Life is good...

Its been a while since I posted, we got busy during the summer with a variety of tasks and the kids. :)

We've now settled into a routine (well, as routine as you can get with kids).

The Hubster and I have become involved in a local church. I am now on a rotating schedule as a worship leader, we both teach adult Bible classes (I teach a Monday night ladies class, he teaches a Sunday class). We also are actively involved on our community outreach children's Bible class on Wednesday nights. He does a PowerPoint presentation every Sunday morning, too, with announcements of our church's local events and missions.

The 10-year-old niece is delighting in piano and voice lessons and plays trumpet in the school band. Or will, when she masters it! Trumpet practice was banished to the back deck for a while...but now that its cold, she's practicing in the laundry room, the furthest away we could get! LOL

The eight-year-old nephew is thrilled to be riding a bike, at last. We bicycle down to Grandpa's almost daily (except when its rainy) to show off our skills. They've had fun visiting local sights - the corn maze a local farmer set up was a huge hit. Both kids are doing well in school, with decent grades and developing friendships.

My brother and sister-in-law are wrapping up their affairs in another state, divesting themselves of household goods, selling the car and property, giving notice to their jobs, and preparing to move here to be with their kids.

Hubby and I have been involved in a variety of projects, including more landscaping and attacking the dreaded garage cleanup! We decided we needed backup heat after the ice storms of last year left us without power for a few days. So here's one of the projects that kept us busy.



The mantel is not installed yet, it is being finished off-site. We've had 3-4 fires in it to burn off the temporary protective sealants inside. It does exactly as advertised. We're toasty warm in a 1500 sq. ft. house. The stove has two burners, so I will be practicing cast iron and dutch oven cooking on it. Should be interesting.

BTW, look carefully at the photo. Emmy The Cat blends into the rock wall VERY WELL.