As the faith story of our current chapter continues to unfold, God's intricate writing includes details that yet again, display His very nature of being Sovereign and in complete control. There are things that continue to happen that you simply can not make up! Nearly every single time one of those details displays it's beautiful face, I'm all surprised with glossy eyes and goosebumps up and down my arms...but really, I shouldn't be. Because God's got this. He's in it. He's in control of all of it. And when He's in charge, His glory is displayed in it's finest--if only we are able to tell HIS story accompanying a fraction of that awesome glory.
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| Surreal.... |
Within 3 days of our home being on the market, we had 3 showings and 2 offers. Within those 3 showings were things that only God could have arranged; counter offers that even our realtor was pleasantly shocked by. That's God!
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| An afternoon t-storm rolling in! |
Our Pastor attending a pastor's conference in Chicago, which he has done for many years, but this just happened to be the year that his 'dinner date' would be the Pastor that married Andy and I, whose church we were involved in for 3 years in Minnesota before moving west!! You can't arrange that kind of meeting. That's God!
Timely texts, cards, verses of encouragement, a daily devotional, a song that moves you to worship Him smack dab in the middle of boxing up "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See" you once read to your three littles (which they eventually memorized)...they may seem like only small things but they are no less insignificant than any other bigger affirmation that has come our way lately. The sheer volume of these 'small' things has been deafening and encouraging and perfected in it's minute of being before us. Got it Lord. :)
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| Another fun night with the Formby fam!! |
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| Gonna miss this gal--but a friendship has formed that will span the miles between ;) |
A family friend who "happened" to be on his way to Minnesota from Oregon, drove the extra 4 hours to load up a trailer of our things that would have otherwise been quite a puzzle to pack in a moving truck. The timing isn't coincidence. That's God!
Amidst all the crazy hair-pulling stresses & frantic frustrations & flurry of "to-dos" and endless roller-coaster emotion, life must still be lived and there was no shortage of that as we continued to conqueror one activity, one highlight, one milestone one after another! Sleep deprived, over-caffeinated perhaps, but with as much strength and energy as we can muster up as we shed streaming tears and laughed those scarcely belly-aching laughs as each one passed us by one at a time. Coffee was consumed in obscene amounts. Family congregating nightly. Smiles pasted on tired but authentically joyful faces. Jesus be praised as we trekked on day after day.
If you dare proceed, here is the Anderson 'highlight reel' of all the happeneings as we counted down the end of another school year, all the while looking ahead to the Minnesota move with its' own insistent planning and details. There are times when I feel as though I'm getting whiplash from looking to the left in wrapping things up here and bursting out in tears with the conclusion of the school year marking a finality on so very much, only a millisecond later to be looking to the right in great anticipation of what's to come and all that this opportunity will provide for the five of us!!! How one does something like this without the Lord, I'll never understand. Christ-centered: that's how we're pushing through and keeping our eyes to the skies, remaining kingdom-minded, and passing out a lot of those "never let ya go" type of hugs & prayers and praises between the five of us.
Spring Band Concert
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| Nanny & Pappy with Austin |
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| So handsome!! |
ART/CTE Showcase at Lowry High School
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| Andy's classroom |
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| Artworks everywhere!! |
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| Words can't express how proud of this man I truly am. |
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| My heart is forever captured by these 4 boys of mine. |
Austin's 11th Birthday!!!
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| it's a "Peanuts Party"!! |
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| A bittersweet dinner as a fam in our backyard |
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| Present time! |
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| That "brotherly look" ;) |
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| Just a little shocked... |
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| ...and even more so with his very own gun!! |
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| Lots of hunting in their future!!! |
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| Happy Birthday Austin!! |
T-Ball & Baseball Finale
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| Mason's last t-ball game!! |
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| Sliding into second...like always! ;) |
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| Saweet hit! |
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| Sawing batta!! Carson hit a double!! :) |
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| Playing second--awesome defense!! |
Alan's Retirement Party!!
We are all so very proud of you dad!!
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| SURPRISE!! |
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| The surprise party was successful!! |
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| Pappy with his grandkids! (minus two...) |
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| Family came from Texas and Wyoming to help him celebrate! |
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| A proud Dad with his kiddos :) |
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| Heart-eyes for this guy (always & forever...) |
Mason's Kindergarten Graduation!!
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| Mason & Aven (top row) were 'hip checking' a few times during this song...too much cuteness! |
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| graduate! |
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| Mason and Mrs. Rinas--one of the very best teachers I know!! |
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| These two :) Cousins & best friends--Aven & Mason. A priceless pic. |
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| SO fun to have GiGi there!!! |
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| And Nanny and Pappy too! |
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| Proud Parents of our lil' Kinder graduate! |
Survivor Day & then Award Day at FFMS
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| Austin's ready!! |
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| Austin's class getting ready for the next event! |
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| Tug Of War!!! His class won! :) |
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| So glad I got to be there with my boy! |
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| Austin honored for winning the NV fishing poster contest--beating out 161 entries!! |
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| Trumpet trio of Amazing Grace...gave me chills! |
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| Austin received "Trumpeter of the Year Award" :) |
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| Proud Grandparents :) |
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| Austin's fishing poster displayed around town!! |
I won't deny that the last day of school was tough. Really tough. And believe you, me...I was going to be tough gettin' through it all. I choked back the tears. Literally at one point. I hid behind the sunglasses. I had a mindful running prayer all morning long of 'Lord with-hold these tears until later'. Not because I was scared or unwilling to be vulnerable, but because I wanted my boys, my sentimental yet strong gents, to go out with smiles on their faces and memories they'll hold near and dear.
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| The 'taking down' of Mr. A's classroom. |
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| #forevermyguy |
Our gents witnessed their sentimental mom lose it as she stood in Mr. Anderson's classroom one final time. The rush of emotion was unstoppable. I don't mean to get all mushy on you, but when you look around at the bare white walls that were once vibrantly colorful with artistic posters, hear the echo reverberate throughout the room, eyes falling upon the podium where you saw your handsome hubby stand a time or two (or a hundred), picturing those moments when you stopped in during 3rd hour with your littles and their daddy stops teaching to make 'introductions' to students, remembering random coffee drop-offs because that extra caffeine was a necessity in order to make it through the last stage of planning for the Student Art Show, a conversation with a senior that wasn't about second semester grades but about life goals instead....those precious memories were the reason this sentimental lady lost it. It always has been, and will always be, more than 'just a job' for my man. All we can hope and pray is that those students, parents, teachers, friends, family, etc. who walked through the classroom of Mr. A saw that it was more than just a 'room'; it was a place where kids felt safe, a place where Mr. Anderson challenged and inspired eager minds, a place where he poured out his heart time and time again in a professional sense to always give His very best to the One who created him with those very talents.
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| The last time I will pick up my boys on this very lawn at Grass Valley Elementary. Grateful. |
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| One final moment in which these boys enjoyed this particular classroom. |
As the doors closed behind Andy on room #602, another chapter for this FFof5 was also closed. But in God's perfect timing of affirming, with the classrooms that await both Mr. & Mrs. Anderson, we can eagerly look forward to the lives we will encounter and the story that will continue to play out as we seek to give God the glory for all that He has done and will continue to do. He has the pen. Write it Lord!
With that.....the excitement continues to build! Private tears continue to fall. Tears of sorrow and tears of joy. But Christ continues to be the center. The packing of boxes continues. Our home search in MN in full swing. Trips about to commence. Family reunions to be had. Onward we go!!!!!
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| never a dull moment with this guy ;) |
