EDIT:  Now the sellers are saying they never counter-offered us because it wasn't in writing.  UGH!  I'm so upset right now.  Now they want their lawyer to go over both contracts.  Please just keep praying.

Thank you all for your kind comments and prayers.  It has been a very hard weekend of waiting.  We are trying to trust the Lord as we really feel this is the perfect house for us.  We got a call back on Saturday evening that the owners had counter-offered.  We counter-offered back with just a small difference from their offer.  We haven't heard anything from them since then.  Our agent has been calling their agent non-stop without any response.  Our agent is pretty sure the deal is fine, but we just haven't heard for sure.  He says he's worked with this agent before and this is kind of par for the course.  The owners also received at least one other offer over the weekend, but they chose to negotiate with us, not them, so we're hoping that's a good sign.

We're hoping they're just waiting to get approval from the bank (they're about to go into foreclosure) before they let us know their decision.  So, hopefully we'll know today.  Please keep praying.  I really covet your prayers mostly for us to just trust God right now.

Many of you have asked for details, so here's what I can tell you.  It's a ranch style house in a nice, quiet neighborhood.  (For Trish and Shanda... it's about 5 minutes from A.)  Right now it has three nice-sized bedrooms, a full bath, dining room, open kitchen, living room and enclosed, heated breezeway upstairs.  In the basement they were remodeling and quit in the middle... but after having done the hard stuff.  All we would have to do to finish it is some drywall and paint.  Oh and they were planning on putting a full bath down there... they had framed it and ran the pipes and everything... all we would have to do is finish connecting the plumbing to fixtures and finish it up.  We would like to put a master suite down there.  Since Josh worked for his dad's construction company for several years, plus he'd have his dad's help, we think this is very doable.  The sellers are going through a divorce and would just like to unload this house, and we would like to help them.

Oh and there's a one car garage and a big backyard that has a privacy fence already!  That was something we really wanted.  Plus, there's already one of those wooden playscapes back there!  See... it's perfect.

 Hello All!  I am back from my Xanga hiatus.  I hope all of you had a blessed and wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!  We had a very nice, quiet Christmas with some of Josh's family.  Then on the 27th, my house of four grew to 10!  My parents, brother, sister-in-law and two nephews all came for several days.   And yes, they all stayed in our house. We had so much fun, but a little chaos, too.  Four children three years old and under can do that.

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas...

Ainsley's big present was Dora's Magical Castle. Both sets of grandparents bought all of the furniture for the rooms inside it.  Here she is showing off Dora's bedroom.

As most one year olds do, Lorelei loved ripping the paper.

All the kids playing in the play room.  That place was a constant disaster area.

My dad with the two calm ones.  Luke and Lorelei like to read books.  The other two, Ainsley and Ben are full of crazy energy.  It's amazing how much alike they are.

My parents with all the kids on Sunday  morning before church.  This was about the 20th take of this picture, so you can tell the little ones had no interest in doing this whole picture thing any more.

The girls were very blessed this Christmas with much, much stuff.  I have already told my husband that Ainsley is getting NO TOYS for her birthday in March.  I'm sure I'll go back on that statement before it gets here, though.

I can not believe it is already 2008!  I am so thankful for all the blessings God bestowed on us in 2007.  I have so enjoyed watching my girls grow and being able to stay home with them once again.  I am thankful for my wonderful husband and his care of all of us.  I am thankful for my church and the growth it has had in the last year.  I am so looking forward to growing in the Lord with them even more this year.  I am thankful the Lord worked out my husband's contract situation and supplied for our needs.

As 2008 begins I am praying my relationship with Christ will grow, I will become a more attentive wife and I will trust the Lord more with parenting issues. 

Please continue to pray for us regarding our house situation.  We are still looking.  God has shut the doors of a few we were interested in, which to us was just God letting us know very clearly that those houses were not THE ONE.  We are looking forward to finding the perfect one for us.

Just a short entry today to tell you an Ainsley funny...


