Happy New Year

So, another year has come and gone. What exciting things we have in store for 2011! One of which is building a house. We are set to break ground in about 3 weeks with completion around 11 April. We are so excited to be moving to Kettering to be closer to our church and new friends.
One of my goals for this year is to try to journal something every day, or at least most days. Jason and Rachel are growing up so fast, and I would like to be able to hold on to as many memories as I can. Not just with pictures, but with words.
So last night we had a great time with friends welcoming in the new year. We were all so excited to have fellowship, laughter, and great food. Rachel stayed awake until 11:56 and then fell asleep on Chris's shoulder, so she missed the ball dropping by 4 minutes. Jason had so much fun hanging out with the other boys and getting to play video games for 6 hours! He was storing up for when school starts back on Monday and he goes back to 30 minutes a day!
Today Jason and I attended a Wright State University men's basketball game. We got free tickets from attending the Harlem Globetrotters yesterday. We were both so excited to be back to going to games together. That was our bonding time before we left Utah. The greatest part was the Raiders came back and won the game with a buzzer beater 3 pointer! One would have thought they won the championship as loud as we were all cheering! Good times!
While we were at the game, Rachel and Chris went to the mall and got some Dippin Dots and went to the Fetch store to play with the puppies. I think they both fell in love with the springer spaniel. It won't be long before we have a new addition to our family - a four-legged one that is!
After our excursions various places, we all settled back at home for a great dinner of pork roast, sauerkraut, black eyed peas, rice, and rolls. I was so proud to have accomplished my first slow cooker roast! Great way to start 2011.
As I close this post, I want to be reminded that in 2 days we will find out whether Chris has to go back to Iraq or not in a few weeks. We received a phone call on Thursday that they are looking for someone to finish out a deployment for someone who needs to return home for some reason, and they tasked Chris. The Unit Deployment Monitor said he thinks he can get Chris out of this, but there are no guarantees. We are both okay with his leaving again, but it won't be easy. We are just praying that God's Will be done. I pray I can keep my goal of journaling everyday. Happy New Year 2011!!!

Building a House

So we have decided to start a new adventure: building a house! We knew when we moved here, we only wanted to rent for a year because every time we move, we settle on a house, and then our church and friends all end up miles away. Thankfully we have an opportunity to build a house just minutes (literally like 3) away from our church: First Baptist Kettering. The new house will also be MUCH closer to most of the friends we have made. SO, on Veteran's Day, we finalize all the paperwork, and put the SOLD sign on the lot. The kids were excited to measure just how big the lot was - they were happy to see they would still have a big backyard.

Rachel taking her turn holding the BIG tape measure

Jason helping measure the length of the lot

It's official - LOT number 154 is ours!!

So the next step will be waiting - we needed a later delivery date for the house, b/c of our lease not being up until June 2011. They should break ground around the end of January/first of February. Jason and Rachel are excited to watch the build - they love watching Extreme Home Makeover, so to see a house being built live is exciting! We did tell them that the house won't be built in 7 days! 2011 holds many exciting things for us!! Your prayers are appreciated.