Changes

We've made the super-difficult-prayed-super-hard-finally-came-to-the-decision to find a new church. Life has changed so much now that we have a family of three. When I think of our future, my first thought is "how does this affect Josie" not "what about me?"

Our church is small, and there are almost no young kids. It never bothered me before, although I did notice that there weren't a lot of young people (the ones that have kids...). I just assumed that eventually there would be and when we got to that point in our lives it would be fine. Well here we are, and it's not fine.

Other things helped lead us to this decision, but now we have the task of finding a new church. Where do we start? What happens if we don't like any of the churches on our list-to-check-out?


We want a church that has a solid youth program, a dynamic and spiritually led worship team that isn't just a bunch of performers, a pastor that inspires us and is obviously allowing God to speak through him, and fellowship that brings us true friends and mentors along the way. It seems like so much to ask and impossible to find. And yet we'll look. God is good, and will show us where to go. I believe he is testing us, seeing how far we'll go to find Him. We are willing, we are ready, and we are scared. Now is a time for us to turn completely to Him, find our own ways to worship Him when we aren't necessarily getting it at church each week, and renew our own personal relationships with Him to guide us, strengthen us, and truly lead us (have we ever truly been willing to let Him do this?)


Needless to say, we are overwhelmed. Pray for us. Talk to us. Help us. I hope we have good news to share with you all soon.

G'night parentals

We're going to hang this above her crib, per Josie's request, so we know what she is thinking when we put her to bed and she cries for a half hour.

Kid, it's not fun for us either.

Good morning world! Too busy playing to pose for a picture.

I'm on a boat

Mike bought a boat.

We're going to ski.

We're going to tube.

We're going to fish.

We're ready for summer! Oh wait, it's only October? It's going to be a long winter...

I'm the King of the World! - titanic style

We're going to have.so.much.fun on this boat

Chillin like a villain

Can life get better? He thinks not.

Fancy schmansy and it's all ours!

Autumn lake visits...first of many

I would say that this was one of the last weekends at the lake, but we all know that we will be out there almost every weekend for the next couple of months packing, moving, unpacking, fixing up and enjoying the new place. And when the placed is a mess, we'll just go home! Can't wait to get started. Yay new lake place. :)

This weekend, Grandpa and his wife Carla came to meet Josie. It was a quick trip but we were able to catch up and enjoy the (chilly but) beautiful weather.

Generation shot

And one day she was holding up her head, looking around the room

My aunt Lynne (upper corner in picture below, bet she's going to love that) also came and brought her own baby, Lucy, who rules the pack of dogs (Buckley and my parent's dog Hannah) by methods of intimidation and threats. We don't know for sure what she is saying when barking and attacking, but it can't be all that friendly. She knows how to lay the smack down.

Lucy loves her some baby toys

Best word for her: fierce

It's so exhausting being three months old

Bundled up and ready for the walk

We (and by we I mean me) brainstormed all weekend on what Josie should call my parents. Mike's parents are Grandma and Grandpa, and I like the idea of having different names for all of them. I grew up having what felt like a million grandparents and it could be oh so confusing. We tried Norwegian (Mor Far?? or something like that) and German (don't remember, but it was strange) and my mom even pulled out some French. Yeah right. In the end, I settled on Grammy and Poppa or Boppa (we'll let Josie decide) and everyone better like it! So let's all join together and make these names stick.

Jo and Grammy

Cleaning out the garage (completely overwhelming, right?) for the big move down the road!

Can you even resist this face?

Nope, I can't resist it.

Shake, oh, good dog!

Oh, good thing this bottle is here so I can rest my arm

Who, me? What am I doing? Oh just hanging out...

Does this remind anyone of the cranberry juice commercials? 

And another week begins...