four

It's hard to believe, but it's been four years since I became Daddy. The time seems like it's flown by. At the same time it seems like I can't even remember what it was like not having Riley-Boy around. It's been such a wonderful gift to have Riley in our family.

Three was a year of big changes. Riley started school, which led to potty training and much improved talking skills. Here are some of the highlights and where Riley is right now.

School














Riley started preschool the day after his third birthday. What's more, he went by bus! Shelby and I were kind of freaked out, but Riley was very excited. He has always loved school buses.

In the public preschool Riley continued the speech therapy that he had been getting through Early Intervention. Within a month he had started his "speech explosion." Riley can now talk a blue streak and the sound couldn't be sweeter in our ears. For all the parents who think that it would be great if their kids would be quiet all the time, trust me...it wouldn't be. We love our talking boy. Even if it takes him forever to eat dinner because he can't stop talking.

There are still things that need to be worked on, things like learning letter blends, getting used to starting words with the correct consonant and correct grammar. Minor stuff compared to silence. The biggest concern right now is social development where he is a bit behind. He doesn't always know what to say in social situations and sometimes will just ask questions he already knows the answer to just so that he will have something to say. We're working on social skills a lot at home and we hope he'll learn to use what we teach him outside the home, and particularly at school.

Another thing that came out of school was potty training. Riley wasn't really all that interested in it until he started school and saw all the other kids using the potty. It was a done deal shortly after. Sometimes peer pressure is a good thing. The most recent development here is that he is now diaper free at night as well. Shelby has been getting him up a couple of times in the night to use the potty, which has helped him to stay dry at night. It's great to have one kid entirely out of diapers.

With our move to Colorado Springs Riley found himself in new schools (he's always been in an afternoon preschool as well) and he has continued to work on language. He's progressed enough that he doesn't have to be part of the public preschool during the summer, as they don't think he'll regress without the continued work. Good news. He started a new preschool this week at a Lutheran school and really likes it, which is a relief because he didn't like the KinderCare school he had been going to. Neither did we as they were very disorganized. It seems like the new school will be a good place for him.

Brotherhood














One of the biggest changes of the past year has been that Riley has been learning what it means to be a big brother. Part of that transition has meant losing a lot of attention that he had been getting before. As you can imagine it hasn't been easy for him, although overall I think he's handled it pretty well. He does seem to love Kendall, but I can already hear, "Stop looking at me! Dad, she's touching me! Stay on YOUR side of the car!" etc. (all things I remember well from childhood...) Some things won't be avoided I guess. We're also starting what will likely be long term lessons in sharing, which are not currently appreciated. These things take time. He does, however, love sharing when it means sharing something of someone else's. He enjoys asking me to share my food with him if it's something he likes.

Homebody

Our boy love his home (especially when Mommy is there...) Given a choice he would never leave. As a matter of fact, lately we have to FORCE him to leave so that we can go out to do things that are fun. Not surprising since he's got a great variety of toys and lots of space to play with them. And even more now that he's gotten the doll house he wanted for his birthday. Sometimes I think he would never leave the house if we didn't make him.

One way that you can be sure to get him out of the house though...tell him you're taking him to Chick-Fil-A. He loves the playground, chicken nuggets and sweet tea. You'd think the kid was southern.

But he still loves the outdoors


















Once we get Riley out he still loves doing stuff outside. Since we've been here we've been to Garden of the Gods, the Manitou Incline (Mom and boy), biking on the Santa Fe trail (Dad and boy) and the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (Mom, boy and his class.) He still loves it once you get him out there, although he's not crazy about giraffes.















Helpful Boy














Riley LOVES to help us do things. Things around the house, stuff in the yard, laundry, opening the microwave and anything that I'm going to do in the garage. I'm hoping this is more than a stage...but it certainly is fun right now.

