happy birthday to our little girl...

Okay, folks, I have the best excuse of all...no internet service! It's really good to be back. :) Is there an InternetUsers Anonymous?!?

Anyway, while we were offline, Bella celebrated her seventh birthday. I've posted these on facebook too, so many of you have probably already seen them. :) I have yet to do the traditional birthday portraits, but that's coming. So Bella had a fun birthday. It was on a Saturday, so there was no rush to get gifts opened and pictures taken before school. No, we experienced the opposite...she kept trying to wake me up EARLY so she could start tearing into her presents. I was a little tempted to let her start without me, but then what kind of mother would I be??? :D Later in the day, I took her with me for a surprise...she didn't know we were going to pick up her best buddy Libby for a sleepover. That was her favorite part of the day of course.



Other than the fact that she didn't get a bunny for her birthday, she had a great day. She for some reason was sure she could spend her birthday money on a rabbit, and she's still telling people she's getting a rabbit. Just for clarification: she is NOT getting a rabbit!

I created a slideshow last year on Bella's birthday...I can't really top that, so I'm including it here again. I love looking at it myself! We are blessed to have such a beautiful little butterfly...she brings lots of joy, laughter (lots of laughter), and dramatics to our home! :D We love you, Sweet-sweet! (as her Daddy calls her)

Click here to view the show

In other news, after two long months of interviewing and waiting, Ringo GOT THE JOB! It's really a miracle how this job came about. He first sent out his resume in February, so this was quite a journey...though it's definitely worth it. I won't even go into all the details, but he started looking for and praying for what we consider to be the PERFECT job, knowing that there wouldn't be many positions available around here. Mostly that is because no one ever leaves this job. Anyway, we were looking at making a move to OKC for this position, then it looked like the company would hire him for south Jersey. We were praying that he could get this same position here in Knoxville, but the company didn't have a position in Knoxville, period.

Then all of a sudden, not so coincidentally, the company needed someone for the east Tennessee region. At that point, he had already interviewed in New Jersey and we knew they were going to give him one of the positions...after weeks of waiting, finally, we got an answer! He officially starts next Monday!!! He will be working as a field adjuster for an insurance company based in Cincinnati. They provide a car and a lot of other stuff, plus he works from home, makes his own appointments, and will travel throughout the east Tennessee area.

God answers prayer! I certainly want to thank the Lord for the peace He has given me throughout all of this. It's been quite a trial, especially the uncertainty of where we would be living in the near future. Now we must recuperate from the last few months, which I will not elaborate on, but please continue to pray for us. I know so many of you have been praying with us and encouraging us, and I want you to know how much we appreciate it! God has been good in so many ways, and one of them is knowing that we have caring friends and family who are holding us up before the Lord.

Well, my thoughts feel all disconnected and I hope I've made sense, but I think we are caught up now. I hope to be back soon! :)