So, incase you haven't noticed, it has been like a month and I am way behind on posting.
Well, if I remember right, when I left off we were hoping to close on the house the 30th. Everything was a go until a short little problem. We were headed to the zoo thursday when it dawns on the people going over our final paperwork that where we live now is in Bridge Creek, which was declared a federal disaster area when the 99 tornado came through, which brough up a whole new set of inspections. They tried to get it done, but that put all the paperwork for that into June, which required a new payoff amount on the existing loan being foreclosed on. We decided to head to Grove a little earlier than planned and just veg. it was so nice being there and away from everything. We drove up to Joplin one day to see the Bond family. That was a great time. Way too short, but a lot of fun!! Chris got in some fishing at grand lake and the kids and I got a lot of swimming in. Actually, Hannah came back brown and the rest of us were burnt to a crisp.
We then headed back to the city on the hope that we would close on our house, but still a no, so the kids and I headed to kansas to stay with mom and dad and go to my cousin's wedding and wait until Chris told us to come back. He stayed in an extended stay hotel and then a guy from the church we have been going to offered him a rental under construction to stay in. It was a nice offer and he took it. I signed power of attorney over to Chris so that just incase he needed to, he could sign for me on the loan.
We celebrated my mom's birthday while we were up in Kansas as well as got a fun surprize. My uncle dave had made it back for the wedding and was staying with my grandma. We spent a couple of days there. One helping her clean out her garage and playing dominos, another helping her roll silverware and taking shelter in her basement from a tornado. We also went to topeka with my mom to shop for wedding shoes, and played pin the tail on the donkey for her birthday. We went to the dairy farm twice also. One time we went with mom and I spent most of that time visiting with Joy. The other we played with my cousin's little boy Caleb and helped with some chores, mostly the bottle calves. We were hoping to go back and spend an entire day.
Another fun surprize was that we had supper with my aunt Liz one night. She brought the kids some goody riding boxes. They used those the next few days, drawing pictures and stuff. She had her book of pictures and so it was really nice to catch up with her on her family. We had supper and played Pass the pig. It was pretty funny as her and my dad got to telling some fun stories. Aunt Liz won the game too!! As for the wedding weekend, it was really nice.
We went up for rehearsal and the kids did really well practicing. We got to see Rowdy and boy is he growing up. Lorrie was only about 10 days away from her due date and looking great. Erin was there with little Katherine, who was 2 months old, and they were doing well also.
Then a horrible thing happened. As Karen and the kids and I were leaving the church to go home, I was holding Hannah's hand and we went to step off the curb. My ankle, the one I broke my first year in college, gave out on me and I fell, dragging Hannah with me. She landed face first into the concrete, scarring up her nose, her lip and her chin. Blood was pouring out all over and she was sobbing, my face really hurts. I was trying not to pass out from my own pain to help her out and I didn't know whether or not to take her to the ER. Karen went to go get mom and I helped Hannah to the bathroom to see if we could see where the biggest hurt was. She didn't knock her front 2 teeth out, but the blood was pouring from her mouth. She swelled up pretty bad and all I could think of was how much she had looked forward to being the flower girl. She kept looking in the mirror and crying, "I look like a monster". I felt so awful. It was my fault.
The day of the wedding the swelling had gone down a little, so that helped, and she was in a good mood, so that was nice. She looked beautiful to me, but I was so worried about what someone might say to her. The bigger of a deal people made it, the more sensative she would be. She seemed to do ok. She was a sweet flower girl and the photographer told her that she would make the owies go away in the pictures.
As for Nathaniel, he got to carry the actual rings, so he did a great job too. And earlier in the day, he hung out with Alex' s brother, Stephen while they did guy pictures. When Alex and Leah were doing their own picts, the guys were playing cards. Nathaniel was so honored to be a part of the group. He earned the nickname, Nathaniel cash-only Crosswhite.
