A Bend in the Road

Last week I celebrated my 27th birthday. I thought I would share some sweet remarks that Trent wrote down from the girls. He asked them what they love & appreciate about Mama. They said:
-That you read us books (Anne)
-Your nose and hair (Abbey)
-That you love me!! (Anne & Abbey)
-That you give me toys (Abbey)
-That you feed and dress us (Anne)
-That you sing to us (Abbey)
-That you give me night-night blankies (Abbey)
-"She's such a good Mama" (Anne)
-"I'm thankful that my mom is very kind to me" (Anne)

What wonderful words from my children! (and I never knew I had a nice nose & hair!)

What will this year hold for me? I am, as always, excited to see what is ahead. Some things are beginning to come into focus....

We're moving (in 3 days!) to a big, old farmhouse. We are so excited to be able to stretch our city legs out in the country. The girls are excited to have a yard to play in (although they were VERY happy this morning making dirt cookies out of a single flower pot on the deck) and I am excited to plant some flowers in the spring.

We will be tenants, which will be different. We're building a relationship with the home-owner and are excited to get to know him and his family better. I am especially grateful that they are very willing to allow us to paint (kitchen cabinets) and do whatever we want with flowerbeds and really make it a home.

We will be landlords. I don't know what this will look like. It is something new for us, and we're not sure if we'll like it or not. But again, we're thankful to have found what we think will be a good tenant. They will move in March 1st.

We will (Lord willing) be foster-parents and then hopefully adoptive-parents. Again, I don't know what this will look like. We will attend our training in March and have more children in our home sometime after that. (Notice how I often say children and not child? Sibling groups are something the Lord has laid on my heart in regards to fostering/adopting.) I am so thankful to have 5 bedrooms at our disposal in the farmhouse. I'm willing to give up the comforts of my dishwasher in order to make room for more children.

That's all for now. You probably won't hear from me for awhile. I'm still not sure what internet will be available to us and when we'll get connected.