Day at the Beach 4th of July Weekend

Hello dear family and friends!  We hope you are well!  I should have had these pictures up two weeks ago...but now (the present that is) is always a good time to catch up on things.  So here I am and now it is!  Enjoy the pictures! :)

As far as life goes we are continuing to get settled in here in our new home.  God has been so good to us in everything He has provided.  We love it here and have not had any problems with anything except a few bugs here and there (and their bigger here!). We have gotten almost every box unpacked and anything that isn't is all in the extra room, so the house is almost starting to feel like a home.  Granted, some more decorations might help, but overall the reality is setting in that this is actually our new home.   Going from living with all kinds of other people and in tiny 1 bedroom apartments to a 3 bedroom house with a huge yard is such a big change!  And when we stop and remember that our new house payment is less then half of what we were paying for rent for so much less space we are blown away by God's gracious provision for us! :)

Since being back here we have had many opportunities to gather with many different members of April's various family members and our enjoying getting to know all of them as a family.  Rylen is definitely not lacking for love with his many many sets of grandparents and great grandparents out here (but he really misses his CA grandparents and family and looks forward to when they come to visit)!  As we have spent more time with family and friends back here we are getting more used to the culture everyday.  There are many thing we love about being back here and some thing we don't. 

One thing we love is that life is so much slower out here!  No longer are we rushing here and there.  No longer do we sit in traffic.  There is also much less pollution and when we go outside at night we can actually see the stars.  Everyone you pass on the road not only acknowledges your existence but usually smiles and waves too!  And whenever you go out people actually talk to you and ask you how you are doing of there own free will.  It is all pretty strange stuff for me to get used to!  On the down side I am beginning to love certain southern foods (like fried food and sweet tea)--which isn't very good for me since April's pregnancies have already taken quite a toll on my weight. But for her it not so bad because she is supposed to gain weight right now...not fair! ;)  Another negative is that anywhere is go we have to drive a while, which is nice except when you are tired or Rylen is getting fussy!  But hey, like I said, at least we are driving instead of sitting in traffic! ;)  On the note of driving we have been driving almost 1 hour for church every week going to a Reformed Baptist (SBC) Missional (ACTS 29 network) passionate church plant in Greenville!  Google all that if you are curious!  We are loving it there and are so excited about their passion and sobriety of worship mixed with solidly and brutally honest exegetical preaching.  We are hoping to become members soon and trust that God will provide for us what we need for the drive!  Check them out at: http://www.liveintegritychurch.org/#authentic-relevant-missional-f4c61 if you would like to learn more!  

We are continuing to plug away in getting a home based business started and are excited to see if God wants that to happen or not.  Either way, over the last year I have done a lot of research and have learned a ton about business, marketing, and the ever changing every growing commerce machine and networking resource called the internet.  I suppose understanding technology and the internet is not at all a waste in today's world either way, because it is quite clear that those who do understand it will lead the way in the new economy in generations to come.  April has been working less as the birth draws near and I have also been looking for other work but to no success.  I have contacted prisons (for chaplaincy openings) and schools (for TA jobs) and some local government agencies for work, and either they don't get back to me or I have not been qualified enough.  I will keep looking!   We are very excited the see what happens and know that God has a perfect plan for it all. 

We were very excited to find out at the end of June that not only would we receive our tax money before the end of the year but that it would come the first week of July (and it did)!  We continue to receive notes of encouragement in the mail and various unexpected financial gifts here and there as well and are amazed at God provision and timing in each instance!     

There is a lot more I could probably go on about but that is enough for now and I am sure you wont to see some pictures!  We love you all very much and pray that the richest blessings in Christ would be yours in His perfect way! 

The following pictures are all from the 4th of July weekend and Rylen's first time at the beach and my first time at the Atlantic Ocean! 

[Sand Dunes...cool!]

[What is that stuff?]

[Hmmm!]

[You want me to do what?]

[I want to curl up and take a nap!]

[What is Daddy doing out there?]

[Self explanatory...geek in the water!]

[He is so funny!]

 [Where'd he go?]

[Awww! How sweet!]

[Sitting with Grandma!]

[Oh....this is really cool! Do it again, do it again!]

[Video]

[Enjoying watching everybody play and I am just fine sitting right here, thank you!] 

[Daddy's Puffer Fish...someone tell him its dead!]

[Video]

[Erin (sister), Rylen and Mommy]

[Pregnant and Beautiful!]

...The End! 

Walk to the River!

This morning Rylen and I went for a walk up the block to the river.  The river is only 7 lots away from us.  We go walking almost every morning and April try's to come when she is feeling energetic and not to busy.  We really are beginning to like our new home, it is located really in

a rather beautiful neighborhood!  

Welcome to Plymouth, NC!

