Painting Project!!

What have we been up to lately? We have been painting, painting and painting some more!! The exterior of our house has been a work in progress for over a year now. With Jon's crazy work schedule and our travels we have not been able to get the whole entire house painted. So this week Jon had 6 days off and we have gone nowhere and have stayed home to work on the house. Woo hoo!!! :)

Jaeden and Levi think it's the coolest thing to scrape and paint the house, so they have been great helpers all throughout this process.

A honey-do project the kids and I worked was our porch. It needed fixing. A plank had broken after a large chunk of ice fell on it last year during the Winter. We finally got it fixed then we painted the porch to look more like a deck. Here it is:

We finished the East side of the house and are almost half-way done with the South side of the house. We worked on the West side of the house last year so that is done. So we are moving right along and pray that the weather holds so we can finish the job!

So far the weather has stayed in the 50's and is supposed to stay that way for another day or two. So we'll be up and at 'em again tomorrow!

Anyway, that is what we are up to this week! More pictures to come....next week!

Meeting with a realtor

A little break between photos of the MTC campus to show you some of the latest happenings going on around here. We met with a realtor today to sell our house. It seemed surreal to be signing the paperwork to sell the house! 

It seems like only yesterday, as young newlyweds we filled out the paperwork for this turn-of-the-century vintage house. Jon told me to try to contain my enthusiasm when we did the first walk through in this house so as to not let the realtor know I really liked the house. Haha, I have such a hard time keeping a straight face!

But Jon and I both fell in the love with this house, it just felt so homey and so...us! Here are a couple photos of our house throughout the years and throughout the seasons.

 Spring is one of the best times of year to enjoy our house. I am so grateful the previous owner had a green thumb and did some nice landscaping that was easy to keep up with...for the most part! ;)

Jaeden and Levi in the lawn when they were little bitty guys!  Lots of play time happened out in this yard.

The front of the house after getting a little "bit" of snow. All my boys love playing in piles of snow. For those of you living in warmer climates, you may be asking how we can stand these long cold Winters? The positive side to long, freezing, c-cold winters? At least their snow forts and snow men don't melt away right away. :)   

I really don't have a Fall picture in front of the house. But you get the idea. This is our house.This house has been good to us! 

Monday the "For Sale" sign goes up in the yard. The realtor will start advertising our house online and around town within a few days of getting all of the paperwork together.

Please pray that the Lord brings the right buyer at the right time for the right price. Thank you!

I have a few more MTC photos to share in the next post. Stay tuned! 

MTC Part 2

 Can't start a blog post without seeing this cute little face! I love his little dimples on his chubby cheeks. :)

Okay here are more photos from our trip to Camdenton, Missouri to the New Tribes Mission Missionary Training Center. We start with the administration building and the lounge room.

 Here is one of the many small classrooms they have set up. I like the idea of a "smaller" classroom size so I can ask a lot of questions and feel like we are more one-on-one with our teacher.

 Here is one of the classrooms we will spend most of our time studying in. Together! Jon and I are so excited about being in school and taking classes together! We can not only help each other out with our homework, but we can also flirt a little on the side! ;)

 The staff said the Winters are relatively mild in comparison to our long winters here in MN. This campus seems like it will be a great place to hang out and explore as a family. Here is another classroom and if I remember right they also eat here.

 These huts look like something for the kiddos to play with, but it's actually part of the tribal training they do for the adults. Learning how the huts are set up and what to expect.

The picture above shows a gathering place for students.A large part of the MTC's training is interacting with each other. Since the mission bases are a small community, learning how to get along with our fellow missionaries is a big part of our "education." So the campus is set up with a lot of spots for students to connect with eachother.

It seems these photos are not meant to be shared all at once. Uploading this many photos today took a while and the kids seem like they know when I want to take time on the computer. It's like sharks and the scent of blood. :) Oh well, you have more photos to look forward to in the next day or two to come.

Mission Training Center

We had the chance to travel to the New Tribes Mission: Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Roach, Missouri last week to take a tour of where we will be living and studying starting in January.

I know, I know, I write that very calmly, but yet it's too bad a blog can't display how we really feel inside. For a small idea of how Jon and I are feeling it goes something like this:  Wowie, it's exciting!! Yet a little nerve wracking at the same time! How in the world did all of this happen SO fast? Are we ready? Will the house sell? The Lord will provide and make a way if it's His will...but still WOWIE WOW!!!!  So there you have it, a small taste of our personal feelings. ;)

We had a nice guy named Adam who gave us the tour. It took about 2 hours to get through everything. The boys did okay. As well as can be expected for 3 rambunctious boys in the middle of the afternoon. And after being cooped up in an airplane for several hours. Lots of energy! We got through it though and let the boys hike up some touristy trails after our tour. Best.idea.EVER!!

In case you want a little more information and background on the New Tribes Mission MTC here are a few links for you to check out. Here is the blog link for MTC:  http://usa.ntm.org/go/training/training-center/
Or you can take a short video tour if you click right here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGmScupQxJc&noredirect=1

 I took photo after photo during our tour and I am trying to figure out how to upload an album as well as on Facebook and post the link on here. I don't think I can post all of the pictures on here, but I will add a few more so you get a sample of what we got to see.

Well that will be it for now. My little guys are getting restless. I guess I can only blog so much before everything falls apart around here.