From Baby to Toddler to....Little Boy xo

Shoe 'Tude

Can you tell who the serious big brother is??? The girls have no idea how lucky they are to have him to keep things in order for them. I am always amazed at the back to school shoe hunt. It reveals so much about your child and I think is a valuable peek inside their mind. Anna chose her shoes because of the Ethiopian flag colors-- These are totally her personality. Nehemiah chose the latest basketball shoe that I could afford to buy. Rebekah and Lydia chose my favorite shoe -- CONVERSE! I wear mine whenever I can get away with it.

The big news for us is that we are now pushing moving to Ethiopia to July. This will give us time to get our support in order. It is going great and in just about 3 months we are 70% supported for two years. We think this is a miracle given the state of the economy. Wycliffe is then wanting to see our funding coming in solid for about 3-4 months before they send us out, so we think this puts us at about July. We were on the phone with the school and were going over many different scenarios and this one just gave us the most peace and made sense in light of the kids and school. We are very excited now to charge forward with this plan.

Out of the blue a few weeks ago Beaverton schools called and asked if I wanted to come for an interview. They had laid - off over 50 Special Ed teachers this past spring so I never would have dreamed they would have any openings at all. When they called I thought I was in trouble since our kids were not enrolled in a school yet... I did not even have a complete file with my application and had not applied. After much prayer and stress I decided to go to the interview and just see what God was up to. I still can't believe they offered me the job and honored all of my previous years of teaching. So for this year we will have awesome insurance and really get things ready to leave with many dental and vision appts. God COMPLETELY worked this out and I could not have even if I had tried. It is part-time and not even a mile from where my kids go to school. So I still get to drop them off and be there for pick up. I am still in wonderment how this worked out. We also were not planning on having the kids return to the school we have been at for 9 years as we thought we would be in Ethiopia... but the day I was offered the job we found out that there was only one spot left in two of the their classes and room for two more. With a humble heart we are so grateful for the way the board and principal have made it possible for our kids to be there this year. BEYOND GRATEFUL ----

I have such peace in my heart even though our plans have been rearranged a bit. After seeing God just lay-out things so perfectly this fall how could I or dare I question where I am supposed to be ...

Thank you for your continued prayer and encouragement with us through this process.

Time is so sweet! My babies are growing up...

First Day of School! We have kids in the following grades: 8,6,5,and 3rd. They are all off to a wonderful start. I have more updates to post soon as our PLANS are coming together and I have total peace---