So much to say...

Well, hello, there! Yeah, I'm still alive. And I have way too much to say to catch you up on our new life in the United States of America. We've been back just over one month - and what a full month it has been!

Hmm.....where to begin?

• We love it here. We absolutely love that we get to settle here in Colorado. Did I mention that I cried when the U.S. customs guy told us "Welcome back"? Had no idea THAT would happen! I have truly loved and enjoyed every minute of life overseas (well, 98% of the time). But I'm proud to be an American. Yup, even during the current political and economic crud, I'm glad I'm an AMERICAN!
  
• Yes, there have been "reverse culture shock" moments. They come at the most unexpected moments (like in church) but, to be honest, we don't feel that out of touch when it comes to our own culture vs. the cultures we've lived in these past several years. We've honestly been too busy to acknowledge much that is going on in our hearts and minds. This can be both good and bad. But God is certainly helping us in this transition!
• I can't tell you how much we've enjoyed the sights, sounds, smells, and feels of fall weather. The smell of freshly mowed alfalfa, catching glimpses of wildlife along the Rio Grande or way up high in the Rockies, seeing aspen trees turning golden in the mountains, feeling that crisp air, watching potato harvesters dig in the field across the road, hearing cranes and geese fly overhead....WOW! Those are things we didn't even know we missed but experiencing them again adds a special sentimentality to this whole "coming home" thing. It's awesome.
• And the incredible times with family? After so many years apart? Priceless. I hope I never take time with family for granted again.
  
• Things move faster here. We've been amazed at all we've been able to accomplish in just one month. We got started with odds and ends right away, expecting things to take longer...so we're actually way farther along than we expected to be by this point - because, well, things get done here!
  
• We close on a house this Friday (good Lord willing and the creek don't rise). It's an incredible feeling to have this opportunity to own our own home again -especially so soon after arriving in the States. Really, it's a miracle this is happening at all and a testament to God's love and provision. Our new home will fit our needs perfectly and we can't wait to move in! Please do continue to pray with us for the finer details to smooth out - yes, the current economic strife (esp. with lenders) has had a small effect on even us...but our God is so much bigger than that.
• We've been living with my folks. Oh, they've been wonderful! We've taken over multiple rooms in their house, eaten all their food, used up all their toilet paper, and our kids have completely run amuck. It's been great. We can't even begin to express our gratitude for all they've put up with...and so, we give them plenty of opportunity to babysit for us too. Seriously, thanks so much Mom and Dad.
• Have I mentioned how awesome it is to have grandparents around who are willing to help babysit whenever we need it? Both the Cannons and the Ecords have taken on some long babysitting shifts and we feel totally humbled by their simple willingness to take on two very active little girls. This time of re-settling and setting up a new home just couldn't happen without these sweet grandparents who jump at the opportunity to love on and spoil our girls rotten. THANK YOU! (And I promise not to ask you to babysit so often once things settle down...unless you want to, of course!)
• We got a puppy. And we love him very much. Our new Golden Retriever puppy is just awesome and already a member of the family. We've been so impressed with this puppy's intelligence and sweet nature. He's HUGE already and is sure to be a very large dog, but he's such a sweetheart (not even acting like a naughty puppy like we expected) that I don't worry about the day he outweighs us all! Duke has been a blessing to our family - I don't believe I've seen Brooklyn so enthralled and happy in a long time. And Sean is ridiculous over his new smart bird-dog. This is just what our family needed.
• Today was Brooklyn's first day of preschool. I had planned on homeschooling Brooklyn since she missed the cut-off date for kindergarten. But then somebody asked why we didn't put her in preschool this year. Uh. Duh. Cause I'm not smart enough to think of that! So, I did a little research and we found a great, Christian preschool that was more than happy to take Brooklyn late. This is a huge burden lifted off my shoulders - there is just too much happening in the next several months for me to really devote myself to homeschooling like I would like to - and Brooklyn loves and needs the opportunity to go away to school and make friends. Another case of God orchestrating things for the best.
  
• I'm about the most disorganized person on the planet right now and it is driving me crazy. I guess I'll use that as my excuse for my lack of blogging. I'll try to do better...but don't expect much from me. Things aren't nearly settled down yet. I have about a million pictures to post...I'll hopefully get to that sometime this week. 'Til then, maybe you'll enjoy a couple of shots of my girls enjoying farm life (my apologies for the lame play on words, I'm tired).....

"Hay, there, big mule!"

"Can I help you drive that, Grandpa?"