I'm finally there

I've made it to minivan Mom! Soccer practice starts next week, you know. I couldn't be arriving in the car. No, really, we've been planning on getting one for a while. Actually, I've always said I would have one after the Subaru. I have loved my Subaru. It is a great car and we have had great fun in it. I am sorry to see it go. It's not gone yet, but we're trying to sell it now.

We didn't really mean to buy a van this week. We were going to wait a few months but we found a great van for a great deal and just couldn't pass it up. A local dealer had the color we wanted, with more features than we were aiming for, for a price less than what we expected to pay, with financing less than our bank offers, and a military discount (including three years of oil changes) to boot. We felt like God was granting us a gift and we needed to take it. Just another example of how we have been provided for while our money has been tight.

Did I mention it's nice? It is! I already love it and haven't even had it for 24 hours. The kids think it's great and Jordan has better space now - the whole backseat to herself again! Now I just have to figure out all those buttons....

Parent Teacher Conference

Gabby has her first Parent/Teacher Conference today. Or maybe I should say WE had our first conference today. They do an early one so you have a chance to tell the teacher about your child and know how things are going early. Her teacher is wonderful and is so excited about getting the kids to read. She's sad we'll be leaving in December but said she'd do everything she could until we leave to get Gabby ready for first grade. They actually have reading and math testing coming up in September. On the computer, no less. Boy, these kids are on top of it! I have never even taken a test on computer, except for the little bit of programming I did in college. But Gabby is doing well and her teacher is great and we're just going to get all we can out of school here and pray for a good school for the second half of the year.

Finally!

I have finally finished the last day of the last week of Beth Moore's The Patriarchs! Yes, it took me almost a year. I started it last fall with ladies from the church in North Carolina. When we left in Jan, I had about half of it to go. So it has taken me 8 more months to finish it up. But I did and am so glad I did. I really wanted to do this study to learn all about our fathers of the faith and I learned a tremendous amount about them, our heritage and about myself. It was worth the time and effort! So next Tuesday we start her study on the Fruit of the Spirit here....

Our weekend

The end of Gabby's first week of school was good. We took her to T-Rex on Friday night to celebrate her first week of school. Saturday I went to quilt with my scrapbooking group (yes, I know, scrapbooking - I had quilting to get done, though!) Robert took the kids out to Powell Gardens for a butterfly exhibit. They all had a great time and so did I! Sunday we went to church and then all came home and went to sleep! We were pooped out from our busy week!

VBS

I mentioned VBS a week or so ago and wanted to go back to that. It is truly amazing what they do here for VBS! Planning starts in May but VBS is held in August to catch the incoming class of Majors that arrives then. May and June are for getting the main volunteers together and ordering supplies. Most volunteers aren't even in place until Aug, when the new folks arrive. They use last year's main VBS so they can get every family a CD of the music and reuse props made by other churches last year. So we did Avalanche Ranch.

In July the painting and crafting starts. To present the stories, four sections of the chapel are totally transformed into a set for that area's story. I helped out in the story of Rahab and the spies during VBS week but I also helped paint a ton of paper bags to make rocks for the crossing the Jordan area. When I say totally transformed, I mean the floor, ceiling, walls, everything. We built the wall of Jericho and Rahab's house in a Sunday School room. It took us two days to put everything up after two days of painting a wall on cardboard mattress boxes. These ladies are amazing in their ideas! I just helped out where I was needed in all this building.

Overall, 460 children attended VBS at the Main Post Chapel on Fort Leavenworth. Only 460 because that was the fire code restriction. Unfortunately it got full and they had to turn some kids away, lest the fire marshall close the chapel down! It was amazing. The kids are in groups of 10 and they run a tight schedule of stories, activities, skits, music, snacks, videos, and crafts. By the end of the three days (yes, all this for three days!) they had heard the story of Rahab, crossing the Jordan river, the battle of Jericho and the Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. It was an honor to be a part of such an enormous undertaking to reach the children of Fort Leavenworth and incredible to watch the number of people step forward to make it happen, some of whom still had boxes all over their house. Gabby had a wonderful time and is still singing the songs and talking about it.

