July Highlights

July has been a whirlwind of activity and visitors (so yes, those are very tired faces in the picture). We enjoyed having Matt's good buddy Eric and his fiance up from Pennsylvania. We took them to Mt. Katahdin "up north" (Yes, it is possible to go further north than us). I got quite the surprise that day....our GPS sent us via the Golden Road. I was so excited when she told us to turn on that road because Greg, one of our teens, had told me shortly after I moved here that if I wanted to guarantee a moose sighting I had to go on that road. Well, we just hadn't ever made it there until Eric and Patti came. Matt was sure that with the time of day and busy tourist season that the moose would not come that close. I was not to be daunted nor disappointed! Within a couple of minutes one lone female came into view. I shreaked so loud she looked at us oddly for a minute then sauntered back into the woods. We stopped the car for a picture and I called out to her (the way Beth does..."Hey Moose") but she just wouldn't cooperate. But at least I have witnesses! That made my day!

We've been keeping busy this month with preparations for the mission trip, starting a college ministry (a luau complete with the "Ancient Hawaiian spear throwing contest into watermelons"--the jury's out whether that's legitimate but it was fun anyway!), doing local service projects with the kids, pool parties, etc. At home Matt's been busy chopping our wood while I've been working in the garden. We're enjoying the sunshine and the garden has thrived under this year's weather conditions inspite of us! This weekend, Matt's dad is helping start the demolition for our remodeling (to deal with structural, safety, and heat flow issues) that we're doing before we get to the baby's room. It's been a beautiful God provision!!! All the materials and most of the labor have been donated. I'm so thankful Matt is soooo handy with these kinds of things as well! Precious is a little nervous with all the commotion!

FAQ's

How did you find out? Rachel, of course! I was telling her how incredibly tired I was feeling no matter how much I slept. She started asking other questions. I told her it wasn't possible (since we were very carefully preventing, etc). She suggested I take a test. So on May 3rd we spent all day going to back to back Cinco de Mayo parties for the kids. I ate TONS of Mexican food and the baby seems to really like it (it's those Texas roots :) ). By Sunday I was feeling pretty sure Rachel was right so we went to the Dollar Store. We walked through the whole store to make sure no one we knew was there then quickly and discretely went to check out. Well, we ended up in line behind a kid that recognized Matt from AWANA and they started chatting. She was a relative to a church member so I tried to keep our item hidden and waited until they left the store before giving to the cashier. She must've been amused by the scene. Monday morning on Cinco de Mayo we took the test and the results were unquestionably clear. Matt was incredulous and didn't know what to do with himself. We called my parents then made a quick dash to New Hampshire (with of course a stop off to celebrate with pancakes at Denny's) to surprise his. Needless to say, Mother's Day took on a whole new meaning this year!

Who do you blame for this? Our friends, the Gages, who gave us the wood stove (God knew I did not want a baby in the house until that was fixed!) and our youth leaders (we took them on an overnight for a conference..we had to be separated by gender...)

When are you due? January 2nd (coincidentally on Ben's, Rachel's son, 2nd birthday!)

How have you been feeling? Let's put it this way: Ashlee, one of our leaders, gave me a Shoebox card (only the best!) that said something very fitting along the lines of "Pregnancy is the only good reason for feeling like crap!" This week I've had more good days than bad though, so maybe we're finally on the upswing-knock on wood!

Will you find out the gender? Yes, after Matt returns from Costa Rica mid-August. At that point we will let you know the names we have picked out.

The First 3 Months

We will try to regularly get the "belly" shot so you can see my progress. This was taken on Father's Day after we had much fun surprising everyone with our announcement at church. We may be in a small town, but we managed to pull this over on most! We waited to announce the news nationally because we wanted to be able to tell Lisa (who came to visit from the UK) and Nathan (visiting from Houston) in person when they came to visit us during the month of June. And then we've been so busy with all of our fun summer activities with the kids! Now that I'm not working I actually can find time for simple pleasures such as keeping in touch with friends!

Precious' Big Announcement

I am really put out. It's always been about me, me, me. Now they tell me my territory is going to be invaded by a BABY!!!! Can you believe this? I mean, wasn't I enough???? I suppose it could be worse. At least they decided against that dog...phew, that was a close one! This is too much. I need another nap. At least mamma seems to be sleeping more these days so I can have a napping buddy.