Well, we did it! We are HOME!
We are eager to sit down and really fill you in on Spring Hill, for now a short family update will have to suffice!
The program went incredibly well overall. Students came SO eager to learn, and it was a joy to watch students soak up so many things over the three weeks!
Personally, it was more challenging than anticipated. Noah has never directed an STP before, we've never gone to a summer training program with a child, not to mention being pregnant (and tired!) and I ended up getting pretty sick... so we had to rely on the Lord completely for our strength, energy and grace. We're grateful for what He taught us personally in the midst of directing the program and watching the Lord transform the students' lives. We'll post more on that soon, I promise!
A week ago we were on our way home, and I think I can finally say tonight that we feel settled! :) We've done our best to have a restful week unpacking, doing laundry, cleaning, getting settled and going through a months worth of mail, emails, errands, and just LIFE!
Ellie did SO well at camp! We were so impressed with how flexible she was (at times eating with 300 people in a cafeteria!) and sleeping all by herself in a cabin. She came to camp very shy and left waving hi and bye to everyone.
She's become a very creative mover- no desire to walk or crawl, but she will lean over and reach to get just about anything. If that doesn't work, she'll likely resort to rolling VERY quickly across the room.
She can say hi, bye, mama, dada, nana (banana) nigh- night, more, and I'm sure some more words I'm not thinking of. She signs 'please' and 'all done' very consistently and 'thank you' when she feels like it :)
She loves playing in her pool and has found her favorite toys- the two drumsticks from her drum set and the picnic blanket from her picnic basket. She always wants those three things in one hand while she is playing with her other toys :) Too funny!
Two of her cutest new tricks are (1) We've started asking her, "Who is in the mirror" and she says "Eyyie" :) It's so cute! and (2) When we ask her to give kisses to the baby she'll lean her face into my stomach (That's her version of kisses for now :))
Speaking of the baby, it's hard to believe I'm almost 17 weeks already! WOW, time is flying!! I felt him/her for the first time this week and we heard him/her kick as he/she kicked while the dr. was getting the heartbeat on Thursday at our appt. Noah and I looked at each other and laughed... what if we have a more active child next?! Ellie almost never kicked enough to disturb me or keep me from sleeping. She's still very laid-back, content, easy to please and loves her sleep :) Time will tell! I'm feeling good and my appetite is back. We'll find out at the end of the month if it's a boy or a girl :)
Thanks for praying for us while we were at Spring Hill. We felt very loved and cared for, despite the challenges, we had a truly wonderful time.
But of course, there is no place like home! :)
It finally feels like summer!
We are eager to sit down and really fill you in on Spring Hill, for now a short family update will have to suffice!
The program went incredibly well overall. Students came SO eager to learn, and it was a joy to watch students soak up so many things over the three weeks!
Personally, it was more challenging than anticipated. Noah has never directed an STP before, we've never gone to a summer training program with a child, not to mention being pregnant (and tired!) and I ended up getting pretty sick... so we had to rely on the Lord completely for our strength, energy and grace. We're grateful for what He taught us personally in the midst of directing the program and watching the Lord transform the students' lives. We'll post more on that soon, I promise!
A week ago we were on our way home, and I think I can finally say tonight that we feel settled! :) We've done our best to have a restful week unpacking, doing laundry, cleaning, getting settled and going through a months worth of mail, emails, errands, and just LIFE!
Ellie did SO well at camp! We were so impressed with how flexible she was (at times eating with 300 people in a cafeteria!) and sleeping all by herself in a cabin. She came to camp very shy and left waving hi and bye to everyone.
She's become a very creative mover- no desire to walk or crawl, but she will lean over and reach to get just about anything. If that doesn't work, she'll likely resort to rolling VERY quickly across the room.
She can say hi, bye, mama, dada, nana (banana) nigh- night, more, and I'm sure some more words I'm not thinking of. She signs 'please' and 'all done' very consistently and 'thank you' when she feels like it :)
She loves playing in her pool and has found her favorite toys- the two drumsticks from her drum set and the picnic blanket from her picnic basket. She always wants those three things in one hand while she is playing with her other toys :) Too funny!
Two of her cutest new tricks are (1) We've started asking her, "Who is in the mirror" and she says "Eyyie" :) It's so cute! and (2) When we ask her to give kisses to the baby she'll lean her face into my stomach (That's her version of kisses for now :))
Speaking of the baby, it's hard to believe I'm almost 17 weeks already! WOW, time is flying!! I felt him/her for the first time this week and we heard him/her kick as he/she kicked while the dr. was getting the heartbeat on Thursday at our appt. Noah and I looked at each other and laughed... what if we have a more active child next?! Ellie almost never kicked enough to disturb me or keep me from sleeping. She's still very laid-back, content, easy to please and loves her sleep :) Time will tell! I'm feeling good and my appetite is back. We'll find out at the end of the month if it's a boy or a girl :)
Thanks for praying for us while we were at Spring Hill. We felt very loved and cared for, despite the challenges, we had a truly wonderful time.
But of course, there is no place like home! :)
It finally feels like summer!
