Hello again...

I know, I know, it seems as if we've fallen off the face of the earth but we're still here muddling through. I knew my life would be a little stressful after I returned home from my grandfather's funeral but I wasn't prepared for how stressful. I was coming back to two brand new jobs working from home. I had been praying for just such an opportunity and felt very blessed to have found what I did, especially with all the scams out there. With Savanna going to school this year I knew I wanted full-time work but I still really wanted to be able to be here for the kids and to be able to see the their sporting events, many of which start at 4 pm. There was an ad in the newspaper and I went and applied for and got the job doing legal transcription work from home full-time. So I transcribe court hearings from recordings for about 8 hours a day. It's been over a month and I'm finally getting used to it, but at the beginning it was rough. The training for this job was practically non-existant and I had to figure it all out on my own, but I'm finally feeling a little more comfortable with it. I thought I was losing my mind at first, though. The other job is also from home and I am basically an appointment setter for a local payroll company. The great thing about both of them is I can choose my own hours as long as I meet the deadlines. On top of that I've subbed at the school one day and we still clean Huckleberry Inn between guests.

Thank heavens for Steve, who has been such a great help at home. He has been making breakfast and dinner, he's canned pickles, tomatoes and tomato juice and he's frozen 30 quarts of frozen sweet corn so far, with the kids' help. He does laundry, takes care of kids, coaches Gideon's football team and picks up the slack wherever it needs to be. And that's when he gets home from work. What a guy!!

Seth is doing well in Brazil. We get his emails every week and he's happy. He has a new Brazilian companion and they get along well.

The kids at home are all doing well except for the normal bumps of daily life. We've got soccer, volleyball, football, church youth group, friends, etc. etc. etc.

We can't believe Brooke is a senior this year. I can't imagine her being gone this time next year. It brings me to tears. So for some pictures today I've chosen some that I took of her for her senior pictures. We had so much fun trying to figure out poses. We cracked up so many times. We think they turned out great and the biggest problem we have is that we took too many and can't choose the ones we like the best! Let us know what your vote is!