What a day!

Adam's first day of Kindergarten! He loved it. We missed him.


Adam waving goodbye as his class is led to their classroom. Please note the darling girl in the pink vest in the older class to the right: that is Adam's cousin Hannah. We saw her, and her brother Vinson, a couple of times today at school. I love that.

And last, but not least, check out Janie's new trick:

She started doing this last night. Pretty cool, hey? Notice how she claps for herself at the end. What a cutie!

Joshua is doing great too, by the way. He is working on getting potty-training this week (took the day off today, though) and he's doing really well with it. He missed Adam today. It will be an adjustment for him to be the oldest one at home, but I think it will be good for him.

We sure love these sweet children of ours!

House Update

Well, folks....
We closed on our house on Friday, which also happens to be John's birthday! It was a great birthday present for him. Moved in most of our big stuff yesterday (Saturday), and now we just have to pack and move boxes little by little. There are also a few minor repairs to be made. Thank goodness for a handyman husband who can do that kind of thing! Hopefully we'll be over there for good by next week. Hurray!
The house is in an older (but still nice) neighborhood in Mesa. We really like it, and are so grateful that we could find such a wonderful house in a good location that we can afford. We have been really blessed with how well everything has worked out, and are just in awe that it worked out how it did.
I don't have any pictures of the house right now so I'm not going to post any, but if you would like to come over and see it (in a couple of weeks), e-mail or call us and we'll be glad to have you!

Cute Pics of our Kiddos

We took my mom to the zoo for her birthday, and my dad got some great pictures. He's posted a few of them on his blog. Go check them out! I love how they turned out.

Another Reason to Say Our Prayers Tonight

Our sweet Adam has now survived his first stitches--he got about 8 of them today. I'll spare you the details, but he managed to get a pretty deep 1/2-inch gash in his forehead. John's uncle Karl Hiatt is a plastic surgeon and was kind enough to take the time out of his day off (after finishing his shift at the hospital) to meet us at his office and sew Adam up. He did a beautiful job. Thankfully John's parents and sisters were with us, so John's mom drove us to Karl's office (John met us there) and his dad and sisters took care of Joshua and Janie. Adam is fine, and I am thanking the Lord with all my heart that he got hit where he did, and not any higher or lower, as he could have been blinded or worse. I thank God that I still have my boy tonight, and that he will be fine. I know He was watching over and protecting my Adam today.

We often ask for prayers for those who are sick or struggling, and that is right, but I think it wouldn't be inappropriate to ask you to take a minute and thank the Lord that Adam is okay. I have, and will continue to.

The rest of us are doing fine. We're all well, recovered from colds (John and I) and chicken pox (Joshua). Janie is teething, but handling it pretty well. Life is good. In fact, life is wonderful.

Weeping may endure for a night...

...but joy cometh in the morning (Psalms 30:5).

I've been reminded recently that everything happens for a purpose, and sometimes hard times come in preparation for blessings that are to follow. And the blessings are worth all the challenges. I'm grateful that after sadness comes joy. I know God loves and remembers all of His children. He does have happy times in store, and He will help us through the sad times if we keep our faith and trust in Him.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! In the spirit of Thanksgiving...click here for a sweet message about gratitude.

Love,
Us