Play













Riley fits a stove, chair, humidifier, washer and air compressor into his house

Like any other four year old, our boy loves to play. He seems to be a budding architect or builder. Legos are back on the list of favorite toys and he loves to build floor plans and fill them with furniture. For his birthday he got a doll house (which he wanted more than a tool bench.) He loves to rearrange the furniture, or knock it all down and put it in the "moving truck" so that he can take it to the "Sultan's palace" (a Backyardagains video reference.) He moves the "Arabian things" into the Sultan's palace and sets them up. Definitely not the way a girl would play with a doll house.















Riley still loves playgrounds of any sort, enjoys riding on my back like I'm a horse while looking for monsters for us to kill, he loves games, especially matching games, and also loves board games. A big hit for his birthday has been the Busytown game, which is actually fun for his parents to play with him. Sports are not really on the map yet, even biking which he really enjoys more from the trailer...

Birthday














So this past weekend we had his fourth birthday party. It was a Curious George theme with bananas holding down the balloons and even a place the butterfly in the Curious George picture game (like pin the tail on the donkey...)



















It was a small party since most everyone was at a graduation party or away, and of course the majority of our friends are 2000 miles away. A good time was had by all though, and the hardest part of the whole thing was keeping our birthday boy in the party. He kept wanting to sneak off to play with his doll house.

Happy Birthday Video

So our boy is four. I'm sure that there will be at least as many changes this year as last. Although there is a certain amount of an ache in my heart at the thought of him growing up, I do enjoy seeing the boy Riley is becoming.

Shelby and I love Riley to distraction and we are so very grateful that the Lord has allowed us to be his parents. He was worth waiting all those years for. Happy four Riley Boy!

Jonathan

14 things at 14 months

Our baby girl turned 14 months old today. She's at that age where she seems to be rapidly changing, so we wanted to capture 14 things about her that we want to share (and remember!):














1. She has gained 2 lbs in two months (21 lbs), thanks to the full fat greek yogurt we've been feeding her. She has a little belly now and recently graduated to a front facing car seat.

2. She had her first hair trim as her bangs were falling into her eyes. It took two of us to hold her steady but managed to get the job done.

Now we can see her eyes and her beautiful full brows!














3. She still takes two naps per day (approx 3 hours total) and sleeps from 7p - 6am. We're grateful to have such a good sleeper.

4. We don't have a champion eater, however. While she loves her some carbs such as baby cereal with pureed fruit, cheerios, crackers and cheese or fruit puffs, everything else she eats is hit and miss. Right now, she's usually eating peanut butter, avocado, banana, semi-soft cheese, cottage cheese, scrambled eggs, waffles, hummus, pasta w/graded cheese & whole milk. She tried chili last night and took several bites of that, so we continue to encourage her closer to eating table food only. With 8 teeth in her mouth, I'm ready to be done with pureed food!

This is what we get when she's "done" eating:














5. The biggest news is that Kendall girl has started walking. She started standing on her own about 10 days ago and then began trying a step or two about a week ago. Now, she's taking 10+ steps at a time:

6. She loves her daycare provider Miss Marie, who lives in our neighborhood and with three grown daughters has been taking care of kids for over 20 yrs. Kendall has a "boyfriend" named Tyus who is similar in age and they follow each other around everywhere. So cute.

7. She loves her brother and is interested in whatever he's playing with. Riley's getting a lot of practice in learning how to share and help his sister to enjoy their toys together. Still a work in progress, but I look forward to seeing them play together more as they get older.

8. She's doing a lot of babbling, but no recognizable words yet. She says mum, nah and da and points to things that she likes, such as lights. I've been showing her the signs for eating & all done and I've seen her try to use them a few times recently.














9. She claps and waves bye bye (to herself) when we say bye to Riley in the morning. She started clicking her tongue a few days ago and seems pretty pleased with her new found skill.

10. She's really enjoying peekaboo now and will use a cloth to try and cover her own head to hide from me.

Playing peekaboo from behind the coffee table:














11. Kendall's going to be a musician, I suspect. She loves music, even more than Riley does and moves to it by swaying back and forth and playing her rhythm instruments.














