Through the Lens of Grace: July 2013

At long last I am finally posting about our house! At the end of October Josh and I bought a fixer-upper on the eastern plains. We fell in love with the open spaces, the trees, the character and the potential. The original part of the house was built in 1909 with a couple additions added at some point. The house needs a lot of work, but that is what we were looking for. Some people think we are crazy, but I guess that this only confirms the truth I've suspected for a while. = ) We are so thankful for this house, even in the midst of its need and look forward to what God would have us do with it. With a ~~little~~ lot of elbow grease and love we are looking forward to what it will become. We are SO thankful for the many people who have offered their time and energy to help us! We could not do it without all the willing hands! I unfortunately didn't get a picture of everyone that has helped so far,

but know that you all are not forgotten!

So without further ado here is the work that has been done on the outside so far...

Taking a break for dinner and a game of Womp'um.

Ready or not, here is a rather lengthy picture hodgepodge of the last couple months. Enjoy!

In April we celebrated Noah's adoption and made him a legal forever part of the family.

One of the great excitements of the adoption being finalized was that the trampolines could go back up!

At the end of April Josh, Marian, Leah (sister) and I went on a road trip to Missouri and Illinois! A dear friend was getting married and it happened to be very close to my grandparents' house and one of my aunt's house. On our way home we made a slight detour and stopped in Nebraska to see a couple more of my aunts and their families. It was a whirlwind trip, but oh so much fun to see everyone and be part of a friends special day!

(Taken at one of our stops along the way)

(Photo credit Margaret)

8 weeks old

"I don't think I am ready to get up just yet."

(She did this on her own)

Ready for an adventure!

Marian spends a lot of time in her carrier which frees me up.

Yay for getting jobs done with TWO hands!

9 weeks old

(I love baby feet)

9 weeks old

Our yard actually had more grass than I was expecting. It is all weeds now and we need to do some dirt work around the house, so it will probably disappear, but it was sure nice while it lasted!

I was super excited to see that we have a couple lilac bushes. This is the only one that bloomed, but maybe more next year...

In May, my great aunt, Marnie came to visit. Marian is her namesake.

Abba (my grandpa)

Ima (my grandma)

12 weeks old

At the beginning of June, my family had the privilege of participating in A Walk For Life. It was a beautiful day and really wonderful to see so many taking a stand for life.

A couple of weeks ago Josh was working on the roof and Marian and I decided to enjoy the cooler temperatures outside and keep him company. Got to start them young!

In the middle of June our friends Meghann and Ruth were in town. These are some of my dearest friends in the whole world and I was so glad we were all together again before they went their separate ways! (Photo credit Miah)

At the end of June a couple of mine and Leah's friends from our time in Uganda came for a visit. These are some special ladies and it was awesome to see them and catch up with them. We missed the rest of our gang from Uganda though!