Just wanted to peek in here and give some exciting news. We are moving! A few blocks away to a better part of town. We have sold out house and found a perfect home to move into. The Lord has led us through this whole thing and we are very excited. Even in the midst of all that is going on with my job and that stress. Its good to see this open door for us to move finally. We have looked forward to it and know that this home will be good for us and Avery. Ill go into more later and keep you posted. We just signed a offer today on the house and its been accepted. So we are very thrilled.

Happy 5 year anniversary and Father's day. Yesterday we celebrated five years of marriage and all the Lord has done with us up to this point. What a wonderful thing we have each other and our darling Avery. We went out to dinner last night to an Italin resturante that served Hollys favorite ice cream dessert. I gave her a necklace with an A on it for Avery. It looks so good on her too. Today is Fathers day and we will head out to breakfast. Avery gave me a card and some books that will encourage me. I love my girls and am so blessed.

Another day is here, and once again I need to update this blog more often. I guess its just been busy with me working at the hardware store now. Its a good job, not to difficult and other then the schedual i like it for the most part. I am however looking into my options right now as far as my career goals. Im thinking about starting at a Technical school to get training in computers. I need to pray about it still but i feel it might be where i am supposed to go next. Seems i need to get another degree anyway to take care of my family. They are so wonderful. My darling wife and i have been married five years tommrow! What a thought. And of course my lovely daugther is growing too fast for her own good. Anyway just wanted to catch up a little here.

Despite everyting going on with us right now, Avery is growing and being as precious as ever. I am glad she is too young to see the stress and all that. Her latestest antics are getting her in trouble everywhere. She loves to get into everything she shouldnt be into and of course enjoys being silly. Still a girl of few words, her favorites are no, and nose. She says nose alot and points out where your nose is. She also knows shoes and several others. We got her to say please the other day as well. So its a learning experience for all of us. I got a job currently working as cashier for a hardware store in town. A job is a job for now while i try to figure out what God would have me do next. I dont know what direction i should go in. Meanwhile Avery is adorable.

Bus plant lasted me a day and a couple hours on tuesday. Now im off to look elsewhere still praying for right job to come along. Still trusting God to take care of us, I know He will and know He cared for our needs. Just gets hard in days like this when it seems dark, its hard to look past the darkness and see the hope of Jesus. But He is there and cares for our needs moment by moment. I just pray for a call any moment from someone saying they want to hire me. It just going to take time.

Well there is a lot going on around here right now as usual. At least things are better then they were. I had been down and out pretty much all week long, going into all sorts of places and being told no over and over. I have had the hardest time with the whole jobless thing. Finally thursday I went down to another staffing agency recommended by our Pastor. Several of the other guys in our Church went there and got on board with a School Bus manufacturing plant in town. Of course you start out temp and have to work to get hired. It is completly manual labor and very intense. But i feel its going to work out well and be the right place for the moment.

So this morning i woke up really early and drove into the plant. Feels strange in this different part of the world. I really have never done anything like this before so its very new and scary for me. But it felt good to work hard all day and get off at five. Now i just have to make sure i work hard so i can go from temp to hire. Its all about working hard, Im sure with the Lords help i can do it. Still i will keep my options open and still go for interviews if they come. And i also need to step up to the plate regarding my desire to teach. Everything about what we are going through now is for a reason and I want to not miss a moment of what God wants to do.

I love to see my precious Avery smile and my love. Its another birthday treat for Miss Avery. I know she doesnt understand all her daddy and mommy are dealing with. Thankfully for that. But still the lessons are important for her to learn as well. We must press through to what is ahead, not look back with any sorrow or regret. We need to see what God will do for He is faithful and loves us in every season of our lives. When we make mistakes and mess things up, He is always in control of even our own faults. I just hope that now I can do a good job where I am at and stick with it for now. It may last only a while, but hopefully teach me while I am there.

What matters most in this world is that i take care of my family as God has told me to. He has given me them and they are in my charge. So today i begin the process of trying to find another job. I really do not know how this is going to turn out one way or another. What is out there for me to do. He is in control. What makes me so sad is that i was finally in a place where i was able to be home with my family finally, and not things are going to change again. I had it all figured out. But i guess nothing is solid, anything can change on you. Except the Lord and His promises. At least He is faithful in all things. Even the hard things we have to do in life. He will keep us strong and going.

Sold. That is the sign outside our house at this time! I cannot believe how quick this whole thing has gone. It sold in 15 days, which is pretty amazing considering the market we are in right now. So we look forward to June 6th for closing. So the next step is getting the paperwork for the house we are wanting to build. Sounds like it should be a lot of work but worth every moment. We just praise God for this whole thing as He is watching over us. I know he will help us with each step ahead of us now. We just sit and trust in what He will do. I will keep you posted.

