We’re Still Alive!

Wow.  Pretty sure I forgot I had a blog.

We moved, and we’ve been living in our house since around the end of May.  We love it here!  It has been wonderful space for us, and we’ve been blessed to host SO MUCH since moving here.  It feels right.  

On Facebook we mentioned semi-recently that our landlady had fallen (well…not all of a sudden) into quite a bit of debt, and she came to us basically saying she needed to sell the house and was asking our permission to do so.  I think Justin and I were shocked really when we first talked to her.  We had just hung up all of our wall decor the day before.  Awesome.  I might have been a bit vocal in our meeting with her (not sinful, just vocal), and it was certainly an issue I had to remind myself not to get angry over for the next several weeks.  When we talked again, we asked her to wait until September to talk more to us about it, because we were hosting the AFC group that was coming to help our team here in Peru through the beginning of August, and then both our boys were celebrating their birthdays that month.  We didn’t want to do anything until September.  She (sort of) respected that, and we only heard from her one more time before the beginning of September.

Then,  in the last day or so of August, I went to Justin and sort of told him I was eager to begin talking through what our plan might be…you know, just thinking it out together.  Needless to say, my brain had been running for those 2 months that we were waiting, and I had ideas I needed to share.  He, on the other hand, was playing it cool and I guess thought of the situation very little (or at least that’s how I saw it after we argued talked), and he was clear he needed about a week to gather his thoughts and pray before we talked at all.  He’s good for me like that. 🙂  So we prayed.  Some more.

Before we got to talk again, our landlady came to us one night recently saying she had found a man interested in buying a home (the jury is still out on whether he wants this home or not) but did not want to occupy the home for another 2-4 years or so.  He would be happy to rent it out.  What?  God knew all along that neither of us desired to move.  We wished this entire situation had never occurred.  We really wanted to live here until we move back to the US some day.  That would have been our ideal.

So, if nothing else, it feels God is saying that He knows our desires.  Although the man and his wife have seen the home twice now, we don’t know what the future will be.  They have assured us that if they buy the home, they don’t have intentions of moving in right away, but obviously all we can hang our confidence on is that we know God knows our needs and desires.  We are hopeful this might turn out exactly as we wanted.  Sometimes it’s fun to see God do that, right?  But, as I was reminded tonight in a Bible study (for another time already this month…and it’s only the 10th!), we will still be saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty…” even if we have to move.

SO…on to other updates.  Picture ones.  Those are better, anyway, right?

Cailyn started 1st grade!  She also turned 6 in June.  Wow.  Time is flying!  We’re still homeschooling.  Thought I’d put the “STILL” in there in case anyone was wondering if maybe I’d come to my senses and sent her back to her old school (haha).  She and I get along most moments, unless she’s asked to do 1 too many handwriting activities. 🙂  I’ll post about our experience with this in a separate post some time. (maybe in 3 more months with my Christmas post…hah!)

Corban and Carter had pictures this day, too.  Although Corban is in the middle of his last year of Spanish preschool here (he ends in December), I am starting to do some more specific things with him in the afternoons.  So, he’s officially a Pre-K kid. 🙂  And Carter…he’s just doing LIFE.

The boys both turned another year this past month, as I mentioned above.  Corban is 4 now (wow), and Carter is ONE!  It feels like time is flying by.  Carter’s birthday was a bit different because Justin had to be gone for ministry stuff, but the kids and I enjoyed a day at the mall for lunch and we played at this padded kids play area.  Carter loved it. 🙂  Then the kids had ice cream in his honor…haha, and we went home.  We celebrated as a family that next Monday with daddy, and it was certainly more fun having him with us! 

We made a chocolate cake for Carter…per Cailyn’s request. 🙂

 

But then we had to make another (vanilla) cake due to Corban thinking it was vital he add the REST of my huge bottle of vegetable oil while I was off doing who knows what.  After tons of tears from all (mine were dry, but believe me…I wasn’t too pumped about a wasted box cake since they cost an arm and a leg here), we decided the vanilla cake would be fine.

 

 

 

Carter got several cute little gifts, but he really enjoyed his new walker/ride-on toy.  His face pretty much looked the same in every picture.  He wasn’t too excited to sit still for a picture…haha…

So we left him be so he could RIDE ON!

I will post some more pictures on Facebook, and maybe some video.  It was quite a scene watching this kid enjoy his new toy.

As for Corban, there was much celebrating as well for him.  He had quite the spread due to wonderful family members who sent packages for him!

On the day of his birthday we took donuts up to his class for a fun treat to celebrate since his birthday party only consisted of church friends/teammates/other great missionary friends/friends we’re thankful to have because we live in Peru-friends. 🙂 He loves his school, and he loves his classmates. 🙂

The day after Corban’s birthday we had the boys’ party.  It was fun, and we are so thankful for our friends here!  I will post more pictures on facebook of the party, but here’s the boys after blowing out candles.  Not sure what Carter was thinking. 🙂

 

It’s been a busy few months for us, but it’s been fun.  Ministry is going well, and we’re excited to be connecting a bit more in new ways with our supporting church.  Hoping to keep updates a bit closer together these next few months!