Pictures of our New Home

Happy Birthday G'ma Pam!

Belated Update

We've been trying to find the time to update here, but life has been busy. There's just lots of little things that need to get accomplished when you move into a new area. And, it seems like nothing gets accomplished in a very efficient way when everything's a little different.

I'm loving my role at the church, but there are tons of technical things for me to know and oversee; and there are many people to get to know and organize to accomplish what needs to be done. Those things will be easier as time goes on, but for now it's not difficult to stay busy. As we get to know more people and get a better sense of the community of Flagstaff and North Point Fellowship (church), we recognize how God has been preparing us for this. Sara said the other day, "This is exactly the church we've been praying for, isn't it?" I don't think we recognized that truth right away because we had a slightly different picture in our head of what we thought we were looking for. It's amazing to look back and see how God orchestrated every step of the way to bring us here.

The kids are doing well as they are getting to know more kids from the church, and we finally found a family in the neighborhood with a boy about Gavin's age. Sara's thankful for that family, but wishes there were more young kids in our area. It's a little quieter than what we were used to in Colorado Springs. We also live about 7 miles out of town right now, so it would be a little different if we lived in town for sure. We'll eventually post some pictures of our house, but it doesn't seem to stay clean long enough to take pictures... maybe we'll have to do one room at a time :)

I can't remember if I put up our new address, but for those that are interested, it's:
2553 Mesa Trail, Flagstaff, AZ 86001. We're still using our same cell phone numbers for now.

We posted a few pictures in the Photo Album of some of the scenery on our way through northern Arizona. (Most of which are taken while I was driving) It looks a lot like what most people picture Arizona to look like until you get to Flagstaff. Flagstaff looks like a dryer, mountainous version of northern Minnesota. I heard someone compare it to a Brainard or Bemidji sort of feel, which I kind of agree with. It's not that different than what we're used to, but it's drastically different compared to most of the surrounding cities.

We'll do our best to keep updating this blog more often as we settle in a bit more. We welcome your continued prayers for us as we step into the less familiar territory of ministry leadership. The journey continues...

Happy Birthday to Micah

Micah turned three on July 13th. Being that he is more the quiet introverted type, we decided just to keep it to family members. It was also easier to do that since we were still getting settled in. We went swimming at the Aquaplex which has a great preschool/toddler area with slides and fountains. Since pizza is his favorite food, we went out to eat at Pizza Hut. His whole birthday was Buzz Lightyear themed so Zac made him a cake with Buzz on it. Being that he is particular, we weren't sure if he would notice that Buzz's stripes on his cake were blue instead of purple, but it passed with no trouble. He opened his new scooter and gifts (thanks to family members sending money to buy him something he would like). Now he can cruise with his brother and sister on the back deck! He was very thankful and happy for everything we did on his birthday. There are some pictures in the Photo Album link.

Here's some "Micah-isms" to remember:

• "I want my blue blankie."
• "I want my buzz towel."
• When he gets angry he always adds a "I said" onto it. With angry eyes and a scowling voice, "I said I want a muffin I said."
• "Uhh huh...I did, I did last night." He claims to do a lot of things last night.
• "I want to jump on the whole big trampoline."
• He does not like change at all. If there is a toy in his room that doesn't belong, he whips it out.
• He is the most thankful, saying "thank you mama" for the simplest of things.
• "I don't want you, I want mama."
• When he prays his eyes go into a fast rem stage as he says, "Dear God, hear my heart and all things."
• His favorite song, Jared Anderson's "Oh Lord."
• "Where's my Gavin?"
• "Your a cutie, I just love you."

Our trip to MN

Gavin, Aubri, and I were able to take a much needed trip back to Minnesota. I was missing family and friends so much and couldn't bear not seeing them before we moved. It was hard to leave Micah, but because of finances thought it would be best to give the older two a trip since Micah was able to fly out to Colorado when we looked for houses out there. Zac had to continue to pack the house up while we had fun (sorry honey!). It was Aubri's first trip on a plane and Gavin's first remembered trip. Aubri enjoyed the first fifteen minutes of the plane ride then asked to get off because she was bored. Overall, they both enjoyed it. My mom lent her car out to us to use which helped keep costs down too. We stayed with my sister the first night and she cut our hair and highlighted mine...yahoo for a sister with talent! We were able to make it to my nephew Tegan's first birthday. Zac's mom threw us a little picnic to see family members. I was able to see my grandma Kvale and grandma Juene, which was important since their health has not been well. We stayed at my dad's house a few nights and the kids enjoyed searching for worms, playing games, and helping grandpa make his special malts. We then headed to the cities to stay at our friend Mandy's house and discovered both of her kids had strep. O'well. We had an awesome time letting the kids play, going to the beach, parks, building a campfire etc. We saw a few more friends and family but it was limited since we had been exposed to strep. Aubri ended up getting sick the day we left and was put on antibiotics the day after getting home for strep. I also got strep which put poor Zac in a hard spot trying to pack the moving truck and take care of all of the kids. As usual, God provided with our awesome neighbors stepping up to help with the kids and pack the truck. It was difficult to say goodbye to friends in CO, tears shed, but a new future awaits us here in AZ. Click on the Photo Album to see more pictures from Minnesota.

Our new home in Arizona

I thought I'd write a quick blog to let everyone know that we arrived in Arizona safe and sound a few days ago. We're still in the process of living out of boxes and unpacking, but we're getting closer. The church has been so supportive to help us with our transition. As the truck arrived last Thursday, there were several people from the church helping to unload and also put some furniture together. They also set up meals for us for the first week! This morning, someone's coming to pick up our kids and bring them to a parade in town while Sara and I get some more done around the house. We feel so incredibly blessed to have a church community like this ready to serve.

So far, we're loving our new home and community. I'll post some pictures once we get the house arranged a little bit.

Work basically starts for me on Monday morning as I begin to move my stuff into the church and prepare to take over that following Sunday. I'm very excited for the next season of life!