An urgent prayer request

It is with much sadness that I sit down to write this morning. I ask all of you to lift up my beloved, Paul. His father passed away very suddenly from a massive hemorrhage sometime over the weekend. He was found last night by a friend. Paul's dad was a professing Christian, but did not have much of a walk. Please pray for Paul as the burden of making all the arrangements and taking care of his affairs falls largely on Paul's shoulders. Also, pray especially for his sister, Dory. Dory was very close to their dad and took the news very hard. She is just a bit over three weeks away from having her first child. It has been a very high risk pregnancy, so please pray for her safety as well as that of her baby. Pray that she may be able to somehow get here for the funeral as she lives in SC. News like this is never easy and always seems to come at the worst time. Pray for us to have witnessing opportunities though it all.

The long awaited announcement

So, I haven't blogged all summer, and now you hear from me three times in a week!!!

Much to say... so little time to blog....

Ok, enough dragging on the suspense! Yes, all my friends, the night has ended for me. Paul proposed last night in a beautiful simple way that is exactly us. The date has been set for Oct. 18. We even had our first pre-marital counseling session with our pastor yesterday.

But as for the good stuff that all girls love to know: I think I have mentioned our fire pit in the back yard. Having fires after the kids are in bed had become quite common for us and very special. We bought a swing a month or so ago, so the fire time is quite cozy.

It has been quite cool the last few nights here, so we made a fire and were sipping some great flavored tea and I was eating some of my favorite Dove chocolates. We talked of some of the stuff we had just discussed in counseling with Pastor and yes, of the challenges that lay ahead of us with blending the kids together. Paul so sweetly reassured me of his love for the Lord, me, and the kids. He said many other sweet things that I will save for just us, but before I really even realized what was happening, he was before me on one knee, the fire behind him, asking me to be his bride. The setting was perfect as the fire light reflected off the diamonds. Naturally, the tears began to flow, and the only word that I could find was "yes."

A year and a half ago it seemed my world had ended. I was alone with four small children to raise. I felt no one could possible want someone with four kids and was some one else's reject. It is still hard for me to see myself the way others see me. My pastor called me a "precious gem" that Paul must love more than his own life. I do believe he does!

I do plan to write more in the coming days on my process to marriage. School starts on Mon.-- maybe then I will have some free time to write!! Yeah, right!

Here's some pics that I have taken today of my new ring! He picked perfectly-- set in white gold, it has three stones in the middle and then three small stones on each side for a total of nine diamonds!!

A new addition

We have a new addition to the house this week: her name is Mittens- our new kitten. She is about six months old, and is the hit of the week with everyone. I must admit, I am not really a cat lover, but she has grown on me quite a bit in the three days that she has been with us. And the best part is (so far anyway!) no real allergy issues with any of us!! Hope it stays that way- I think the kids would be heart broken to get rid of her!

Summer fun

I know, I know!! It has been about forever since I have given any kind of updates of things around here!! The summer is just days away from being over and my, has it flown by! When I look back, it is hard to say what consumed so much of the summer since we only did a few big things. We went to our town lake several times (I learned a first hand the importance of re-applying sun lotion- earned a whole weekend of sick time from the second degree sunburn--serious pain!) The boys went with Paul to the men's church camp out in June and then we all went to the family camp out last week. We spent the Fourth of July in Maine meeting much of Paul's family. VBS was a great highlight the first week of Aug. as well as a trip to the ocean that week with many of the church friends.

Busy, busy, never ending... We have had much rain here this summer, so we had to be creative with finding stuff to keep us busy and not drive each other crazy!!

So here are some pictures of the happenings of this summer

Bryce and Judson playing ball at the church family camp out last week. Judson and I while camping last week.

Tyler being silly. Kristen and her friend all made up for a sleepover!

Judson LOVES his blanket! This is a very common way for him to fall asleep in the van. Kristen takes a swim on the Fourth of July.