I just know....

Well, today is the last day of 2007. What a year it has been for us! Since we were married ten years ago, we've always talked about owning our own home in a great neighborhood where we could raise our family. Living in this area has made that dream a pretty difficult one to make come true. When we bought our house in 2004, we were thrilled to finally have our very own place even though it was very -okay very, very small and needed a lot of work! But we both always said that we had faith and that we just knew that someday, God would give us a beautiful home to live in. We worked hard on the house and with help from family and friends, the house became more and more beautiful. We always loved the property our home was on -the size was perfect for children to play and run around on and we really had a great deal of privacy. When Anna came, we realized if we were going to stay here, we really needed more room. With one bathroom, only two bedrooms and a kitchen that honestly had no kitchen drawers -not even one, we knew something needed to be done! We talked about adding on but really thought it would never happen. We both still find it difficult to say, "We put an addition on our home" -as if it is all just a dream. God is like that though and surprises you when you least expect it. We began in July of this year and added on more than half of what our house originally was! We added another bedroom, bathroom, tripled the size of the kitchen, brought the laundry upstairs, and added a beautiful family room with cathedral ceilings. As many of you have already seen the architect and builder did a beautiful job. We love the changes and are so thrilled that God allowed them all to happen. As many of you know, it was very stressful and the mess nearly drove Rachel crazy! But we did all survive and the outcome is unbelievable! So as 2007 draws to a close, we want to say thank you to both of our families who helped us so much over this past year while the remodeling was going on. We could not have done it without your physical labor and emotional support! All of you helped in so many ways and there is no way we could have done it without you. And also, thanks God for making our dream come true.