into a new season

With the rest of July, all of August, and most of September gone by, a lot has been going on.  We obviously made it back to the States from Lebanon, for one.  We also went to a big conference, did more traveling and landed back in Minnesota in time to pack up and move into a house and renovate it.  We're prone to the slow and simple life, aren't we?!  Now school has already started back for a few weeks now and we're getting settled into an everyday crazy routine of life.

SO many things to be thankful for:

• Parents who've faithfully come up to help us paint, rip up unending layers of subfloor, tear out nasty bathrooms, caulk, putty, sand, trim, nail, drill, and obviously babysit!
• This awesome new place...back and front yards, room for out little guys to explore and run around in, 2 car garage, guest room, etc.  Incredible blessing for us as a family and to bless others with. We're so grateful to be able to have people over and host things and our family can operate easily upstairs.
• Such a hard working, Craigslist-scouring, determined to get projects done husband, who wrestles and plays with G + J and loves me well
•  Grayson, who loves to explore, and push the boundaries. Whose obsessed with black beans. Whose become more aggressive, but also more cuddly.  A ball of energy who can be alone and independent or fighting for my lap space.  Who loves to look at books and points to all modes of transportation ("ca"= car, "ba pa"= airplane, "duh"= truck)
• Jackson, who is always looking for an excuse to smile or laugh. Whose becoming tougher by the day even when falling again on that scabbed knee and gets up without a cry. Who loves to laugh and get attention.  Who loves pasta and wants fun to be in everything. Who leaped verbally and is starting to repeat everything ("ba-ba"= puppy, "buh-buh" = brother, "baby", "wa-wa"= lawn mower/water).
• Our awesome staff team family. We've loved getting reconnected after a summer away from most of them.  We also love the several who've joined our team or are planning to soon!
• The weather up here! A break from the South's rain and a delayed fall have made me so happy

Our August official staff picture (A's with Grayson and I've got Jackson)

watching Daddy mow our new backyard

pushing laundry on our now hardwood floors entertains for a while!

a Twins game while it was hot

playing in Daddy's office space

romping around the backyard

"playing" with chalk on the driveway

the best I could do getting all 3 of us waiting for Daddy to come home!

enjoying a bin of beans on the deck!