August 2017

This month was a blur of unpacking, organizing, chiropractor appointments (my back slowly getting better), and settling into our new house, new church, new job, new routine. We were blessed with visitors, getting to host our Iowa pastor and his wife, Jon and Jackie, for dinner one evening and Rijente and Shauna and their family, friends from Italy, for several days as they road-tripped back to Washington state. What a joy to fellowship with these dear friends!

We started homeschooling VERY lightly...mostly we got Charis and Tobin set up in a homeschool co-op, allowing them to have Chemistry (Charis) and Biology (Tobin) with labs in a classroom setting. Tobin is also taking German 1. I am grateful that Charis can drive the two of them each Wednesday morning and that they are getting good instruction that I simply can't provide in these subjects!

We ended the month in the hospital, unfortunately...but thankfully it was only a two-night stay and Verity returned home and recovered well from a UTI we didn't even know she had. Our battles with reflux continued into September, but the hospital visit was the first in a series of much-needed steps to help us find some new solutions to that issue.

Zaden and Lucan made themselves at home on the back deck
with some favorite books after they were unpacked!

Visiting with Jon & Jackie...
Seanin clearly missed his pals from Common Ground Ministries!

The Bible Bee "Proclaim Day" was a beautiful celebration at the end of a summer
studying about God our Creator (Genesis 1-3).

Shauna's visit was such a boost to my spirits!
I am grateful for her and her friendship and influence in my life.