We have some catching up to do...

I haven't been good about posting lately. Things are in full swing again at the Ward home and we are busier than ever. We are so happy here and we've been busy with the ministry and with our home. We've been so blessed to have a lot of visitors lately. We've always wanted to have a house that we could open to who ever needed a place to stay and God's blessed us with just the house.

Elijah starts preschool on Tuesday! We're so excited and he's thrilled. Everyday he asks me if he can go to class. We also signed him up for rec soccer for 3-5 year olds. We're excited to see how he likes it.

Savannah is taking a few steps without holding on now and I'm sure she's getting close to walking. She has spaghetti for the first time and if a baby could lick a bowl clean, she just about did it.

I've been loving my Tuesday morning Bible study and co-leading a Bible Study for the college students on Monday nights.

Phil's been busy with ministry and many projects around the house. He's been trying to play basketball on Saturday mornings with a few of the guys and is speaking for the high school group for the next few weeks as well.

Phillip's dad, Mel, has been such a blessing and has helped us with most of the projects around the house. My dad's been able to come help us too. What would we do without our dads?!

Here are a few pictures of what's been going on...(I've posted three separate posts so make sure to keep scrolling down).

Our huge pine tree getting chopped...

The tree was so big that it covered up most of our yard but now that its gone, it's opened up the front of our house so much...(look back to the before pics of the house).

Savannah's hair is so long that we have to use a headband to keep it away while she's eating.

The men in my life...

Savannah is getting close to walking...

Savannah and Niah hanging out under the stools...

Kitchen Re-do

We've done some work on the kitchen. Look at the previous home picture post to see the before...

Old Friends

This weekend, our dear friend Carly and her two precious children came for a much needed visit. I decided not to tell Elijah and to let him be surprised. Elijah and Macy are close buds. Macy walked through the door and called out his name. It could not have been better...Elijah shoots up from the couch, yells out her name and runs to her with open arms and fully hugs her while falling on the ground. They played all day together and had so much fun. Thanks for the fun visit Carly! :)

The House

A view from the kitchen into the family room

Entry Hall and look up the stairs
I didn't take a before but just imagine white walls

Master Bedroom After

Master Before

After
Family Room

Before

Before

After
(new roof) we also had the pine tree taken down
but no pics of that yet...

We are still missing pictures of the kids rooms and the living/dining room but that will have to wait till later. The kids rooms are painted and finished for the most part. We haven't done anything to the living/dining areas yet because we don't really have any furniture so its hard to paint when there's nothing in there... Also, since the house was a foreclosure the front and backyard are dead, so we have to redo them too, which we are going to do in early spring...

Christmas

Not a lot of pictures from Christmas, but a couple of fun ones. The kids loved it and I think this is the first year that Elijah really understood that it was Jesus' birthday and that he got presents...

Thanksgiving

I'm back

Sorry for the long delay in updates, photos, etc. We could not locate the cord to our camera and I still don't have my regular computer up and running, so we've been waiting to get the cord...well the day is finally here.

Just a quick update and then onto what you all really want...pictures. :)

We are pretty much settled here in our new house and with the new job and all. We stayed with my parents (which was wonderful) for about three weeks until our house closed. We moved in the Saturday before Christmas and have been busy getting things fixed up and unpacked. Most everything absolutely necessary is done for now. We have gotten a lot accomplished in the last few weeks. Now we are on to more cosmetic fixes...

The kids love it and are happy with the extra space. The ministry is going well so far. We're still trying to get a feel for the students and let them get to know us.

I'm going to post pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas and then our new house before and after pictures...