Well, yet again it has been far too long since I have posted. Things have been so busy lately...busier than I like!
Well, we have quite a bit of news on our front!
1. We adopted a dog. Her name is Angel (not the greatest dog name) and she is a black lab/newfoundland mix who we "saved" from a situation where Paul and I suspect she was being abused. The lady's partner moved in and was allergic to Angel so they were giving her away and once we got her she exhibited all kinds of abused behavior. She is doing much better and we think that in time she may act more like a "normal" dog but probably never completely. In the mean time we just have to be patient when she runs to the other side of the house when we get a plastic bag out of the cupboard or take out the broom to sweep the floor. She is a SUPER sweet girl though and we are LOVING have her for our family pet! She is very obedient (when she's not frightened) and she loves going for car rides and has already ridden up to my mom and dad's when Alia and I went up there for a day. Right now, I am her security. I can't go to any other room without her following me. However, she likes to sleep on the floor next to Paul's side of the bed!
2. We have kept the following info under wraps as we didn't want to have everyone know and then not have it go through, but now it is for sure. We are buying my mom and dad's house in Newaygo (about 1 hour north of Grand Rapids). They are building a smaller one farther back on their property. They wanted to downsize and decided to make the offer to us when we were house shopping in the area in order to be closer and farm on dad's property with my brother, Mike. Well, we worked out all the logistics and it's a done deal. We are starting to move some of our stuff mid-April and then fully move on the last weekend of April. Mom/Dad are going to be living in their 5th wheel camper for the summer while the house is being built. Mike will be living with Paul and I and we are all communicating about the ins and outs of that as well. It is all coming together even better than we could have imagined and we know that if God's hand in it all.
We are very excited to be out in the country and be able to raise our kids with that lifestyle. Even more exciting is the opportunity to live on the property that we will have our crops and animals on...we weren't anticipating that at all!
3. The farm begins soon! Our baby chicks will arrive in a few weeks and will spend their first month in a chick box in our garage. We are very excited about this as well. We started a flock with my sister and brother-in-law when we lived in IL and we are really looking forward to having chickens again.
4. Not really anything dramatic happening on the Alia front, but what is a post without something about her, huh?! She is cruising and exploring every square inch of the house. Yes, she has been found playing in the toilet water, and pulling all the clothes out of dresser drawers that WERE closed! She is generally a very delightful girl, but we have found that not having a second vehicle and staying home all day every day is posing a bit of a problem when it comes to socialization for Alia. We are currently talking about how to remedy that. She gets along famously with the dog. In fact, Alia looks for her every time she wakes up to be sure Angel is still here....the dog's presence earning her big grins and squeals of delight!
5. Paul is really enjoying his job now (which is a HUGE blessing) but there is a job possibility on the horizon up north that would be great (20 min commute instead of 1 hr) so we continue to pray for the LORD's leading on that.
Well, I think that's all for now. Life is about to take a pretty drastic turn but we are more than ready to take it on! Thanks again for all your support, prayers, and notes of encouragement. We are thankful that you, family and friends, don't believe those things are just for when things are going wrong!
We pray that you will be blessed as you have blessed us.
