My Grandma and Grandpa Hanson (Dad's parents) came to visit over Easter weekend. They live in Sioux Falls, SD but travel to Arizona during the cold season. They stopped by the Springs on their way back home. It was good to see them. We saw The Thorn together, which is a play/musical about the "Jesus story" at New Life Church. I've never seen anything so powerful and well put together... especially for a church! It was amazing!
I've gotten a couple more potential job opportunities in the last few days. One is in New Braunfels, TX, and the other is in Flagstaff, AZ. I talked to the pastor of the Texas church today and things went really well. I'll be talking with the AZ pastor next week. I still haven't heard back from the Sioux Falls one, but we're starting to question whether or not that would be a good fit anyways. I think the children's pastor position is full-time and the worship leader position is part-time, which is kind of opposite of what we're looking for. Although it would be cool to be a little closer to family again there, we were not really looking forward to cold winters again. It's really hard to predict where we'll end up at this point, but it's incouraging that we're at least getting some opportunities here and there. Summit Church, in Castle Rock, CO, (where I've been leading worship weekly since the beginning of the year) is also trying to find a way to keep us there by offering Sara a part-time position in charge of children's ministries. God already knows where He wants us, we're just going through the steps to figure out where.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow!
Last week was spring break for the New Life school of Worship. We had a fun week! A friend of mine from school has relatives that own a cabin in the mountains about 45 minutes from our house. He invited us to spend the day with them up there... it was beautiful.
It's so bizarre in Colorado because there was no snow at our house when we left, but there was lots of snow in the mountains when we got there. It was probably in the 40's or 50's that day which made it a good day for a hike with the kids.
This is Luke, Tiffany, and their son Noah. Luke is the one in the school with me. He's from Florida and has never lived anywhere with snow before. He was very fascinated by it the first few months and bought a bunch of gloves because he thought the whole concept of the glove was pretty cool :) I guess I've never thought about it...
Sara's sister, Kari, her husband, Tyler, and their son, Tegan, came to visit us the last half of the week. We headed to the zoo the first day because it was so nice out.
Kari, Tyler, and I all got up early Friday morning to go skiing/snowboarding at Copper Mountain. A huge snow storm hit overnight and was still going strong on our way up there. It usually takes about 2 1/2 hours to drive up there, but because of the weather we only got about half way after 3 hours and decided to head back home. That was a bummer.
It's so bizarre in Colorado because there was no snow at our house when we left, but there was lots of snow in the mountains when we got there. It was probably in the 40's or 50's that day which made it a good day for a hike with the kids.
This is Luke, Tiffany, and their son Noah. Luke is the one in the school with me. He's from Florida and has never lived anywhere with snow before. He was very fascinated by it the first few months and bought a bunch of gloves because he thought the whole concept of the glove was pretty cool :) I guess I've never thought about it...
Sara's sister, Kari, her husband, Tyler, and their son, Tegan, came to visit us the last half of the week. We headed to the zoo the first day because it was so nice out.
Kari, Tyler, and I all got up early Friday morning to go skiing/snowboarding at Copper Mountain. A huge snow storm hit overnight and was still going strong on our way up there. It usually takes about 2 1/2 hours to drive up there, but because of the weather we only got about half way after 3 hours and decided to head back home. That was a bummer. When we got home, they offered to watch our kids so Sara and I could go out. We graciously accepted since our last date was sometime during the Christmas break. We went hiking in an area close to the Garden of the Gods. It was snowy, but still beautiful and serene. I made Sara climb to the highest point against her will, but I think she still had fun :) We then drove to a small town deeper in mountains and ate at a mexican restaurant there. Then we headed back to the Springs and watched a movie at the discount theatre. It turned out to be good day... well for us anyways, I don't know about Tyler and Kari :)
On Saturday, we decided to make another attempt at Copper Mountain. We made it this time. It was a full, fun day of mountain skiing and snowboarding (I do the skiing, they do the snowboarding). There's more pictures from spring break in the photo album link to the upper left.