The wedding was really nice and their reception was a lot of fun. It was the only one the kids and I have gotten to stay for, so that was fun. A super sweet moment was when we were watching Alex and Leah dance their 1st, and then they did the father daughter dance. AFter that it was free dance. Nathaniel took my hand and said, lets go mom. We got out there and he was honestly trying to lead me in one of his own dances. I tried my best because the moment was so sweet, but my ankle was killing me. After a while and my not being able to do his dance right, he got embarrassed and walked away. I was sad a little because if it hadn't been for my silly ankle, Hannah wouldn't have gotten injured and I would have been able to enjoy dancing with my son. He is the only one who has danced with me or asked me to dance in over 10 years.
Anyways, we went to grandmas church sunday after the wedding and then had a father's day dinner only to rush away to Erin's baby shower. It was really laid back, so that was nice, even though in all the chaos of the weekend, I don't think I got a good visit in with Erin. I am sure she felt like she didn't get to talk to everyone either! We surprized Lorrie with a bunch of diapers, though and that was nice. She wasn't expecting it, so that was fun. The week following the wedding we helped mom in the yard, mowing and cutting down limbs and the kids played in the swimming pool. We ran to emporia one day and then had grandma and uncle dave up another to have supper and play games. By Thursday, we got word that we would absolutely close on the house friday. if we didn't, we would lose the interest rate and the county was posting it up for auction effective July 8th. That got the ball rolling.
Then it was deciding whether to make myself a nutcase and rush everything and make it to close to sign my own name or not. I had settled in and had unpacked everything and had made it like home. I had planned on going back over to the farm for a whole day and attending Grandma's dinner with a side dish. That morning about 9 am I realized i wasn't going to get it all done to make it in time to close, but Chris was still expecting us to show. So, after Dad got done at the farm, we loaded up thecar with our stuff and the van with our dog and headed to OK. We set up a temp. pen for him when we got here and slept on the floor.
We headed to storage Saturday to get out our mattresses only to find out that while I was gone, it had rained and the mattresses along with a bunch of other stuff was damaged. We brought the mattresses and box springs out to the house to dry in the yard. Mom and dad went home after debating whether or not to get the washer and dryer.
Monday our storage shed was delivered and I went to storage to file an insurance claim since we had invested in a $5000 policy. Brent came out to help Chris build the shed as well as Matt from Chris' work. They worked all day and got the floor, the front and the back done. I planted all our trees and some bushes. The kids were really good about playing to themselves. They got paid to make sure rocks and bricks weren't in the yard for anyone to hit with the mower. Tuesday I got up and mowed some. Matt came back over and they did a little more on the shed but decided they really weren't in themood to mess with it anymore so we went to storage and got the washer and dryer, which are now up and running.
Today, the internet was installed and I spent the day running around norman trying to find out who sells closeline poles. I had NO luck!! We brought a bunch of toys from storage home and cleaned them up and got them in the kids rooms, along with the pictures to decorate the house. It is beginning to take shape, and we are getting more done in the yard that we thought we would at first. I am supposed to talk to the insurance adjuster tomorrow about how much we can get, if anything for our damaged furniture. We are hoping as bad as the mattresses are and the warped wood on all our bookshelves, and dressers that we can get something and replace them. That brings it to today.
WE are looking forward to plugging into our church. WE went tonight and Nathaniel loved it. Hannah was hesitant, but after all she has been through this last year, I don't blame her. I am just praying she gets an awesome teacher and makes some great friends so she can be the wonderful girl I know is hiding sometimes under a lot of insecurity.
I will post pictures when I get a chance to. My camera was busted by the old neighbor kids, so when I get another one or mine fixed, I will upload picts of the house and some of our trips.
I hope you all are well. We are doing ok. Just living on the verse in 1 Peter that says that perseverance develops character and character develops hope. We are trusting that God is developing alot of deeper spiritual character in all 4 of us. We have appreciated all the prayer, as without it I am sure we would have lost our minds. I will post again later.
Until then, I hope my month long synopsis was understandable!! All our love!