12. She takes after her mother in that she loves to climb -- on people, playthings, furniture etc. She's not much of a snuggler, she is very active and once you pick her up, she keep moving to climb over your back. I suppose gymnastics or dance will be in her future!














13. At this age, she's hearing us say "No, no Kendall don't touch/that's not for babies!". Unlike Riley, who at this age would just ignore us, Kendall turns around, looks at us with this coy little smile and slowly turns back and continues her mission. So that makes four sinners in the house in need of some discipline... (sigh).

Enjoying some of mama's sweet tea:














14. Lastly, when I ask for a kiss, Kendall opens her mouth, sticks out her tongue and proceeds to lick me. So she gives cheek kisses for now. Hoping she'll figure out the less-slobbery method soon, but it's sweet nonetheless.

Walking opens up a whole new world of discovery:














We love our sweet baby girl and it's exciting to see her grow up and change from a baby to a toddler. She is such a delight to us and has added something really special to our family.

We love you Kendall girl!!













Stay tuned... Riley's turning 4 next week...More to come!!

did you know I had a birthday? (by Kendall)

Hi everyone! This is Kendall, and since mama is way overdue on blogging about my birthday, I'm gonna do it myself. Since it's been awhile, it's gonna be a long one... I've got lots to tell ya!














As some of you know, my first birthday was on March 18th. It wasn't as much fun however, because I got a fever the day before that lasted for 3 days, before I got a roseola rash. So I did a lot of sleeping and didn't eat very much during the festivities. Mama invited our good friends from Longmont, the Cornwells over for the weekend and they enjoyed eating cupcakes and singing to me.

Usually, I LOVE to eat sweet things, but not this day:














I got some neat presents, like a box of squeaky eggs, a play piggy bank and picnic basket that talk and sing and a tambourine, because I love music and rhythm. I have enjoyed playing with them since last week when I got over my sickness. Here's a video of me listening to one of my toys that plays fun music:

I just saw the doctor today and he told me that I am 18.5 lbs and I'm still 10th percentile. My height is 50% percentile though mama can't tell me how tall I am.

Now that I am one, I'm doing lots a cool things that "toddlers" do. I love to pull myself into a standing position and have started taking a step or two towards cruising. I still like to crawl because I'm really fast so I'm not ready to start trying to walk yet.



















I wasn't too excited about eating solids, I like my bottle much better, but mama insisted that I start eating like a big girl, now that I live in Colorado. So, I've been eating pureed baby food, fruits and veggies along with finger foods like puffed rice and yogurt melts.














My favorite thing to eat in the whole wide world is yogurt, though. Mama gives me full-fat plain greek yogurt with honey on top and I love it!!














I'm not too good with the sippy cup yet, but mama lets me practice at each meal and I take a few sips of whole milk usually. When I began eating solids I started to have constipation, which mama got rid of fast by giving me diluted prune juice. We learned though that you can't have too much prune juice or you have the opposite problem which is very painful and requires a lot of diaper cream to relieve!

My brother Riley likes to take initiative and help feed me when mama walks away for a minute. He usually gives me bigger bites than mama does and it spills a bit. Mama thanks him for being a good helper but prefers to feed me herself.














Now that I am old enough, I don't have to use the baby bathtub anymore. Sometimes, I get to take a bath with Riley, which is a lot of fun. I love the water -- I try and put my hands in the toilet whenever I can!














Mama lets me watch a little Baby Einstein now, but I don't watch for long. I have too many other things I want to play with.














We have two playrooms in our house -- one is upstairs in the sunroom and the other is in the basement. I usually play in the sunroom, where mama can watch me better. However, I have discovered a third playroom: the kitchen! Mama has a drawer of sippy cups and I love to play in there! I also like the pots & pans cabinet and the lazy susan where the plastic bowls are kept.