[This is the front of our house]

Aaron here again on Sunday afternoon.   It is a beautiful day here and the sun is shining in North Carolina.  We got up today and went to April's home church, which was ultimately refreshing [that is, while we are still looking for a Church that seems biblical to us in all necessary respects (and are still deciding what those are) it was very encouraging nonetheless to worship with the family of God and to hear the Word preached].  After arriving home we went for a short walk (but returned very quickly due to the very high humidity!).  Since coming back from our walk we put Rylen down for a nap and have been resting and talking, which is something we realized we have not had much of a chance to do since arriving here.  I suppose this means that we are finally getting settled in.   Since we have been in NC we have been very busy on the weekends seeing family and getting ready to move in, and it has been really fun to see family but it is really nice to rest! :)

[In this picture is April, Rylen, April's mom, her mom's mom, and her mom's mom's dad.  5 generations!]

We have been living in our house for a week now.  Up until last Saturday from the day we arrived here we were staying with April's Mom and step-Father, which was nice and worked out well and I think was enjoyed by all, but ended up being a lot longer then either of us where originally expecting I think.  What happened is that the original loan we were applying for was a government loan (which typically take forever to get through underwriting, but took even longing for us because we had a crumby and incompetent loan possessor), and right when everything was supposed to finish being processed we were notified that even though we would probably qualify "soon" the government founding for this program had completely run out and "may" be re-founded soon.  At this point we had already moved the closing date once and we were not sure what to do at all.  So after much prayer and being refused for some other loans (which we could not have waited to go through anyway) the Lord provided that we received a private personal loan through April's great-grandfather.  After some discussion he just wrote us out a check for the whole some and said we would work out the loan agreement after we got settled in.  Needless to say we were shocked and blown away by his generosity and by God's provision for us.  We were at the point that in our hearts we had let go of owning the home and figured that things probably would not work out.  And as it turns out we now owe $0 in interest and will have even lower monthly payments as a result.  God has been very good to us!

So as I said we have been moved in for a week now and are just starting to get settled in.  Pray for us that God will provide the right church body and rejoice with us for the blessing of this home.  In other news, April has been feeling very well with the pregnancy and we are excitedly and nervously looking forward to the birth of our precious little girl in a in just over two months from now.  We intend to have a water-birth again and to have a home-birth (with midwife assistance) as well.  Last week April began working again (she is still doing transcription work from home) and I recently became a executive marketer for Melaleuca Inc., a company that has been making completely natural and Eco-friendly health, beauty, and house-hold products since 1985!  If you would like to learn more about the products you can go to my personalized website to request more information: http://www.livetotalwellness.com/adh86, or you can send me a personal e-mail and I can tell you more about it (but I warn you that I am still being trained so may not be able to answer all your questions about every product).  If you would like to learn more about the getting involved in this work from home business opportunity you can ask for more information from my other personalized website at: http://www.workathomeunited.com/adh86.  Something else which you may be interested in checking out to you if you would like to learn more about what April does is to check out her new website which she just launched a few weeks ago at: http://www.hbtuniverse.com/.  She (with my help) created the website so people know what she does, can learn how to get trained to do it, and to pull in some extra income through marketing products that are used in her line of work.  Please pray that God gives us wisdom and blesses our efforts as He sees fit. 

Hopefully we will have more pictures to put up soon.  But that is mostly what is going on with us right now.  To all those back in CA we love you and miss you very much!  Have a blessed Lord's Day evening and a wonderful week!

~ Aaron for the gang

 








   


      

Roadtrip and Life in NC_Part 1

Hello to all of our dear family and friends!  I hope this post finds you well!  This is part 1 of a semi-brief and somewhat randomly organized update of wha-sa-been-a-happenin-wit-us since leaving CA!

Our road-trip was safe, overall very enjoyable, semi-refreshing (except for the long driving part), and mostly uneventful accept for the speeding ticket I received just outside of Barstow.  In my defense I was trying to pass a very slow and funny driving semi and it was on a down hill.  So that was fun, I can't to wait to see how much it is going to cost (I have been driving very slow since then, so I suppose it was providential that it happened at the beginning of our trip)!   

We took the lower route through the states staying on I-40 almost the whole way passing through ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO, TEXAS, OKLAHOMA, ARKANSAS, TENNESSEE, and then of course into NORTH CAROLINA.  The first night we stopped just inside of the border of CA (because we left really late).  The next day we drove from Barstow all the way through Arizona and stopped for the night just outside of Albuquerque in Grants New Mexico.  The next day we drove from Grants all the way through Texas and stopped for the night in Erick, Oklahoma.  The next day we drove until we got just past Little Rock, Arkansas and stayed in a palce called Lonoke.  From Lonoke we drove until we got to Nashville and then stopped for to check out the shops and watch some live country music while we ate an earily dinner.  That was fun!  For the rest of the day we drive till late so we could inside the border of NC where we stayed our last night on the road in Ashville NC.  It was quite the roadtrip!

And now....I have to go, so look for Part 2, coming soon! :)