party of four

Look who's going to be a big sister in January?!! :)

Mason baby #2 on the way!!! We couldn't be more excited!

new house!!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future!"

Jer. 29:11

I am so overwhelmed by what the Lord has done and I absolutely want to give Him ALL the glory!! 

Let me say first of all that we originally thought we would rent something for six months or a year while we figured out Des Moines since we had never been there and don't know anyone. So we went to look at a few rental options and realized quickly that we needed to change our plan. way too expensive. way too gross and old. way too small. So we came home. Prayed that God would work out the details if He had a house waiting for us in Des Moines... and oh.my.word.... HE got to work and I just cannot even believe all that He has done!!! 

I'll keep a lot of the details just for our little family to keep special and remember ourselves... but the whole mortgage process has been just unbelievable the way they keep saying 'oh you will need to pay this BIG amount of money here' and then they decide... 'oh never mind. you don't have to do that anymore.' Hello God. (I'm crying tears of joy now that I'm typing this.) remember how we still own our home in Amarillo and we're renting it out? yeah we thought that would make this all a little crazy and it did at first... but then God paved the way and provided OVER AND BEYOND ALL THAT I COULD ASK OR IMAGINE.

So, a few weekends ago we went back to Des Moines to go house hunting. Our realtors were the greatest and we saw 17 houses that Saturday - and we bought one! that day. we made an offer just like that and the next morning they accepted. I promise I'm not just saying this but I really sorta knew going into the weekend that this house was the one God had for us there. I can't even explain all the little details that God has ALREADY done to make sure we live in this house. He's so good. The one couple we know there sent us a link to the house months ago and said they saw it in this area called Beaverdale {which -from what we've heard- is a fun older neighborhood with a little square and restaurants and shopping and lots of younger people are apparently moving there and fixing up the older houses} It's definitely really cute, lots of character, and lots of big pretty trees. and also only about 10 minutes from the hospital for Mark. So.... we saw only one picture of the outside of the house and saw it was still in the process of being built. The builder bought this empty lot where there was just the remaining basement from an old house that had been torn down, so he built on it. It was so cute from the one unfinished picture and I just knew the inside would be cute too. It was quite a bit over our price range but we still wanted to see it just in case. I think Mark had even contacted the builder about it and they said it would be sold in a few days. So, we really thought it would be taken already by the time we got there. 

The second we pulled into the driveway my heart started beating so fast and I just couldn't stop smiling. I just knew. This was it. and again, it was unfinished. hadn't been painted. no grass. stickers on the windows. but still. It already looked perfect. we walked in and mark and I both were practically jumping up and down saying 'ok lets put an offer on it' haha. we hadn't even seen the upstairs or downstairs. :) so... we saw several more houses. some of them were pretty great, but we just kept thinking about this one. We prayed about it together. We went back to see the house one more time. My mom met us there with Reese. They both loved it. The builder came over and walked through the house with us. He seemed pretty great. He said the other couple who was really interested had just backed out the other day. Hello God. We called all the money people- taxes, insurance and mortgage guy - and God did it. HE worked it out. HE was building this house just for us in Des Moines.

My mom took this picture of us sitting outside just before we put an offer on it. and no, the photo is not doctored, or instagrammed or anything. It might be cheesy but I KNOW that is God shining down on us just like this picture shows. Telling us its going to be ok in Des Moines and He has prepared it all for us. 

It's still in the process of being built but we've gotten to be a part of picking out little things like floors, appliances, countertops, knobs, etc. It's been fun! The house will be painted sort of the color of the garage. and It's not really as big as this picture makes it look haha We're heading up there again this weekend to walk through with the builder again and make a a more decisions.

Don't get me wrong... I'm still a little terrified about moving to a new BIG city where we know no one. But thank you Jesus for giving us so many small little signs that you're taking care of us and that you'll provide exactly what we need. Can't wait to see what else is in store.