School started back up on Monday. It was good to be back. I finally got a call from my accountant on Monday as well. I was looking forward to and dreading the thought of that conversation at the same since I wasn't exactly sure what to expect since we made more than usual with the business sale last year. Before we sold the business, he estimated that we'd owe about $16,000 not including any other income from that year. So, since I usually owe money to the government every year, we assumed our total amount owed would be somewhere between $16,000 and $20,000. We put some money aside for this purpose, but we are quickly running out of money to live on while we're here. Long story short, he said we picked a good year to sell the business because a new tax law went into effect that barely taxed the business sale at all. We ended up oweing about $1000 total! That means we can still afford to eat this summer :) (I'm not joking, it was really getting that tight). So, once again, our God proves to be faithful. We knew He would provide, but we didn't know how.
On Saturday, we decided to make another attempt at Copper Mountain. We made it this time. It was a full, fun day of mountain skiing and snowboarding (I do the skiing, they do the snowboarding). There's more pictures from spring break in the photo album link to the upper left.
School started back up on Monday. It was good to be back. I finally got a call from my accountant on Monday as well. I was looking forward to and dreading the thought of that conversation at the same since I wasn't exactly sure what to expect since we made more than usual with the business sale last year. Before we sold the business, he estimated that we'd owe about $16,000 not including any other income from that year. So, since I usually owe money to the government every year, we assumed our total amount owed would be somewhere between $16,000 and $20,000. We put some money aside for this purpose, but we are quickly running out of money to live on while we're here. Long story short, he said we picked a good year to sell the business because a new tax law went into effect that barely taxed the business sale at all. We ended up oweing about $1000 total! That means we can still afford to eat this summer :) (I'm not joking, it was really getting that tight). So, once again, our God proves to be faithful. We knew He would provide, but we didn't know how.We've also seen some job opportunities popping up lately. I got a call from a pastor in Michigan interested in hiring me. It seemed like a fairly good fit, but I don't really want to move to Michigan. Since we've gotten a taste of warmer weather in Colorado, it's hard to head back up north. I talked to a church in Lousiana yesterday that was recommended to me by the president of our school. It's difficult to say if that will go anywhere or not. It's a huge church and a position of a lot of responsibility. I'll touch base with them again next week. Last night I got another call from the school's registrar asking me if I'd be interested in a position in Sioux Falls, SD. Even though I kind of had my mind set on not heading back up north, I was interested to hear about the Sioux Falls position since I have family there and it feels like a second home to me. It turns out that they have two positions open: a worship pastor, and a children's pastor. They're hoping to find a husband and wife to fill these positions. How fitting is that!? I talked to the lead pastor this morning and it still sounds like a pretty good fit for Sara and me. We'll see what happens I guess. We'll find out more in a couple weeks since the pastor is flying out to meet us after Easter.
God continues to amaze us with His blessings and faithfulness as we continually put our trust in Him. It's getting to the point where we don't even have stress or anxiety about the future unknowns because we know He's taking care of us and already has the plan figured out. We're just doing our best to follow the plan.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Updates and School Schedule
I've had photos and a few stories to post for the past few weeks but my computer has fizzled and the camera isn't working currently to upload pictures. Hopefully my husband can get the camera working again. So for now, here are some short updates:
Exciting news! Micah has been speaking in mini sentences and the speech therapist would like to test him this Thursday. We both feel he no longer needs speech therapy. She shared that she was really concerned when she first started therapy because he wasn't saying anything and now feels he doesn't need services anymore. If he does pass the test, we still might keep him on once a month for the next few months.
Zac only has about two months left of school. He graduates the end of May. Please be praying for a full-time job for him. We are counting on God as crunch time sets in.
Our neighbors just had a beautiful baby boy named Wesley. The kids are ecstatic. We were able to meet him the other day. Micah always plays with Wesley's big brother, Will.
Homeschooling is still going well. Aubriella still likes to do her reading lessons, playing a few games, and practicing her drawing. All of the kids usually do an art project each day. We also focus on a Bible verse and a story that goes along with the verse from the book, My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts
People often ask what Gavin is doing and it is hard to sum it all up so I have listed his schedule for this week. Each week the schedule stays the same as far as the subjects that are covered, but the content changes weekly with an overall theme that ties into his history lesson. History for the entire year is centered around the Pilgrims and Pioneers. Typically our poem, geography, science and art all connected to that day's history story/lesson.
