36 Weeks!!

We've definitely had an eventful couple of weeks. First, we are very excited that in one week we'll be full term. Faith seems to be doing very well and is still moving all over the place. I was having some contractions last Thursday (very minor, but very consistent) that continued through Friday, so they had me take a little trip to the hospital. I was a little embarrassed because I didn't think what I was feeling warranted a hospital visit, but my doctor's office told me to go in. So we got a practice round of checking into the hospital. I wasn't progressing or anything. At least we had fun getting to hear Faith's heartbeat for awhile. We did find that I am 1cm dilated and 60% effaced, for those who care to know.

We also had some crazy thunderstorms this past weekend. There was a string (or line) of storms that came up from Oklahoma that had had some tornados touch down. During our band practice before ekklesia (our church service) Dale and I had trouble focusing because there was so much lightening showing through the stained glass. Then, our sound guy came running down telling us we had to go in the basement because there was a tornado warning. People ran in from outside, dripping wet from the rain. I have never seen it rain so hard-it was like a blanket of water.

We got the all-clear pretty fast, and went back up to finish practicing. I was a little concerned about being around/attached to all this equipment with so much lightening, but everyone else seemed to think it was okay. Finally, during our church service, towards the end of the sermon, we all had to go back down into the basement (the whole church). That was very fun for us. We sang a song down there, the pastor closed out his sermon, and then we all had to hurry home because there was a good chance that the next storm could bring another tornado. That night we just kept getting storm after storm. Dale and I spent the night in the basement and could hear the rain, hail, thunder, and wind from down there, very clearly.

One other fun thing, we have finally discovered a gluten-free bread mix that tastes so good we like eating it plain! This is a huge success for us :).

On a sad note, we recently lost Dale's step-grandpa, Dick. He was a kind man and his death came very quickly. Dale's grandma is in care for a recent broken hip so we would appreciate your prayers for that whole situation.

funny things in Wichita

Ok,
So I am sick of the fact that there are no left hand turn lanes in Wichita. If you are on a two lane road, watch out! It can stop quickly and then everyone tries to get around quickly. So dangerous.

Also they have no main street signs in a lot of places so you have no idea if it is the right street!

Finally,
I have had a problem, when you turn left with a green arrow, you have to turn to the inside lane. If you don't you will hit someone because people don't have to stop at a right hand turn on red. I have called people idiots for doing this and then learned I was the idiot!

-Dale

Spring Snow March 2009

This video is from a few weeks ago when we got a crazy time of ice and snow. It was really beautiful the way the ice was on the trees...so sparkly :). We hope you have fun watching us enjoy the snow!

34 Weeks!

House Video

Hi Friends and Family. We finally put together a video of our house. It is quick, but gives you an idea. We also finished Faith's room for the most part, and you get to see that. Different pieces were filmed at different times, so you see snow in some and green grass in others. :) Enjoy.

Transition

This week for our update I figured I’d do things a little differently. Although we hit a new milestone with the pregnancy—we are 32 weeks (okay, by the time I actually finished we were almost 34 weeks), less than two months to go—last night it hit me how minor that was compared to every thing else. I’m not saying we’re not excited…we definitely are! But this time of life has surrounded us with so much transition, so much newness (if that’s a word), that I felt like I’d rather write that down to have it on record. I’m not really the journaling type, but I couldn’t get it out of my head and felt like it would be nice to look back on one day. So here goes…
When we moved up to Orange County, we definitely experienced a lot of transition. New marriage, new full-time worship-leading position for Dale, first full-time teaching position for Ashley, new church, new city, new distance from our friends and family, new friends, first apartment, first time of paying all our own bills…a lot of new things for us. Apparently we like to do all of the transitions at once, because moving to Wichita has had even more all at once.
For me, Ashley, here are the things that come to mind-
-new state
-new city
-new time zone
-new role being home more often
-new church
-new weather
-new drivers license and car license plate (which was actually weirder/harder than we thought)
-new baby coming, which involves new concerns (like is she moving enough, why did that sneeze hurt so bad, will the house be ready, will we be ready), new joys (we’re so excited for her and love feeling her move all around), new emotions, new body and the physical changes that come with it.
-new even greater distance away from friends and family
-new time of grieving over the loss of my dad and what this new time of life is like where I can’t call him for advice or to share news with him.
-first time experiencing a loss so great, and being so far from my mom and sister through it. Although I can see God's protection in this as well. If I lived in California, I would want to be with my mom 24/7, helping her to work through all the stuff she is going through. I might have neglected my marriage and this time of preparation for our baby coming. It’s still very hard to be so far, to feel like I can help with so little. But it does protect me from trying to help with too much.
-new grocery stores and restaurants, which might seem silly, but has been difficult with the food restrictions we have.
-new insurance, once again, seems minor, but has been one of my biggest frustrations here.
-new friends-I can already see God at work in who He has surrounded me by and what that will mean for my future relationships. Obviously they aren’t deep yet, but I can see a lot of potential. And, through the new things we’ve been going through (including loss of dad and new baby coming), some friendships are forming faster than usual. When someone can tell I’ve been crying, it forces me to be vulnerable quickly and we form bonds more quickly. I’m grateful for God giving me an open heart (which I know can be too open for some :) ), because it helps people open up to me more quickly too.

For Dale, I can think of other new things as well.
-new job where he has to learn small things like how to use this copy machine and what’s the process for turning in receipts, and big things like what am I responsible for, who do I go to when I need help with something. When I really think of all he has that is new, I get a fresh appreciation for all he is doing right now.
-new service to plan, which often brings new people to share a vision with, new battles to fight, new budgets to work with, new complications to overcome, new people to reach.
-new band
It has definitely been a bit overwhelming, but God is showing us a lot through it. We know that things will slow down a little before our new adventure of parenting begins-as long as she does not come early :). Thanks for reading…if you actually made it through the whole thing. We appreciate all the love , prayers and support you’ve given us. We’ll hopefully have more on the house and baby up soon :). Above are the most recent pregnancy picture (33 weeks) and some photos from the preview worship concert for the new service. We love you.