No pictures to share right now, as I'm having trouble uploading. These are times when I really need Christian's help and we've been in a bit of a whirlwind lately (what's new!)
Just wanted to share and write what we've been up to. This is the first summer that I've worked since having Brennan (10 years!), and I'm really not jazzing on it. I work three days a week waitressing at a restaurant here on SSI that has a gorgeous view on the ocean, but gets crazy busy. I'm soooooo tired by the time I'm home late at night! We were going to work Christian's studio schedule with my hours, but as it turns out, he's been busier than expected and had some unexpected road trips, so we've been juggling the kids a lot and we're generally worn out already. I only work about one more month and then we go on a holiday :)
We're going to Banff to camp with close friends and their family and I can hardly wait!!! I love Banff, and I love hiking and biking, and camping so it should be a great adventure.
When we get home, we're moving...yes, moving again. The house we're renting is up for sale and the kids have been longing to have a yard to play in as this house is ocean front and has no real yard space to speak of, so we found a much better house for our family. It has five bedrooms, and the rent is higher so our big plan for now is to be a host family for international students. So far, we have a 17 yr. old girl from Taiwan joining us September 2nd, and we're hoping to have a second student by October. I've started putting our stuff in boxes and fighting the urge to feel depressed about it as I really loathe moving! I think it's just that we've done it so much... And yes, our new place has a disco ball in the living room, so you can bet your boots there'll be many Stonehouse family dance parties in there!
I have a new job that I started in June as well and will resume in September and that is as an on call education assistant for the school district. I'll be working in about eight different schools on our island providing one on one help for students with special needs, and behaviour challenges. This is right up my alley and I'm really looking forward to getting more into the groove of it in the fall.
Life is never boring around here and I can't believe I haven't blogged anything since January! Isaiah, Brennan and Abby are all doing well. They had a great school year and were busy in many activities...soccer, basketball, youth group, Brownies, gymnastics etc. We really work hard to not let them get too busy. It's so important for us to have most dinners together and time as a family.
Some big family news for us is that we've applied to adopt a child through the Ministry of Children and Families. So, if all goes well, we may have a new family member by this time next year. This has been a slow process for us as we feel God calling us to do this, but were pretty freaked when we heard some bad financial news early this year. We feel like we're just supposed to keep walking ahead in obedience and leave the details up to God. We're excited, but it does feel a bit like we're "stepping out of the boat."
Well, that's enough random blabbing for now... Who knows if anyone will read this long saga, but I like writing things down on the blog so I can look back on it. I'm going to see now if I can keep up with this blog a bit better. Because what a better time when I'm working like crazy and about to move!
