Haircuts

Friday was haircut day. My mom met us at Kiddy Kutters then we went to dinner at a yummy mexican restaurant. Oh...I'm going to miss my parents a lot.

This was the girls' first haircut. I want to cut it myself in the future, but thought I'd go to a professional to learn.

Before:



During: Lydia got a little scared when the lady tried to scoot her.



Jenna went after Lydia and wasn't scared if she got to eat a sucker!



After: You can't tell much difference, but I think it looks much better to have it even and to have the yucky ends off.



This was Drew's second haircut. I wanted to watch a pro do it before I attempt it myself (since I won't have the luxury of just going to ask my mom to do it.)
Before:


Don't know what happened to his during picture, but he did awesome! He sat on my lap and just studied all the new, fun things to look at.
After:

A quick side note...our van's transmission did need replaced--yikes--so expensive! But...God has taken great care of us, and we're reminded of the blessing of generous people and His provisions for us. AJ's dad flies to Colorado tomorrow, and we'll leave as soon as the weather permits and the van is ready! We're so excited to be together as a family for good!

Colorado Highlights

My parents are super fun! Here's one of several crafty, creative ideas my mom had to do with the girls.


Time with family has been the greatest part of these last two months. The kids have really amazing grandparents and thoroughly enjoyed every part of being with my parents. They have been so creative, patient, and sacrificial in their love for us.



This week my grandma decided to come from Kansas for a quick visit. It's been super nice to have an extra pair of hands during the day as I prepare for our trek to Arkansas. We're leaving at the end of the week if our van is repaired by then.




One of the many games played with Grandpa. "You sleep. I wake you with a kiss." We've also enjoyed the chance to go to lots of my dad's basketball games while we've been here.




Uncle Tim and Aunt Brenda came to visit over New Year's with their three kids and a fiancee. We had a wonderful time with them!




Lydia's sitting with Becca. The girls can't wait to be Becca's special helpers (flower girls) when she marries Andrew in May. This family was so sweet about playing with our kids and seemed to really enjoy it!

A kiss for Molly, my high school friend Jaci's little girl

We got to play with Megan Paisley several times. Megan's mommy had another baby while we were here, so it was such a treat to meet Baby Anna!

We spent one day in Denver visiting my college friend Tammy and her two little girls. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I took, but this was the other newborn of a friend that I got to meet during our months in Colorado.

Daddy came to visit in mid-January. A definite highlight! None of us could get enough of time wtih him!

I did not pose the girls for this picture!

Kansas and Little Rock

When AJ and I parted ways, we didn't expect to spend Christmas together. So...it was a huge thrill when his new boss (John Spenst for anyone who knows him from JBU) offered for AJ to take some time off around Christmas to see his family. It was so sweet to have time together to enjoy our kids, look at houses, hold hands, just be together.

My parents graciously drove the kids and I to Kansas to see family then to Little Rock.

First we went to my Grandma Cornett's and got to see some family. Poor Drew was sick that day and cried more than I ever remember in a single day of his life. Everyone was so kind and fun with the girls. My cousin Trevor was a big hit with them. We all think he's absolutely hilarious, and the girls agreed that he's tons of fun!



Next we went to Uncle Mike's and Aunt Cindy's to celebrate Christmas with my dad's side of the family. All but three family members were there, which is a huge and unusual feat. We had a great time catching up with everybody!

Daddy! The girls ran to hug him, giggling all the way, when we arrived in Little Rock and went to see him at Chick-fil-A. There's lots of Spanish speakers at this store, so AJ taught the girls to say, "Mucho gusto!" when they met people. Daddy just makes life more fun.

Christmas eve. We made gingerbread houses again since we had so much fun with that project in Colorado.

Christmas day. We made sugar cookies that morning while we waited for Grandma and Poppie (AJ's parents) to come over from Ozark. They had to deal with some icy roads, but it was really fun to spend the day with both sets of the kids' grandparents!

Drew helps Poppie open a gift

Love that look of surprise and excitement in Jenna!

Lydia wears one gift while opening others

Daddy helps Drew learn to play with one of his new gifts.

Our first attempt at a good family picture

About an hour later a good picture came much more easily.

Before we headed back to Colorado, we got to spend an afternoon with AJ's family in Ozark. Here's four of the six grandkids waiting to open gifts.

Drew's birthday

We've begun out adventure of trying to help a little boy with a birthday near Christmas feel special near his big day. This year we extended our celebration for about a week. Drew got to open a present from my parents here in Colorado before we left (no room in the van to pack big presents!). Then, we were celebrating Christmas with my dad's side of the family on his actual birthday (the 21st). He didn't feel real great that day (he had a stomach bug before and while we were in Kansas), so we mostly just gave him lots of birthday hugs and waited to be with Daddy for the main celebration.


Then once we were in Arkansas and finished Christmas celebrations, we made a day of celebrating Drew on the 26th. Here's Drew with his caterpillar cake. He loved every bite of his cupcake!


We're trying to make a tradition out of going somewhere unique and special as a family to celebrate our kids' birthdays. So far we've done a Childrens' Museum, a zoo. For Drew we went to a really neat place in Little Rock called The Wonder Place. It's a place for kids ages 0-8 to play and imagine and discover. AJ's parents gave us a Christmas gift that will enable us to return for free a few times as a family. We love it there! I also love Daddy/Son pictures and just can't take enough of them!


They had a water station complete with high chairs so the little ones can reach. Grammy helps Drew figure it out.

