Sunday, January 30, 2011

this is a BIG DEAL!


About 3 weeks ago, Bo and I put an offer in on our first home! It was accepted, and our closing date is February 28! We could not be more thrilled. And it is even sweeter because we have seen God's hand in this from the very start.

One Monday morning at CBS I asked for prayer over our home search. I left CBS to pick up Jackson from preschool, then met our fabulous realtor, Dennis Norwood, at a house we had chosen to look at. It was not first, second, third, or even fourth on our list, but this is the house we were starting the day with.

It was THE house.

Nearly 2700 square feet, nestled on a cul-de-sac on a .96 acre wooded lot in Henrico, this is our dream house.

When we arrived at the house, Dennis informed us that he had spoken to the listing agent and that the house would be reduced $15k in the next day or so, so we made our offer at $15k below the current price.

Naturally, we expected to wait before we heard back from the bank (the house is a foreclosure), but after submitting our offer at 9 pm on a Monday, by Tuesday at 10 am, we had an answer. Amazing. And by 5 pm that evening our contract was ratified!

I did a crime search to find out if there was a significant amount of crime in the area; in the last 6 months, there have been THREE calls to the police. Three. Two for loose animals, and one for a "suspicious package" left in a driveway.

Not only that, I searched the sex offender database and found that there are no sex offenders in our neighborhood, or really anywhere nearby.

INCREDIBLE! By then I couldn't have been more convinced that God was giving us this house. I have never felt more grateful or less deserving of anything in my life!



"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" [Matthew 7:11]

On top of all this, our home inspection turned out to be one of the best our realtor has ever seen. God has blessed us beyond compare, and I just can't even wrap my mind around it!


Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Hope

Praise the Lord and give Him thanks, tell everyone what He has done! That old song just keeps running through my mind.
We waited today to hear the report on Greg's pet scan....the report was, and I quote "FAVORABLE!" Oh how shamed I felt as I realized my faith, as always, was not where it was supposed to be-it was supposed to be BELIEVING and yet, when I saw caller ID said it was my brother, I was almost scared to answer. Oh what joy, what thankfulness he was feeling, I am feeling. With this new hope, I know we will watch him grow strong!! I couldn't contain my tears of sheer unadalterated joy. My poor confused children...Mom, you cry when you're sad, you cry when you're happy!?!?!
Now, to kick in the next chemo and get him here for a May 7 wedding!!

An Ethiopian Christmas











We were honored on Sunday evening to celebrate the Ethiopian Christmas with our sweet friends who were also celebrating their 5th anniversary of their restaurant, The Nile, being in business. They are precious people to us, always so sweet and kind and Yeshi (owner) helped us so much when the girls first came home. They adore her.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

DWW 2010

Tomorrow, Mom, Casey, Kelli, Caitlyn, Rachel, and I head out for DeLille Women's Weekend 2010! My dad and Bo will have the kids all weekend, so please keep them in prayer.... :)

So far, the tentative plans include a Chris Tomlin concert, a trip to an apple orchard, wine tasting, and lots of goofing around. I can't wait!

I will definitely miss these faces though...






Monday, October 11, 2010

Fummer.

Faux Summer, that is.
The high today was 89! No humidity; just beautiful. We spent the morning at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, one of our favorite spots.

I love love love Virginia springs and falls. Summer is okay, and winter beats the heck out of any winters north of here. I love my home!
Lilypie Fourth Birthday tickers
Lilypie First Birthday tickers