Cracker. We decided God gave us Abigail because he knew we needed to laugh more. All of our kids are such a delight!
March has been a big month for studying for the MCAT which Glenn will be taking April 16. We have also been busy with homeschooling, visiting friends, getting over colds, and helping out some at Timber Harvester.

The Flood

I flooded Palermo's tonight. If you didn't know, we live above a pizza place called Palermo's right now. I often wonder if we drive them crazy, 6 sets of feet wandering around, playing soccer, dancing, etc. up here. Well, I am sure that I annoyed them tonight. We had just put the kids to bed and Glenn asked me if I would be interested in some tea. I thought it sounded like a good idea and since the water out of the tap is so hot I decided to just get it from there rather than boiling it on the stove. I then walked back into the living/bed/dining room to give Glenn his tea options. We discussed them for a minute too long and when I walked back into the kitchen there was a flood. There had been a slow leak under the kitchen sink for a while but with a bucket we had caught it and only had to dump it once a week or so. Until today... I guess I should have boiled the water for tea on the stove. Instead I flooded Palermo's. Oops!

Funny quotes at 5pm

I think that 5pm is a funny time. Yesterday, Lydia looked at the sky at 5pm and said "Cheese flying!!" I looked up and saw a big flock of geese. Tonight at 5pm Hannah was playing wedding with a beach towel on her head and told me that in her wedding she had "a flower girl and a reindeer." I asked her, "what?" and she told me "a reindeer, like Caleb was."

Cross Country Skis

I drank coffee too late last night so I couldn't fall asleep and I woke up really early. Maybe someday I will learn that I am getting older and caffeine does affect me. Oh well. It was a good thing though because after spending time with God it was still early and no one else was awake yet so I got dressed and went out and tried out my new to me cross country skis. :o) I haven't been cross country skiing since I was a kid and I loved it back then. A few weeks ago Glenn and I were talking and I told him I would like to try to get into it again because, after the initial investment it is cheap and fun exercise and something we could do as a family. I know I loved it as a kid! So Glenn went up and dug through the broken down barn by my dad's house where he remembered putting my family's old cross country skis when we were clearing out my parents' house. He found some and brought them home. There was only one pair of boots and they were Caleb's size. He tried it out and thought that it was great. All the other boots had been thrown away so... now we have to find boots for us. There were also a couple pair of kids skis that just strap on to whatever shoes you have on and Hannah thinks that those are pretty cool. We have been looking on ebay and craig's list for boots for Glenn and I but haven't been able to find any then Glenn found a complete set up - boots, poles and skis in the paper for $25. We went and picked them up last night and they fit me - yeah! It is a good thing that it was a complete setup because the boots are solamon style wouldn't have worked for the bindings on our skis which are 3 hole 75mm style. I got to ski for about 45 minutes this morning just around the pond out back. It was so fun! I am going to hurt later though I am sure because I haven't used some of those muscles in a while. I am excited that I can ski now! I am glad I could try it out today because tomorrow it is supposed to rain and I am afraid our snow will be all gone. There is always next year. (provided we live somewhere where there is snow ;o))

Lydia's 3 Years Old!

Our kids get Bob and Larry cakes for their 3rd birthday and Lydia was no exception! She has been saying "My birthday coming up soon!" ever since Christmas because she knows that her birthday is the next one after Jesus' birthday. She has been picking out random items at every store we have gone to and saying "Me want that for my birthday." We celebrated Lydia's birthday on Sunday afternoon with a birthday party at Paul and AmyJo's house. The party was also to celebrate Sonja's brother Russell's graduation from his Masters. Lydia had fun playing with cousins and eating Cheesy Puffs. She loved her Bob and Larry cakes and practiced blowing out candles all afternoon whenever she saw one lit anywhere. We also went sledding down Grandpa Roger's driveway and had a tea party with Lydia's new princess tea set. On Monday, her actual birthday, she opened presents after her birthday supper of hot dogs and bread and cheese fondue. The three girls are showing off their new sweatshirts from Grandma and Grandpa Maas and Caleb has on his that he got from them at Christmas time. They are excited to have pink hoodies to wear together! Lydia, our "Pixie Dust," had a very fun birthday and is excited to be 3!
I am also including a picture of Hannah and Lydia as flower girls from Dan and Laura Kilpatrick's wedding on the 17th. Hannah was giving Lydia a little hug and pep talk before walking down the aisle. They were cute and did a great job.

