Another day over...

We're exhausted! Eric is sick. Day 2 of antibiotics for "strep" or "strep like symptoms". He's wiped out. He's been asleep since about 5:45 pm this evening. We had a great turn out of guys that really worked hard and deserve more than the pizza and icewater they were served!!! :)

My friend, Amy, had the 4 kids! What a blessing. She said they all did very well and "Micah did REALLY good" so that was a relief. It's not that he's intentionally naughty all the time (yes, he is SOME of the time!) - he's just incredibly curious and inquisitive. Sometimes too he can feel left out of the mix with the ages of all the other kids. Anyway - it was a good day for them all!! :)

All the kids got thru the bath and are clean for church tomorrow. Between the dirt and the chocolate pudding from Amy's, they looked only half caucasion! LOL

I'm hoping to turn in early tonight.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers as we move.

That was fast!

Well, our fridge/freezer items have a HOME!!! One of Eric's team teachers at school has a full size fridge in his classroom and we're welcome to use it that "week" or however long it ends up being! :)

ONE last thought - WHERE will we send the cat?! Hmmm..... that one has us a bit stumped. Care to pray for that one?! :)

Sing it with me.... "My GOD is so BIG... so STRONG and so MIGHTY..."

.....there's NOTHING my God can not DO!"

Today we got our moving truck lined up. We'd been wondering about who we could borrow a trailer from. Then we thought about buying our own utility trailer.... thinking it might be worth the investment. Our Worship Pastor had sent out an SOS for us, on our behalf... seeking anyone who would be able to help lend their muscles this weekend as we move things to store at our friends' house. I got an email from a guitarist that plays often when I sing. He just "happened" to have a 28 foot enclosed moving van with automated tailgate! What an answer to prayer!!!

So far we have 4 guys lined up to help and my friend, Amy, is going to have the kids so they aren't underfoot. Now, my job is to further pack and get everything ready for the big day on Saturday.


Today I packed up much of the kitchen stuff. I left out 3 cups, 3 plates for the kids, 2 plastic containers for leftovers, etc... The big griddle and rice pot, pitchers, and cookie sheets are all packed and ready to go. Another couple hours in the kitchen and it'll be done. So, that means I can leave it for tomorrow :)

The kids played in the sprinkler this afternoon. Mommy even got in too - which they loved. We all smell like sunscreen!! :) Which is a smell I actually like.


Eric is now reading to the kids and they've been bathed and are READY for bed - even down to their water cups already being filled. Last night bedtime was drug out and they took so long to calm down that bedtime got moved UP to 7:30 tonight! Which will make it nice for Eric and I to have a few hours together before it's too late.

Tomorrow is Eric's last day of summer school!!! The last 6 weeks have SURE flown by. The summer is quickly coming to an end. School starts the 25th of August this year and it certainly feels like it's just around the corner. All of our time is being measured by the few weekends left before then. I'm disappointed that we didn't get a few more things in this summer - but we did have some unexpected events that filled more time that we planned :) (MOVING!)


Oh, the foundation inspector has done the house and everything looks good. The appraisal should be done by Friday and we should have the report from that early next week. Then things will head over to the title/escrow company.


We are still praying that if it pleases the Lord and is HIS will, that we will be able to close and get keys early.

Oh, and if you want to pray for a kind of silly request here it is: we need to find a friend with a spare fridge or ROOM in a spare fridge for our fridge/freezer items.... for things like our ketchup, mayo, miracle whip, and other "cold" staples. I'll keep you posted on that :)

A quick update

Here are a few updates on the house situation:

~ the seller agreed to fixing the items we requested after our home inspection
~ we got all our info faxed to the title/escrow officer
~ we've got utilities lined up for our "last day" here at this house
~ we're moving BIG stuff on Saturday - piano, furniture, entertainment center, beds etc and all our BOXES of stuff
~ we'll continue to sleep here at this house thru the 30th and starting the night of the 31st we'll be with friends while we wait for closing and keys
~ the foundation inspection and appraisal should be done this week
~ we're ON TRACK for closing and such so we're excited about that.
~OH OH OH... our home owners insurance premium is going to lower than we thought which lowers our monthly payment some so we're WAY thrilled about that
~God provided a beautiful daybed off of Craigslist that I got for Carissa. It's in great shape and was a terrific price!

my bed is calling me. i am exhausted as it was a HUGE day today (which followed a NOT SO GOOD night's sleep last night) so i'm ready for BED. G'night!

WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN.....

3 boys pile on their hero?? A SQUOOSHED Daddy!!! Yup, they were having fun!

round the portable they go

I managed to get all 3 in this picture! They were driving round and round this portable behind the school :)

oh yeah, i can stand!!

JOEY stood up and thought he was HOT stuff! Which of course, he IS... :) He was watching the other kids ride their bikes. He'll take about 2 steps now before dropping to his knees or behind.

Kids are doing fine now and Another PRAISE!

I guess it was just a 24 hr. bug or something. The kids are fine... including our spiking fever boy, Noah. I was relieved to see it not spread thru the chilluns. Yeah, thanks GOD.

Another major praise I have to share is in regard to our storage situation. Since we have to be out of our rental house by the end of the month, and we don't close for another week on our new house ... we are basically "homeless" for a week. NO BIGGEE... we'll crash with friends!

The quandry was over all of our STUFF! Did we get a storage unit close to the house that cost more? Did we get a storage unit on the other side of town that cost less, but would take more gas money? Could we trust that we'd close early?! Hmm.. we could hope, but it'd be SO highly unlikely we felt that not the right option. Eric started calling a couple storage places today. Then he got a phone call from the principal at his school. Eric's been doing some tech orders for the school this summer as he's the tech guy in the building. Anyway, they got to talking about the move etc and he offered to let us store stuff at their place as they have the room - either under a covered carport area - OR in the garage if the boat (which is IN the garage) gets the cover put on it and then put under the carport/awning thing. And the really COOL thing is that he lives DIRECTLY on the way to our new house. It's right in the middle. How neato is that?! SO, no storage fee's (THANK YOU LORD!) and YEAH for the blessings of good friends that want to help!

