Happy New Year!

We had a great first day of the year 2009. The children played, I sorted and organized, which I love to do, and Steve did a little of both, he plays hard but he also works hard. My parents came over for dinner and my dad made a wonderful meal!

As we sat around the table, Steve suggested we all share a few of our New Years resolutions. Here's what we all shared.

Steve: To run in the Green Lakes Triatholon in July -and- To make daily devotions a priority.

Wendy: To make exercise a part of my lifestyle again -and- To make devotions a daily priority (are we sensing a theme here?)

Mom: To read through the whole Bible in one year -and- To spend more time playing with her grandhildren.

Dad: To be a kinder, gentler grampa (aw, he's so great).

Ryan:To have better handwriting -and- to have his multiplication facts memorized and to be able to say them really fast.

Aaron: To be able to run as fast as Ryan.

Ethan: To be able to read bigger words -and- to be able to run as fast as the bigger boys.

We wrote them down so we can revisit them in June and again on December 31st to see if we accomplished our goals. I was blessed by this idea, it seems very positive and motivating for the children to see that they have set out to accomplish something and at the end of the year to have achieved the goal.

What are your New Year's Resolutions?

The Hen coop

Our new home is on Hencoop Road. Thankfully it didn't come with any hens and there aren't any around. Here are some pictures of our new home, since so many of you have been asking to see it! It's still real messy right since we moved right before Christmas. I think I will put some of the pictures from before we actually moved in.

The front of the house, our property goes all the way back to the tress behind! The boys standing in front of the house. The house in the distance has four children also! This is the kitchen island, looking into the greatroom. Our Charlie Brown Christmas tree is in the background. This is Aaron and Ethan's bedroom. The beds are from the previous family, we have bunk beds for them. The border is great, bugs and frogs, perfect for our boys!

This is the view from the loft/hallway looking down onto the greatroom. The previous owners had great taste for decorating, I would love to have her to decorate it with us!

God has blessed us in so many ways, and I can't beleive I am living in such an amazing house, in this amazing country setting. My dream come true! My husband is a blessing to allow me to come live in the country. It is actually only 5 miles from the village in which he works so that helped matters. We have been out on the snow mobile, building snowmen, sledding, and can't wait to enjoy it in the rest of the seasons. In the back of our lot, beyond the trees there is a small stream with some tiny little waterfalls, so sweet and a great place to catch frogs and all sorts of wildlife. As you can imagine, Aaron is in heaven back there (and secretly, I think I will be too! ) In the spring I will be starting a garden and am so excited to do so as I have been wanting to garden for quite some time now. One day at a time. Our sea freight is due to be delivered on January 7th and I will have ots to organize and sort. It will just become more of our home by then, I can't wait!

Thankyou Lord for this amazing blessing.