Caleb

I just want to brag on Caleb for a little bit. I am SO proud of him. He has really started reading well! Today during quiet time he asked if he could take his Bible to bed and work on his memory verse for Sunday School. We have been going to Fingerlakes Christian Fellowship for about 5 months and I just learned that he is supposed to bring back his "homework" for Sunday School and memorize his verse, I am not with it. So anyway, Caleb was in his room for about 10 minutes when he came back out with a huge grin on his face and told us he knew his new verse and quoted for us Colossians 3:17 "In whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." He had read his verse and memorized it himself. After quiet time we sat with his Sunday School homework and he read me the story about Jesus healing a blind man. We talked about loyalty (had to look it up in the dictionary) and how we can be loyal to God. I am so excited that Caleb is able to read his Bible. He can look up verses in his Bible too because he just memorized the books of the New Testament for AWANA. He thought of a verse that he had memorized earlier this year in AWANA and ran to get his book to find out where the verse was found. He is almost done with his first book and doing well. We went through and looked at all he had learned this year. How excited to get so much of God's Word in his heart at such a young age. He is my firstborn son, the one that the Bible tells me should be given to the Lord. His ambition right now is to be a pastor. What a great calling. I pray that he is always excited about learning Bible verses and knowing more about God.

This morning as we started school, pretty late unfortunately after staying up so late at the Superbowl party that we went to last night, Glenn was reading from More Little Visits With God and it was about Charles Spurgeon's mother paying him to kill rats and to memorize hymns. We started talking about what hymns were and I got a hymn book and we looked at it and decided to work on memorizing one hymn a week. This weeks is A Mighty Fortress is Our God. So we discussed Martin Luther and read through the hymn and had to look up several words in the dictionary like fortress and bulwark. We talked about how through Jesus we have victory over Satan and don't have to fear. It was great. As we sang it together, having just discussed the hymn, I was crying over the truth in it. I am so thankful that the Lord of Hosts is in the battle and that I don't have to strive in my own strength. I am excited about learning hymns with the kids and strengthening their faith in God (and my own) through the words.
God is really working on renewing my mind right now, about homeschooling and lots of other things. He is using His Word, Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow (from my Tuesday morning Bible Study), Sunday School, Church, stuff I hear on FLN, a homeschooling blog that my 'mother in love' recently introduced me to, etc. I want to do what He wants me to do. I know that He has a purpose for my life and I know that I have not been going about it the right way lately. This coming week in Bible study we are supposed to work on a life purpose statement and I am so excited because I can see how God has been preparing me in the last few weeks to do just that. Our God is so faithful and amazing. I am so thankful that I am a child of the King! Pastor was talking yesterday about how thankful we should be for the Word of God and what advantages we have over OT saints, Christians in the 1st century, even Christians of 100 years ago or Christians that live in other countries. Am I taking advantage of the advantages we have been given? I know I have not been but I would like to do so and am praying that God will reveal through His Word and that I would be obedient.
Anyway, enough blabbing. I am just so excited to see what God is doing in us.

Where does the time go.

Well it has been a long time since we have updated so...here is an update. We have been busy homeschooling Caleb, he is learning subtraction and it is going ok. Hannah loves to play tic-tac-toe so if you are planning on coming to our house you had better brush up on your skills first. Lydia loves playing with "Abs" who is according to Lydia "My best friend!" They play with some magnetic dolls that they got for Christmas and also Sesame Street "Little People" that are from Sonja's childhood. Abigail plays with Lydia and also loves walking around with "Little People" in her mouth. Sonja stated yesterday "I am ready to go back to Louisiana." I think that she is tired of being solely responsible for cooking and cleaning all day long. She said, "I need a day off." I asked what she would do with a day off and she had no idea. I have been working on physics and will get it finished off tomorrow for now. Then on to Organic. Yeah!!!!

