Grand Rapids Children Museum

A few weeks ago we got a chance to go to the Grand Rapids Children Museum. They were having a special Bob the Builder show which I really wanted to take the boys to for awhile now. Since we are moving I wanted to get it in before we go and we were able to go with our good friends Chris and Maresa and their little girl Elliana. It was a good time!

Fun for kids of all ages

Fireman Peyton

Another twist and turn in the rollercoaster ride that is our life!

Well, it has only been a few weeks since my last post but with as much stuff as has happened to us you would think it had been a few years. Starting from my last post, the boys we're going to be staying with Grandma Jan for a week so that I could come back home and get some spring cleaning done and other misc things. I had come back home with so many things to do and then the first day back Brian calls from work saying that he needed to go to Urgent Care due to being sick for almost 3 weeks and it not getting any better. So that day I went with him and they gave him an antibiotic and so instead of being childless for a few days I was taking care of my big kid. He stayed home from work the next day also and finally the antibiotic seemed to be working. Having lived in the Grand Haven/Spring Lake area for over 6 months now we were starting to get the itch to find a house and really settle in so we figured with the boys gone for the week it would be a good time to meet with a realtor and see what was out there. We looked at quite a few houses and were getting excited about finding the right place for us here in our new area, and thats when everything changed. Brian came home the next day and had to tell me that he had lost his job, the one we had moved so many miles for, the one that we had left friends and family and of course our only source of income since I stay home with the kids. It was a very devasting blow, we were not sure what to do next. We did not blame God but we did question why he would bring us over here just for this to happen. Well, fortunately the boys were away so we were able to have a few days to process what had happened and to start a game plan for what to do next. Brian started sending out resumes all over this area and in other areas of the state, he also decided to contact his previous employer in Midland that he left to come here. We had all but decided we would do our best to figure out something over here since we were in a lease still at our apartment until Brian received an email back from his old employer saying if he wanted his job back he had it! Well, that definitely threw us for a loop as we were sure we were supposed to stay here so we decided to give it a week and see if we heard anything from over here. Well, we did not hear anything from over here and we knew we could not survive very long on unemployment so we thought we would look into housing options over there and see what would happen. Well, to cut down on the long story, we took a trip over there last week and on our eighth anniversary, April 22nd, we found a house to buy in Midland only about 5 minutes from Brian's work and 15 minutes from my parents house and 30 from my mother in laws house. We put in an offer and by the end of the week it had been accepted and we had gotten financing figured out as well. We knew that the way things were working out so well that this must be the direction God wanted us to go. He has really been in all the details. Again, we are still struggling with the why of the move over here to begin with but we have made some great friends here and I know we will eventually see. So, as of now, Brian is back to work in Midland and myself and the boys are still here in Grand Haven for 2 weeks so Jensen can finish up school. We close on the house in Midland on or before May 30th and get to move again. We would appreciate your prayers as we still have things to be worked out but we are excited to see what God has in store for us back home :)


Here are some pictures of the house:


It is 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, large partially finished basement.

Front of the house



Kitchen

Living Room





Bathroom


One section of the basement which will be a play room for the boys

Back view of house and deck

Fenced in backyard

Spring Break

We have had an exciting past couple of weeks. My mom and Lara both had their Spring Break's last week so last weekend my parents and Lara came to stay at our place for the weekend. We enjoyed our time together with all of them. Since we didn't get to go to church on Easter, with Peyton being so sick, we wore our Easter outfits the next weekend. So I have a few pictures of those. Lara stayed with us for a few more days and watched Peyton for me so I could go on a field trip with Jensen to the Critter Barn. I was so glad to be able to experience that with him. It is a day I won't forget and I don't think he will either. We then headed back to Midland/Coleman for a few days. The boys got to see Grandma Jan again which had been the longest they hadn't seen her. They also spent a few days at Grandma and Grandpa Mowat's house and they took them to see some more animals at a nearby farm which they enjoyed. Peyton kept saying "see the piggies" even though he didn't want to touch them. Lara and I got the chance to go to Ladies Night Out at the Palace to see the Pistons and we were able to meet Jason Maxiell and get his autograph. We also got lots of free stuff that night and we had a great time. Now, I have gotten a chance to home for a few days without the boys who stayed with Grandma Jan for a week and I have soooo many things I want to get done but I know it is going to go by quickly and I will miss by boys. My big boy, Brian, has been sick for over 3 weeks now and I had to take him to Urgent Care today on my first day back and he was put on antibiotics. Please keep him in your prayers, he is so ready to be back to normal. Anyways, that should catch you all up for now, enjoy the pics!

Critter Barn Pictures:

Holding a Duckling

Feeding the chickens

Maggie the Potbelly pig

Miss Mary with a baby bunny

Petting the horse Legacy

Jensen took this picture of the lunch we packed in his Buzz Lightyear lunchbag

Jensen bottle feeding the baby goat

And milking the momma goat

Miss Mary with the baby lambs

Petting the momma lambs

"Easter Pictures"

Peyton the newsie

Peyton and Jensen

Jensen and Grandma Mowat

Mommy and her boys

Mommy and Jensen

Oops the eyes are closed but still cute smiles

Here are a few pictures of the gift that Aunt Net and Uncle Dave sent Peyton for his birthday. They are Shrek swim trunks and they are a size 6 so it will be a few years before he can wear them but he liked wearing them like this!

Picture with the Easter Bunny

As I said our Easter was kind of different this year, not just because Peyton got sick but also because we didn't get to go "home" this year. We really missed seeing all the grandparents and aunts but we decided to try things on our own this year. Our original plan was to go to a community easter egg hunt on Saturday but it snowed quite a bit the night before and was really cold so we scrapped that idea and took the boys over to Walmart where they had pictures with the Easter Bunny. Jensen hopped right up on his lap but Peyton didn't want to get close to him at all. (I have to admit he was a pretty scary looking bunny.) He would wave at him and say "Hi Bunny" but he wouldn't get on his lap so that is why he is missing from the picture.

Easter

Well, unfortunately I do not have any cute Easter outfit pictures because we didn't end up being able to go to church on Easter. Peyton came down with the stomach flu that Brian had just had and we decided it wouldn't be smart to bring that to church at all. I do have a few pictures of their Easter baskets but you can tell Peyton is not really with the program. They are at the stage where we have to get them both the same thing or they want what the other one has so they both got plane baskets this year!

More misc pictures

Well since when I finally do get around to posting I usually post everything all at once so here are some more misc pictures of the last month.

Suess on the Loose

Well, this was from awhile back but I wanted to share it with you all anyways. We went to an event in January called Suess on the Loose at Spring Lake Wesleyan Church. They had a lot of different Dr Suess characters that led groups through different stations based on Dr Suess books. It was a lot of fun. We thought Jensen would enjoy it but we weren't sure how Peyton would do but he had a lot of fun and did really well so it was a fun night as a family. Here is a picture they took at the Cat in the Hat station where we got to decorate our own hats!