Quick Update...Movin' on in...

Hey world! Thanks for checking in every day, even though we haven't had a chance to update this in awhile. We've been MIA for the last couple of days, because we finally moved into our own place and we don't have internet there just yet.

Our new pad is really cool, and Rachel, Christopher and I like it a lot. It's a townhome located in central Johnson City that is convenient to just about everywhere. We've decided to rent for the time being, both because we're waiting for our house in Nicholasville to sell and because we're not sure what area of town we'd like to buy in. Fortunately, we got a great deal on the lease which we can break with little consequence if we find a stellar deal on a new house.

In the mean time, this new place is great! It's actually two townhomes that were merged together by the parents of the person who owns the building. That means it has 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a bunch of extras, including a sunroom, brick patio, 14 (yes, that's fourteen) closets, and a double attic that is floored and has shelving all over the place. After only living in smallish places since we've been married, we are spreading out ALL OVER and loving it =).

The additional space also comes in handy, because my sister Stephanie moved in with us for the summer (she didn't bring much stuff, though). She's looking for a change of pace and a view of the mountains. Praise the Lord, she already has a job offer as a Nurse Aide at the Johnson City Medical Center (one of the biggest hospitals in the area). Not bad for applying just a few days ago! We're looking forward to having her around.

Christopher is doing great (sorry no pictures because I'm posting this at work =)). He will be 9 months old (~6 months adjusted age) on Saturday! He just keeps learning new stuff faster and faster. I played my first game with him last weekend, which consisted of me giving him a ball, him hitting it onto the floor, and me picking it up and giving it back to him. This went on for about a half hour, and we both loved every minute of it. He's starting to copy things that we do, as well. For the last couple of days, I've been trying to teach him to say the vowel sound "O", and he's started saying it! So cool to see. I've got to post some video of it because his face turns red as he tries so hard to make the right shape with his lips.

Overall, he's sleeping and eating better as well. This move has been much less stressful on him than the original move down to JC, I think mostly because Rachel and I weren't stressed at all. Pretty crazy how kids can pick up on all of that.

My first Father's Day was spent moving boxes and furniture, but Rachel and Christopher still found ways to make it special. Rachel got me (us) a new wrought iron table for our sunroom so that I can eat breakfast out there while reading in the morning. I can't tell you what a blessing that is...so peaceful. Then Christopher and Rachel gave me a really nice card. I love being a dad.

Well, I've got to run. Hopefully we'll get internet soon at home and we'll be able to get some new pictures up to show you. Thanks for checking in!

--Andy

Quick Update

Just wanted to drop a quick note to tell everyone that we are alive and okay! We're currently in the process of packing up the house for our big move on Sunday. We just got back from a great week and a half in Fort Wayne, and had a wonderful time visiting family and friends. We took lots of pictures, and hopefully will get a chance to post some of them before we leave. We load up the moving truck on Friday, then paint all day Saturday and Sunday then leave on Monday. Oh, and here's a tip Rachel figured out today. It's a great move (pun intended) to play moving truck companies against each other. Rachel will call one company (budget) , which is always cheaper than who we like (penske), and get a quote. She will then call Penske and get them to match Budget's quote. Then Budget calls us back to see if we went with them, and took $100 off our price to steal the deal from Penske! Rachel's so good at stuff like this...must be all of that negotiating with people in Kenya.

We make a great team...I'm good at selling and she's great at buying! It's been a blast to spend so much time at home with her and Christopher (my last day at Cre8tive Group was March 9th). Please continue to pray for us as we get all of this crazy moving stuff done!

Love to all!

--Andy