A New Chapter

Well howdy folks. It's been some time since my last blog and consequently there is a lot of catching up to do. Emri's spinal rod lengthening surgery is quickly approaching. We now have less than a month. We head out on the 14th of September, and surgery is on the 17th. My heart sinks lower each day we get closer. I know summer is coming to a close...which is sad...but I also have been looking forward to just getting this next surgery behind us. PLEASE pray for a healthy and quick surgery/recovery for our sweet girl. 

We had been struggling to come up with a solution of who could watch Abe in the mornings while we were gone, since Brett's mom teaches mornings, and my mom teaches all day. Our prayers were answered when Brett's Aunt Ruth volunteered to fly here from New Mexico and help with Abe...what a relief! Abe knows Aunt Ruth and even gave her a few snuggles when she visited a few weeks ago. It feels so good knowing that he will be adored and spoiled by people he knows and loves while we are gone. This will be our longest time away from him, which will be hard...but less hard knowing he is being so well taken care of.

The title of this post is "A New Chapter." Our family has been going through an overload of change recently. To make an insanely long story very short...Brett now has his own company and has been working from home for a month. Over the past few months, God...in an amazing number of ways...has been making it completely clear that this was the path our family should be taking. Brett is enjoying his time working from home and loves the new flexability that comes with owning his own company. The name of his company will be ANC Architecture...although it will be ANC design until he officially gets his license. ANC stands for...you guessed it...A New Chapter! A new chapter for us and a new chapter for his clients. 

And because we are crazy people who love to make life overly stressful and dramatic (NOT) we will also be leaving Lynden sometime in the next while and moving to Mount Vernon. We will be staying there for the rest of our lives and never, EVER moving again..at least that's my vote!! 8 moves in 6 years is a little much for me. More details to come on that whole situation at a later time. 

This summer has been a good one. Emri turned FOUR on June 8. Every birthday we celebrate with Emri is filled with thankfulness and awe. We are so thankful that God has given us 4 amazing years with our incredible little girl and in awe of how far she has come in her short 4 years of life.  Emri got new leg/feet braces and is walking SO much straighter! It has been amazing to watch her improve every day. She absorbs information like a sponge and can't wait to start school again in a couple weeks. Abe is talking more, loving more, helping more, hurting more, and GROWING more. He has now reached the perfect ram-his-head-into-the-island-counter height, and seems to have inherited my desire to move walls/doorways when he walks. He loves his sister (although you wouldn't always guess it) and likes to copy her movements, phrases, and facial expressions. My kids are such a blessing to me. I love them more than I could ever explain.

 We had the opportunity to visit with all of the Van Andel relatives at a reunion in Michigan this summer. Although we discovered the horrifying result of combining Abe with the confined space of an airplane, the torture of the flight was worth the time with family. It was a special time with family and won't be soon forgotten.

Well the time has come--Abe's awake and break-time is over. Thanks for reading!