School!

Rylee has been in school for nearly a week now. I still cannot believe it! I blinked and summer was gone, it feels more like I blinked and she wasn't a baby anymore. Time please sloow down!!!!!

She has been so very excited about starting school! And we have been so very excited for her. Our summer has been full of supply shopping, uniform try ons and nightly "I am just so excited for school, I wish I could start tomorrow!"

She has been having so much fun each day at school. I think yesterday was the highlight - during chapel (they have chapel! I love it!) the teachers look for a student who was quiet and well behaved, and that student gets to take home Silent Sammy - he's a sweet little stuffed bear - and the most coveted lovey in all lower elementary! I was driving home from cross country practice and I called home, Rylee was dying to get on the phone to tell me that she was picked to bring home Silent Sammy! She got some big high fives and we had a fun evening entertaining the cute little bear.

Jackson and Layton are falling into place hanging out at home without big sister to play with. They look forward to having her home each day - we all do!

School has been one of those big milestones that I have both dreaded and been excited about all at the same time. I miss her so much each day, but I love seeing how much she loves it, and I am happy to know she is in a great place each day that is teaching her, but more importantly to me, they are loving her and in that showing her even more who Christ is. 

We are looking forward to a great year! 

until next time,

Brit

ps - those uniforms?! I can't even stand how cute she is!

monster trucks and a splash pad

Despite my pleading and bribing, Jackson decided to turn three on Saturday. Three! Its a mix of feeling like he's been three for years, and thinking, He's already three?! 

We had so much fun celebrating the little guy on Saturday! The kids had a great time splashing in the water, eating cake, and squirting adults with water toys (the last one wasn't exactly fun for everyone!)

Birthdays are so fun and so special, we are incredibly grateful for all of our new friends that came to play and celebrate with us! We were all excited to have Mimi and Papa with us for the weekend too, we miss having them close, but we're glad they made the long trip to celebrate with us! 

Jackson Dean,

You are something special. Equal parts sweet and silly, devious and thoughtful. You are an awesome brother, little and big. You are bright, witty and charming. You keep us running and surpise us everyday with a new way to make us all laugh. Kid, you're going to rock 3! We love you. 

Until next time,

Brit 

Our week

playing with: baby toys! Not just Layton. The big kids have been doing most of their playing in his room with his toys. (And in his bed!) I don't know, I guess it's something new for them but I dig it because we aren't scattered across the whole house - we're all in there together. 

listening to: My playlist these days includes veggie tales and yo Gabba Gabba - I have a veggie tales song from Noah's Arc stuck in my head now :) 

reading: Aside from their day to day books we have started working our way through their Jesus Calling Bible Storybook again. We've read through the entire thing with them a couple times now, but we've started reading a story and doing something that ties to it during the day - we made a giant rice crispy snake with jelly bean eyes the other day for one. Yum :)

eating: warm weather really kills my cooking joy. Just not into it. Let's just eat sandwiches and grill and play outside!

ups: potty training success! (Mostly) Jackson has said goodbye to diapers (woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!) last week it was raining just about non stop, so I decided if we were stuck inside that would be the perfect challenge for the week! I told him we were going to have a peepee party and eat jelly beans and wear underpants - he was totally into it! I'm so proud of the little guy, for a kid who doesn't like change and has a strong gag reflex he has been a star through it! We spent the whole day out on Monday and he didn't have a single accident. The boy is getting lots of high5's and mom and dad are rejoicing at our diaper bill being cut in half!

Downs: Jackson has an awesome imagination. It's rediculous the stuff that kid can come up with - but at night it can turn ugly. This week it has been a parrot in his room that wants to eat his hand. Poor guy! He can't turn his little imagination off at night and it scares him into our bed almost every night. I feel for him because he gets so scared. And that also means there are 4 of us squished in our bed every night.... And then bear joins us in the morning. It's quite a laugh actually. 

Mimi sent rain boots for the kids, so we decided to test them out! They had so much fun playing in the puddles and filled their boots up with water from all the splashing. 

Our life doesn't ever settle down too much, but I feel like we are settling in!

Until next time,

Brit

Exploring!

It has been fun to be in a completely unfamiliar area and get to explore and go on adventures as we try to familiarize ourselves with our new home! 

We've ventured out and had fun doing a lot of different neat things. Today we took a car ferry to Fort Morgan.

