Oh my, where to start... well, I guess I'll give a brief, if that's possible, update of all the happenings in our lives since Joanna turned 4, and yes, I know, that was over 7 months ago. So, I guess I'll just start from December.

12/09 - 01/10 - we had a wonderful Christmas at home in Bakersfield and spent it with all our family and friends there. Jerred, Tiff and the boys were also home for the holidays and the girls loved that! We ended up going back to AR with them for New Years on the train...we spent New Years Eve and Day on the train and made the 3 day trek back to there home. It was a blast...the kids had a great time. We had a wonderful visit with them, enjoying some snow and COLD weather.

02/10 - Joy turned 2!!! Her bday is Feb. 17th and she was very excited to have her Dinosaur party with her turtle pinata (pictures to come). It was a wonderful party day filled with family and great friends. We are so blessed to have such a close family and wonderful lifelong friends in our lives. The girls also went with Joel to our church's annual Daddy/Daughter Dance. They had a blast and, from what I heard, danced the night away, literally. Between our 2 girls and our neice, Jericho, I don't think Joel or Josh got to sit down all night. :) Also, my little brother, Coleman got engaged to his girlfriend Carolyn and they set a wedding date for September 4th, 2010. :)

03/10 - This month was the "wedding month". Joel's youngest brother Jonah and his fiance Lindsay got married on March 19th. It was a beautiful ceremony, with lots of friends and family (not to mention the bridesmaids and groomsmen!!) :) They did a beautiful job with their ceremony & you could really feel the love they share for each other and for the Lord. Our neice, Jericho, also had her 10th bday this month!! My mom came to Bakersfield for a visit for Easter and we had a wonderful time with her here...the girls always LOVE it when Purple Gma visits!! :)

04/10 - 05/10 - I will call this time the "whirlwind" in our lives. I will try to recap as quickly as possible to bring everyone up to speed. A little background to start, our friends Jason & Karyn Vorhees, live in OR now and have for about 2 years, so through that connection, Joel heard of a position opening and decided to apply and see where it would lead. I don't think we were expecting much to come of it in the beginning, but it was worth a shot and a good experience applying anyway. Well, a couple weeks later they wanted to fly, not only Joel, but all 4 of us up for Joel to interview and see more about the company, so we did. After the weekend spent in OR, the next couple of week just kind of FLEW by. In short, Joel was offered a position with Genentech, a pharmasuetical co. in Hillsboro, OR. He accepted and was to start on May 17th. So, we started preparing....packing, yardsales, goodbyes...it was all a little crazy, but we did it. We also squeezed in our annual Mothers Day weekend camping trip to Bass Lake in the midst of all the packing and moving. It was awesome to have a nice relaxing weekend, away from all the packing and preparing just to spend with family before our big move. Monday, the 10th, we rented the U-Haul and loaded everything up. On May 11th, we pulled out of Bakersfield to make the trek to OR and our new home. We prayed about this throughout the whole process and knew that if this wasn't to be for us, the Lord would close the door and we would be ok with that too. I feel confident that this was in HIS plans for us and we took a leap of faith and followed what we think the Lord was preparing us to do. So...

06/10-07/10 - Here was are. We are now living in Hillsboro, Or. We are renting a townhouse that our girls love! Their one request was stairs... :) Joel is enjoying his job and we are happily exploring our new home. It's amazing the peace that comes with something this huge when you know the Lord has brought you to it....as hard as it was, and sometimes still is, to have moved away from family and such wonderful friends, I still feel confident that, for whatever the reason, the Lord has brought our family here for this season of our lives. The girls are now both participating in gymnastics. Joanna continuing right where she left off in Bakersfield, actually "graduating" yesterday into a higher class. And Joy and I are doing a Mommy & Me class, which she really enjoys, as long as all the attention isn't on her and no one watches her....she is VERY shy around groups of people, especially if she is singled out (I think she gets that from me). We have been swimming A LOT and both girls are doing great in the pool, no fear (they must get that from Joel) :) We've been to the Zoo multiple times & are having fun exploring new things and a new environment. So far, it's been great!

So, there you are, up to date...I do want to catch everyone up on pictures as well, just don't have the time (or the drive) right now to begin uploading all of them. :) I promise, I will TRY to get some on here soon.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summers, families and friends. Look forward to hearing from everyone and to keeping in touch now that we're settled and getting back into a routine of daily life. Blessings to everyone!!!! (I will email and write with our new address, if you don't already have it)