Beach Trip

Well, we decided to have a spur of the moment beach trip on our way home from church.  We hadn't been to the beach yet this year, so the parental units thought, "Why not?"  So we got home from church, changed our clothes and ate a quick lunch before loading up the van.  The Hootie Hoos slept on our way to Wimington.  When we arrived at Wrightsville Beach, we had front row parking...it was as if it was meant to be!!  We walked to the beach and the Hootie Hoos walked in the water for about 30 minutes.  Some may or may not have gotten drenched...good thing that I packed extra clothes for everyone.  My hubby was very observant as he mentioned my whole demeanor changed to one of peace as soon as I felt the sand through my toes.  I don't know what it is about the beach, but I do feel so relaxed and like I have no cares to weigh me down. After going to the beach, we took them to Toys 'R Us.  I needed some green children's hangers...do you know how hard they are to find!?!  Then we stopped at Chipotle (for those of you who don't know...Chris has a slight addiction to this restaurant) and picked up dinner for the parental units.  We put it in our cooler and ate it after the Hootie Hoos went to bed while we caught up on our TV shows for the week...a perfect way to end our night! 

Please enjoy some pictures from our day

Hootie Hoo #4 couldn't make it fast enough to the ocean

Hootie Hoo #1...was in heaven to have his feet in the water...and later the rest of his body

Hootie Hoo #2...she had a blast in the water

Hootie Hoo #3...wasn't too sure about the whole waves crashing on her

Waiting for the wave to come

LOVED it when the waves hit him

Daddy trying to keep him from going out further into the ocean!

Two happy Hootie Hoos

She finally warmed up to waves

Those are A LOT of shoes!!

And Chris was in heaven when he saw this sign...it has been over a month since he last got Chipotle and let's just say he would get it once a week when we lived in VA

Family Pictures

Well, it has been almost two months since we had our family pictures taken.  You would think we have been busy with a move and starting school!! :)  I must give a shout out to Darian Iida for capturing our family so amazingly by using her God-given talent. Darian has a very special place in our family...she is loved tremendously by our Hootie Hoos (she is the WORLD's BEST BABYSITTER!!) and loved even more by us...we often call her our "other daughter."  So enjoy some of the pictures from our family pictures.

I love the way he looks at me..even after 12 years of marriage and four Hootie Hoos later.

I love this man to pieces and am beyond grateful for him!!

She adores her big brother

She melts my heart!

Love him and love these Hootie Hoos

This perfectly captures our family

She melts his heart, too!

Love this girl!

She melts my heart, too!

She loves her daddy

He loves playing with his daddy

The perfect completion of our family...for now...the next additions will be the children we will be adopting

This is the one who made me a mom

These two are two peas in a pod

              And now time for some REAL LIFE pictures with the Hootie Hoos! 

Even Mom and Dad need to let loose!

Yup, she pretty much does her own thing! :)

This is a normal conversation setting for us...with the four Hootie Hoos being silly in the background! :)

He was DONE with pictures!

                                                              

He brings out the silly in EVERYONE!

This is how I feel most of the time!! :)

Sophie and her many faces.

She can get her daddy to just about do anything!

First Day of School

Today was our first day of school at 268 Academy.   We continued our family tradition of going out to eat at McDonald's for breakfast.  I can't believe that Josiah is in 1st grade, Sophie is in Pre-Kindergarten and Kyrie is in Pre-school for 3 year olds!  While here in North Carolina, Tobias is going to spend some time with Daddy while the others are at school.  When Tobias is not down for his nap, Daddy works with Tobias on "Your Baby Can Read" videos and flashcards or plays with him. 

Continuing our family tradition of eating breakfast at McDonald's

Tobias ready to dig in!

Such a pretty girl!

Daddy with Hootie Hoo 1 & 3

So much sunshine

Can't believe how grown up he looks!

