Happy New Year!

May you find peace and joy through Jesus as we close 2007 and begin 2008. Jesus truly is the beginning and the end of all things. He was before us, He is with us, and He will be long after we are gone!

"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha & Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." Revelation 22:12,13

A Merry Christmas

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Todd's family drove up from Shelton, WA to stay with us. They also brought their dogs, Jasmine & Spencer! It was a little chaotic, but fun :) It was so nice to have room for everyone in our new house. We pray our home will be a blessing to others, so please come and stay with us!

Jasmine

Tom, Brandon & Kali

From left: Cindy, Tom, Jasmine, Brandon, Kali, Spencer & Todd

Rib roast for dinner, we had lots of veggies too :)

Before & Afters

Here are some long overdue pictures of the master bedroom and bath. I still have some decorating to do, like hanging pictures, but you will get an idea of how the new colors look.

O Christmas Tree

We got our Christmas tree this past weekend. It was raining and cold, but still fun! Of course Todd did all the hard work, I just had to decorate it :)

Finding the perfect tree

Todd cutting it down

Bringing it home

Decorating it

A very pretty tree!

Moving Day

We have been busy with the new house but I thought I would share some moving pictures from a week ago (Dec 8th). We were able to borrow a truck from our friend Jennifer's dad. It was so much fun to drive, I want one now! Our friend Jason drove down from Richmond, BC to help us move all our stuff. It was a long, but productive day :)

Our spacious garage

Master Bath

The master bath looks better already with the wallpaper almost off. There are a few small pieces to get and then I need to wash the walls. I picked paint colors today for the master bedroom and bath. Believe me it is not easy choosing colors. Trying to imagine a whole room painted from one 2" sample card is difficult :) We will see how the colors pan out in the next couple of days. They are neutral brown tones, so hopefully they work.

Housework

We have begun cleaning up the house. I am working on wallpaper (an endless chore) and Todd is building a wall in the master bedroom. He is boarding up one side of a 2-way closet door that once connected to the office. The pictures will hopefully explain it. The second picture shows the green office behind Todd (he is standing in the closet). Todd measured once and everything fit perfectly...he is really good at anything he tries. Well, it's been fun making it into our place. There is a lot to be done! As you can see we picked the perfect weekend to start our projects...there was snow! It was pretty cold but we got the heat going. Today it warmed up to 50 degrees...almost T-shirt and shorts weather ;)

Our lovely house in the snow

The wall frame

Putting up the drywall

Cutting and stapling the carpet

Talking to my parents and stripping wallpaper

New Homeowners!

Well, we did it! We have joined the millions of Americans who are in debt for eternity! Ha, actually we are very excited to have purchased our first home. We get the keys on Friday and will begin clean-up. We have wallpaper to remove, painting, cleaning, moving, unpacking, decorating and lots of other things to do before Christmas. It will be fun though, really :) Thanks for all your prayers and support through this process, we appreciated it! Please come and visit us too, we have plenty of room!

Our Thanksgivings

Since I was not able to spend Thanksgiving with my family, here are some photos they sent after playing with the new iMac:

Mom & Cherise

Mom (aka Elvira)

Dad (he's incredibly smart!)

Dad & Matt

Dad is so radiant!

Pictures from our Thanksgiving & not as crazy :)

Todd & Vera (Tom's Mom)

Todd & Mom

Prayer Request

This just came to my attention this morning. A family member on my Mom's side was hospitalized today with a serious medical issue. I do not want to disclose who or what the medical issue is, but they need prayer! If you could pray for wisdom for the doctors to diagnose and figure this out that would be great. Please pray for comfort and guidance for our immediate family members dealing with this. Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving!

What are you all doing for Thanksgiving?
We are driving down to Shelton, WA to visit Todd's side of the family. I am looking forward to seeing them again and eating yummy food. I am also in charge of making buns and homemade cranberry sauce. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

And yes, it's a flamingo in a turkey outfit...he also has eight other costumes for the major holidays :)

My Brother

I thought I would post some pictures that Matt created on his new iMac. As you can see, he is a very funny guy! My personal favorite is in the middle row on the right. Thanks Matt for letting me share! :)

Is This Chicago?

Talk about a windy city, we had some crazy wind on Monday. Our local newspaper claimed that between 8 and 9 a.m. it blew 97 mph on Mount Baker Highway, not too far from us. It died down slowly as the day progressed. We had a similar storm last year that knocked out the power in most of the Northwest. It's kinda cool to hear and see the power of the wind, but it's also a little scary. The scary part is watching the news and seeing fallen trees that have split houses in two. I think the storm has calmed, though I heard a warning for winds this afternoon. This is a picture from Monday after the windy morning. Have a wonderful day!

Boxing Day

I have started packing for the new house. We have the whole month of December to move everything over, so there is really no hurry. I just like the thrill of packing. OK, so thrill may not be the right word, but I do enjoy it :) Maybe it's having to fit everything in like a jig-saw puzzle, I don't know, but it's fun. It's the moving and unpacking I don't enjoy so much. Our apartment is overflowing with boxes right now... and no, I am not an alcoholic, I just think liquor store boxes are the best for packing :) Well, I'm off to more packing, it's AMAZING how much stuff two people (I) can accumulate.

Escrow!

After a somewhat stressful week, we are finally moving forward with buying the house! The conflict that arose was from miscommunication with the seller, but everything is fine now. We still have the escrow period, but if everything goes well, we will own the house November 30. We are very excited & nervous about purchasing our first home. Having friends and family to share all this with has been a blessing. Thank you for all your prayers and support! I'll keep you posted!

Happy Halloween

What could be creepier then some real stuffed animals for Halloween. I find them quite fascinating, but thought they would be perfect for a spooky day! I took these pictures while in Chicago this summer at the Field Museum. Enjoy!

House Issues

We heard back from the house inspectors and there are several issues that need to be addressed. The roof, siding, joist damage and water under the house all need to be remedied in the next 1-2 years. Unfortunately, we do not have the finances to fix all of them. We were hoping the owner would pay for some of them, but she may not and could back out of the deal. If you could once again pray for wisdom in deciding what to do and that we would have peace if we have to walk away from this lovely house. It is just a house, we don't need it, but we would like it. God knows what lies ahead and we need to trust Him with our finances and decisions. Thanks!

Home Buying

Todd and I recently had our offer accepted for this house! It is now under inspection and if everything goes well, we will own it at the end of November! We are very excited and anxiously awaiting the report. The inside needs some updating, but we figure that will be easy enough down the road. If you could continue to pray for us, that would be great! Here is a link to a photo slide-show of the house:
tours.justsnooping.com/2288702/?b=true

Bread Crumbs

These are my feathered friends. They inhabit (actually, have taken over) a pretty area called Sunset Pond. They are always eager for a handout and will get in your face, literally, for some stale bread. Although geese are considered a nuisance around here (you would agree if you had to walk barefoot through their grass), they are still beautiful creatures! It's been awhile since I have visited my friends, I need to get back there. Feeding ducks can be relaxing, you should try it some time :)