Wow! It’s Wednesday afternoon and the house is strangely quiet. I ‘m glad for the chance to share, what God has been doing in our lives lately. For not having anything on the calendar in January, it filled up and flew by before we knew it. We have been so aware of God’s grace in our lives lately, as we often struggle with feeling like we are not enough for the task. It seems like in all roles of life from being parents, to being a spouse, a friend, a sibling, a child, let alone in “ministry” we see how much we need God to work in and through us. I’ve been known to quote lately “that if it weren’t for GRACE we might as well not get out of bed” (I’m not usually that fond of getting out of bed anyway). To sum it all up, we are just really thankful for God and who He Is! 
God has paved the way to helping us find a niche in this new community. I have been able to start walking with a few ladies and participate in the local Head Start program. There are planned activities for the mom’s through Head Start, one of which happens to be scrap booking! I was so excited for the opportunity to do something I enjoy and be able to hang out with other mom’s. These new activities get me out about twice a week. Joel has also had further chances to meet new people, and was able to go fishing this last week with some guys. (he did bring home a nice rainbow trout). We continue to be our own butcher, and purchased a half of pig that Joel cut up, ground up and packaged. It too is very yummy.
Ruth is sitting up all by herself now, and scooting and rolling around the floor. She also has two new teeth! The girls are the best entrainment we have!
Amanda – for Joel, Abigail and Ruth
