Well, there has been a lot of change for us in the past few months.  For a while now, Jamey has felt like God was leading him towards Chaplaincy in the military.  And after a lot of soul searching and praying we decided this past summer, that we should start pursuing that direction. Unfortunately, we didn't feel like we could pursue this new direction while still being a full time youth pastor.  So in July, he resigned from our church in MI, and joined the Air National Guard.  Then, at the beginning of August we moved to Ohio and in with my parents, which has been a huge blessing.  We put all our stuff in storage hoping to be able to rent something within a few weeks, but it didn't turn out like we planned.  Jamey was able to get a chaplaincy internship at the VA Hospital in Cleveland, but it did not pay.  So we didn't have much income coming in during the fall.  On the days he wasn't at the hospital, Jamey began Substitute teaching at the local schools here, and that has continued since his internship ended.  The training he received through the internship gave him 1 unit of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education).  Usually to get a job as a full time chaplain, you need 4 units.  So, he has applied to several residency programs, which would give him the 3 additional units.  The nice part about a residency is that it would pay, so we would be able to get our own place.  Right now he has applied to hospitals in Toledo, OH; Columbus, OH; Morgantown, WV; Indianapolis, IN; and Aurora, CO.  So we are praying for God to open the right door and give us guidance to make the right choice.  This would mean that we would move to the location of the residency for a year, and then he can apply for a full time chaplaincy job.  So by now you are probly wondering how the military side fits into this.  Well, there is a program in the military called the Chaplain Candidate Program, that provides training during two summers with the completion leading to becoming an officer as a Chaplain.  We are still waiting for all the paperwork to go through, but are believing that God is going to work it all out in time!  Being in this program, means that he doesn't have to attend his monthly drills, but he will be gone for most of the summer for training.  We have faced a lot of unknowns and it has been so amazing to see how God is leading us and strengthening our trust in him.  So much of what has been going on has been completely out of our control, but yet we have amazing peace and know that he will provide for all we need.  We would certainly appreciate your prayers as we continue to listen to God's voice to make the best choice of where to go, and that everything would fall into place with the military side of things.  I will do my best to update when we have more info on where we will be headed next year! 

Family Pictures

Last May we were able to get some family pics done by a wonderful lady, and here's a sample for you! I just love them!

2013 in Review

Well, I keep hoping that I will get better at posting more regularly, and there's still a chance that I will! But here's a look at what our 2013 held for us!

In March, Zane turned 4 and we had a Jake and the Neverland Pirates Party with his best 3 buddies.

For Easter we drove out to visit our cousins in Olathe, KS.

While we were there we also got to go to the T-Rex Cafe which was a lot of fun!

In April Kade turned 6!

In July, Eddy went to doggy Heaven :(

Jamey joined the Air National Guard

In August, we met our newest niece/cousin Audrey

We also said goodbye to our friends in MI and moved to OH 

(more about that on the next blog)

We also took a trip to visit our cousins in GA!

First day of 3rd grade for Reya and 1st grade for Kade.

In October Cole turned 3! 

And we got to go trick or treating at Malone University

In November Kade lost his first two teeth at once!

At Christmas we celebrated at  Nana and Papa Fawcett's house.

I will be updating what all is going on with us now in the next post :)

September

Although the advice is usually to leave it alone and let it grow, I had finally reached the point where a change was needed.  We cut off all of Cole's curls, and he got his first big boy haircut!  It took some time to get used it, but he's such a handsome fellow now!  Here's some before and after pics!

From behind...

From the front...what a cutie!

All gone! I'm a big boy now!

And speaking of a big boy...Cole just can't stand to be left out of anything.  Here's a good example for you!

It didn't matter if he could see or not...he swung at the ball!

This was one of our last ice creams of the summer!

School started after Labor Day for us and it was a bit of an adjustment for us.  Both Reya and Kade are gone all day. Reya is in 2nd grade this year and Kade is in all day Kindergarten.  It's a long day for both of them and because of where we live they are on the bus almost an hour each way, but they enjoy it.  

They are excited!

Of course Zane and Cole had to get their backpacks too!

Reya on the bus!

Kade at his desk!

Kade on the bus!

Reya at her desk!

 It took some time for Zane especially to adjust to not having Kade around all day, but he's been doing much better at playing with Cole and including him in what he is playing.  Here are a couple things we've done while they are home:

While it was nice, we had our snack outside in the mornings and afternoons! They are super silly!

We live across from a farm, so they are watching the tractors get the corn.

Jamey agreed to play on a flag football league through the church, so I got these pics while we were "watching the game"  This was the last time we all went to watch due to cold and lack of things to do during the game. 

And our two newest additions!!  He finally talked me into it:

Our new truck! And yes we can all fit in it!!

 And two days after we bought the truck, Jamey came upon a slide that said free on it, and when he stopped to ask about it, they said he could have it if he took the whole playset, so we got this whole thing for free! The kids were ecstatic! What a blessing!

This is how it came

Part way done

All finished! I don't have a pic but we have a cover on the top now too.

Loooong Overdue!

Well, it has been way too long since I last posted anything and I realized that my posts stopped pretty much when Cole started walking.  I believe that speaks for itself!  Adding that 4th baby just ruins it all!  But I'm happy to report that we are all doing very well!  There's no way that I can post everything that's happened since then, so I'm going to post some highlights of the past few months to bring you up to speed!

I'm going to start with Upward.  Both Reya and Kade participated this year.  Reya did cheerleading and Kade played basketball.  While it was fun for them, it was quite stressful for Jamey and I.  We both volunteered to coach and each ended up with two teams that we were responsible for.  Not only was the season from Nov. to March but our practice times were at the same time.  So we had to find childcare each week, but it all worked out. I believe that Upward is a wonderful ministry, it was just way too much for our family with little ones.   Here are some pics of the kids and us!

All ready for their games!

Coach Jamey!

The "mohawk" helps you play better!

Coach Christy attempting to get them to do something!

They were cute!

Here are some highlights from the Spring!

Zane turned 3 in March!

A visit with Reya's best friend Rachel Harlan in April.

Ready for Nana's annual Easter egg hunt!

Easter Morning!

Kade turned 5 in April!

Playing outside with Daddy

We camped out outside over Memorial Day weekend!