Running Behind

I just realized that it's been exactly two months since my last blog post. Wow! Time has really escaped me! We have been so busy lately, that the blog and lots of other things have been pushed to the back burner. We didn't even send out Christmas cards this year, and we didn't set up our tree or any decorations until just last week. Phew! Nathan has been working lots of overtime for the last two months. I have also been busy working, running the website for my cat rescue group, and of course, being mommy. We have both been insanely busy getting paperwork together and interviewing for the foster-to-adopt home study process with our social worker. She has made 4 visits to our home in the past month and a half, and we are looking forward to completing the last visit and home safety inspection next week. What a relief it will be to have this all completed and on to the next step - state licensing!

Libby and Caleb are excitedly looking forward to Christmas this year. Caleb and Yaguar the Pest have teamed up to systematically remove decorations from the tree every day since it went up. Libby and Caleb got to pick out little gifts for each other at the dollar store for the first time this year. Caleb didn't quite understand the whole gifting concept, but Libby had a blast finding things for Caleb. Caleb had a blast shopping for himself. Maybe, he'll do better next year. . . Libby got to help me wrap presents for the family and is very much into "secrets" lately. She loves telling everyone what Caleb is getting for Christmas, but she says not to tell him, because it's a secret.

Both kids will be in the children's Christmas program at church tomorrow morning. They are both too young to have any speaking or solo parts yet, but they will be singing (sort of) with the other children. Mom and Dad R., along with Josh and Zack will be joining us to see the kids' performance. We are looking forward to it!

In other news, we added a new car to our family a few weeks ago. We heard about a silver Dodge Grand Caravan that was looking for a new home. It had belonged to an older couple, but the husband had recently passed away. It is a 2001, but it only has 39,000 miles on it! I've never even driven a car with so few miles on it, let alone owned one! We are so excited about our new van. Of all of us, however, I think Mandie the dog is the most excited; she is no longer squished between two crabby children on trips to Grandma's. She can walk around while we are driving and still hasn't figured out where she should sit - too many options! We are now trying to sell our Subaru wagon to help pay for the new van. We are hoping that the money from the sale of the Subaru along with out tax return should pay off the van. Of course, don't count your chickens before they are hatched :) We had discussed purchasing a van, but we were not in a position to run out and buy one just yet. Then this deal popped up that was meant to be. We are excited to see God's provision, even we weren't looking for it directly.

We are continuing to trust God for our needs this upcoming year. It is such a blessing to look back and see all of the things that He has done in the past year. We are looking forward to seeing what plans He has for us in 2009. I'm sure it holds many surprises for all of us!

We have not taken as many pictures of the kids as usual lately, since our camera has been less than cooperative. Apparently being dropped on the floor is not good for it. It's been a good camera for several years, but it's looking forward to it's retirement soon. In the mean time, we'll just keep the battery taped in until we pick out a new one. Here are some photos from Nana and Grampy's visit in October, and photos from October, November, and December. More to come!