our precious church family

We had planned on returning to Huntsville on the weekends since it didn't look like we'd be selling our house any time soon. But the Lord had other plans, better plans than we could have asked for. Someone found our house through the for sale by owner website, came and looked at it twice, and we had a signed contract within 4 days. Our realtor graciously let us out of our listing with him, so we saved mucho money not having to pay him a commission. When we told the sellers in Birmingham that our buyers wanted to be in our house by school time, they agreed to move out a week earlier to accommodate us. So they told us we could move in two weeks later. (At least I think that's how it went.)

Several weeks prior, our church had planned a picnic for us on August 8th. Ended up that we weren't even going to be in Huntsville then. But we didn't let that stop us from driving to Huntsville for the day and going to our sweet church and enjoying a day with our family one last time.

I took a picture of Sam in front of this tree back in April of 2008. It's right in front of the door to our church. 2 1/2 years later and attending church for the last time as a Huntsville resident, I couldn't resist the photo opp.

Then and now...

After church, the kids ran around in their Sunday best before going to lunch.

We had a nice afternoon at the Schnorrenbergs then made our way to the picnic. It was hot! The kids ended up going in the church house for a little relief.

Kate and Laney found some ice and went to town.

Laney even found a water bottle for herself.

We got together for a family picture in front of the delicious cake they bought.

Then, to our surprise, there was a gift. What a beautiful vase! We were honored to be at Christ Pres. for 6 years, serving however the Lord had fit at our different stages in life.

I even got the little ones together for a picture. Miss Kate was on the move, so almost every picture I got has her planning her next escape.

We love you all and miss you so much already! Please pray for us to find a new church home here in B'ham. That's been the hardest part so far...we're ready to learn, grow, love, and more.