Settling is unsettling but we are feeling settled!

So, after one week of official work, Kent has seen over 40 patients and has a couple of procedures and surgeries under his belt.  He was definitely needed up here!   The boys and I are finding ways to keep busy without Daddy being home.  Kent spent almost a whole week building a massive tree fort for the kids so they would have something to do while he gets back into his work routine.

Last week we went to Adventure Island and had Kent's sister Shannon and co. for a few days.  It turned out to be a very busy, fun filled week!

The boys are really looking forward to starting school.  It is hard to make friends in a new place during the summertime.  They are slowly building friendships at a few churches we've been visiting. 

We were so thankful to be able to try VBS at two of them!

We have tried a few on Sunday and we're still not sure where God wants us.  We don't want to rush the process, but feel it would really be nice to start plugging in somewhere.  Most churches are on summer break too... so, we have to wait until September to see what small groups/bible studies and kid's programs will be available.

Grandma Glynn taught us how to play Tripoly!

In the meantime, we have more visitors coming and are planning a weekend in Lansing to break up August.  The older boys start swimming lessons at the YMCA tonight too - they are really excited! 

Catching Up

Wow, I can't believe we've been here in Cadillac for over a month already.  I have been so delinquent in my posts - has it really been since last November?  But now that we're here, I'm hoping this will be a way for us to connect and reconnect with you.

Today is Kent's first office day.  He has 7 patients on the schedule to see.  He was so excited to go to work this morning!  I'm so thankful that he loves what he does.  It has been a LONG road to get here, and now it's finally starting!  We celebrated 10 years of marriage in May and our entire married life has been leading up to today.

He has been very productive with his time off in July.  We loved having him home all the time, and we got a lot of projects done on the house.

The baby is a great motivator for that too!  He is coming in three months and we're still not sure where we're going to put him :)

Anyway, thought I'd post some before and after pictures of the house.  Kent worked super hard on it from March until now and I think it shows.  We are adjusting to our new life, home and surroundings.  We went from many neighbors and big city conveniences to having a farmer pay us to bale our hay!  More to come!

Hustle and Bustle

So, I've not been blogging faithfully. I've always been a terrible journal keeper, so this will be a stretch for me! You have to keep me accountable. :)

This time of year is SO CRAZY for our family. However, Christmas is my most favorite time of the year. It all starts with Elijah's birthday, which is November 20, one week before Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving starts the piano recitals and Christmas parties: School, work, church. On top of those, God blessed us with Silas on December 23 so we had a birthday party for him last Saturday afternoon..... and Kent's work party HERE that night. Whew! I'm just getting started! This Sunday is the boys' singing concert at church and then of course, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day slow things down a bit with my birthday right after. We get a couple days break before Isaac's birthday, January 9.

Kent just had a doctor's appt. yesterday and found he has a touch of high blood pressure - I wonder why! He should've had his physical in June!

All that said, we so enjoy all the opportunities we have to make memories with our kids, our friends and families. Something we do every night starting December 1st is celebrate Advent.

We have two great books we read with the kids every night that really help us keep our focus on our Savior. The first one is called "The ADVENTure of Christmas" by Lisa Whelchel. Each day explores the true meaning behind holiday traditions. The other is called "the Advent Book" by Jack and Kathy Stockman. This is a beautifully illustrated book that takes you through Christ's birthday story, over the course of 25 days according to Luke 2. This is an awesome way for us to memorize His story!

Of course all of our happenings give me great pictures and stories to scrapbook and post! Enjoy!

It's Christmas Time in the City....

I've gotten a little nostalgic as I think about all the things we love about living in Lansing. I'm trying to keep a checklist of things that our family should do one more time before we move in 6 months. One of the things is Silver Bells in the City. Every year, right before Thanksgiving, Lansing does a huge light parade, Capitol tree lighting and fireworks. We arrived a little late, but were able to catch some of the parade and the fireworks. The Capitol building is absolutely beautiful when it's lit up at night... and especially when it's lit up by fireworks! It also happened to be on Elijah's first birthday! How many kids can say they got fireworks on their big day? It was so fun.

We're blogging now!

Silas and I (Becky) decided we needed to come up with a way to keep in touch with our friends and family when we move next summer... so, here we are! Our blog will hopefully be our way of journaling our family life and keeping in touch with yours! Please be patient as we learn our way around. Any tips are welcome!