Joel's new job will be in Brooklyn Park, MN. If you live in the Minneapolis area and happen to see a house or townhouse with a "For Rent" sign in the yard, please pass along the phone number. We're looking to rent something modest, but in a safe neighborhood. Hopefully a 20/25 or fewer minute drive to the Caterpillar plant in Brooklyn Park.

A Potpourri of Photos:


Marie and two of the Gretsch boys (Rhys and Daniel).




Mel and Marie




There were never such devoted sisters :-)




They really do love each other.




Joel playing scrabble with Dan & Jeanette (The Gretsches). I sat this one out to avoid humiliation. Jeanette is unbe-stinkin-lievable at Scrabble.




Renee being civil toward her father. She loves him except for when he's taking care of her and Mommy is within her line of sight. We're working with her on this. Marie was happy with absolutely anyone, so it's a bit different getting used to.




Playing dress-up with Lucy. Marie LOVES dressing up. We always try on hats and costume jewelry at Target and giggle while people give us odd looks.




Hannah and Marie. Hannah's mom told us that we could adopt her and take her with us to MN. I am hoping she was serious.




Joel makes a mean dog.




Katy and Maggie



And last, but not least...

MARIE'S FIRST DRAWING OF A PERSON!!! You may not be able to see it, but I watched her draw a head, eyes, ears, nose, face, arms, hands, legs, feet and hair! And she named her Kristin (her middle name).




Kristin and Bob.

First, a few photos. Then, if you're up for it, a bit of a melancholy blog post.




Sweet baby 'Nee.




A lovely dress that Jeanette Gretsch made for Marie. She also made a matching one for Renee. So special.




William, Renee and Marie watching an early morning cartoon together. No, I don't typically let Renee watch TV, but this just happened to be a cute photo op.




Playing with water balloons with some friends in our front yard.




Sisters.



I'm not trying to be over-dramatic here, but I thought I'd share this - and I can't sleep. This afternoon I went for a run, and this song started playing on the iPod. I completely lost it. I was bawling my eyes out, attempting to walk/run down Lake Pine.
*You can hear the song if you turn up the volume on your computer. There is a playlist at the bottom of the page, just click on the first song - "Faith My Eyes" by Caedmon's Call.


I think it really hit me because in the 4 years that Joel and I have been married, there have been so many times that we have just desperately missed and longed to be near our families. My husband is not an emotional man, but I have seen his heart on his sleeve a few times over the past several years and I know that he has wondered why God has put us where He has. I know it hurts him to be away from his siblings and parents. A family like his, with four siblings and parents who all love the Lord, is such a rare treasure.

Right now was not one of those times where we were longing to move to the Midwest. Not that we don't both miss our families and want to be a bigger part of their lives, but we have been happy here in North Carolina. We have made some amazing friends whom we share life with. Marie is making friends, too. It's really neat to watch her learn to play and share and love people.

I think this is why God is moving us now. Because this is not one of those times during which we think that moving to Minnesota is going to make our life so much better. We love our friends and love our life here. We know that in MN raising our children will still provide daily challenges, Maggie will still have occasional attitude-flare-ups (who, me?), Joel's job is not going to be stress-free, and we're going to have to make new friendships with people who probably won't be as cool as the ones we have here. It's just not possible, right? Heehee.

For the record, Joel was not looking for a transfer. He happened upon the Minneapolis job when he was searching for a different job that he had applied for in Cary (to see if the posting had closed) - otherwise he never would have seen it, or applied. We're both just kind of dumbfounded right now. God definitely has plans and is making it very apparent that He is in control of our life.

I think this song just reminded me of all of those times I mentioned before, during which we've felt lonely/sad/confused starting over in new places, hundreds and hundreds of miles away from our families. Maybe even a little (or a lot) frustrated with God during some of our lower points. We've had countless conversations about how and when we might move "home" and what that would look like. And countless other times where we've not allowed ourselves to have these thoughts, because it just seemed so far-fetched. Now He has done this in his own timing; not ours. And although we're both hopeful that we will be in MN for a long time, and eager to share more life with our families, we are also thankful for where we have been the past 4 years and the friends and experiences we have had. So unbelievably thankful.

Wow, this turned out to be a bit dramatic. But oh well. I'm in a dramatic mood. I reserve that right as a female :-)


"Faith My Eyes", by Caedmon's Call

As I survey the ground for ants
Looking for a place to sit and read
I'm reminded of the streets of my hometown
How they're much like this concrete that's warm beneath my feet

And how I'm all wrapped up in my mother's face
With a touch of my father just up around the eyes
And the sound of my brother's laugh
But more wrapped up in what binds our ever distant lives

But if I must go
Things I trust will be better off without me
But I don't want to know
Life is better off a mystery

So keep'em coming these lines on the road
And keep me responsible be it a light or heavy load
And keep me guessing with these blessings in disguise
And I'll walk with grace my feet and faith my eyes

Hometown weather is on TV
I imagine the lives of the people living there
And I'm curious if they imagine me
Cause they just wanna leave; I wish that I could stay

But I get turned around
I mistake some happiness for blessing
But I'm blessed as the poor
Still I judge success by how I'm dressing

So I'll sing a song of my hometown
I'll breathe the air and walk the streets
Maybe find a place to sit and read
And the ants are welcome company

And I'll walk with grace my feet and faith my eyes
And I'll walk with grace my feet and faith my eyes

We're moving...




...more to come.