Its been a busy week for us of course that is nothing compared to what we are in for once this house sells and we are working on the new one. We had a few showings this week, not to many though. God is using this whole time to work on our faith and trust in Him. Like Peter on the shore waiting for a fish to bite. We just wait. Yesterday we had a showing which did go well and it looks like we might have the offer we have been waiting for. Now if all things do go as planned we could have this whole thing wrapped up in a month! Kind of scary when you think about it. But once more its all about putting our whole dependence on the Lord and trusting Him. He is faithful and cares about all things we do in this life.

Holly has begun her new position with her company and that means stress of course and a new office area. Its good though and she likes it so im glad. My job is going well too, i am still waiting to see what kind of schedual im going to land this coming quater. Hopefully a good one. Avery is more talkative these days. She went to the doctor and got a healthy report normal across the board. She is 33 inches and i think 26 pounds or 24.6, not sure. Eitherway she is talking and playing and being an adorable toddler. This weekend we have another showing with the same people who looked at it yesterday so we hope that goes well. We will head to Mema's today after some house chores.

You try keeping your house in perfect shape, clean and everything in order, day in and day out with a toddler running around. See how it goes. Its been crazy but really kind of exciting at the same time. Not only are we taking a big step of faith, we are learning there is nothing we can do but trust God completly for this. We really want to get some bites and for someone to want to buy the house so we can move and start building on the land. Of course we are also putting money down on that land this evening so that will be another big part of the process. Today since it is my day off i am mostly cleaning out the garage, getting the rest of the stuff over to storage. Of course there is not as much as there was before the sale, but still a lot. And some of it is hard to box up and store simply due to size and shape. But i am working with what i have. For the moment i am coming to you from a coffee shop enjoying some hot chocolate. Then after lunch with Holly i will return home and work more on the garage. The relators are supposed to come by and look at the house this morning. What a day, i just hope it doesnt rain, the clouds are looking a little dark out there.

Busy weekend so far for all of us. Last night we sat down with our agent and talked about selling the house and listing it to see what we come up with. Its a little nerve racking since we do not know if we will be able to get the price we want on it, or if it goes too fast that will push things even faster for us. All of this will be okay and should get insteresting in the days ahead.

This moring we got up at 3 and started getting our garage sale ready to go. We made about 200 by getting rid of a lot of junk we never use, knick knacks, and also a table, desk, some book shelves among other things. So it was a busy morning into the noon time. Then i took care of the lawn and moved two loads to storage. There seems to be still no room in the garage but i suppose that is normal given how empty our house is right now.

Now Avery is playing around the house with her cousin Charlie. Joey and her neice Leslie (Charlie is her daugther). Joey is just helping with some final touches to work we needed done. Its been a long day and tiring but productive very much so. We just pray now that the Lord will bless the sale of the house. That He will give us strength and wisdom in all things. To Him be the glory and praise.

Busy day yesterday, moving things around and trying to get the house ready to be sold. Its hard to believe how much stuff we have. Even more so there is stuff we have not done anything with in years. Hopefully we get rid of most of it this Saturday with our garage sale. Among other things yesterday I got the carpets cleaned, and had the elctricity worked on. The carpets look a whole lot better, but i was not too happy being mislead by them and having them add more to the carpet and then charging me for it after they were done. But at least its cleaner now. Holly did get the koolaid stain out this morning using an iron. She was able to get info online that apparently even the carpet pros could not handle. Last time i use Stanley Steamer, anyway.

Other than all that we also took Avery in for her post opp appt. She of course is doing perfect. Her ears are clear finally, i am so happy about that. Avery loved running around helping daddy with the house too, but mostly she just wanted daddys attention. We went to Rons Hamburgers for some late lunch. I also went and got a small storage unit. Then in the evening the three of us went to the area we want to build out home to pick out a lot. After talking with some of the neigbhors we chose lot 28. We will meet with the builder next week to put some money down on it. Its a great corner lot and I cannot wait to start the process. Of course we have a lot of moving to do with the stuff in our house and also selling our current house. We will work on that some more this Friday evening.

Exciting news for you today. Holly got a job promotion at work and is now the Benefits Administrator! I am so proud of my darling wife. This will be a great opportunity to start learning new things and experiences. It is hard to believe its been almost five years since we got married. Feels like shorter.

We are still busy cleaning and putting stuff up in boxes for storage. There is just too much of it and really i wonder what is important to keep. Since we do want the house to be ready to show off, there is a lot to get out of the way. We are 'staging' our house, or at least trying to. I trust the Lord in this because He is our Lord and Savior and will be with us in this adventure. We know our plans but we trust in the Lords Today we are going to put money down on the lot we want to build on. That is a big step and I believe He will be with us in this.

Last Tuesday we removed all pacifiers or 'biki's' from Avery's reach. She is offically growing up and is ready to move on from them. She does not agree of course but is learning she has no choice.

This week has been pretty busy. We have mostly been cleaning the house with the direct emphasis of our bedroom first. That was a lot of work but the other rooms in the house will be somewhat more. All of this to try stagging the house to sell. At least that is the plan. We hope to be able to sell it on our own to avoid realtor fees, but we will see what we can do.

