Surprises and Trials While in Cedarville, Ohio

As you know, lately we've been basically writing about the new house and our projects, and we don't share too much personal information anymore, other than our newsletters or prayer requests.  But today I'd like to share some personal info, if it's okay.

Cedarville... Without snow!!! (Not taken by us!)

We're currently in Cedarville, Ohio, at a missions conference.  We are two of about 100 missionaries here, and it's been really neat learning from the other missionaries on our recruiting adventure.  We even ran into two missionaries from Josiah Venture who serve in the Czech Republic and know our good friend, Bonnie!  What a treat to have that connection. 

And speaking of connections, the people who are housing us during this conference are the Johnsons.  They work at Cedarville, and have been gracious enough to open their home; they even came onto campus to see us during supper last night because we haven't seen them much with the busy schedule of the conference!  (Very sweet of them!)  Anyway, turns out that another of our good friends, Darryl, is related to them!!!  Mrs. Johnson is Darryl's grandfather's sister (his great aunt)!  What are the odds?!  How fun.

In the midst of the fun and interesting experiences we are having this week and know we'll have with family next week, we are also incredibly sad.  On Tuesday morning we found out that our friend, Larry Wiklund, a TECH missionary, had passed away earlier that day.

Larry had a struggle with rheumatoid arthritis, another kind of arthritis as well, and he was treated for Alzheimer's.  He retired in April 2010,, and the Graphics Department is still working to get a foothold after losing his presence in the office.  

Matt and I have known Larry for a year and a half, and in that time he has become very dear to us.  His death is a shock, and we're grieving.  

I share this knowing that you'll pray for his family, the Wiklunds, and I hope that you'll pray that TECH be a comfort to them.  :)

Thanks.  

... And We're Starting to Get Tired!

As you may have noticed, this has been a big couple of weeks!  We have been working hard on our new home, which we lovingly call The Peach House (because of it's brilliant peach color).  We are on an adventure with this thing!  We wanted to share a bit of that with you!  Here is a little bit of what we've been up to in PICTURE form.  Not everything is here, nor is everyone that has helped us.  We are missing several photos...  but I think this will give you an idea.  We haven't taken a snapshot for a few days, but that's okay.  Here's what we have SO FAR!

While Matt's Parents, Dan & Char, were here...

The carpet from the bedroom with the old toilet.

(We had a surprise work crew for most of a day!  The Harding family came over!)

Dan Harding with his son, Jonathan.

Our door is always open!--- Figuratively, that is.

The first window installed in our house!

The Harding girls working/sitting.  :)  

Dan and Jonathan

Hardings stuffing leaves!

Ron and Gail Showed up with CHIC-FIL-A and helped us for an evening!

Replacing the ceiling... Dan, Matt and Ron.

Dan working.  See the dust?

Ron and Matt holding up the ceiling.

Dan is putting in the screws!

The wall next to the window (this is sideways)... pre-caulk.

The kitchen before Molly cleaned it...

Ron, Char and Gail.  And snow???? No... dust.

Looks like this is when Ron lost a contact.

Another Day of Work!

Char is a VERY hard worker!

Dan is too!

Getting the tack strips up from the floor.

Dead carpenter ants.  Whew!!!!!

The insulation is going up!

The toilet is in!

Hmmm... where do we start?

Space heater and candle... it is helping the house smell, er, better.

True Texans.

He's so tough.  :)

Insulation is moving along!

Joel and Vic spend some time helping us!

Joel removing nails from the trim.

Matt and Vic installing the bathtub

Slight problem... the tub is 2 inches shorter than the space.  

Yikes!  It's not level?!  How can that BE?

Sheetrock! (1st Bedroom)

2nd Bedroom carpet is coming up and paneling down!

Missionary TECH Team Work Day!  MAN we got a ton done!!!!  What a loving group!

Kay and her son, Alex at the TECH work day!

I spy Lynella cleaning up the mess!

Brenna and David in the 1st bedroom working on sheetrock!

Tim working so fast he's blurry!

Peeling the paneling and sheet rock off the wall

Tim working on the bathroom door.

Matt installing a new, beautiful window into the 2nd bedroom.

Brenna getting up tack strip.

Lynella fighting the carpet and WINNING!

With all of the help we've received, we are moving quickly!  Check out our PH Page!

And now for today.

Today was full of BIG purchases!  Matt told me we're fine, and not to worry--- that we won't continue to spend money like this.  I'm thinking that he's right, so I'm not worried.  We bought our flooring today!  We also bought two colors of paint--- one for the walls and one for the trim! I'm very excited about these things!  We also bought some rollers and things like that... things to help us with the painting and trim.  You know what ELSE we bought?  A vanity!  Matt had originally planned on building one, but The Home Depot had one for $40, and Matt thought that was worth it!  I imagine that it's worth his saved time and stress, plus it has the built-in sink, and it's pretty.  We were given a faucet by Joel's friend, so that's one less expense!  (Our faucet leaked.)

All that to say, it's been a big day.  I'm so tired, and Matt is pretending to be asleep right now.  But before I go, I wanted to share some photos with you!  We're moving along!