Concrete, Rain, and… Snow?!

You read that right. Snow. And lots of it. You might be waiting for an explanation, but you’ll just have to read the whole thing to hear more!

First, a little update about school: About a month and a half ago, we switched the schedule around. There were several goals with this switch, including creating more space in the day for teachers to have prep time. Please pray that this change is successful and makes teaching more sustainable and enjoyable for all the ICA staff.

One thing that has made this year a little tricky at school is that the boys have been ill quite a bit. It seems like every other week one or the other or both has a fever or the stomach bug or something. That means I’ve missed a lot of work, which is really hard as a teacher. We’re hopeful the sickness is behind us.

There has been a LOT of rain this fall! Some came fast and furious, and some of it was a slow and steady drizzle over several days. We are so thankful for the work that was done around camp after a major storm a couple years ago, as the damage to our property was minimal. The boys enjoyed the mud the rain created too. 😊 Watch here to see the craziest storm this year!

Brad has been working on three staff homes to keep up with our expanding team. He has had three or four concrete pour days where he has a bigger crew than usual, which have been helpful in creating the pads for the garages and porches for the new homes.

Brad has also been busy with a super exciting addition to Ironwood – Sequoia Meadow! Long story (which you can watch here, and I greatly encourage you to!) short, Ironwood was given a camp in the mountains over the course of the summer. Completely unexpected which completely changed our plans for Rusty’s Ridge. Sequoia Meadow is about four hours away from Ironwood, nestled in the Sequoia National Forest. Brad has made the trip a few times for varying lengths, and the boys and I were able to join him for a super quick trip in August! It is beautiful. And as you may have guessed… that’s where the snow is! One of the trips Brad took up there was to winterize and shut down the camp. He had a crew from Ironwood and a mission team to help. On the day they got up there, the property had gotten 16” of snow! Definitely thankful they were able to get ahead of any frozen pipes or other cold-related issues.

This past Thanksgiving was a sweet one for our family. We always love November meetings, when our staff gets together to play games, eat snacks, take pictures, and of course, plan for the future and praise God for what He has done for us. It’s hard for me to leave the boys in Pygmy Post for both days, but these meetings are some of the only times I get to be with our whole staff.

We were also able to visit Brad’s family for Thanksgiving. The boys did so well both there and back! They loved spending time with Grandma and Grandpa and were excited for them to visit us in return at the end of the week. It was a busy couple of days with lots of little errands and lots of quality time. We are thankful! We will probably travel most years for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I’d love to hear any ideas on how to have family traditions that still make the holidays special and memorable while traveling!

We also had our first joint birthday party! Our boys’ birthdays are a little less than a month apart, so we decided to have a fun excavator/dinosaur-themed birthday potluck for turning one and three years old. God has given us many good friends, and it was such a great time celebrating our two sweet boys with some of them!

KIDS CORNER:

We think our kids are part of our mission while they’re here in our home. Here’s what they wanted to tell you!

The baby has a cold, but he giggled when I asked what he wanted to say. Our three year old is snuggling with me as I write this. He just woke up and is reluctant to share any wisdom, but he wants to make sure everyone avoids the “scary things” (Halloween decorations) at Lowe’s! He was also curious if Pastor Kit reads our letters, which I assured him, he does. Can’t make this stuff up.