A fresh start

September is a time for new beginnings.  School begins, weather starts get cooler, priorities change, and the our glimpses of summer start to fade.  This is no different in our household.  Our family is going through some changes and most are fun and exciting!  We are hoping to start and keep this blog updated, so many of our friends and family can keep up with us.  

"The days are long, but the years are short."  This quote is one I heard several years ago and think of from time to time.  Our years of having babies and raising toddlers have gone fast, but I remember the oh-so-slow days and wondering when those times will end!  Though we are not completely out of the difficult and trying early days of our children, things are definitely easier now that they are preschool and school age.  One example of this was over the weekend.  We took the kids to the Wyoming County Fair (the county we live in).  We heard the admission price allowed unlimited rides on all the fair rides.  We splurged and took everyone and it was a wonderful time.  The kids rode rides again and again saying often how fun everything was for them!  I think they outran us.  After 4 hours, our legs ached from all the walking and standing.  The kids were going strong even past their bedtime.

 Ethan enjoying the Merry-Go-Round

 Motorcycle ride

 Bumper cars with Daddy (Nate rode with Mommy)

 We saw all the big tractors.  This was a favorite because of the large tires!

 The ferris wheel at dusk

 Train ride

 Jet ski ride

Nate on the Merry-Go-Round

We ended the night with ice cream sundaes at McDonalds and Tommy declared it to be "The best day of his life!"   (There have been many days labeled as such!) :)

Today is Labor Day and really no different than many Mondays we have.  Josh decided to work today because BBC has classes running and he wants to take a different paid day off later in the month.  I am happy to have a Monday free from work as I usually work every Monday in the recovery room.  The kids and I will enjoy one of our last days together before school.

Tommy begins 1st grade at Summit Christian Academy on Wednesday and the twins begin afternoon preschool two days a week at our local Keystone College Children's Center on Tuesday.  The days with four kids home all day are gone.  Though I am slightly sad, I am excited for our kids and watching all that God has in store for them.

I started an on-line class a couple weeks ago through BBC's grad school.  The class is titled "Methods of Biblical Change."  It was one of many biblical counseling courses the school offers and I'm happy to be able to take advantage of free tuition to gain a little more knowledge. I am in the Master's of Biblical studies program with a counseling emphasis, so I will not be taking clinical counseling or psychology courses.  People ask from time to time what I'm hoping to use this degree for in the future.  My answer is simply I want to learn more about the Bible and grow deeper into relationship with God.  I'm hoping that taking some counseling courses will give me a little training should God bring those opportunities into my life in the future.

There are many more things I could say, but for now, I'm going to end.  Thanks for reading this first post and hopefully there will be many more to follow as I have time to update.  We love and value our friends and family!