One of my favorite toys is this one from G'ma Berg. There's a little hole where the on/off switch is and I like to put my finger in it. Here you can see the four teeth that I had as of last month. Now I have two more on top and two more coming in on bottom for a total of eight!














This toy is one of my favorites because it has a microphone so I can sing and let everyone hear! Here's my first music video:

I really enjoy playing with my brother in the sunroom...














but as soon as mama shows up with the camera, I high-tail it over to her. She thinks it's because I want to be held, but really I just want the camera.














I'm always reaching for electronics:














another place I like to play is mama & daddy's walk-in closet. So many cool things in there!














Our house has some big windows in it and it's fun to look out and see the mountains and the people that walk by:














I think being one is pretty cool. Mama and daddy can't believe how big I am already. Mama says it seems like yesterday I was coming out of her tummy. I tell her that's the way it is with kids -- we grow up much too fast!














Well, that's all from me. I hope you enjoyed my blog -- now I see why mama & daddy haven't had time to do one. It's a lot of work and time, especially when you have a lot to report.

Hugs,

Kendall

colorado

It's been a while since we've gotten a blog post up. A lot has happened.











On February 1st the moving truck came and took our stuff away. The cars had already been shipped the previous weekend. It was really happening.

As has been true every time that I've moved it was really odd to see the empty house once we were done cleaning up. There is always a sadness for me with a move. I think about all the things that happened in my life at that place. Stuff like Riley learning to walk and talk, and welcoming our sweet little Kendall Girl into the world.

This move is different though, because we're not just moving to a new house. We've moved to a new state 2000 miles away. To say it's been tough is an understatement. I've left the place I considered my permanent home. We've left behind almost all of our closest friends.

As the plane took off from Logan I had tears streaming down my face. The sense of loss is very profound, and the pain of missing people has actually intensified over the last few days. It's the worst on Sunday when we go to church. We miss everyone very much.

I keep coming back to the story of Abram. God said to him, “'Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you...I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others'...So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed." (Genesis 12:1-4, my edit.)

It took a lot of faith for Abram to pick up and go. I feel like our departure has been similar in some ways. We've moved to a place that we've never been to before and I'm starting a job that will be very different from what I've done before. We've left all of our friends and family behind. With the speed that things have progressed at we have no doubt that God's hand is in this. We are taking a leap of faith, trusting that He has a plan at work here for us, and work for us to do.

In many ways we are already feeling his blessing.

The trip started with a one way plane ride to Denver. Riley and Kendall did great on the plane. Riley in particular is an old hand at traveling, since his first trip on a plane was taken before he was three months old and he's been to Alaska twice and Seattle three times.

Riley loves the Jet Blue TV's, but is confused by the fact that they don't have touch screens...










Kendall got some play time on the floor preflight












Since we're not the type of people who like to wallow in our sadness we've been throwing ourselves into our new environment. We registered the cars, got new drivers licenses and finally signed a lease on a house. Riley has started school. We've even gotten library cards.

Our new home










We're working very hard at finding the things that we like (or love) about living here. It really helps to make the transition easier, especially since neither Shelby or I had any real desire to leave Boston. The snow out there helped to give us a shove out of town, and we're really enjoying how much less snow there is here in the Springs.

We've explored a little. We had a fun date night Friday at a theater in downtown that sells beer, wine and all kinds of coffees to go along with popcorn. I love watching a movie with a beer instead of a soda. There was a nice coffee shop down the street too that was a perfect post movie stop.

Yesterday we did our first bit of exploring in the outdoors and outside of the Springs. We went to Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs. Here's a slide show:

It was great to get out and see a bit of the natural beauty, as well as explore a little of the local culture. We also finally realized that we have acclimated to the altitude...bring on the bikes!

I want to mention that this entire move and the last week and a half here in Colorado would have been very different if we had not had the blessing of some very special people in our lives. Shelby has friends from when she was a teen who live here in Colorado Springs. Phil and Margene have opened up their house to us, allowing us to stay in their very nice finished basement for a time that has become much longer than was originally thought. A roof over our heads has been a very great blessing, but their friendship has been a gift that has been priceless. It has given us a sense of normalcy in day to day life that would have been extremely difficult to do without. I feel less of a "stranger in a strange land" because of them and I thank God for the great blessing of their friendship.

