So I was glancing at my blog and realized it's been quite awhile since I have written. This is not for lack of exciting adventures to write about - trust me - we've been on a wild ride the past few months. However, I will say, with so much of our life changing and honestly, being so very difficult to explain if you haven't been a part of our journey, it's been creating writer's block for me. I'll stick to some general life updates and kid developments. For the full story of our past 3 months or so, I will do a 'probably-not-so-very-short' update once our life is less 'up-in-the-air'.
August in Minnesota found us enjoying our friends and family, me teaching a little bit of piano and leading worship at Park Free, Ross working at Bethel, Ross playing baseball (and his team made it all the way to play-offs - one game short of going to the championship game) and the kids growing and changing before our very eyes. We also did lots of celebrating during the month of August! We enjoyed a Manders' family reunion in celebration of a 65th wedding anniversary up in Osakis. I also had a great time celebrating Ross's cousin Angie's first baby boy, at her shower, and we attended the wedding of one of Ross's friends from his high school days. I had a blast finishing up a special 30th birthday gift with two other girlfriends. We decided to tackle making our amazing friend a t-shirt quilt and we were able to keep it a secret from her. I never would have been able to do that project by myself - my sweet, much-more-experienced sewing friends were so amazing to work with and I think we had a lot of good bonding over the quilt making process. We had a great time celebrating her big 3-0 and presenting our labor of love to her on her actual birthday.
Towards the end of the month, we did take a trip to NJ/PA. Ross was interviewing for a job in PA and the kids and I were able to tag along and spend some time with my parents, too. The job he was interviewing for back in August is still up in the air (hence why we've been on a bit of a journey) but we are trusting God to provide for our family and for what we believe HE has placed on our hearts to do for His kingdom. In the mean time, we are thankful for Ross's current employer, Bethel, and all of the many ways God continues to work in our lives, even in the midst of an uncertain future.
September found us celebrating Little Brother's 1st birthday, my birthday and the birthdays of many family members. We began to wrap MN life 'up', anticipating Ross's job news by the end of the month. This included weeks of preparation to move out of our townhome in order to welcome renters by the 1st of October. I feel as though September flew by in a split second. At the very end of the month, the job news was postponed until November, so we had to decide what to do and we felt strongly that we needed to go ahead with moving out plans even if we had no place to 'lay our heads' or put our stuff. Of course we found storage and Ross found friends' to take him in and my parents are graciously hosting me and the boys. So - until the job news breaks - we are slightly nomadic and trying to look at it as an adventure. :)
Little Brother is now walking! Upon celebrating his first birthday, he decided it was time to get more serious about this walking business. I didn't anticipate him walking simply because he was such an efficient, fast crawler. However, over the past month, he has received lots of encouragement from lots of people (Grandma and Grandpa Ridder) and he is well on his way to preferring to walk rather than crawl. He is also hilarious - if the child gets near anything hot or even sees you turn on the stove or the Keurig - he begins to blow. Little B totally gets 'hot' and it's adorable. He is a real ham and knows how to turn on the charm. His pointer finger also gets him wherever and whatever he wants (within reason). He may not perform many 'signs' but he sure knows how to use his body to indicate his preference for many things. His favorite book has been Goodnight Gorilla and he now has 6 teeth (4 top and 2 on bottom). He is going to be Yoda for Halloween.
Big Brother will be Darth Vader for Halloween. He has been using the "I'm bored" phrase more and more and I really wish he could attend preschool right now. He's very ready. (Hopefully by January 2013!) He is currently attending Awana Cubbies and LOVES it. He looks forward to Wednesday nights immediately following Awana each week. We've started reading 'easy' chapter books together before bed and he's really been enjoying them. He is a Daddy's boy and our current 'crazy' life, which has separated us from Ross, has not been easy on my first born. He received his first pair of Converse 'tie shows' from my sister's family and he looks so grown up in them. (Gulp!)
I'm sure to be leaving out some other important events and updates but I'm drawing a blank and needing to close - so - until next time (which will hopefully be the 'not-so-short' version of what we've been up to and why) ... adios.
