MN is a dark and dreary place. We heard on the news last night that there has only been one day of no precipitation since October 1st. Seasonal-affective disorder is in high gear. ;-/ After months and months of sunny days in the Caribbean, the clouds here are getting old. We're all enjoying the 50 degree temps, the rain can go though!
Last night our home-church had a fun baby shower for Lydia & Phoebe. It was a great time, we were blessed by the thought and effort that went into it. Thank you NEW JOY FAMILY!
We're all sensing that God has us in a holding pattern of sorts. The number of unknowns and the variables seem only to increase. As in, He WANTS us to learn more about trusting - and wait on Him a bit.
Britt is getting anxious about not knowing where she will go to college yet. The school she MOST wants to hear from has not yet offered anything formally. So she must wait. We (Troy and I) have no idea what to do with all our stuff and our house (the last two years it has been rented furnished) and the resolution of that situation is probably more than a month or two away. For most people (us for sure), not knowing ... waiting ... uncertainty ... Well, it is all very uncomfortable.
For whatever reason it is where we are, and we're trying to be patient, obedient, and trusting. Some days we are very good at it, others it is pretty ugly.
It is clear that God wants us to trust Him with all of it and trust that His plan for us will be known to us when we need to know. And no sooner.
Here is the house that God needs to sell or rent ... 
The emotional attachment is greater than I realized to a silly house, but it is the only home Troy and I ever bought together, all of our early family bonding with B and P took place here, it is where Hope and Ike came to live after our adoption was complete, Noah's only home ... etc, etc ... My Dad and Troy added an addition in the summer of 2003 -- tons of their own labor and planning went into it ... so the place has some sort of emotional hold on me.
Here are our favorite photos that Marcia took ... She does a lot of wedding photography, therefore kissing is her favorite suggestion. My favorite photo is at the bottom of the blog, after the last post. Troy says no kissing photos for a prayer card though.
We had Hope and Isaac's Kindergarten conference today. Their teacher adores them and is a bit sad thinking about them leaving in a couple of months. They are total opposites, she seems to have a grasp on each of their personality quirks. She said, "Isaac really wants to be a big brother and take care of Hope == but she is not having that." :) She also told us that she asked him if when he got back to Haiti, he might write her a letter. He said, "Sure, what letter?" I only cried once during the conferences, which I think is very respectable.
And, because I know Troy is not at all watching the blog much these days, I will share a little secret with you. Mr. "I think American television stinks" --- really likes to watch (and admits to being a bit preoccupied with) "Dancing with the Stars."
Phoebe puked on Troy yesterday, but that seemed to be it. She has not shown signs of illness since then. She is about to cut her FOURTH tooth in about ten days though. She will have two top and two bottom by weeks end. No messing around with spacing this teething thing out.Britt and Paige are heading into the last weeks of swim season. I LOVE swimming and enjoy watching them, but we're still sort of anxious to have one less thing to juggle ... we never brought the whole circus to a swim meet, we just never wanted to subject ourselves to so much speculation. As it is, some man looked at Lydia tonight and said, "That baby is 12 days old? You have a senior swimming? Well, you'll have kids living under your roof for 36 years at least!"
Thank you sir, for doing the math. Mighty good of you.
I did not fill him in on the other madness.
Love from dank, dreary Minnesota-
T.