So I want to end for now with some pictures of the kids. They've adapted quite well...

Kendall and Margene have become fast friends











Baby Girl is now pulling herself up on furniture and crawling a little...











Kendall has made a new friend in Timbre...she especially loves his tags.











The kids (as kids do...) sometimes take over the living room at play time











Riley and Kendall are getting lots of quality time with Dad (and Mom too...)











Work starts Tuesday, the movers get here Thursday. It'll be a big week.

We're excited about getting on with every day life.

Jonathan

a ten month old girl!

With the move there is not a lot of time for posting stuff on the blog unfortunately. I really wanted to have something up to document Kendall being ten months old though. So here's one of my favorite pictures I've seen in a while; Riley and Kendall in "The Boat."












I love them.


Jonathan

a lot can change in 3 1/2 months...

Due to the will of God, our lives have been turned upside down during the past few months. It's been and continues to be a practice in trusting in God's provision for our family. We know God is powerful and sovereign over the events of our lives, but is He still good and loving, even when it feels so awful? We answer a resounding YES! and want to share the time line of events and how God worked through the circumstances we found ourselves in:

Oct 4 -- I am laid off from my job, but given a 7 month severance package that includes help from career transition services group. J was able to use the resume & interview materials to market himself more effectively to the military for one of the few staff chiropractor positions available.

Nov 11 -- J applies for a position with the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Since the government moves at a snail's pace, we figure we won't hear anything for a month or two. In the meantime, I'm finding it hard to even get an interview despite several treasury analyst positions within commuting distance. I take my search nationwide, assuming that I'll have an easier time getting hired since there's more jobs for me than him.

Nov 30 -- J gets an email from the recruiter for the USAFA requesting a phone interview. This was the one and only response from the 6 or so positions that he applied for around the country. One position with the VA had 140 applicants! Since most chiropactors have to be self-employed, these military positions are highly sought after.

Dec 2 -- First phone interview goes very well. He's told that they will decide who progresses to round 2 by the next day.

Dec 7 -- No word from the recruiter and we are really struggling to accept what appears to be a door slamming shut. We're praying through our tears as our faith in God's goodness is tested.

Dec 8 -- J sends an email to the recruiter who informs him that the military just gave them their decision and they want to interview J by phone, along with 4 others. My first thought when he told me was "God is giving him this job.". Meanwhile, I have a defense contractor in DC that's interested in bringing me down for an interview, but no date set.

Dec 14 -- J has a phone interview with the Lt Col who would be his boss, which goes well. We wonder if he'll be called out for a face-to-face interview the following week -- while we're on vacation in Seattle. Much to our surprise, the recruiter calls back 4 hours later and offers him the job. The Lt Col selected him because he came across to her as someone that would be easy to get along with. We figured that with all the qualified candidates this would be the thing that would give him the edge. Those of us who know J know that he IS easy to get along with and a team player. God enabled him to communicate this effectively to the Lt Col.

Dec 17 -- We meet with our realtor, Deb, and she strongly suggests that we get the house ready to show prior to our vacation since it will be empty. Since we are leaving in two days, I start scrambling to declutter & clean until late in the night and miss the Berg family Christmas gathering the next day.

Dec 19 -- We're still getting the last of the cleaning done an hour before we need to leave for the airport, so we begin packing for our 10 day trip to see my family. Though it seems like a bad time to leave, we're really excited to see my whole family since it had been a year & a half since our last visit.

Dec 22 -- Deb lists our home on MLS at a very attractive price in order to move it quickly, since we have no desire to be landlords. The market is down and values have dropped over 20% in the past 3 years. Will the Lord do the impossible and bring us a buyer in six weeks?

