Hello from Kansas!

OK, I've been really bad at keeping up with the blogging - hopefully that will change now that things are settling down somewhat. Anyway, we are officially residents of Kansas now! We have had a RIDICULOUS amount of extra things happening, both related to our move and not related, so we are very thankful to be moved in (even if the house is still a mess) and here together. Here are a few highlights from the past few months:

• New job for John - he was transferred to the Fredonia, KS Lafarge plant - a lot of things similar to his job before but a little more responsiblity here (he is now THE process engineer instead of one of the engineers/other in the process department)
• Officially moved to Kansas: Suffice it to say that our new house was not exactly "move-in-ready", but after lots of whirlwind decisions and details we now are moved in with clean carpeting, fresh paint in most of the house (to replace the old dirty wallpaper), and a working furnace and sewer, for which we are very thankful. We have even managed to get most of the other major details settled, like window treatments and appliances. Next big project - putting up a fence. Then onto all the millions of little projects..... We are so excited to have more space now and know that even though we intended to choose a house that didn't need so much work that God provided this house that is perfect for us
• We are now the proud owners of a mini-van: Our plan was to possibly get a van sometime next year, but when John was driving back to Iowa in the middle of our move to finish up with work and the moving process, he hit black ice and the pathfinder rolled off the road. He was perfectly OK, but the car was not. So the pathfinder was totalled and we now have a toyota sienna, which we love
• Potty training (ongoing)
• Lots and lots of sickness of all kinds - currently really bad allergies (just me this time - thankfully not John and the kids, too)

Those are just the highlights - if you'll notice, a general theme is "things happening not the way we planned". We have been continually reminded these last few months that it is God who is in control (which is a good thing, because we definitely aren't in control!) and that there is peace in that knowledge. I'm definitely not saying that I haven't been stressed out, but it would be so much worse if I didn't know that we are doing all we can do to follow God's plan for us and that everything else is just details.

So, now that I've caught up on the highlights, I'm going to list 6 of the many things I'm thankful for (I didn't forget your tag, Alane - I'm just now getting to it!). I won't tag anyone else specifically, but I'd encourage everyone to think about what you're thankful for and make a post about it if you want! Here's my list:

1. God's presence in my life, specifically the last 6 months over the course of moving and everything that led up to that - I'm so thankful that we are not going it alone!
2. God's provision and protection for our family during all the chaos of the last few months
3. My wonderful husband John and my two wonderful kids - talk about blessings!
4. Our family, who we are so excited to live closer to now and who graciously helped us with our painting, etc. We are thankful for their help, but mostly we are thankful for them and that we get to see them more now!
5. Our new bigger house - I know having more space technically qualifies as a "want" and not a "need", and I'm very thankful for more room to move around and for the kids to play
6. the meeting of the "Independence Newcomers Club" that I will be attending tonight - I'm excited to meet some people and get some "girl time"

These are some big things. I also have lots of little things that I am thankful for that currently include (but are not limited to) frozen pre-chopped onion, halls cough drops, and the music of Jeremy Camp, but since the kids are waking up from their nap and John is almost home from work, I'll stop there.

I hope to post some new pictures soon - we don't have everything completely located and set up yet, but I know we will in the next few days because Will's about to have a birthday and you know I'll be taking lots of pictures!