Little bits of information

If you don't have time to read the whole post, I quickly ask for prayers for our VBS that starts tomorrow. We went for setup today, and it appears Satan is trying to make his way in. Please pray for all the volunteers, to be able to handle what comes our way, and for all the kids, that their hears will be open to hear what God needs and wants them to hear. I am leading 1st grade with several other volunteers, which is a relatively easy task, helping to take the first graders to all their classes.

Lots of little bits of other info to post about today. I made homemade strawberry jam for the first time yesterday. OH.MY.WORD. DELICIOUS!!!! Why haven't I ever done this before? I just may start to can things!! I love the idea of knowing what's in it. I just wish that I could grow the stuff I want to can.

In other news, we're not moving in to the previously mentioned house. Things just weren't working out like we'd hoped, and we have decided to at least wait until the new year and reevaluate it then. This will put us in a much better spot financially. (We're THISCLOSE to having our car paid off, leaving just my student loan, which should take less than a year, meaning thisclose to being debt free ;-))

Aside from that, Jon is really working to apply for Officer Training School. This is something we have gone back and forth on throughout our marriage, but until now, the stars haven't aligned completely correctly. However, before he can apply, he has to lose some major weight. He has already lost almost 10 lbs, so he's on the right road.

I'm also trying to lose weight. I REALLY struggle with emotional eating, and between hating it when we first moved here, feeling the winter blues, and the miscarriage, I've gained 15 lbs since moving here. However, unlike Jon, I've dropped 0 lbs so far. Why is it men can drop weight so quickly?? We have started to play tennis every so often though together, which is really fun and gets us working out, together, in a fun way.

We're also working on potty-training Miss Abigayle. She's doing great at holding it, but I can tell she doesn't know how to release it. It became incredibly evident when she just wouldn't go, wouldn't go, wouldn't go. Then she threw a tantrum over something between her and daddy, that she forgot to hold it and wet herself while screaming. We'll take a break during VBS this week and try again next week.

Jon's been very busy with intramural softball. The season is now over, and I'm honestly very glad! He was gone 2-3 nights a week with it, and it will be nice to have my husband home in the evenings again. He also changed jobs some what. He's in the same office, doing the same thing for the most part, but just his position changed. It's complicated to explain, and I probably shouldn't online ;-) But in short, we think it's a good change and will be great for his career.

We're also making major plans for traveling. H and I are going to Europa Park soon. It's to meet some of my friends and Jon wasn't that interested in going, so I said I'd go alone, and decided to take her with me to spend some time together. Then we'll be going to Austria for about a week, where Jon's brother, Father Nathan will be. We're excited to see him again, and see some places in Salzburg and Vienna. In October, my parents are coming. I'm very excited to see them, and we're making plans for Paris, including the Eiffel Tower and Disneyland. It's nice to finally be making some travel plans, now that Jon can get off work a bit.

Wednesday will be two months since the miscarriage. It's hard to believe it's already been two months. I've been dealing with some anger issues regarding it, but I think the Lord has been helping me through this. I haven't turned to Him as much as I should, but I can tell He's still been there and is still helping me. I'm sure the prayers of others have played a huge part as well.

Some have asked if we'll try again soon. We're leaving that up to God, knowing He is in control of my heart, but hoping to avoid a pregnancy for now. I need some time still, but not sure how much time I will need all together. Thankfully we are able to pray about it every month, and see where we are and reevaluate our desires and go from there. Life has gotten so busy, and the baby fever I had like crazy is not there right now. I enjoy holding my friends' babies and putting them to sleep in my arms, but it's not like i have the "Oh, I want one!" feeling like I did 4 months ago. Amazing how our hearts can change, and it's completely okay.  I get times where I think "Oh, I want another one." but as I think more, I know that right now is not the right time. Besides, I'd really like to drop the weight I've put on since getting here before getting pregnant again. I've struggled losing weight a lot, so we'll see how that goes....