Now.. to find MORE friends with strong muscles to help us MOVE ... AGAIN to storage... and then AGAIN to our REAL house! :)

prayers needed!!

(No worries, house stuff is fine...)

Noah was SO whiny yesterday...wanting to be held and pitifully saying, "mommy, i waaaaaant you" about 40 times in our trip to Costco. He started complaining of a sore throat too. When we got home he laid low and ate just a little bit of dinner. Then I took him temp. He doesn't get that "hot fever" feel until he REALLY spikes. He came in at 101 before bed. Carissa and I were both riding 99.5 or so and Micah was 100. During the night Noah spiked up to 103.2! Poor guy. Everyone else seems okay this morning, temp wise.

Please pray that we regain health in the family quickly. Obviously with the move, being sick is NOT something we'd like to deal with. I'm not surprised to see them showing signs of sickness though b/c their cousins got sick after we left last week... ???? we're all just such a loving sharing bunch! :) ha ha

So, today will be spent packing, purging, and sorting. OH, and I think I'll make a REAL meal for dinner.... hmmm... I think baked bbq chicken and rice. Sounds yummery to me!

just one more step...

Well, we met with our mortgage lender! We discussed the loan options... and are very pleased with what we decided on. :) Our mortgage lender is the sweetest gal! She's patiently worked with us for about 4 years, at least. She's always put up with my emails and questions. She told her assistant today "Guess what?! The C******'s are coming in today!" and her assistant said, "NO WAY!" HAHA. It was too funny!

We signed in about 35 places!

Hopefully the inspection will be Friday afternoon.
Saturday we attend our 2nd "First time homebuyers" class... Yes, we did it about 4 years ago.. ha ha...

Next week should be the foundation inspection....

Things are just truckin' along.

And the BEST news?! Our first mortgage payment isn't due til October 1st!!!! SWEET!

feeling tender

So, we're packing AGAIN. God's good and faithful and we're tired! Haha! To make a LONG story short and sweet (cuz it's not really the point of this post) we are moving out the rental we just moved into less than 2 weeks ago. It finally SOLD as it'd been on the market for months. God's goodness comes into play last Friday when we saw a house, put in an offer, received a counter offer, accepted the counter offer, and signed on the dotted line. We are on the way to be homeowners for the first time.

So, back to the packing part. We thought maybe it'd be good if we went through boxes from storage and purged and sorted. Goodness, I can see how I'm such a sentimental sap! :) I came across a notebook full of printed out emails that I received from friends and family. How fun it was to reread some emails.

I had about 15 or so from my Grandma Johnson, who has since gone to dance in Glory with Jesus. I found myself flipping the pages in the notebook wanting to see what she said in her next message.... lots of lil stories about Grandpa and his doings, rambles about their health and the weather, expressions of love and pride for Eric and I, and always a promise of prayer.

Tears just wouldn't stop flowing.

To top if off, the next box I opened had an old purse it in that I'd given Grandma and Grandpa a frame in at Christmas the year they came to visit us in the Philippines (remember mom, how i used it for packing and never intended it to be part of the gift... that was SO funny... and then i got it back years later). Also in the purse was a flowing gown that Grandma had bought. I slipped it on and somehow tonight it's making me feel closer to her. I greatly miss her and from time to time it hits me to the core and I grieve the loss of my kids knowing their Great-Grandma and I grieve the loss of my connections with her. And then I rejoice, knowing that in time, we'll be together again in Heaven.

Family and reunions and togetherness is fresh in my mind as I'm just home from a family reunion on my mom's side of the family. What a crew we had! It was so special to get to be together for one big day. I am blessed beyond measure with a family that loves.... deeply and fully. Grandma and Grandpa H. got to be surrounded by their children, their grandchildren, and their GREAT grandchildren. What a legacy of love and faithfulness they have passed to us; and with their love for Christ, has instilled in so many of us, a simple love for God that guides us in our own personal walks. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for your example of following Christ. We love you so very much.

Now that it's after 11 pm, I best be calling it a night. On top of the hour and the raw emotion I found in that box, I think I might be able to find my bed now! It was covered in laundry earlier. I went to the laundromat and did 7 loads this afternoon!

Family Fun at the Beach

Noah and Sam are both 6 years old. They got to meet for the first time this July as my oldest brother and his family live in Indiana. The boys had a blast together. Here they are holding onto the kite that Papa bought for everyone to share.
This is Jon and Heather walking on the beach. And wouldn't ya know it, no kids in sight. No worries, there are 10 of them running around, just OUTSIDE the picture! HAHA!

Papa and Grandma working on the mote and the sand castle with the grandkids.

Andi and Carissa. Can you tell who is who?! We didn't realize they were nearly matching in their outfit and hair until we got them down to the beach. Andi (my niece) is on the left and Carissa is on the right.

The ride home. We had a 7 hour trip home from the beach. All the kids konked out at the same time. I took this picture by the point and shoot and hope you get the right angle as I was driving down the highway. ha ha

I'll have more picture to post later when I get copies from the rest of the family :) It was such a great time to hang out with family and get to know my nieces and nephews better!!! If only it could have been LONGER!! LOVE YOU ALL!

Hi Grandma and Papa!!

Hey Grandma!! I love my book!!! Tonight I sat on the couch with "Sissy" and we looked at books together! I had fun. Love, Josiah