Still here!

Hello my friends! I'm sorry I haven't added any new posts recently. We don't have internet at our house yet, so the only time I can get online is at my mom and dad's or at Aaron's mom and dad's. We are doing well, lots of things have happened since Aaron officially moved up here, about 2 weeks ago now. I will post pictures of our place and pictures of a beach trip we just took as a family. Zoe starts 1st grade in one week! Her new school is amazing! I am getting a job working in a compounding pharmacy, no more pill pushing. :) Compounding entails more detailed work, basically cooking medication into ointments, creams, etc. Should be interesting. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work and but a little nervous about what life will look like when I don't get to be with Eve all day. I think I will miss her! But such is life. Aaron is starting work tomorrow for a construction company that a friend of ours up here works for. Right now it'll be just a labor job, but it will turn into something like a foreman position. He still has his application in at REI and is doing a roof for his parents neighbor in the next few weeks. Just like Aaron to have several irons in the fire, but that is just who he is. On a side note, I just finished reading The Shack. I highly recommend it. I don't want to say too much, just read it. Sorry that this update is so disjointed! :) Hopefully we will have the ability to have internet at home soon so there can be more pictures and updates. Hope you are all well!

Madagascar Drum

Zoe, Eve, and Auntie Mary playing a really cool drum from Madagascar. It was given to Aaron by one of his youth from Fresno, Kyle Hayes, who went on a Teen Missions trip this summer to Madagascar for 8 weeks. The drum is a hit!

Aaron's Letter to NewLife

To My NewLife Family...

When I drove my little non-air-conditioned Toyota into Easton nearly three years ago, I remember asking myself — "Where are the mountains? I thought there were mountains? How will I survive?" Well, needless to say, in our time here my family and I thrived. It was because of your overwhelming love and support that we enjoyed our time here so much. You took such good care of all my ladies. The girls will always miss their NewLife peeps. And you allowed Margaret to rekindle the passion and joy that she once had in ministry.

You gave me incredible freedom and grace to lead you as Christ was leading my heart. I felt nothing but supported in my efforts here and that is essential for health in ministry. Even though we will be hundreds of miles away, we will still be worshiping with you in spirit and truth. Know that we see you as family, because that is what you became to us here, where we were apart from our own. You loved us, and we could never thank you enough.

Thanks for making a longhaired, tree-hugging, mountain climbing, sandal wearing, coffee drinking hippie from the Northwest feel welcome. I’ll miss you, NewLife.

-Aaron

Vampire Teeth

Zoe went to the dentist the other day and chose vampire teeth as her prize. Those of you who don't really know her might think this is strange, but for those of us who do know her, this is very Zoe.

A place to call home!

So here it is! The Parkside Apartments, where we will be living for now. Our townhouse is middle right (if you click on the picture, you can see Zoe standing on the front step). It is very cute! I will take more photos once we are officially in, on the 15th. I didn't want to take any today because the current tenant is still living there. This is the same complex my sister lives in. Her apartment is on the left hand side of the lawn, but you can't see it because I couldn't pan out far enough.

Celebrate Hillsboro

On to face painting, except the girls wanted their paint to be on their hands. Zoe picked a pink butterfly and Eve picked a pink and blue snake. And then later came back for a yellow butterfly with red dots.

Here are the girls getting their finger casts. When I was a little girl, I used to get thumb casts at the fair, just like they are doing. That's my friend, Nyell, giving them their first finger casts.

Zoe got to climb the rock wall downtown in the free kid's area. She would have gotten a lot higher if her rock-climbing Daddy had been there telling her where to go next. Eve would have done it too but she was too young.

Eve Talking to Daddy and Goodbye

This is Eve on the phone with Aaron during our nightly talk. She's describing to him that she is watching Wipeout and that there are guys bouncing off big red balls and falling into the mud. Thank goodness for cell phones! Aaron and I are able to talk several times a day which makes the distance between us seem closer. We are ready to be a family again. :)

But I am praying that Aaron is able to enjoy his last week with our NewLife family. I know how he is feeling, as he is getting himself ready to say goodbye to you all. It's a combination of excitement for the future and sadness to say goodbye to the people we have grown to love. I still get a pit in my stomach when I think about driving away from church for the last time, leaving our home on Hopkins for the last time, and driving away from Easton for the last time, etc. In fact, I street viewed Google Earth the other day and took a tour around Easton. It brought back all the feelings, familiar smells, and memories of our time there. If you look at the house we lived in on Hopkins, you can even see our silver minivan in the driveway alongside Morgan's dead Ford Ranger. Haha! So all this to say, and to reiterate, we loved our time in California and we will always think of NewLife and Easton with great fondness. We will miss you all. Aaron has two more sundays left at NewLife. Please take care of him, love on him, and support him as he sets forth on a new journey. This time is sad and scary for us too. Thank you for all you have done, my friends, to encourage us and help mold us into who we are today. Thank you for everything.

Guinness Book of World Records Attempt!

Today we went to our Downtown area for the annual Celebrate Hillsboro festival. There were free health screenings, music, a 3 on 3 basketball competition, soccer, food booths, farmer's market, and more. Every year, they attempt to break a Guinness Book world record, this year, it was the number of people playing kazoos in one area. We had to get 5, 301 people particpating in order to break the record. The above pictures are Zoe and Eve, my sister and her boyfriend, Michael, my mom and dad, Eve and I , and the crowd playing Do-Re-Mi from the Sound of Music for 5 minutes. The little black dot at the top corner of the building is a photographer taking a picture of the crowd in order to show the number of people present (we had all signed up previously on paper too). About 10 minutes before the attempt, we were 300 people short, so hopefully enough people turned up at the last minute. We shall see.