A family blessed

Well, we've finally got our own family blog! Since we have family and friends spread out all over the country, hopefully this will be a good place to update everyone.


I promise not to have all our posts be this lengthy, but here's the obligatory family update:

Justin just started his 6th year teaching at Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw, GA and loves it. He teaches high school Biology, Anatomy, and Physiology, which means there's hope for Trevor and Aila to do well in science someday. :) He really loves what he does, and I think it shows. He's also coaching soccer this year, which keeps him busy. He went back to the Dominican Republic for a week this summer on a missions trip and loved it just as much as last year. He wants to take all of us in a few years down the road! Justin built a kayak this year, is having hiking withdrawals, and became a father for the second time in January.

I'm pretty busy but totally happy. You know how you hope and pray for the life you hope you'll live in the future? I'm living it. I hoped and prayed (a LOT) for my future husband--and I have a hilarious, kind, and good man in Justin. He is the real deal, and my best friend. Then, I get to raise these two children God has given us. I had Trevor in the middle of the school year in 2005--everyone told me it would get easier to be away from him. It just plain DIDN'T. I knew in my heart I just HAD to be at home. It's not been easy to pull that off, but I have no doubts that I'm right where I am supposed to be. And now that Aila is with us, I know it all the more. I tutor a few times a week, make meals for a few families every other week (considering I didn't cook at ALL before college it still blows my mind that people pay me to do this for them), and I just started with a company called Uppercase Living (http://theanelson.uppercaseliving.net/). I'm still writing, still trying to get out there to do some speaking, but mainly I just want to take care of my family.

Trevor is gearing up to turn three in October. He loves reading letters, singing (check out the video on this post of him singing his favorite song, "Everything Glorious"), playing with trains (I have to remember this when we are in a hurry but get stuck behind one), trucks, cars...he's all boy but also fights Aila to hold her doll and loves to push around the doll stroller. Not a big fan of bad weather and fears the "tornado siren"-- Too bad they test it by our house every Wednesday at noon!!!

Trevor keeps us laughing...I have to share some of his funny sayings: One day he announced to us that he has a brother. We asked, "Where does he live?" "Downtown Kennesaw," he told us. :) I also remember one day we were listening to a song with the word "Hallelujah" in it, and Trevor was in the back singing at the top of his lungs, "Halloweeeen-uh, Halloweeeeen-uh...."One day he shared with us his version of the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension--and this is pretty much word-for-word how he told it (in one long breath like little kids do): "So Jesus died on the cross and he got SO DEAD. Then he came alive again and came out of that cave, and when those guys saw him they said WHAT?!? and then Jesus went up...up...up... (and I prompted with "...into...." assuming he'd say Heaven)...into the airplane!" Trev also likes to put on Justin's "Yoda-rant" and say "I smell fresh and clean!" :) I think my favorite Trevor saying came when Justin and I were driving in the car with the kids and Trevor said, "There's a mountain over there." Then a few seconds later he quietly said, "Jesus moves mountains." We looked at each other, wondering if the other had told him that. We realized he got that from a song he listens to at night. I know he doesn't yet understand what that means, but someday I pray he will. And it doesn't matter where he heard it, just as long as he knows that to be true throughout his life.

Aila is almost seven months, which is hard to comprehend. She is a very easy-going little girl...very sweet personality. She crawls a lot, pulls up and loves to stand and cruise, and is keeping us guessing about her future hair color. There are days it looks almost orange, and other days not so much. But I think there's a good chance we're going to have a redhead! We're just really thankful for Aila Grace. It took some doing to get her here (I just realized how that must sound--oops--collective laugh), but she's here. Right after she was born, all I could say was "I am so grateful. I am so grateful." We love that little girl.

The bottom line is that we feel really, really blessed. God has been good.