17 months

Noah turned 17 months today.. NUTS!! I love this kid. He is so cute... He completes us!!

Nothing new....

Just enjoying our new life in California. I have slowly started to meet some people... and am getting use to being home with Noah. Still trying to get the house in order. Nate is amazing .. I swear he was born to be a homeowner. On his days off he just goes, goes, goes...always has some kind of project. He just works on them, and knocks them out one after the other. I am truly blessed for a man like him in my life. I am ready to get the rest of our stuff from Mississippi. Though we haven't had this stuff in about three and a half years, it holds our bed, our kitchen table... and without those two things, my room and our dining room just aren't becoming.. homey!

The weather here is nice. We love to go on walks/jogs in our neighborhood and now that our stuff is here.. we are loving bike riding! :) Can't wait to have some visitors.

The Babies

Addi and Ashtyn.

Started School.

TODAY!

Chloe is in 4th grade-WOW! The babies started PreK and K. How I wish I could have been there to see all of them off! Sweet kids. I look at them, talk to them, see their pictures and I know how proud their Daddy would be of them. It still makes no sense why my brother, their daddy, was taken from this world. These little kids are now beginning the starts of Father/Daughter Dances, Father/Son Campouts. What happens when they make a special gift for Daddy's in school? I pray so hard that they have GREAT teachers that are sensitive to the fact that these beautiful kids do not have their daddy here anymore on this earth. I know how important it is as a teacher to be sensitive to the needs of these students.. but as a teacher I also know that there are plenty of teachers out there that are really only their for the job. Considering the little ones are in Prek and K, I hope that those are the teachers that are amazing at helping these kids. Life isn't fair. For Chloe' I pray that God gave her a teacher that can be sensitive to her needs too.. even when she acts like she is totally fine! God Bless all 3 of my brothers babies.

Shane would be so proud of his kids.

CHLOE ELISE

ASHTYN ZANE

ADDISYN ZOE

on my mind..

Most of my blogs consist of one of a few things... Japan and moving, Noah and Nate, My family, and.. SHANE! Today my post is a long time coming... but I just haven't had the umph to sit down and write it. Something that is so very different for me here in California, from anytime in my life, is the amount of homeless people. It breaks my heart. You go through my little town and on almost every corner, at every gas station, etc. Someone is standing there with a sign. It breaks me. I am not use to this. I wonder how many of the people are TRULY in need. I know it is not my place to judge.. but I wish I could see into their life when I look at them.. or perhaps I don't want too see the hurt and pain they go through. But I wish I knew which ones that I could help. Driving the other day, I saw a younger, fairly good looking guy holding a sign. I try to pretend like I don't see him but do catch a glimpse at his sign and it says "Why Lie? I want a beer!" Whereas many people will find that funny... it makes me SO sad. I am not sure if this guy truly, truly needs something.... I just don't know. There are some older people that I See that just destroy my little heart. I do wish that I could help them all.. but instead- I don't help any of them. Is this right? I live in the fear of one of them pulling a gun on me if I pull up or something- you NEVER KNOW in this world. I try and practice safety for me and my family.. but I wonder if pretending that I don't see them is the right thing to do.

Anyways, just something that I see on a regular basis now that I am in California... and it makes me SO sad.

My boy

Noah is officially nuts! He loves our home!! I love that he is so comfortable in it. He loves so many things.. among these are:
going up and down the stairs,
climbing in the cabinets for "where's noah",
sweeping the floors with the broom,
vaccuming the floors with the mop,
putting his head in the toilet,
helping daddy paint,
playing with dezi outside throwing the balls,
helping load and unload the washer and dryer,
helping organize the food in the fridge,
doing pull ups on anything he can- the bar, cabinet doors, and drawers,
sleeping in his bed,
going 'nigh nigh' in his room,
sliding down the stairs on his bum and saying 'boom',
playing outside with chalk,
getting his snacks out of the pantry,
having his personal drawer in the kitchen where he can get his supplies out (plate, cups, utensils, and errr.. pacies)
.... and just being with mommy and daddy

We are so blessed with this energetic boy. The days Nate has to go to work he is up with us at 6am when the alarm goes off. Days that Nate is not here.. he will sleep until at least 7am. He goes 'nigh nigh' in his own bed, but I will bring him down when we go to sleep. We are currently sleeping in our living room on our couch bed and noah's bed is down here too. Can't wait to get our stuff and feel more settled.