Dec 29 -- Our flight back to Boston is canceled due to residual problems from the blizzard a few days before. We lose 4 more days of getting ready for our move. We finally get home on New Years.

Jan 5 -- After advertising his practice at a very low price, it turns out that all three people interested in purchasing it have no bank financing or money to put down if we were to self-finance it. So he tries to sell his office assets, but gets very little for them. It appears that the Lord just wants him to give them away and close down.

I'm reminded of Phil 3:7-8 in which Paul writes that whatever was to his profit he considered loss for the sake of Christ. "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ". Somehow in all this, J was going to know Christ more by donating / trashing his assets and shutting down his practice, it seems. It's not what we would have chosen, but our Father knows best what we need, and we rest in that.

Jan 6 -- A couple in Wakefield wants to see our house ahead of our open house on the 9th, in an effort to get ahead of the competition. This is the third couple who asked for a showing and being the only 3 bdrm home in our price range, it's attractive to first-time home buyers. They came in and LOVED the house (as we did) and since they had no realtor of their own, they are very open with Deb about their strong desire to make an offer. Deb said that this is the best couple to show a house to because they want a home, more than they want a good deal. They aren't nitpicky and critical, but see all the best things about the house and are very motivated to buy. They are dubbed the "Thursday couple". Deb puts them in touch with a mortgage lender that we know and he begins the process of prequalifying them for a loan.

Jan 9 -- The Thursday couple is the first to arrive at the open house and they stay the entire time, eventually making themselves at home on our living room couch. Dad and baby fall asleep on our couch and they continue to show great enthusiasm in buying our home. There's a few snags in the prequal process that the woman is working hard to fix as they want to move in by March at the latest. Four other couples attend the open house and one in particular asks to come back the next day to see it with their realtor. Could we end up with a bidding war?

Jan 19 -- It's 10 more days of waiting before the first offer comes in. The Thursday couple is very close to getting their prequal letter, but the other couple puts in an offer late in the evening that is significantly less than we're willing to accept.

Jan 20 -- Deb leans on the Thursday couple to see if she can get them in the game so we can get the highest price possible. In the meantime, we counter with the other couple -- for our full asking price. As we expected the Thursday couple to offer full asking price, Deb tells the other broker that another couple is going to make an offer that afternoon and that we were only prepared to accept a full-price offer.

So... the other couple counter-counters 7k less than our asking price and we wait for the Thursday couple's offer. It comes in 2 hours later at FULL ASKING PRICE and they want to close by the end of Feb! Deb said this is the best scenario that we could have hoped for and we are all thrilled. God indeed prepared a buyer for our house and made them very motivated to own our home, just as we had prayed for.

With Jonathan closing his practice last week and vacating his office space this week, we are ready to pack up and move on the 1st of February. As we suffer through the painful goodbyes to family & friends, we know that God wants us in the Springs and we're excited to look ahead and see what He has in store for us there.

Our God is so great, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing our God cannot do!

Shelby

christmas(s) 2010

Christmas is one of those holidays where family gatherings are very important to most of us. This year is a bit different for us. With a new job starting for me in February I'm not going to be in a position to travel for a while. That means our planned trip to Washington in March is out. So we quickly booked flights for December. That means TWO family gatherings this year.

First up was a trip to CT and my family gathering. With our trip to Washington starting the next day and a house needing prep work for sale it meant the kids and I left Shelby at home to work while we went to my Mom's house. It was great to see my Mom, brothers and their kids. Here's a slide show of the festivities:

The next day, after cleaning and straightening the house all day, we got a flight out of Boston to Seattle. Shelby's brothers and their families live in the Seattle area, and her parents were coming to town for a visit. Mom and Dad didn't know we'd be there though...and it was a great surprise. Here's a longer slide show of the week and a half we've been here:

Christmas this year is a season full of a multitude of emotions. We are really excited about my new job in Colorado Springs. It seems like it will be a really cool place to live and fortunately we already have some friends there which will ease the transition a bit.

