And so where have we been ... ?

It's been pretty quiet over here for a long time, and I am sorry for not posting updates, but this Fall and Winter life suddenly became very, very busy and blogging just got put on the back burner.  So thank you to the dear ones emailing and wondering where on earth I've been, and let me try to catch you up a bit. 

First of all, last Fall while researching and praying about adopting a child through Snowflakes' embryo adoption and finally beginning background work we discovered that our seventh little one was on the way.  We were a little surprised, but absolutely thrilled, and the embryo adoption has been put on hold for a while.

Shortly after that Nathan's employer, began to post a few positions in Northern CA for the first time in several years.  This was very exciting since for the past three or four years we'd been hoping and working towards returning back home to be near our families.  This began a flurry of travel to interviews, beginning of packing, just in case, and researching the various areas in and around Sacramento.  The hiring process while always slow with government positions was even slower at this time and it wasn't until February that we were able to accept a position and begin house hunting in earnest. 

We ended up being very blessed to purchase a home on a couple acres in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Placerville, CA and moved mid April.  While it was sad to leave the dear friends we'd made in Southern CA, it is also wonderful to be home again!  It's been such a full, fun season of revisiting old favorite places and introducing the boys to life in Northern CA.  There are now great-grandparents to visit, both sets of our parents within easy driving range, and lots of aunts and uncles and even cousins to play with.  It was a long wait for this move, but what a joy to be home!

Nathan and I with his parents where he was a groomsman in our good friend Mac's wedding - such a joy to be close again!

Mac and Nathan just after the ceremony.

 

Another precious blessing - being able to be with my Papa on his birthday!

Meanwhile, ultrasounds had revealed yet another surprise - baby number seven looks very much to be a daughter!  What an amazing thing!  After about the sixth ultrasound, all showing a tiny little girl, the idea is  beginning to take hold and what fun to see all the pink that's finding it's way into our home!  The brothers are a bit skeptical, but they are ready to welcome her and have announced that they plan for her to wear camouflage and play Little League just like they do.  They currently have a solid ban on mermaids, ballet, and Barbies, but we will see.  Several have been very interested in the tiny jeweled hair barrettes waiting for sister, and I'm pretty sure they are secretly enjoying the novelty of it all too.  Baby is due any day now and while it means I'm going a lot slower, she and I are doing fine.  It will be so wonderful to finally be able to hold her in our arms!

And so now life is settling into more of a routine.  Summer break is underway and most of the boxes are unpacked.  We have learned just exactly what poison oak looks like and and the kinds of mischief a foxtail seed can cause in dogs' eyes and noses and are waging war against both.  But overall we are loving our home in a place where things grow so easily and are enjoying putting in fruit trees and working with the existing oaks and flowers.  We've even found a nice church near home and are getting to know folks there.

Chris and John breaking in the new swing out front.  They now prefer standing, or leaping off.  

No stitches ... yet.

The boys and my Dad planting a maple for my birthday.  Hoping it will be a fiery red like the ones I love near my grandparents in Grass Valley!

So this is where we've been.  It has been such a full, wonderful season for us all.  I truly have missed the blogging and sharing of news and photos but I am not sure if or when I will pick it up again.  To be honest, the biggest reason for blogging was to help the ache in my heart for dear friends and family back home who had to miss all the little details of kids growing up and make life so full of joy.  But I am torn too, because while blogging new friends were made, and old ones discovered, and these I have grown to love also.  For now life is at a place where I will probably not write as often as before, but I may share updates every few months or so. 

Thank you for your patience, and may you be blessed!