Gavin's schedule:
History: A story about the Pilgrims (Squanto, Massasoit, Pilgrims)
Poetry: The Arrow and the Song by Longfellow
Language Arts and Spelling: spelling "or" words this week, nouns, proper nouns, copywork about reptiles and mammals
Geography: Plymouth Harbor, England, France, Equator, directions, continents review
Art: English and French flags and drawing faces
Science: Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals
Storytime (I read to Gavin): Fantasy Read Aloud, The Cricket In Times Square
Math: Comparing length, addition facts, measurement
Reading Choice (Gavin reads to me): First Flight
Writing: Copywork and cursive practice
Morning Work: Science packet, writing an email or letter to someone special, math facts, phonics using Explode the Code
Gavin typically needs to take breaks while getting through his schedule. The trampoline we purchased in the summer has been worth every cent!
Wednesday mornings Gavin takes a PE class and an American Sign Language Class with other homeschoolers at our church. There over 370 families that take their kids there for classes. I attend Support Group and Micah and Aubri get playtime with friends in childcare. After, we usually spend some time on the outside playground. I will miss this connection and wide variety of classes offered if we end up moving.
My sister, Kari, and her hubby and baby are coming to visit this Thursday through Monday. We are all very excited! There will be skiing and snowboarding, a zoo trip, and kissing on baby Tegan.
Zac's grandparents will be visiting over Easter too. It's so nice to look forward to seeing family.
Exciting news! Micah has been speaking in mini sentences and the speech therapist would like to test him this Thursday. We both feel he no longer needs speech therapy. She shared that she was really concerned when she first started therapy because he wasn't saying anything and now feels he doesn't need services anymore. If he does pass the test, we still might keep him on once a month for the next few months.
Zac only has about two months left of school. He graduates the end of May. Please be praying for a full-time job for him. We are counting on God as crunch time sets in.
Our neighbors just had a beautiful baby boy named Wesley. The kids are ecstatic. We were able to meet him the other day. Micah always plays with Wesley's big brother, Will.
Homeschooling is still going well. Aubriella still likes to do her reading lessons, playing a few games, and practicing her drawing. All of the kids usually do an art project each day. We also focus on a Bible verse and a story that goes along with the verse from the book, My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts
People often ask what Gavin is doing and it is hard to sum it all up so I have listed his schedule for this week. Each week the schedule stays the same as far as the subjects that are covered, but the content changes weekly with an overall theme that ties into his history lesson. History for the entire year is centered around the Pilgrims and Pioneers. Typically our poem, geography, science and art all connected to that day's history story/lesson.
Gavin's schedule:
History: A story about the Pilgrims (Squanto, Massasoit, Pilgrims)
Poetry: The Arrow and the Song by Longfellow
Language Arts and Spelling: spelling "or" words this week, nouns, proper nouns, copywork about reptiles and mammals
Geography: Plymouth Harbor, England, France, Equator, directions, continents review
Art: English and French flags and drawing faces
Science: Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals
Storytime (I read to Gavin): Fantasy Read Aloud, The Cricket In Times Square
Math: Comparing length, addition facts, measurement
Reading Choice (Gavin reads to me): First Flight
Writing: Copywork and cursive practice
Morning Work: Science packet, writing an email or letter to someone special, math facts, phonics using Explode the Code
Gavin typically needs to take breaks while getting through his schedule. The trampoline we purchased in the summer has been worth every cent!
Wednesday mornings Gavin takes a PE class and an American Sign Language Class with other homeschoolers at our church. There over 370 families that take their kids there for classes. I attend Support Group and Micah and Aubri get playtime with friends in childcare. After, we usually spend some time on the outside playground. I will miss this connection and wide variety of classes offered if we end up moving.
My sister, Kari, and her hubby and baby are coming to visit this Thursday through Monday. We are all very excited! There will be skiing and snowboarding, a zoo trip, and kissing on baby Tegan.
Zac's grandparents will be visiting over Easter too. It's so nice to look forward to seeing family.
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