Other than being in our home and panting it... nothing new! :)

We are home!

We moved into our home... we don't have our stuff yet.. but we are here. We love it! The kitchen is my sanctuary. I have dreamed of a kitchen and bathroom like these! Living on-base housing for the past 7 years has left me with many dreams. THIS house surpasses all of my dreams. The only downer is knowing that I won't be in the house for YEARS, and YEARS, and YEARS! Such is the nature of our life! :)

We are happy and in love.

and.. it happened..

I was asked if I had any other siblings other than Brittany tonight...

That was the first time....

Of course the answer is "YES".. because I do..

I have you, big brother.

You just aren't here anymore.

It sucks.

Our new life..

God has been so good. I am just overwhelmed with the gratefulness in my heart. Two weeks ago... even one week ago.. I was missing Japan sooo much! Missing my family there soooo much. I still do! Japan will always have such a big part of me and a big part of my heart! .... but I am loving it here. California is nice... I love the fact that we are going to be in OUR home very soon. I love the fact that I get to stay home with this amazing child God gave me. I love this place. I haven't met a ton of people, but that is okay! Nate is happy so far with his job... in our home the saying goes "If Daddy's not happy, Ain't nobody happy!" Daddy is happy. He is loving life.. and loving California. Nate's only complaint is gas and the amount of money we are spending on it. Well.. DADDY-O.. that is what happens when you go from driving 2 miles to work to 25-30 miles to work! Moving into our home and being close(R) to everything will be nice.

We have loved being in Browns Valley. I think God brought these people, Christy and Cody, into our lives for a reason. I know we will continue to keep in touch and be friends with them. We are amazed at how they have opened not only their home, but their hearts to the four of us! Dezi has felt right at home here... and Noah has loved it here too! Mommy and Daddy won't be as stressed once we get into our own home so our L.O.U.D. child can terrorize our home instead of theirs!

My sister is doing great in Africa. I miss hearing her voice. She has about a week left... although I am happy and proud of her for what she is doing over there and how she is serving our God.. I miss her and selfishly can't wait to hear that voice again!

We hope to get keys to our home on FRIDAY!!! FRIDAY! This is the first time I have truly let myself get excited... I hope I am not jinxing us. Everything has gone along smoothly... so.. I hope it continues. If we get our keys on Friday that is only LESS THAN 4 weeks since our offer was accepted. Thank you VA Mortgage Center and Sarah Hoagland for helping us out so much! God is sooo good to us!

Next time I post we should be in our first (non-base) home!!! How exciting!!!

I love my husband...

It is so hard to believe that we have been married OVER 8 years!! Time has really flown. I have been with this man since I was 16 years old. I feel like the past year we have grown so much together! We have had our ups and downs... but man, I love that boy. He is so good to us. He is a wonderful father and a fantastic husband! God made us for each other. I pray that HE keeps all evils away from us and our marriage! So many people today are getting divorced.. and I just have to daily pray a strong hedge of protection over my marriage! We really complete each other. Sometimes he says some of the sweetest things.. and they take off completely off guard.. but I feel loved and special all the same. I am so thankful for this man. He works very hard to make sure that we have the things we need... and is allowing me to enjoy my time with Noah! i hope that once we start this new journey where I am NOT working outside the home... That I can be a great stay at home wife and mom. I hope that I can finally become the wife I have always wanted to be... It is going to be great. I am so excited for us to get into our dream home together... Thank you Lord, for Nathan... my one and only!

Do you ever wonder...

Who the random people are that read your blog? I do... Hm...