Home

I borrowed a camera yesterday so now you can see our new home! It is so nice to have a home again. I love our location and the house itself. It really is a delightful spot. There are lots of pictures, so enjoy!

view from the front porch

front door 

back patio

back yard and shed

front porch

dining room

living room

kitchen

kitchen

bedroom

bathroom

mud room

basement

MOVED!!

We are in the house! Hurray! Pictures will be coming soon. There is much cleaning and unpacking to be done at present. However, the house is lovely and homey and we are all happy to be here. 

the purpose of patience

well . . . we thought we were going to move last week, but we didn't. However, we now have an official closing date which is this Thursday, July 24th. We will close on the house in the morning and than while I stay at our new house to clean and decide where things will go, Jeremiah will rent a truck to take back to the farm and load all of our stuff. The plan is to bring what we need to sleep at the new house Thursday night. Once we are settled we will send out our new address and such. I am sure the next couple of days will drag and fly. The wait is soon over! 

Rainy Day

A rainy summer day is a very pleasant thing. . . if one has no where to go and not to much to do. Fortunately, I am in exactly that situation today, so I am enjoying the rainy day. It is raining straight down, no blowing or anything, so we can leave the windows open, which adds greatly to the pleasure of the rain.

We should, SHOULD be closing on our new house next Thursday. We are very excited. The process continues to go smoothly and our anticipation and excitement are growing proportionately:) Once we are settled we will be sure to send out pictures and address and such. We are hoping to move in next weekend. NEXT WEEKEND!!! After this prolonged season of transition it almost seems to good to be true to be actually moving into our own place again. 

Life on the farm is going well. Ethan and Hans are growing each day. Hans got his fourth tooth the beginning of this week. Ethan likes to spend as much time outside as we will let him. Jeremiah's brother and sister are home and Ethan is enjoying having extra people around to play with him. 

Jeremiah has been nursing a sore back the last week or so. It is getting better each day, but it is a slow process. I am enjoying some extra free time as there are people to help with the boys and the house. It is nice. Life has slowed down a little bit, it actually feels like summer and there is time to sit and visit and read. 

The weekend of the fourth was good. We went to the lake with the Miller's and enjoyed a day of laziness. There were fireworks in the evening. It was Ethan's first fireworks and he loved them! Shows he has a good dose of Martin blood in him:) 

Rain truly is a blessing from above. Not only does it make things grow, but it is such a restful, peaceful thing to watch and listen to. There is a verse somewhere that says that God will water the earth. This is good!! Such mercy : God sends his rain on the wicked and the just. Enjoy the rain!!

A visit to Mom's house

We have returned! Ethan, Hans and I went down to PA and stayed with Mom for a week. It was a wonderful vacation. The boys did very well and had a great time. We got to do lots of fun things like go to the park and get their pictures taken. Ever since having children I have had a sort of dread of getting the boys' picture taken professionally. It just seemed like to much hassle for the cost. Mom suggested the idea and supplied the encouragement and I, though cautious, was very pleasantly surprised at how easy and fun the whole process was. I am sure a lot of it had to do with having Mom along and going to The Picture People who know what they are doing. The pictures turned out marvelous. 

We also got to spend some time with friends and family. It was very nice to be able to easily get out and socialize with people again. Good friends are always such a blessing. 

our big boy

Hans was attracted to the water fountain like a bee to honey!

Grandma's swing set

Thursday we met my aunts, cousins and the boys' second cousins at the park for a picnic. It was a great day and the Ethan loved the park. The pictures are mostly in black and white because our camera met its end in the park. Yes, I am sad to report that our camera has died (moment of silence please. . . . . . . . . thank you). It was starting to do funny things like turning pictures purple or putting lines though them. Unbeknown to me it was doing this to all the pictures I took at the park (hence I converted them to B&W so our faces aren't pink). While walking about, I set the camera on top of the stroller and it proceeded to fall off, land on the lens and die completely. So, these will be that last of the pictures for a little bit.  I will still keep you up to date on our happenings. 

Charis, Elaine, Hope and Nadia

 A happy duck!