Joel and Marie returned from Minnesota last night. They were gone for 5 days and I missed them something fierce. Joel was kind enough to take lots of photos for me. They visited the Nature Center, got to see a combine cut hay and a baler bale it, climbed on said bales of hay, celebrated Ralph's 60th birthday and Ada's 1st birthday, played in an all-day church softball tournament (which they won), went to church with Aunt Heidi and Uncle Chad, played with cousins, ate donuts, played kickball/golf/tennis/cards/Pictionairy (which Joel tells me was hilarious), and who knows what else! We're talking about the Meehans here. They. Don't. Stop. But they're a lot of fun, and do manage to squeeze in some meaningful conversation between activities!


On Wednesday evening, before the rest of the family arrived, Barb/Ralph/Joel/Marie all went to the Nature Center by their house. Ralph volunteers there, and they have some really pretty walking trails, too.







Ending a long day of travel w/a story courtesy of Grandma Barb.




Marie got to see the combine cut the hay and the baler bale it, which she thought was pretty cool. On Friday while they were watching the Olympic Rhythmic Gymnastics ribbon baton twirling, Ralph mentioned how he thought he could move one of the bales of hay. Dan bet him that he couldn't. Well, Dan lost that bet and had to perform a 1.5 minute long rhythmic baton twirling routine. Barb made the baton w/a ribbon and a paper towel roll. Seriously, did nobody video-tape this? Anyway, here are some photos of the bales...


Tim and Isaac




Cousins playing:



Playing Lincoln Logs w/Uncle Chad. That's quite the masterpiece!





Ada is 1!!!




Tim with his three kiddos (and one more on-the-way!) Our neices and nephew are adorable. Isaac is 4 1/2, Naomi is 2 1/2 and Ada is 1 now. Baby #4 due in April!




And, on a side note, my home state of Nebraska just passed a new law making it legal to abandon your children at any hospital, no questions asked, up to the age of 19. Many states have similar laws allowing you to abandon a newborn up to 72 hours after their birth with no penalty, but this is a bit different (I'd say!). You have a rough day with an unruly teenager and you go and drop them off with no penalty to be custody of the state. The point is to prevent parents from doing something irrational, I suppose. I probably wouldn't have lived at my parents house much past the age of 14 if this had been a law when I was in middle school/high school.

On another side note, the girls and I will be traveling to Nebraska next month. Hmmm...interesting.... Haha.

Here's the link to the article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26353351/?GT1=43001

Joel and Marie have a trip to Minnesota coming up soon - a fun Daddy/Daughter getaway. When Marie was a baby and Joel went out of town, I felt SO stressed out. It's funny how things have changed. I now consider being at home alone with Renee for 4 days verrrry relaxing.

Marie is trying to figure out how the world works, and saying some really funny things along the way. Sorry, I have to kind of give some context otherwise they won't make sense. There are some even funnier ones, but setting them up would take 10 years.

Yesterday we were talking about how Joseph was a carpenter, and taught Jesus his trade. I asked Marie, "Do you know what a carpenter does?" She responded,
"A carpenter cleans carpets!"

When Traci visited us last month we went for a walk around a pretty lake that our family frequents. On that walk, a truck was driving on the path toward us (it apparently had been doing some work at Apex Community Park). Marie has been obsessed with this truck that was driving on the path ever since. She thought it was funny because trucks don't belong on paths. Anyway, last night we went for a walk on that same path and Marie said to us,
"Where is the truck? Is there going to be a truck on the path? TRUUUUUCK! TRUUUCK (shouting for the truck to come)...TRUUUUUCK! I'm going to make it happen!"

And this morning she and a friend were watching Bambi. There's a scene where the owl is telling Thumper, Flower and Bambi about the birds and the bees. They blow him off saying that will never happen to them, and in the next scene they each meet their special lady friends. If you've ever seen it, it's pretty funny. The boy animals pass out, turn red and start acting really ridiculous when they meet the girls. When Bambi met his doe Marie said,
"Mommy, are they going on a date?"

Here's one of the girls playing together yesterday:

SHE SITS! I tried sitting her up last night and - voila!





Marie wanted to see if she could fit in the Baby Bjorn and - double voila! This was actually histerical. She was laughing so hard.

Well, we're off to the theatre to see a free showing of "Veggietales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything."

Baby Renee had to get a trim two months ago, but Big Sister Marie had her very first haircut today! Scissors had never touched this curly mess before 6pm this evening. I about had a heart attack when she made her first cut. I think she must have taken off 4 inches or so! It's a bit shorter than we wanted, but hair grows....

BEFORE

The Mop on Top.



The Wet Mop.



AFTER




Marie has started sucking her fingers lately. I think it's partially because Renee does it and she's a little copycat, and partially because she's getting her last molars.



"Night Night!"

Today, 8/05/08
Renee turned six months old yesterday, so I attempted to take a couple of photos of her. This doesn't happen very often. I think they capture her cute little personality pretty well. She's a goofball.







The next couple are of Marie painting this morning. I read somewhere that you can turn an old box into an easel, so I tried it this a.m. with a box that Renee's new bathtub came in. Works pretty well.

Getting started.




About halfway there. The finished product was pretty much entirely brown, since Marie got really excited and smudged all of the paints together. Then she picked up the paper plate with all of the paint on it and smeared it all over her face. Awesome. Fun, though!

A Hodgepodge of Photos...

Having fun with blocks at home.








Play-doh + potato head parts and pieces = weird creatures.




Renee and Daddy. Renee is 6 months old TODAY!




The next few were taken back in June during Tim and Carissa's visit (with Ada), but I forgot to post them until now. Here are the girls




This is our current home in North Carolina. A nice little 3 bedroom townhouse. It is our 4th home since getting married, and we recently celebrated our 4th Anniversary on 7/31/08. Lots of moving!








Uncle Tim and Marie




The girlies showing a little affection.