Well we have been living in Grand Rapids for a whole month! Things are going really well here; Kyle started seminary classes this last week and he is LOVING it. I haven't seen him this excited in a long time; it's a lot of fun to watch. He is even excited about the 300 pages of reading that he was assigned this week. Kyle is taking Soteriology, Practice Preaching, Homiletics II and Greek I this semester. He still hasn't found a job here, but we are trusting in our faithful God to provide for our needs and to open up the right job for Kyle in His timing. We would greatly appreciate your continued prayers on this matter.
We have been attending an OPC church in the area that we love. The preaching is incredibly sound, applicable and encouraging; also the people are VERY friendly and welcoming. The first week that we visited we were invited over to lunch within three minutes of walking in the door. This church is a lot
bigger than we are used to with about 500 regular attenders! The size will be a little bit of an adjustment, but we are starting to feel at home there. There are A LOT of children in this church; many families have 7+ kids! Evie will have many friends there :), as well as begin her life with solid reformed teaching (we will be here for awhile). We have started sitting in the new members class, and we have greatly appreciated how seriously they take membership and discipline.Evelyn is doing very well. Upon moving here we decided that it was time to "break her will" and make her sleep in her crib at night (she had been sleeping with us out of convenience and because lack of space in our old apartment). After just a couple nights of crying for about an hour or so she quickly realized that she would not win this battle and submitted to her parents authority :) Ever since then she has been
sleeping through the night wonderfully (11~12 hours) which is great news for us! We have also been working on getting her on a routine schedule with more consistent meals and naps. I think that this has really helped her to know what to expect and feel secure. Evelyn had her first rice cereal last night which was fun! I think more of it went on her face, bib and high chair then in her tummy, but hey we are just starting :) Evie truly is the joy of our home. One of my favorite parts of the day is listening to her "talk" in her crib when she wakes up in the morning and then going in to get her and seeing her smiley face. I weighed her the other night and she is around 16 1/2 pounds; she is definitely thriving.I have been enjoying life as a stay at
home wife/mother; I can't imagine anything else that I would rather do! Our apartment here is great, we have tons of closet space, a dishwasher, a room for Ev, as well as laundry facilities in our building (all things we were lacking before). There is soooooo much snow here! I thought I was used to snow having grown up in Minnesota, but this is ridiculous. It's beautiful, but many days I'm tempted to just stay inside :) Also, we have been informed that it's pretty much always cloudy here ( I guess because of the lake?). I hadn't really missed the sun until we visited Kyle's brother Matt and his wife Nancy in Indiana last weekend and realized what we had been missing. Oh well, there are worse things :)Well I think that's all I have to report for now; I will try to be more diligent in updating the blog! We miss everyone in La Crosse and think of you often!
