Arnett, Crystal, Zeke, and Nema Grace: It's been a while...

Oh, if only there were more time in the day or if I only wasn't going through a funk, maybe then I would be able to sit and blog more often!! A lot has happened since my last "real" blog post in July! Things have been crazy around our house!! I honestly don't know where to start but here we go...

We've been back home for a year now. I can't believe it has been a year already! I can honestly say that part of my heart is still in Mali. I miss the people, the simplicity of life there, the deep relationships we had with the people there, and even some of the food (crazy I know!). I knew when we moved back that things would be hard, that I would be a different person than I was when we left. Then add the fact that we had to figure out what we wanted to do with ourselves here!! Things haven't been easy and because of that I have been upset with God. Despite the many times He warns us in scripture that hard times will come, I wanted things to be easy!! So, God and I have been on this journey the past couple of months and it's been a journey! He is teaching me that He's in control, that He is sufficient, and that I need to put 100% of my trust in Him.

So, what exactly has been going on... well, let me start with our new car... when we bought it Arnett noticed that it made a whining sound. He questioned the sales manager about it and we were told that it was normal for that particular car. Hindsight, we should have known better. A few days after we got it home, the sound was getting worse. We called the sales manager and he said to bring it in. We took it in and then we waited. Waited on a call, waited on a car, waited on returned phone calls. It was a nightmare. Finally, three weeks later, we are told the car is ready and I drive to pick it up (an hour and 10 minutes away). When I get there, I discover the car is not ready. They had overlooked one thing they were supposed to fix. At this point we are both so done! I get home and start looking up who's in charge at the dealership so we can call him first thing the next morning. Well, I found the e-mail address of the owner. I typed up a letter detailing all we had been through and how disappointed we were at the level of service we had received. He called Arnett first thing the next morning, very apologetic. He said they are going to make it right, so we said okay. Later that day they brought it to us. Arnett takes it for a spin and realizes something is still not right with it. We got back in touch with the owner the next day and said we wanted to return the car. Praise the Lord, he agreed to give us all our money back!! Thankfully, a few weeks later, we found a great deal on a great car thanks to some great friends!!! We now are the proud owners of a 2007 Suburban. It's a bus for sure but we love it!!

Another issue we've faced is rain and worms!!! Farming is a gamble but my hubby loves it!! This year the rain has been a big issue! When it rains you can't cut and bale hay. We have gotten a ton of rain the past few months so it's been very challenging to get any hay baled. Worms have also been a HUGE issue this year. They have been eating our crops like crazy. The only way to get rid of them is to spray them with worm killer, which isn't cheap!! We are learning to trust God everyday for exactly what we need.

I know this doesn't seem like a lot but when you mix in a little post partum issues that I've been dealing with, it can feel like a mountain!!! Once again, God is teaching me to trust Him for all we need!!

The children are doing GREAT!! We have been blessed beyond words!!

Zeke is getting so big, so fast!! In my last post I wrote about Zeke going to the dentist for the first time. Well, he went back for his first round of work. He ended up needing a crown but he did great during the procedure. Afterwards was a totally different story. They gave us some cotton rods for him to chew on until his mouth "woke up" from being numb. Well, of course he wouldn't chew on them and I couldn't make him while driving. So, he chewed on his tongue and I mean chewed on it!!! The rest of the week was HORRIBLE!!! His tongue hurt so bad, he couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, and was just plain miserable. I slept in his bed for 4 or 5 nights because he would just cry off and on all night long. I called the dentist back and they said to bring him on in. We took him the next day and the dentist said it was the worst tongue bite he had ever seen!! He gave us an antibiotic and some "magic" mouthwash! Finally, after about a week, he was able to eat and drink again! He's now made a full recovery! Zeke also started preschool! He still isn't too excited when I drop him off but when I pick him up, he says he loves it!! Here's some recent pics:

Working with Daddy

Getting ready to play in the mud!

Having a blast!!

"Mom, underwear are overrated!!" And yes, that's dirt!!

So cute!!

This was the day after the tongue chewing! He did okay at preschool that day but he didn't make it the rest of the week!!

Nema, wow has she grown!! She's eating baby food like a pro now!! She loves it!! She's sitting up and talking more and more! Just this week, she's started making more "word" sounds. It's absolutely adorable!! She's got 2 teeth on the bottom and the 2 on the top are coming in!! She's also started scrunching up her nose and it's so cute!! She hasn't started crawling yet, but she can get up on her hands and knees. She's also able to roll all around the living room and get where she wants to go! She'll be 8 months old tomorrow and I can't believe how fast time is flying!!