The other night, it was late and we were trying to hurry up the bedtime routine.  We told Ainsley that we would skip the teeth brushing for the night and we would get them really clean in the morning.  She was horrified by the thought and said...

"But Mommy, the Bible says you HAVE to brush your teeth before bed."

I don't remember that verse anywhere, but she did get her teeth brushed.

I know everyone is busy this time of year.  And I'm just like everyone else, running ragged trying to get everything done.  Hopefully after this week is over, I'll have more time to enjoy the season.  I believe that's what God wants us to do, relax and appreciate the ultimate Gift He gave us.

I'll post a few pictures of what we've been up this last week.  Last Tuesday, we let Ainsley stay up late to watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  She had never seen any of those classic Christmas movies, so we thought we'd let her have a special night with just mom and dad.  We tucked Lorelei in and then made some cookies while we waited for it to be time for Rudolph.



My little baker in training.

These are what we made.  They looked cute, but tasted AWFUL!


Last Thursday was the lighting of our Town Green.  I was covering it for the little paper I write for, so we made it a family event and bundled up for a very cold night.




Ainsley's looking at the puppet show that was happening on the Town Hall steps.


The funny thing about this picture is that Ainsley has no idea who Santa is or what he is about.  She just thinks anybody in costume is cool, so she went right up to him. 


On Friday we had Christmas Cantata rehearsal.  We perform this Friday and Sunday.  I am nervous about it as I don't feel prepared, but I know there are many people praying over this program, so God will clear up all the loose ends.

On Sunday God's hand of protection and His providence were on my husband.  He often goes into work for a few hours Sunday morning before we go to church.  It saves him from working on Saturday.  Anyway, on his way home, one of his tires blew out while he was going 70 mph on the highway.  Thankfully, he was able to control his Bronco (no pun intended) and get it safely to the side of the highway.  God was in all of this as it was a Sunday morning and not a weekday morning rush hour, and it wasn't the next day as we were expecting an ice storm.  And God was providentially in where it happened, also.  It was right at the exit where his parents go to church, and since they attend their church's early service, they were already there.   I had just gotten out of the shower when this all happened, and he didn't want me to have to gather up the girls and come out to him on the side of the highway, so he was able to walk to his parents church.  They picked him up and brought him home.  Because his old Bronco has no spare tire, he had to have it towed home, but all in all we were very thankful.  It could have been much worse.

Today Josh took a half day and we got his tire fixed and spent the day together as a family.  It will be a busy rest of the week.   I have a story to cover tomorrow afternoon and church tomorrow night, I have a story Thursday night, we have a meeting Friday afternoon and the cantata Friday night, I have a story Saturday afternoon and then there will be church and the cantata on Sunday.

Of course, we are right in the middle of our house search and many of our afternoons have been taken up looking at or driving by houses.  Please continue to pray for us.  There is much going on in this department and we need God's guidance.

Now that we have the contract signed, it's on to our next project: BUYING A NEW HOUSE!

The house we live in now is actually owned by my mother in law.  It was her mother's home for many years, and I love having that connection to Josh's family by living here.  But we have been paying rent to Josh's mom for the last four years, and it's time for us to buy our own.  We had owned a house in South Carolina, and had planned to buy one here, living in this home and paying rent was only supposed to be temporary.  But shortly after arriving, I got pregnant, and well, life happened.  We just ended up staying in this house.  We do love it here. It's comfortable, there's plenty of room, a nice backyard, it's in a great part of a lovely town, but this house isn't OURS.  I'm sure you all understand how we feel.  For a myriad of reasons, buying this house from my mother in law is not an option.

So, with the market in our favor and interest rates low, we feel God is leading us to buy our own home.  We are excited about the prospect, and a little nervous, too.  Please pray for us as we make many decisions in the next few weeks/months.  Fortunately, we are in no hurry, so we can take our time and find the perfect house for us.  We know God has it all picked out.  He's just waiting for us to find it.