The First Week of the Next Chapter

The title of this post says it all. We have again started another chapter in the life of our family. I am not big on starting new chapters, but God must be giving them to me for some reason. So, this week as I have taken part in this next chapter, despite my fears, my sometimes tears, He has given me blessings to be thankful for: My neighbor across the street, who lives in a beautiful home, came over to welcome us to the neighborhood. She brought red velvet cupcakes and dog treats for Reminton and Ranger. She made sure I had her # in case I needed anything. We visited a church 2X and on the Sunday visit, a family took us to lunch and paid for it. We enjoyed their company and they homeschool too!! We had one of Terry's co-workers over for dinner and they brought us a beautiful sign with the local lighthouse on it, carved personally by the husband. I will post a picture of it later. On Sunday, the president of the company and his wife dropped by. They brought a beautiful cake, but we were just thankful they came by to visit. Another one of Terry's co-workers left apple cider,a bag of apples and a bag of candy for the kids. I was so worried about being alone, yet God has graciously filled our lives in the last week with the kindness and thoughtfulness of others. I believe with all my heart these things can only come from a God who knows your very thoughts, hopes and fears and seeks to put them to rest. The pictures below were a day of exploring the area. We started out with breakfast at the beach, then a walk to the lighthouse. It was extremely windy as you can tell from the hair in my face. We can't wait for next summer when we can hit the beach for swimming!!

The local lighthouse. I was bit scared to walk out to it, especially with the winds that were blowing, but the concrete walkway is actually quite large. We were however, very protective of Dalayna and made her walk on the inside.

We decided to take the kids to Bass Pro. This is an ice shanty for ice fishing. I had never seen one before in person.

They already have the Christmas decorations up at Bass Pro, so I thought it would be fun to take the kids picture in front of them, though the short-sleeved shirt on Colby just doesn't seem to fit with the Christmas decor does it? It was a beautiful day.

Just a fun picture of Colby on the deck. Although we have missed having neighbors, my kids and dogs are having a lot of fun just running around everywhere, especially with the dogs. There are lots of birds and chipmunks just outside the kitchen window. At lunch the other day, the bluejays and chipmunks were harassing one another and Colby was giving me the play by play action.

We had the pleasure of meeting the owners of this house the Friday we were moving in. They are such kind people. The wife told me that this house was a happy house when they lived here. We told her we are a happy family, that is the name of our blog and that we would continue to make happy memories in their home. She said they have had weddings, showers and parties in this home. We know it is big enough to do so!! They actually designed this home themselves and then found a piece of ground and had it built. She told me about the deer that live around here, too. One night her son came home around 1 AM and there were 13 deer in the driveway. Another time, she came downstairs for breakfast and turned on the lights. When she did she was face to face with a deer just outside the kitchen window and they startled one another!! It was fun to listen to her tell the stories and I did get her permission to put all this on the blog.

Finally, Dalayna has lost her first tooth!! One of her cousins began losing her teeth and I came to the conclusion that since they are 3 months apart, Dalayna wouldn't be too far behind. It is fun for her, sad for me because it means my baby is growing up!! She received a dollar under her pillow. It was such a tiny tooth and sharp as can be, so we were telling her they were like shark teeth!!