They had a fun dress-up area. Drew didn't like dressing up, but I thought it would make a cute picture so I made him wear a dinosaur hat.

The sand station

Drew's favorite was the Toddler Area (for ages 0-2) where kids can crawl or walk around and go down slides, open and close doors, and explore.

This boy loves to go up and down stairs.

Happy birthday, little buddy! Or boobie as the girls like to call him (I'm working on eliminating that nickname!). We love you so much. Your life brings us such joy and we're so grateful for the gift of having you as our son.

Colorado

My parents are graciously hosting the kids and I until we have a place to live in Little Rock. This is the view from their front yard! We've gotten some good use out of our heavy coats and gloves. I'm hoping for a big snow while we're here. So far they've been pretty small.

I don't know why, but my kids have struggled to sleep well here. Jenna especially seems to be scared regularly, and it's hard to know how to deal with it in the middle of the night. Sometimes I hear her in her bed singing a song I taught her: "When I am afraid, I will trust in you." Most of the time though, she just screams and cries and says she wants her mommy. I'm praying for patience, peace, and wisdom in this season of transition.

Drew got his first haircut at 11 months by Grammy.

I love that Lydia's tongue is out! Jenna loved this project so much that we decided to do it again with Daddy when we saw him for Christmas.

Focus on the Family (where my mom works) has an awesome FREE place for kids to play. Drew loved crawling through this log and peeking his head out. He's a cutie!

Grammy spent her lunch break with us at the play area. What a great place to sit and read!

Lydia only liked Mrs. Santa, but Jenna wanted to sit on the laps of both Mrs. Santa and Mr. Santa. She even wanted to tell Santa about Baby Jesus. They have loved singing Christmas songs, acting out the story, and playing with the doll here that they've named Baby Jesus. Somehow the part of the story that they got stuck on was the mean king who wanted to hurt Jesus.

Merry Christmas!

Saying goodbye

It's time to catch up! AJ started his new job at the Markham Chick-fil-A in Little Rock on Nov. 30. The kids and I are living with my parents in Colorado while we wait for the house to sell. This is definitely one of the hardest things I've done in life so far...waiting for our house to sell, leaving Midland--a place and people that we loved dearly, being apart from my husband without a definite end date, waiting for God's timing.


The night before we parted ways. This kid loves his daddy and his grandpas. I love how clearly the diferences are between him as a boy and our girls!


Thanks for taking care of our house while we wait, Jantzes! So sad we couldn't keep all 6 in the picture!

We talk about you a lot, Voskamp girls!

The Shumans hosted us for Thanksgiving, and we had such a great time spending some last quality time with our dear friends.

Jenna took this picture. We love the Shumans!

Some friends hosted a great goodbye party on one of our last Sundays in Midland. We were so blessed by a large group of wonderful people and their reminders that God knows what He's doing and to trust Him. We have been so loved and learned so much from those people. We miss you dearly.

A big change

Friends and family-
There are those of you who know some or all of what I'm about to relay, so I apologize for any boring details that you've heard already. We want to bring you up to speed with our family, so you'll know what's next for us and will know how to pray for us. Hopefully, you'll find at least something in this correspondence that is new information to you (maybe it's just this random fact--insects outnumber humans 1,000,000:1).

I (A.J.) retired as a teacher in May 2009 to pursue a future with Chick-fil-A restaurant in hopes of someday owning a CFA store of my own. I know that a fast food chicken restaurant is a strange calling, but have come to realize that such a place is a great blend of the type of work and ministry opportunities that I love. I have filled a management position at the local CFA in Midland since this summer, but I have realized that this particular store wasn't the best fit for my skills and interests. I still firmly believe that my passions and abilities very much line up with the ideals of the company, and have been in pursuit of other leadership opportunities at other CFA restaurants throughout the country. Recently, our family has traveled to some of those restaurants in areas closer to where we have roots (namely, Colorado and Arkansas) to interview in several stores where we think I could thrive. Those interviews went very well indeed. It looks like we have really appealing and exciting options at several places in Arkansas (Bentonville, Little Rock, and Rogers), and the ball is now in our court to choose between those locations. Each of them offers slightly different opportunities/advantages, so we are currently weighing those things and seeking God's direction. Will you pray for clarity in these decisions?

One thing that we do know at this point is that this is all coming together very swiftly. If all goes as planned (when does it ever?), I will start at a new place as soon as November 30th. I am wrapping up my time at the local CFA (finishing next week), and then will have Thanksgiving week to finalize as many details as possible here and line up as much as we can there (wherever there is), and to say our goodbyes to loved ones in Midland. Most likely, I will start in Arkansas by myself, and live with someone in the area, and Megan and our kids will head to Colorado Springs to be with her folks while we try to find a specific place to settle. Not surprisingly, we are experiencing a full range of emotions--fear, anxiety, excitement, doubt, sorrow, worry, relief, etc.--but we're confident that God's hand is in this, and that He'll bless any decision so long as we do what we can to honor Him and be faithful wherever He has us. It is agonizing to think about leaving this community/school/church that we've grown to love over the 6.5 years we've been here, but we also don't want to be Midland/MCA/MBC worshipers; we want to serve and follow the God who presides over all these things, Who so knowingly and lovingly provides such good gifts to His children.

Finally, we covet your prayers in this process, as we sort through all the big decisions ahead. We may call on some of you who are local to help us pack boxes and tie up loose ends when that time comes, but that probably won't be until the end of the month. We'd like to offer a heartfelt thanks for your overwhelming and steady support and love through this process. God is good, all the time.