Yesterday we took five bags of cloths to Salvation Army. Went to Charity's 25th birthday party. And then did more cleaning. Avery did have her check up on her ears and the doctor said she is doing great, her tubes are doing their job. So we are happy. It will be fun to see her pick up new words. Its busy around here now and we are learning to trust God in everything we have ahead. There is so much. Trying to sell we need to put our faith in the Lord for His goodness.

I will mention last night while i was cleaning up the sound system, i noticed several things ratteling around in the large speaker. Avery apparently snuck five eggs and a peg from her pegboard into the hole. I guess it was her little hiding place. It was adorable. I know she has stuck her binki's down there before. Well i will keep you posted on the events ahead.

We bought Avery a little puppy backpack that has a long tail we can hold onto while we go for walks. She actually really likes it and thinks its fun. Of course she also thinks we feel like going outside and enjoying it more than we do. She is adorable and doesnt understand when its too cold or we are too tired, or we just came back from a walk. Its fun anyway. Life is busy around here. We spent last weekend doing yardwork. I took a sledge hammer to the privacy fence, what was left of it. Now we need to get some quotes on putting up a chain link one. After that we will see what we can do around this house to make it less cluttered. Our house is getting smaller by the day though and we are thinking of putting it on the market and finding a new one. This of course will require a lot of work on our parts. I have no idea how to sell a home. We are thinking if we can sell it we will move in with friends or family for a few months while we build a house. That would give us time to save up for it anyway. Thats the major goal and of course we are still praying for Gods leading in all of this. So keep us in your prayers and pass your ideas along if you have some.

Yesterday was actually very productive around here. It helped that we had hollys mom and sister elizabeth come over to work on mowing the yard and trimming. Holly had already done some weed eating so now our yard looks great. Its a large yard and we both do not want much of a yard next time. Avery enjoyed the time hanging outside while we worked. In other news i also tore down the privacy fence with a sledge hammer. Half of it was gone from the ice storm anyway so this just finished the job. I like the yard better that way. We will get some quotes on putting up a chain link fence.

The lawn mower actually does have a small problem, the door for the grass removal is broken so it just flys right up at you while mowing. I have to find a way to fix that before next week. Also our new propane grill lost a wheel while rolling it into the garage. So that has to be returned now sadly. Just have to buy a new one i guess. I know Holly is looking forward to grilling this summer.

All else has been busy as usual. Avery did get her ear tubes and is doing well now. She gabbles and has said a few words repeating us. She loves saying bye and waving at people though. That is adorable. Shes growing so fast and we need to start her summer wardrobe soon. We have some clothes we bought from an ebay aution, they should arrive soon hopefully. Then we will need some more outfits for our wild girl who will no doubt spend a lot of time wandring around outside. She loves the fresh air. Well enough for now. Its April and that calls for thunderstorms. Not today though, but im sure they will be on their way soon.

Easter egg hunting was a great joy for little Avery both at Grannys and at Memas on Sunday. We also enjoyed coloring eggs too. Tuesday came and Avery had her big ear tube surgery. The doctor also removed her adenoids which needed to come out. When she is older she will need the tonsils removed as well. She did really well with the surgery

Life with our 17th month old has been exciting and busy as ever. Tuesday we had appoinments with the ear doctors and they agreed she needs to have ear tubes put in to help her ears. She still has fluid built up and it doesnt want to drain out so we need to get some tubes and her andnoids taken out as well. It was strange for daddy to take her into get her ears tested and sit in the little room. I can remember those sound proof rooms very well, though it was me being tested for the longest time. I still get an occasional test. Anyway Avery and daddy spent all day in tulsa in between appoinments since we drove mommy to work. We took a trip to the movies to see Horton Hears a Who. It was a lot of fun and well done. Avery enjoyed her snacks and crawling around gabbing away. She made it right up to the last 10 or 15 minutes and then decided she wanted to roam around more and whine. But we did enjoy the day.

Good Friday was the first warm day we have had in weeks and we enjoyed going out and getting some sun. A little too much for mommy as she got her first sun burn for the year. We took along Lindsey and her kids as well who are a little older in years then Avery, 3, 4, and 5 i believe. We went to the park and the zoo which was overly crowded. We saw Elephants, Giraffes, giant turtles which Avery loved, and other animals. It was a great time.

Today we went to see Granny and enjoy the church easter egg hunt. Avery was eager to start but it took her a while to figure out what she was supposed to do with the eggs and basket. After a while she got into it and loved it more. It was nice to spend the afternoon out there. Tommrow after morning service we will head to memas for lunch and another egg hunt. All of this to celebrate the Risen Lord. This evening we also dyed easter eggs. This was Averys first time to do so and first egg hunt other than daddy carrying her around last year to get the eggs. Our darling Avery is growing up so fast.