Quick update

I apologize for the lack of pictures lately. Our main computer crashed and is currently being repaired, we should have it back sometime this week. It seems to take a lot longer to add pictures using my laptop, but I had some free time today so thought I'd add a few before you forget what the kids look like!

Just a quick update to keep everyone on top of our quickly changing lives! Pavan returned to work this morning, after two months at home. He will continue doing physical therapy every Wednesday afternoon for now, but seems to have healed nicely after surgery. As before, the broken elbow is bothering him more than his shoulder...but the surgeon has encouraged him to give it a full year to feel back to normal.

Kindra had her solo/ensemble competition in Merrill, WI over the weekend. She performed in a triple trio and a soprano solo. She got ratings of "1" on both performances, which is the best score. They did such a great job!

Kindra is also preparing for a forensics competition next month in Wausau. They are practicing during lunch to present short speaking pieces during the competition. She continues to amaze me with her outgoing personality and self confidence! I think these traits will serve her well when we move. I am so happy we will be moving to a school district with so many opportunities for the children, they are all so talented!

Anna is preparing to do first communion on May 4th. This is a very big deal in the Catholic church, and an amazingly beautiful and touching ceremony. I encourage everyone who is able to come to Rhinelander to watch her take her first communion. Right now she is completing her first communion booklet, which is teaching all of us a lot about Catholicism and the symbolism behind the various parts of mass. We will attend a workshop with her in April to finalize first communion plans. She will also be doing her first reconciliation in the next few weeks, which is her first time doing confession....for those of us who don't know much about the Catholic way of doing things! We have to work through a book prior that that too, she should bring it home from school today. Jesus said we should come to him as the little children do...Anna is a perfect example of that. Her amazing faith, and the way she approaches life can serve as a lesson to all of us!

Noah and Amaya are growing up so quickly! Noah will have his kindergarten screening this Friday. Can you believe he will start kindergarten in the fall! He is continuing with swim lessons on Thursday afternoons, and dance class on Tuesday evenings. Amaya is also doing swim lessons and dance class, and will start gymnastics lessons a week from Wednesday! She is so excited about starting gymnastics, and has already learned a lot from Anna.

We have some really exciting news to share about our house here in Rhinelander...we've sold the house and all 72 acres to one of our neighbors!! He had initially been interested in buying two lots we were listing for sale. Then we ran into some significant problems with our mortgage company. They refused to let us sell any of the land, even though only 25 acres were listed on the mortgage. So, we were back at square one. Tons of paperwork to fill out, appointments with an accountant and an attorney, everything put on hold AGAIN! And only 90 days to get rid of this mortgage or we wouldn't be able to buy a house in Sioux Falls! Very stressful. So Pavan called Bruce and asked if he'd be interested in buying everything. Bruce talked with his wife and his son, and they came through for us. He's getting quite a deal, and we will have to cough up our entire savings to pay off the remainder of the mortgage, but we will finally be FREE of this place!!! It's a relief, but also a little sad. We love this piece of land, and will be so sad to let it go...but there are great things ahead for our family, and this is the first step. We will no longer be prisoners to this house! Hooray!

I'd better get going. The girls will be home from school in an hour, and I plan to have supper ready to eat early tonight. Then I"ll load everyone up and head to Wausau for gymnastics. It's quite an adjustment with Pavan being back to work. Looking back, I can certainly see God at work in our lives these last couple of months. Up until this week, Kindra has had practice for solo/ensemble after school two or three days/week. We've also had gymnastics and dance three days/week out of town. If Pavan hadn't have been out of work, it would have been impossible for me to do all of that on my own. Now the count down is on until we are in a city that will offer us everything we need, within 10 minutes of our house!  

Oh, a few dates you need to know....

Dance recital is May 17th and 18th....if you are planning to attend, I have to know by April 1st so I can buy plenty of tickets.

Anna's first communion is May 4th at the 9AM mass...please try to come if at all possible.

Spring break for the children is March 15th-23rd...I am planning to take them to Sioux Falls for a few days and then head to KC for the remainder of spring break, including Easter.

I am hoping to have thelong awaited surgery on my leg in March or April, just waiting for a call from the surgeon to schedule the actual date. Want to be sure I have plenty of time to heal before we start really moving stuff to Sioux Falls. As it is, I am planning to rent a storage unit in Sioux Falls when we go there over spring break, so we can start boxing up items and moving them as we are able. Living in a hotel for 2 months showed us just how many of our belongings we can do without on a daily basis!!

More later,

Rebecca