Where to begin??

Where do I begin? Life has been unbelievably hectic this whole month - which is why I haven't posted, and for that, I apologize. I know it can be boring and frustrating to look at blogs that hardly ever post anything, so I don't know why I've been pulling the same thing. There has been plenty to blog about, but since we still don't have our pictures downloaded, it doesn't make for a very exciting post.

I guess I'll just have to go back to the beginning - starting with the 4th of July. We had a wonderful July fourth weekend - filled with ultimate frisbee, swimming, fireworks, a parade, food, and lots of fun and laughter.

The next weekend we took a trip to Des Moines for our Nazarene District Assembly and campmeeting and then Saturday we went to the Adventureland theme park! It was a wonderful reward for all of everyone's hard work! I got out of my comfort zone a lot that day - I even rode a roller coaster....and I loved it!

This last weekend we had some friends of ours, Megan and Caleb, come up to help us clean up our house and for some fun. We got SO much accomplished! Caleb, who is a great handyman, fixed our hardwood floors, replaced some flooring, did some plumbing work and so much more! Megan jumped right in there as well - washing floors, helping to pull up the flooring, and hauling things out of the garage. They were both such an enormous blessing! But it wasn't all work, work, work. Saturday, Megan, Deanna, and I went out for some fun. We headed to the mall and Bath and Body Works was our first stop - was that ever an experience. Let's just say we made some memories! After shopping around for a while, we went to Kohls and Famous Footwear, and made some great purchases. Then while sitting in the parking lot of Kohls, trying to decide our next move, it starts to pour cats and dogs - it was windy and rainy, lightning and thundering - it looked like a mini hurricane. So we drove down a little ways and ended up at Village Inn, where we raced inside, and were DRENCHED!

Also, we had a wild experience yesterday when we were transporting our swingset from our old house to our new one. We didn't bungee cord it down, so as we are going down the highway, all of sudden, Megan says, "Caleb, slow down!". We look back and to our horror, see a rather large part of our swingset fly from the bed of the truck and crash onto the other lane on the highway. We turn around as soon as we could. Turns out, God was looking out for us and the other drivers. There "just happened" to not be anyone in the other lane - if there had been, it more than likely would have shattered their windshield or worse. It "just happened" to be that Caleb had hooked his trailer onto his truck, so when the swingset flew out, it hit the trailer instead of my mom, who was following behind us. And it "just happened" that the drivers around us were paying attention enough so as not to hit it - although three cars, including my dad, had to slam on his brakes and swerve in order to miss it. So God had his hand on us and everyone around us - it could have been so much worse!

So, from a wild experience at Bath and Body Works, getting drenched in torrential rain, and having our swingset fly out of the truck onto the highway, we had a great time and made many memories!

In the midst of all of this, we have been working on our flooded house, as well as trying to make this house a home. I will attempt to post more often...hopefully we get our normal internet up and running soon!

Up next on the docket, we have hockey tryouts this weekend to attend (YAY!) and a fireworks show we're watching with a church group on Friday. Dad will be pulpit supplying all during August in Davenport, Iowa, so continue to pray for him.

Thank you for your support and your prayers!

Hello....

....from wet Iowa!

I am SO sorry for my lack of posting! I do realize that it has almost been 2 weeks since I last posted....I haven't been keeping up very well lately. But things are gradually getting back to normal around our household - although I know the work is just beginning for some families who were hit by the flood.

We are very slowly getting our new house in order....we finally have the dining room and living room how we want it. Yay! Everything else is coming along - our goal is to have it done by tomorrow....which may be a lofty goal, but it is a goal.

It's gradually starting to hit home a little more about how much we lost - as we are unpacking, we notice things that are gone or are not the same as before. Today, we had to go through all of our piano music - that was not fun. We lost a lot of music that we use when we travel and just use for fun. But, thankfully, we were able to salvage more than I had originally thought we would be able to - some of what we lost can be replaced - when that will happen is still up in the air.

Our old house is coming along, as well. The basement is being bleached and cleaned out, and the items that we were able to salvage from our garages will be hosed down and bleached, hopefully, tomorrow. Progress is being made!

All of us are so exausted....we have been on the go for a month straight. Last Sunday, we had a wonderful break from it all as some friends (who happen to be friends of not only us, but also our pastor and his family) came up and we got to hang out with them all day! We spent the afternoon and after church Sunday night playing ultimate frisbee, croquet, and spoons! It was a wonderfully relaxing day - it was great to get away from it all.

Hopefully our internet on our normal computer will be up soon - for right now, we are using Dad's laptop - which makes it hard to post pictures and to look at your blogs. But I will try to post more often!

God has been so good throughout this whole ordeal! I have two verses I would like to share that have helped me throughout this time.

"Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord." ~ Psalm 31:24

"But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;" ~ Isaiah 43:1-3a

I think I could use a shout-out from all of my friends right about now! Also, a lot of you who have blogs aren't saved on my dad's favorites, which makes it hard to find your blog. Please leave a comment so that it makes it easier for me to find it. So please leave a comment! I would love to hear from anyone who is reading this! :-)