From spring preview to winter wonderland~updates on us

Okay, so it seems like the crazy "Kansas" weather followed us down here to Northwest Arkansas!! About a week and a half ago we were outside playing in temperatures that reached into the 70's, playing outside at a local playground here in Bella Vista. The girls were so sweaty by the time we left it was naptime when we got back to the house!!

They had a beautiful lake right off the road which was just in front of the playground; next time we'll have to remember to bring some stale bread for the birds!!

Being able to play at the playground brought the girls such joy!!! I love Mikayla's face in this picture!

I tell ya, this girls has NO trouble making friends! Now if the weather would just cooperate and get nice and STAY nice so we could possibly check out one of the local homeschool groups so she could make some MORE friends!!

Bare tootsies in the sand in JANUARY?!?!?

The view from the playground....lovely ozark hills!!!

A cool find for us (especially for Ken)....the Veterans Wall of Honor right across the parking lot from the playground. A very sobering reality of the sacrifice our servicemen have given for our country!!

Each brick had the name of a soldier and their rank.

And here we are, today!! LOL!! Looks like the forest in Narnia! Last Tuesday we had a winter storm blow through, which I think brought about 7 inches of snow plus a couple inches of sleet. We were stuck in the house until Saturday! Today the snow started in the wee morning hours and I believe we got about 13 inches of snow where we are here in the very northwest corner of Arkansas; down towards Fayetteville they got close to 20 INCHES!!

The slide.....er....I mean the stairs coming down from the back deck.

Our car is under there somewhere!!

UPDATES ABOUT OUR FAMILY:

Well, no news is good news sometimes. In our case, we haven't received much news yet regarding a new job for Ken (besides the part time work he has right now) but God has really been speaking to us both about continuing to trust Him with our hearts and for our provision. We've experienced so many different emotions; this transition has been much harder on everyone than what we had anticipated. But our FAther is SO faithful, I KNOW someone had to be praying for me the other day because I was quite literally overwhelmed with such a sense of peace and a very real sense of His presence with me right then and there. I'll admit it has been a struggle for me to stay consistent in His word as of late, but I know that even when I am failing He is still consistent and faithfully holding me up. Ugh, I've done terribly over the past week keeping up with my James study but at the same time Father has been speaking TONS to me through Hebrews! Every weekend at church thus far God uses that scripture to jump right off the page at me and scream HAVE FAITH IN ME (Hebrews 11)!!!! Things may not happen in the timeframe 'I' think is best, but I know that Father's plans for me are only good.

I do sense changes are on the horizon, I don't know what that means, but I am going to cling to my Father in the meantime!