Just the drive to the ferry was fun for us. We have spent our whole lives landlocked in the Midwestern plains - so driving alongside giant bodies of water and over bridges is so exciting! Haha!

We drove our car onto the ferry and then rode to Fort Morgan. Once there we went to explore the old military fort. It was all so neat! History was never my favorite subject, but when it is brought to life for me like that I am fascinated by it! 

We hung out on the beach for a little bit and there were jellyfish EVERYWHERE! 

I've never seen a jellyfish on the beach before... Does it hurt really bad when your stung by one?!! 

We stopped on the way home and had some ice cream and all 3 kids fell asleep on our drive back. It was an awesome day.

We still ask ourselves "we live here?!" It feels both like we just got here and like we've been here forever. And we love it. We are all so happy to be here and excited that this is our home! 

Until next time,

Brit 

We are home!

We've made it to Mobile! It was a long trip so we tried to have a little fun along the way...

On Monday night we stayed in Monroe, LA. Andrew and I went to Duck Commander and took pictures. For dinner we ate at Willies Cafe which was just across the parking lot of our hotel. While we were eating we noticed a group in the back having dinner... And then Willie walked out! We realized that 'group' was the whole Robertson family! I thought the last place we'd ever run into them would be AT their restaurant. But it was still really neat. AND! The food was definitely worth bragging about! 

On Tuesday morning we woke up and got ready for the final stretch. We stopped in Vicksburg Mississippi to see the river. The kids ran and played and had fun. It was awesome seeing the river! 

From there we piled all 6 adults, 3 kids and the Bear back into our 4 vehicle convoy and headed to Mobile!

The drive was long but it was beautiful. We made it to town and headed to our house and were greeted by a yard full of friends from the church waiting to welcome us and help us unload! 

I can't say enough positive things about how much this church family helped us transition! We are so thrilled to be a part of this new family and feel so loved and taken care of. Our truck was unloaded in minutes and our fridge and pantry are stocked. Yum! 

We are tired, but we are so excited about ALL that is ahead of us! Thank you to everyone who has had a hand in making this transition easier on us. 

... Now I've really got to go start sorting through some boxes! 

Until next time,

Brit 

For now...

One of my favorite parts of Jeremy's sermon was when he was introducing it, and explained the title: "last sermon at Tarzan... FOR NOW"

I am so thankful he thought that through. It really helped me in the moment to remember that as hard as those final hugs and farewells were (seriously, hardest goodbyes of my life.) it is just FOR NOW. Wether that means we will see you this summer when you come to visit, or when we come back for a workshop, or a wedding... Or if that means until we meet again in the light of heaven. I am comforted to know that goodbye is never really goodbye, because we WILL meet again. 

We love you Tarzan. Thank you for loving us. 

Until we next time,

Brit 

Some news...

Have I mentioned our news?...

We have decided to move on in our ministry and will be moving to Mobile Alabama in March! Jeremy will be preaching for a wonderful congregation there starting mid March and we are preparing for the heartbreaking goodbyes here in Tarzan.

We are thrilled, anxious, excited, and hopeful for this new ministry opportunity! We are looking forward to so much about it all... But, with the anticipation of the new comes trepidation about saying goodbye to our family in Tarzan. 

I've tried a dozen times to filter my feelings about it all into words, and I just can't. I think the challenge I'm having with it all is trying to find words worthy enough to describe how amazing this place and these people have been to Jeremy and I, and our family for the past 8 years (8 years! Has it been that long?) the people here that make up this body of Christ are our family. They are our moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandmas, grandpas, (and maybe a crazy aunt or uncle too ;) They have grown us. Taught us. Challenged us. Counceled us. Encouraged us. Welcomed us. And now, with tears in their eyes they are embracing this new transition with us and pushing us out of the nest, reminding us that they will love us from afar, and that this will always be home.

Looking back, I am so thankful that one Sunday we took a trip to a tiny little country church 100 miles away. My life is forever blessed because of it. 

Please pray for us as we make this exciting transition! Thank you all for your loving encouragement and support. 

Until next time,

Brit 

Chicks and ducks

This weekend we went over to some of our most favorite peoples home to see and play with their baby chicks and ducks!

We had the best time playing with the fuzzy little guys and watching how excited Ry and Jackson were to be there.

We had the best time! I don't think the chicks and ducks felt the same ;) 

Until next time,

Brit