Why, Hello There!

Apparently things have been a little busy since October!  I think about writing here all the time, but time is scarce these days.  I'm realizing I need some sort of stress reliever right now, so I decided that I'll write for a few minutes and worry about the dishes in a bit.  Quick recap of life in the last 10 months:

I started selling candles for Gold Canyon.  It made for a very busy fall and winter!  Summer has been a little slow, but I'm very excited for the fall season when things come alive again.  I couldn't think of a better company to work for (unless, of course, it involved a non-stop supply of free chocolate or ice cream).  Looking forward to the extra cash flow as we head into Christmas shopping season!

Winter was great.  We had minimal illnesses, enough snow to make it feel like winter, and a wonderful Christmas to spend with our family.  Our awesome Christmas Eve service got cancelled because of snow, but we were still able to travel to PA Christmas Day without issue. And, it technically wasn't winter, but Kate and I got to be in the wedding of my best non-spouse friend in November.  It was so sweet to be part of her special day and she and her husband began their new life together.

Spring went quickly and the beautiful weather was very welcome by the kiddos.  Those first few times you get to take them to the park after an winter indoors is always great.  April and May were kind of rough.  Kate ended up with some very high fevers caused by a bladder infection.   Poor kid had to brave blood work and peeing in a cup.  She was a champ, though, and was back to herself in no time.  Kraig developed a severe respiratory issue that lasted for far too long.

Mid-May I had a surprise when I spent a night in the ER to find out I needed my gall bladder removed.  Found out Tuesday and had it removed Thursday.  Mom was able to spend a few days out here while I recovered and then lots of people from church brought us meals until I was back on my feet.  We even had a friend from church show up at our house at 6 a.m. the morning of my surgery to keep the kids for us.  The pain and recovery from that was longer and worse than I anticipated.  They say laproscopic surgery is so much less pain and recovery time, so I can't imagine if they had had to do it the traditional way.  Ten days later, I discovered I was pregnant.  Huge surprise to us, but I am SO excited.  It took some time to adjust to the idea, but I can't wait to meet this little one.  We knew we wanted more kids, just didn't imagine this would be God's timing.

Summer is practically over and I feel like we missed a lot of it--especially with me being down after surgery and then down with morning sickness and other first trimester symptoms.  I'll blog more on the pregnancy later, but it's completely different than the other two!  I started leading a women's Bible study at the church this summer while our small groups are on break.  We've had a great response and the discussions have been wonderful.  It's been great to see women of our church unite to learn together and encourage each other.  I seriously doubted God's leading when I had surgery almost immediately after we put out the sign-up sheet and then again when I found out I was pregnant, but it's been a great thing to be part of.  God blesses us so much when we're obedient to His call.

Three weeks ago, Kraig was leading senior high camp.  The camp is nearby, so the kids and I visited nearly everyday.  It's so much fun to be at camp.  Reminds me of when I met Kraig:)  Last week, Kraig and I took some of our teens to a CIY: Move conference in Cleveland, TN.  Kate stayed with the Bishop grandparents, Jackson with my parents.  While it was nice to have a few days where no one was eating my food or trying to break into the bathroom every time I needed to visit it (which is FAR too often these day!), it was not a time of rest by any means.  I'm still trying to recover this week and trying to get the kids to adjust back to being at home.  It's been a rough adjustment for them, to say the least.

That brings us to where we are now, I suppose.  Plenty of details skipped, but nothing too important happened, I don't believe.  We're gearing up for a brand new service at our church that Kraig will be leading.  It's a service geared specifically towards young, college-aged adults.  All are welcome, but things will be a little different.  Super excited to see where God leads this and blessed to be part of it.

That's all for now.  Sorry for all the boring details.  Hoping to get back into the blogging habit.  It's something I definitely miss!

Until next time...