At the same time there is terrific anxiety over trying to make a fast sale of both our home and my practice. It seems like a nearly impossible task and there is so very much to do. We are going to be very busy for the next six weeks, and until things get resolved we'll likely be living with upset stomachs from the stress.

There is also a sadness that comes with knowing that we'll be leaving behind friends, some of which we've known for decades. There are so many people that we will miss so very much. And for me there is leaving the area that has always been home.

Add to this the joy of seeing family and of sharing our kids with them. It is truly a crazy time emotionally.

A time like this is one where I lean very heavily on my Lord and God. I know that I can't handle all of this by myself and I'm grateful for the promises God gives us of His provision. I fall back on Matthew 6:25-34. I especially love two parts, "your heavenly Father already knows all your needs." And also, "So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today."

So the "Christmas Season" brings us a great hope, joy and love. The hope of a Father who knows our needs and cares for us, taking care of them. The joy of the Spirit, who guides us and "prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words." And the love of the Son, that tiny babe who was born to save us from our sin by suffering and sacrificing so much, in fact sacrificing everything for us.

It is these truths that enable me to keep going when things are so crazy. And it is also these truths that make me so grateful for the tiny babe whose coming enabled the healing of our relationship with our great God.

The reason for the season. Praise God.

Jonathan

all things job related...

There have been a lot of job related happenings in the Berg family over the last couple of months. Shelby wrote of her layoff back in the beginning of October. That actually gave us a shove in a direction we had really been wanting to go for a long time.

We've been wishing that Shelby could stay home with the kids, or at least work a minimal number of hours and be home more. In this area that's a tough thing to do. With the layoff we BOTH started looking diligently into other employment and possibly a move. That search payed off today...for me.

I've been mainly looking into chiropractic jobs with the federal government. One of the spots I applied to was with the Air Force Academy. The job seemed like it was made just for me. Colorado Springs looks like an awesome place to live. We even have friends out there already.

I had my second interview today and at the end of the day I was offered the job! It's hard to leave New England, but I am really excited about this job and what it means for my family. There is still a lot to do; I'm going to sell my practice and we need to sell the house. And then there's moving of course...but it is one really great opportunity.

So here's a note of thanks, to my friends who have offered support and especially for all of you who were praying hard for me today, but also to our great God who answers those prayers. Thank you friends and praise you Lord!

As Shelby did in her post on the layoff, I want to close with the last verse of "All Must Be Well" which takes on a different meaning for me now:

We expect a bright tomorrow; All will be well
Faith can sing through days of sorrow, All is well
On our Father's love relying
Jesus every need supplying
Yes in living or in dying
All must be well


Jonathan

christmas tree day

One of our family "traditions" (it's only a few years old) is that we get and decorate our Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving. The tradition is filling out a little with time and it's becoming a full, fun day. Here's a little video I put together which shows you how we spent the day.

We love Christmas tree day. It just gets to be more and more fun.

Jonathan

8 months...she's mobile!

It's been a while since our last blog post. Suffice to say that we've been VERY busy with non-blogworthy things and until recently were without a decent camera. Thanks to a very generous birthday present (Thank you Michael & Cheryl!) we're back at it again.

Kendall is growing stronger every day. She is now perfectly happy to sit up and will play with her toys for a long time while she does:

Sitting and playing














The other news is that she is now MOBILE! We didn't get much time where we could just put her down to play and not worry about her moving. She is now scootching around military style:

Kendall loves the jumper and spends time in it several times a day. It takes very little to encourage her to start jumping...

Jumping Girl














Riley loves his sister (I love the way he says her name when he says hello to her) and she loves him too. She watches him constantly. Here's a picture of them on Riley's rocking horse after we took it down from the attic for him. Riley turned and said, "Kendall get on" and pointed to the spot behind him. He's such a sweet kid.

Ride 'em cowpokes!














All in all our girl is growing up. She's becoming more fun each and every day.

We love our Kendall Girl!


Jonathan