Erin Grace - 10 months old

Here are a few of Erin Grace. She is swinging at our school playground in VA.You can see our apartment behind her. There are two white buildings. One is the church office and the other is the apartment. Erin is walking already! She walks a good few steps and then pounces on you. We thought we would get a quite layed back child after crazy Conor but she seems to be pretty crazy. She has a fun loving personality and we love her so much. Since this pic she has two more bottom teeth.

Ginger Bread House and a whole lot of FaMiLy FuN!

I asked God to give me patience to enjoy this stage of living in a smaller space. I think He has answered me and i think He has given me a joy to be here and have fun with the family. There is not that much space to clean and we do not have laundry here so I have a lot of time to play and read to the kiddos. not to mention make ginger bread houses. We want Christmas to be a fun, stress free time of the year at our house and so far that is how we feel. So if you are feeling stressed - take a deep breath and think of what is important to you....

The Move

This is our modest (to say the least) Christmas tree. Conor thinks it is awesome so that makes me think it is awesome but I know what it may look like to the naked eye :) The kids travelled well from IN to VA - Conor likes to sleep with his blanket over his head. Our friends Meagan and David :) Conor loves to play along with David on his guitar.

Children's Museum in Indy

We thought it was funny that Erin Grace was chewing on her shoe in the midst of so many cool toys! And of course Conor found the lawn mower :)

Children's Museum in Indy

Children's Museum in Indy

The kids and I stayed with Laura for a few days over thanksgiving and she brought us to the children's museum. It was alot of fun and we will go again! Lots to do in there!

Thanksgiving with the Solareks and Millers

I love watching the kids play and interact with their family.

Thanksgiving with the Solareks and Millers

We had a lovely thanksgiving with James' side of the family. It was nice for us to see them all before we moved to VA. Conor wants to go to Grandma and Papa's house and we tell him that they will visit soon (hint hint)

Packing Up

Here a few pics from the day of the move. Jeannie brought us a meal and Conor and Erin Grace are sharing with daddy :) Thanks to all who helped. We needed you!!

Best Buddies

I think I can safely say that Titus and Conor are best buddies. Here is a pic of their first sleep over. They had such fun together and boy did they both take great naps the following day!

Conor - the fire fighter

When we stayed with the Devlin's, Conor got to go to the fire station and it was so cool! Now when he sees a firetruck he says 'I was on one of those'. Gota love pride in a 2 yr old :)

The next step in our journey

Since I do not have facebook in my apartment and really miss it I thought I would get on my blog and share how our family are doing. Dec 6, our family moved from Granger,IN to Roanoke, VA. We were blessed to have two great men who helped James drive the U HAUL with all our belongings to our new home over the thanksgiving holiday. So when we moved on the 6th, we came together in our car and all the hard part was already done (moving boxes, etc.) We were very sad to leave all our friends up north but excited to be closer to Aisling's family down south and ready to meet our new friends at Shenandoah Baptist Church, Roanoke VA! Conor and Erin Grace share a bedroom. I think they like it. We bought a little christmas tree for Conor and his little people manger scene fits nicely under it. He thinks it is great! I asked him what would he like for christmas and he said a firetruck so that is what he is getting. I put some gifts in his stocking and am excited for him to have his gifts christmas morning. Every morning for the last week or so he has asked if it is christmas yet? I say no and he says 'then i have to wait for my fire truck'. Fun times. He also says 'it's not MY birthday. It is Jesus' birthday. But I get a firetruck'. True statement :) He really wants a firetruck because we spent a week with the Devlins and Titus has a firetruck or two (his dad is a firefighter). Today - for the whole day - we have been playing 'the Devlin family'. He says his name is Titus, Erin is Makayla and so on. When I ask where Conor is, he says he lives far away. I think he is obsessed with Titus :) He likes his new class at church. They have a train table which is pretty cool but he did let me know that there was no tractor ( a fav toy in his old nursery). They have swings hanging from the ceiling in Conor's class and Erin's. Erin seems to really like her nursery and the ladies think she is cute and funny. She was singing for them the last day which they liked.
We were going to stay put for the Christmas but we changed our mind and decided to go to my brother's house and visit my friend Dayna and her family for Christmas. We feel very blessed to be a part of this church and blessed that we get to be with a lot of loved ones at Christmas time. My mom will come to visit me soon and the girls will not be far behind her (the last part is wishfull thinking). Did I say we are staying in the church apartment and are very happy to be able to save for a decent down payment and hopefully buy a house in the summer time. Well, that is some of what has been going on with us. I do not even know if I have any readers left but for those of you that are wondering how wer are doing and if we survived the move? Yes we did and we are very happy. They say there is more to life than happiness but I enjoy being happy and am glad to report that everyday I find myself saying - wow - I couldnt be happier.