Sunday School to the Extreme

So, we overslept today. Going to Church is pointless for our kids right now unless we go to Sunday School because at this point they are not getting much out of the service. We decided to do Church at home like we do when we are sick. 

God has been teaching Glenn and I a lot about faith lately and we have been seeking Him for direction in what He wants us to do, where He want us to be, etc. As we were discussing what should be our theme for today should be we both had the same thought: Abraham and faith, trusting God. 

Hannah wanted to wear a dress today so we all got dressed and they asked me what we were going to do today. I told them that Daddy and I had been praying and that God had told us we needed to pack up what we could fit into the Suburban and the Corsica and leave and He would tell us where we were going to go. We still had not taken the footlocker downstairs from unpacking for our trip to LA so I told them we needed to start packing because we had to leave. We grabbed socks and underwear, clothes for warm weather and cold weather. , not sure what the weather was like where God was sending us. Everyone was allowed to bring one toy. Glenn and I were talking about logistics and making sure everyone got involved packing what we could. I guess everything we left behind would be given away. 

To start off with Hannah kept saying, "This isn't real." Then the kids really got into it. Caleb started crying because he would be leaving Kyle. Glenn realized it had gotten a bit too intense and grabbed his Bible to read from Genesis about how God had told Abram to pack up and leave his native land, his relatives and his father's family. We talked about how we felt as we were packing up and what it required of us and how Abram must have felt. 

I don't think that the kids really understood that we weren't leaving this afternoon until after we prayed and started unpacking. Probably should have unpacked first and then would have had a better discussion with at least Caleb who was too upset to discuss much. A couple of minutes ago when we discovered our tissue box was empty Caleb was quoted as saying: "If you would have told me you was kidding then I would not have used up all those tissues." 

I don't know that this example would have worked the same in anyone else's household because we have moved so much already and our kids are kind of used to it. It was humbling to see how much the kids trust us. They didn't really like the idea of leaving and not knowing where we were going but they trusted us and God that we would take care of them and that God knew what He was doing. What an example of faith. 

Do I have that much faith? When we were figuring out what to do last spring there were many days that I was tempted to do just that, pack up the Burb and go, trusting God that He would cause us to know when to turn right and when to turn left. He brought us here. 

For how long? I don't know. 
For what reason? Some I know, some I don't. 
What's next? I have no idea but I have a God who knows and, just like our kids trust us without questioning, I can trust Him that He knows best and He will work it out for His best in our lives.

Christmas in Louisiana

We're Home. After a visit to see Glenn's parents and siblings in Lake Charles, LA at Port Mercy, Friend Ships' headquarters where Steve & Debbie live and volunteer. We were able to be there for about 2 1/2 weeks and had a great time helping out, sight seeing, and just hanging out. Highlights of our time in the south include: meeting up with Christa Cooley and Carla, Kristen, & Aubrey Hazel in Houston, TX (Picture below) when we arrived, playing with Grandma & Grandpa Maas and cousin Brody, living on the 300 foot Spirit (pictured), making Christmas dinner for the crew, seeing how Tabasco sauce is made and bottled on Avery Island, checking out cool birds and an alligator on our scenic road trip, collecting specimen to look at under the microscope with Uncle Doug and Aunt Kendra, eating shish-ka-bobs at Mom and Dads new trailer with Doug and K, eating Louisiana food at Steam Boat Bills, touring the ship Grandpa and Grandma went to Haiti on, starting a ship engine with Grandpa, watching a 300 foot ship get turned around in a 320 foot wide river, and many other cool and exciting things. Some of the things specifically enjoyed by each of us were...

Hannah: see Grandma & Grandpa Maas, helping Theresa in the kitchen, sleep with Grandma & Grandpa Maas,

Caleb: I got to ride on the ship.

Lydia: To be announced...

Sonja: It was really nice not to have to cook and do dishes. I also got a lot of reading done which was so nice. It was fun to hang out with Glenn's family who we don't see very often.

Glenn: Seeing Mom and Dad, being all together and just getting to goof around. Working with Dad a little and getting to see the ships and what Mom and Dad do with
FriendShip.