Our Temporary Abode :-)

We are finally all together again and enjoying settling in to life in Kansas City, Missouri! We just arrived last Saturday, after a 3 day drive from Idaho. It was a long trip, but we enjoyed the mountain scenery in Utah and Colorado along the way.

Another Baptist church in the area has been gracious enough to allow us to stay in one of their lovely missionary houses until we can move into our new house. We expect the closing date to be at the end of March. Can't wait! :-)
Below are a few pictures of the house we are staying for the next few weeks: The Living Room

The boys "golfing" in the spacious kitchen. ;-)

Formal Dining Room

The Loft Study Area

Master Bedroom

We are busy trying to find a car to buy, doing paperwork for our house purchase, buying some furniture and appliances, etc.

Hopefully it won't be as long before I post again next time! Ha

Jessica

Better Late Than Never- Christmas pics

My pictures are backwards in timing. Haha So, the most recent is first in this post. Oh, well.
We had Christmas dinner at my aunt and uncle's house. My sisters, cousin, nephew, Nathanael, my brother and my Dad. :-)

Nathanael with his cousins.

Teddy loves my cousin, Nathan. :-)

Opening presents with Auntie...

My parents, the cute couple. ;-)

Nathanael loves the doggie from his Uncle.

More opening of presents.

We went caroling the day before Christmas Eve. It was cold, but very fun.

Hope you enjoyed the highlights of our Christmas season. :-)

Jessica

~Vintage Dishes- my best ebay find so far!~

Well, we are still at my parent's home in Idaho, waiting for Ben to come back. Our house still hasn't sold, so we don't know how long it will be yet before we get to Missouri.
Meanwhile, I spend my time shopping on ebay. Just kidding. ;-) But I did find a 20 piece set of antique dishes for only $4.99! I absolutely love them. They are so delicate looking, and have just the right amount of crazing and discoloration. There are 7 dinner plates, 6 cups and saucers and 1 platter. And they are made in the USA. :-)I plan to put them to good use in our new home while we are waiting for our household goods to arrive from Australia.

This lovely bouquet of 18 roses arrived from my husband on Friday, which was a very sweet surprise, and really helped to lift my spirits. I love the color of the roses, and I like them all the better now that they are opening up more. They even smell good, which is an unusual trait in hot house roses, I find.I hope to post some Christmas photos soon (just a bit late). :-)

Jessica

Merry Christmas from Idaho!

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. We have been very busy with all our travelling. We flew to Idaho for Thanksgiving with my family, then spent 10 days in Kansas City, MO visiting our new church there and house hunting. We really enjoyed spending time with all our lovely new friends there. And we found several house choices that we loved.

Ben had to return to Australia until our house and car are sold. We miss him, especially at Christmas time. The boys and I are enjoying spending the Holidays with my family here in Idaho, though.

We are hoping and praying that the house will sell first thing in the New Year so we can all be together again and move to our new home town! It is very exciting, but the waiting and suspense is not too fun...

I will try to put some of our latest pics on here soon, maybe after Christmas. :-)

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

~Jessica~

Our Bathrooms

I am joining in the "Show Us Your Life" party this week with Kelly of Kelly's Korner. :-) The room of the week this time is bathrooms.

Have fun touring all the cute bathrooms over there! http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/2010/11/show-us-your-life-bathrooms.html#disqus_thread

This is our ensuite bathroom, which is much smaller than the typical "master bathroom" in the USA. There is no tub, just a shower that isn't in this picture. This is mostly Ben's bathroom, so it works fine for us.

I didn't care for the border tiles used in this bathroom, so I put a wallpaper border over them. haha

The boys and I mostly use our hall bathroom, and it is also the guest bathroom. I decorated it in my favorite color- pink! ;-)

We have only a week and a half left in this house before we leave for the USA. It has been a special home to us and we will miss it, but I am excited about choosing a new home in Missouri!
And decorating it. ;-)

The Big Move

We have been very busy lately preparing for our big move to the United States! Ben will be pastoring a Baptist church in Kansas City, Missouri.

Although we will miss our friends here, we are so excited about how the Lord has led us, and can't wait to get to our new home in the USA!

We are in the process of trying to sell our house and car at the moment. We will be heading over to the US very soon, and Ben will make a short trip back to Australia in December to tie up loose ends here.

We will get to spend Thanksgiving with my family in Idaho, which will be great. :-) And I'm looking forward to a white Christmas, if the weather cooperates. Haha

I guess I will need to find a new name for this blog, now that we won't be "down under" anymore. Ha

I will keep you posted as I can on the move, our new home and church, etc. We would appreciate your prayers, especially that our house and car will sell soon!

Until next time,

Jessica

Highlights from our trip to the USA

Be warned that this post is composed of a million pics! haha


We went with my family on a picnic to Lucky Peak. My Mom and I had fun floating on an air mattress, but no one took a photo. ha
As you can see, Nathanael was having a good time.
Some people got worn out, though. hehe

My cousin, Andrew, got married while were in Idaho. It was special to be able to attend the wedding. :-)

Teddy's first ride in a swing!

Nathanael's 4th Birthday!

We gave him an 1/8 size violin. Hopefully he will follow in his Uncle Seth's footsteps. ;-)

Nathanael and his cousins had fun running around in the sprinkler park.

Ben and I celebrated our 7th anniversary a little early, since Mom was there to watch the kids for us. We ate at a romantic fondue restaurant.

For Teddy's 1st birthday, we had a "Teddy Bears' Picnic"! :-)

I can't believe Teddy is one year old already! It seems like he was just born...
He loved his party at the Boise River greenbelt. :-)

Cousins Laban and Nathanael loved playing together.

The partyers. haha

A teddy bear made out of cupcakes. :-)

Teddy loved the birthday song.

He required a little encouragement from Aunty Melody to dig in. haha

A rare shot with me in it. haha

My brother, Seth, with his lovely girlfriend, Rachel. ;-)

I was so excited to meet her. The birthday boy! :-)

We took a day trip to McCall-I love the mountains in Idaho!

Teddy in the woods. :-)

Our last morning in Idaho, Mom, Melody and I went to breakfast and tea with Rachel. It was so nice to have some girl time together. :-) We took a short trip to an antique shop, too.

Uncle Seth gave Nathanael a quick fiddle lesson right before we left, too. Nathanael doesn't last very long just yet. Haha

Well, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed the pics of our month away. :-)