Update on Sam

With all the talk about Gabby lately, what's Sam been up to? Well, he came back from Grandmama's walking and now is doing very well. He's working on stairs and running to keep up with the big kids. He got another molar in last week, giving him the two middle and two molars on the bottom and the four in front on top. He can say ball, big dog, and milk. His favorite thing to say is "no". He is now 15 months and doing well in all ways.

Next we're heading to...

Fort Lewis! That's just south of Seattle and Tacoma for you non-military folks. We are very excited to be heading that way, even though it is a long way from family. All the choices were, though, so we got the best one available. I'd rather be in Seattle than El Paso! We asked to go back to Germany but really thought he was going to get a MITT team, which means 3 months of training and a year in Iraq. So, while we were disappointed over Germany, we were shocked to get Lewis and not a MITT (but, yes, he will deploy from Lewis). All-in-all, we are happy with how it turned out. We will be heading that way sometime after Christmas - all details yet to be determined. Start saving your pennies and come visit. Southwest flies there, Alaskan Cruises leave from there, and we can show you the beauty of the Pacific Northwest! We visited out there when we lived in Montana and it is beautiful.

Gabby's First Week

I know we have one more day left but I have time to write today! Her first week has been good. Monday she had a good day and got to visit the library and the music teacher. Tuesday she declared "Kindergarten is fun!" Wednesday was tough since we went straight from school to swim lessons and then back to school for Know Your School Night. By the end of that, we were all worn out. She had trouble getting up this morning for another day but she made it and has art class to look forward to. Hopefully she will love that since she loves art. Overall, she has had a good time, I think, and will enjoy going to Kindergarten this year.

First Day of School

We took our baby girl off to school this morning. She is so big and so ready to go. She has an awesome school - Kindergarten has come a long way since my day! She was brave and only a little scared about it. She's going 5 days a week, all day long. At least until we move January. Sam and I are going to miss her during the day because she is a big helper to me and plays with Sam. Daddy couldn't resist one last look through the door to be sure his baby was ok. She should have a lot to tell when she gets home this afternoon!

I did ok dropping her off. My only teary moment was when another little boy was brought to my mind, one from Fort Riley whose father was killed in Iraq in 2003. He and Gabby were about the same age, I think. I didn't know the family at all but remember the image of him at the memorial service. It made me sad to think that his daddy was not here to take him to start school this year. I pray he is doing well, wherever he is now. And, of course, there are a lot of other kids going off to school this year whose parents are deployed and not here to take them. Keep them in your prayers. Next year, that might be us.

Report on Bible Study

We had 9 people show up for Bible Study last night, 11 including us. We were very excited to see everyone here! We also have two other couples who are interested but couldn't come last night. We hope everyone comes back next week and that we can maybe gain a few more in the weeks to come. Since we had no idea who was going to come, it was nerve-wracking before it the time came.

A busy life and a prayer request

Yes, I know, I am behind in my writing. We are bust little beavers here in Kansas. I'm sure most of you are in the same boat! Last week was gymnastics and school enrollment. This week is Vacation Bible School (I will write more about this later - it's like nothing I've ever seen before!), swim lessons, and getting ready for school. Next week is starting school and the rest of swim lessons. I would like to think it would slow down but I know it won't!

Our prayer request is for tomorrow night. We are starting up our neighborhood Bible Study. Each neighborhood here has a study-our bigger neighborhood has five total! Our area covers about 70 families and they have all been invited! We spent the last week going door-to-door and managed to meet all but about 5 of them. We're not really sure how many to expect and we've never been running it before. And, did I mention we have a busy week going on? We just want to have a huge turnout, have the evening go well and have a great group come together. And have fun and be able to work out childcare for everyone. I'm sure I left something out. So remember us tonight and tomorrow evening as we prepare and welcome the new group.