trip to Roswell

wrapping up summer

The month of August was a busy one for our family! First, we had a great visit from Uncle Jake, who drove all the way from NYC to see us! (Well, really we were just one of the many stops on his cross-country road trip). We had a blast with him here. Then, the kids and I headed to Roswell for a last-minute, quick trip to see my parents. It was a busy, fun-filled trip. We saw a lot of family on the Markl side and G and I had a visit to uncle Paul to get our teeth cleaned. It was G's firs time at the dentist and she did really well. When we returned to Arkansas we sold our house, started school, bought a house (it's still under contract so more on that later) and things are back in full swing! As much as I love Autumn, I just hate seeing summer end. So many memories seem to be created during those long, hot, fun summer days and nights.

visit to the zoo/safari with uncle Jake

SOLD!

On Friday August 23rd, 2008 at 10:00am MT this house officially was signed OUT of our name. We have a lot of mixed feelings about the selling of our town home in Parker, CO.

A lot happened while we were in this little town home. We got pregnant with G, Becca had emergency surgery to save G, we had our first Christmas as a married couple away from home, we met our future sister-in-law who lived with us for a short time, and now we have SOLD it.

After we moved out of it in 04' we have been renting it, and I will NEVER have another rental property as long as I live. It was the most troublesome experience ever, and we had decent renters. However, I learned a lot through this entire process. All we have is the Lord's not ours and He can do with it what he pleases, & we are required to have faith.

Our renter moved out with no more than a weeks notice less than ONE month ago. Once again, I was in a panic. We were so worried about our finances at this point and how we were going to afford this place. We were a DAY away from putting carpet in and spending thousands of dollars. My mother-in-law was going to drive to Parker and work her magic on the place. The day before all of this was going to happen a couple went through and looked at our place. Our renters hadn't moved out and they had a cat that had demolished the place, so these people went through and the place stunk and it had boxes everywhere. Regardless, after some hard negotiations we met in the middle and agreed on a price. Would we have liked to have sold this place for as much as we paid for it? Of course we would have, but things could have been a lot worse for us, and they could have gotten worse fast.

We are so thankful to the Lord for all that He does. In a weird way we are thankful for going through these difficult times. It really helps us to grow in the Lord and grow together as a couple and a family. In the huge scheme of it all, things could be much worse, and I love the reminders He is always giving us. Once again we are ridiculously blessed.

The Robbins Nest

ready, set, WALK!

Book Recommendation

Okay, I have to admit, I'm a little biased on this one: A) because of the title and B) because the election is coming up and it's politically educational........

none-the-less, this is an awesome children's book! My mother-in-law and I spotted it while taking Grace to story time at the bookstore last week and couldn't resist. It's a little above a 3 year-olds level and attention span, but I think most kids 3 and above would get it. As you probably guessed, it's about a little girl, Grace Campbell, who is astonished when she finds out there has never been a "girl President!" Her elementary school is having a mock election and she decides to run and is up against Thomas Cobb, "the best man for the job". It explains the concept of electoral votes really clearly and..........oh..........I'll keep the ending a surprise, but you really should check this book out in the next few months if you have young children, it'll totally be worth it!

family fun

Last week Grandpa Robbie and Nonnie (Kirk's parents) came to visit us (I think they really just came to visit the kids, but we were happy to have some adult company around too, plus, we took advantage of having babysitters and squeezed in a few dates!) We had a fun-filled week of swimming, shopping, playing, going to the park, and mini-golf. The kids really enjoyed having their grandparents around. The heat and humidity was grueling, but that didn't stop us from having fun outside. Ben decided to show off and take his first steps while they were here. He's till trying to figure out the walking thing, taking a few more

steps each day, but he's such a speedy crawler, that still seems to be his preferred method of travel. He's 10 months old today! Thank you grandpa and nonnie for coming to visit, we had a wonderful time!

The sparkle of my eye

The other day G and I were in a store and she spotted some very sparkly, spangly purses. She ran over to them and picked one up and said "Wow! Look mom, isn't this sooooo dramatic?!??!" Yes, indeed it is G. :)