As everyone knows, the Olympics are on. Unfortunately, we get US channels (normally whatever you're watching on Monday night, we get to watch on Tuesday night, after it's aired.) I think we're getting it the same time the US is, but that means that what you get in the evening, we get while we're asleep. So I'm missing all the great ones, like swimming and gymnastics! And my mom suggested NBC.com, but unfortunately, since we have a German IP address, we're considered international and cannot watch the shows on NBC's website. So, it seems I'm missing a lot of the Olympics this year :( I'm bummed as I really like the summer Olympics. I think Jon's happy though, as he couldn't care less. We grew up watching them and he did not. I want H to see the gymnastics though. I watched them at 9pm and thought "I can see H watching this, then mimicking it and dancing around like them" heehee.

With all of this going on, I need to head to bed. I must actually get up at 7am and get the kids up then as well, so we can leave by 8am all week. We're not use to that in the least (the earliest we ever have to be anywhere is 9:30 ;-)) Again, please keep VBS in your prayers if you will. Thank you, good night, and God bless!

Life in Deutschland

I updated pretty recently, but a lot has been going on! This past Saturday, I felt we really needed a day away, doing something in this great country, alone as a family. So, we went to Luisenpark. It was a huge park, with a lot of playgrounds, animals, beer, dirt (for Z), and much more. It was a very relaxing day and we all had a lot of fun. In fact, Zach has asked several times when we're going back. :) Here are a few pictures of the day, including the fact that we hit 100 in our Sienna minivan going down the autobahn.

 The girls playing in one of the small wooden houses.

 Sisters.

 Daddy and son fun- digging with an excavator. 

 Pictures of me! Rarely happens. Me and Z.

 H and I.

 Me and my man. :) Complements of Z. 

 Siblings.

 Then on Sunday, we hosted a going away party for our good friends, the T's. The party was suppose to be outside at the park, but we woke up to pouring rain, so it got moved in to our house. Jon and I had fun quickly cleaning everything in an hour, and the party was very nice. We are so sad to see the T's leave, especially after knowing them such a short time, but are so glad to have known them, and known the example they've been in our lives. Here is a picture of me on the left, with three of my closest girl friends here.

 Then came the 4th of July. Being in a foreign country, where July 4 is just like July 3 and 5, you don't have many options for festivities. However, given it's a military community, we like to celebrate the 4th of July. So, the base had a 4th of July festival, with tons of food provided by all the units around base, a few carnival rides, bouncy houses, and best of all, fireworks. They did the fireworks in the outfield of the baseball field, and we were basically just on the other side of the gate. Perfect seats. Z and A loved it, but H- our middle child- insisted on my husband's hands being on her ears the whole time. They were beautiful and seriously, I think they were the best fireworks display I've ever seen, lasting 30 minutes. Z kept asking "Are they done?" and then more would shoot off. He enjoyed them, but was more interested in things like "Why are they coming back down? Oh no! They're landing on the ground/trees/dugout! Is there going to be a fire? Where are they coming from?" Silly boy! Here's some fun pictures from the day.

 First time face painting!

 Then we loaded all the kids up at the end, and strong hubby pulled them home, but dear H just couldn't make it. She fell over like this, sound asleep on the way back. Baby sister kept yelling her name, trying to wake her up. It was so cute since it's just recently that she can say big sister's full name. 

It was a great 4th of July. 

It has been just over a month since the miscarriage. I'm still trying to get the final bloodwork that I have completely miscarried. I went in today, and for the second time, the lab was closed. I may try to go tomorrow, but with it being closed for 2 days, open one, then closed for 2 more over the weekend, I'm not sure I want to deal with the crowd. We're doing ok. I think that was the beginning of a lot of things for us, and we're having our ups and downs, day to day, and even hour to hour. 

The house that we were excited about, we're not so sure it's going to work out. And, neither of us is at peace now about it. Some things would have to fall in to place that aren't for us to find peace. We've talked about continuing to look, but we think we may just wait until the new year. We're in a wait and pray time right now. In the mean time, I've done a major purge of toys and lots of other things, hoping that we won't feel so cramped in here, and that the messes won't get as big.

I did some sewing this week, finally got the girls matching sheets! I'm super excited and hope to post pictures soon. I am also working on ordering pictures from our time here in Germany, with the hopes of putting together an album. Starting 9 months ago seems a lot easier for now than starting 5 yrs ago, since that's how far behind I am ;-) I also have a few other craft projects I'm hoping/planning to work on soon, which is good and my 'therapy'. That's everything I can think of for now! :) God bless!