Such a clown...just like his daddy

Kyrie--Pre-school--I want to be Daniel Tiger

Josiah--1st grade--I want to be a paleontologist

Sophie--Pre-Kindergarten--I want to be a police officer

Time to walk across the street to our classroom...so blessed that Nana Pat & Mr. Larry are letting us use their extra room

Kyrie putting her finished work in her folder

Josiah working on his reading comprehension

Sophie reviewing "Pp"

Josiah reviewing "Aa, Bb, Cc"

A new season

Well, this update has been long overdue.

There has been some significant changes for the Greenwoods.  At the beginning of July, Chris and I both felt like our time at Reston Presbyterian Church was coming to an end. So we started making plans for him to let the session of our church know.  We both felt like we were a little crazy to walk away from a paying job to move in with his dad and step-mom, but we also wanted to be obedient in what the Lord was leading us to do.  So at the end of August, the kids and I headed to NC and started our moving in process.  A few days later, Chris joined us with all of our earthly possessions in a U-haul.

Since finding out in March that we were not chosen to be the Senior Pastor at RPC, Chris has been applying to church after church after church.  Most of them have been for associate pastor positions.  Over and over again, we have heard, "We really want to say yes to you, but for some reason we feel like the Lord is wanting us to tell you no."  "We feel like the Lord is going to use you in big ways."  After going on many interviews and being told the same thing, I was beginning to feel like maybe the Lord may be leading Chris to be a senior/solo pastor.  I sat on this info. for awhile because in the past I have asked Chris about it and his response has  been that he never has had the desire to be a senior/solo pastor.  While we were on an interview in SC for an associate pastor position, the senior pastor there asked Chris, "Why aren't you applying for senior pastor postions?"  He went on to explain that he had glanced through his resume and PIF and shared that what he saw made him feel like Chris should be applying for senior pastor positions.  So on the way home, I took the opportunity to ask Chris what he thought about that part of the conversation and to share what the Lord had been saying to me about him becoming a senior pastor.  He took some time to pray about it and eventually shared that he felt like the Lord was wanting him to change his job search...no longer applying for associate pastor positions, but to now apply for senior/solo pastor positions. 

God has truly blessed us in this step of faith.  Chris knew he would need to apply for a part time job to help with finances.  It is hard doing that while we were still in VA.  Little did we know that God had a plan already for us.  Some of our good friends have recently moved back to Goldsboro, NC and started an EPC church.  Cornerstone was wanting to focus on getting their youth ministry up and started.  So late one night, we got an email from our friend saying that he wanted to talk to Chris the next morning about possibly working part-time for the church.  Chris and Ryan talked the next day, and we felt so blessed that Cornerstone wanted to help the Greenwoods during this season of waiting on the Lord. We are excited to be able to do ministry with the Rasmussens during this see and being a part of what God is doing here in Goldsboro. 

We have been asked very often, "How long are you going to be in Goldsboro?"  The answer is, "We have no idea."  We are living in this moment.  We are not looking ahead.  We are waiting patiently to see what God does next.  With the Greenwoods, God tends to show us one sentence at a time.  As Chris said a few weeks ago, "It would be nice to have a paragraph.  We aren't asking for God to reveal the whole book, but He has always revealed one sentence at a time to us."   So we are going to be content with this sentence right now.  Take this time to be a family.  Take this time to slow down and enjoy the simpler life.  Take this time to grown in areas that He wants us to grow in.  Take this time to just be here. 

So I ask that you pray for the Greenwoods during this season.  As we get settled into a new routine.  That the kids will continue to transition well.  As Chris continues to have interviews that God will give us the ability to discern where He wants us to be.  That we will take this time to grow and that we won't run from what He is wanting us to grow in. 

Splash Park

We spent the morning at a little hidden treasure in La Grange, NC...this super fun splash park.  The Hootie Hoos had so much fun and wanted to know where all the other kids were.  Well, it is called school my Hootie Hoos, which we haven't started yet.  So we are enjoying these last few days of summer before we start our school next week.  

 

Hootie Hoo #4 LOVED the water!!

Waiting for the water to come

It got him good!!

Hootie Hoo #3 wasn't too sure of all the water at first, but by the time we left...she LOVED it!

Hootie Hoo #2...having a blast!