Monday, December 17, 2012

Merry Christmas! 2012

Last year we dropped the ball for getting out a Christmas card.  This year, you will see we have experienced some significant changes since our update in 2010, particularly a new address and member of the family.  I have given up on blogging as a whole, so I apologize if you tried to keep up with us on here!  I have made some posts with snapshots from the year, if you want to scroll through the blog.  The process of moving, pregnancy, parenting a toddler, and now taking care of a new baby pretty much sums up 2012 for us!

Our much longer than expected chapter in Florida has come to an end.  (Reminder: a nine month assignment turned into five years.  We wish we knew and we would have bought a boat!)  Ethan received a new assignment and in May we moved back to the Dayton area in Ohio.  He is getting his masters in electrical engineering, so back to academic life!  The scenery is a bit different, but we are very happy to be here.  Seth and I miss the beach (Ethan not so much) and I miss my violin students and symphony jobs.  We of course miss people we knew in Florida, but that is part of military life and we are thankful for the lasting relationships we formed.

The move was a bit drawn out.  We were thankful to sell our house in Florida quickly!  Just after we put our house on the market, intense morning sickness set in with the pregnancy.  I had no idea how I was going to keep up with showing the house, but God is so good.  After just two showings (from the same person), the house was sold.  The rental house in Ohio we fell in love with wasn't available until July.  In April we moved into TLF (temporary living facilities) in Florida.  In May we moved into a one bedroom apartment in Ohio until the house was available in July.  All the transitions were difficult, but Seth hung in there.  Two families adopted Caedmon while we were in the apartment and they loved him well.  Seth and I also spent some time in Virginia to break up apartment living.  The house was worth the wait.  We are in an ideal location for work, church, and play and can facilitate hosting, which we love.  We are much closer now to many of our friends and family and since moving in, our guest room has been full more weekends than not.  Ohio seems to be a great "pass through" area, so if ever you need a place to stay, let us know.

We are back in the area of Cedarville University and it has been fun revisiting our old college stomping grounds.  We have made many trips to Young's Dairy where Seth loves feeding the goats and we went to some of Cedarville's homecoming activities in October.  We are back at Patterson Park Church, the church we attended most of our years in college and where we were married.  In many ways, it has been like coming "home" for us.  After five years in Florida, it was wonderful to experience autumn again!  Although the warm temps currently haven't phased us at all.

Seth turned 2 years old in September and he keeps our hands full.  He is a sweet, observant, and extremely active little boy.  Seth's favorite things are food, books, jumping, and watching and playing football with Daddy.  It has been wonderful watching him discover and interact with the world this past year.  He is definitely a little boy now, and not our little baby.  I love hearing him talk and develop new words.  It is precious starting to develop little conversations with him.

In October we welcomed Jonathan ("Jack") Murray into our family!  The pregnancy was a very happy surprise.  Jonathan was 8.10 lbs and 20 inches and was born with a full head of hair.  We had a wonderful delivery at Family Beginnings, a birthing center here.  It was like a home birth, but not at home!  Jack is a sweetie with a laid back temperament.  Seth is adjusting to being a big brother. (And we are adjusting to being parents of two!)

Caedmon is still with us, though he is getting up in years.  You wouldn't know it though since being in colder temperatures seems to have knocked off a couple of years!  In fact, he caught his first real game, a rabbit, in August.  His husky side is very happy to be farther north.

We look forward to 2013.  Hopefully you will hear from us again next year!  We love keeping in touch, so please shoot us an email or leave a comment.  God bless!

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