The Newsletter - Part 1

This week we sent out a newsletter to update some of our friends and family on some of the upcoming adventures we have planned.  Because we obviously did not send a newsletter to everyone I am going to share on the blog the newsletter that we sent out in 2 parts.  So, without further ado, here is part 1 of our recent family newsletter:

Throughout the years Tyler and I have received numerous family Newsletters.  Although we find them engaging, informative, and simply delightful; we have never felt it necessary to draft our own.  For some reason, whenever the topic would arise as to whether we should write one, we felt there would never be enough to warrant a newsletter over, say, a blog posting.  Well, Tyler has spoken, and announced that the year 2011 holds so many changes in our family that we simply must do more than our simple blog can accomplish: Hence this newsletter!

Although it may seem premature to send out a newsletter declaring future events for the Smith family we do have a reason.  Not only do we wish to keep all of our friends and family well informed ahead of time, but also we wish for you all to share with us as we walk through this year of activity.  Shall we walk through the year together?  

Let’s start with a little background... About 2 weeks ago we went under contract on our house. We have thoroughly enjoyed living in this home that the Lord provided for the past 6 years, and would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all of you who helped us to get our start by building it alongside us.  We are saddened to say goodbye to our home, yet excited to move on to the next adventure.  At this moment the inspection has gone great and we are currently scheduled to close on the Ides of March.  We have yet to find a temporary location to move to, but hopefully by the time this reaches you, we will be in the midst of moving to a suitable apartment or house.  With plans of selling and moving in March; it will not strike those of you closest to us as surprising to learn that we are going to be starting to build a new home sometime in May.  Please pray for us as we endeavor to construct a home sufficient to meet the needs of our growing family, yet not overwhelming to Lori’s fear of having to maintain and clean a mansion!  Lord willing we will be able to build and move into our new home no later than October.  Before our busy Summer of wielding hammers running wires, however, is a busy month of May for Tyler. 

For a few years now,  we have been supporting and praying for a missionary in Ghana, Africa.  In various ways, Tyler has felt the need to express our support for Rockeybell through more than just the gift of a regular monthly gift.  Not only do Tyler and I know that our presence could be a great service to the cause of Christ, we also know that the Lord has many lessons and blessings for us that we can only learn through service.  At this point Tyler will be going to Ghana for a ten day trip to assist Rockeybell in his ministry to Muslims and African Traditionalists through radio programs and conflict resolution outreach programs.  If you have any questions about this trip of a lifetime or would like to help us afford this exciting new journey, please feel free to call or come by for an exciting visit. We’d love to provide the details of the projects in Ghana through Rockeybell. 

to be continued...

Treasure Box

We have started packing up our home to move.  Not only does it seem overwhelming at times, but downright crazy.  I keep reminding myself that the mess created by moving is only temporary.  Eli and Si have been huge helpers and I am thankful for their attempts to please in packing.  The first items that we packed were our books.  Mostly because we will not need all of our books in the interim house so most of them will remain packed for the next 6 months.  I have to admit it was hard for me to decide which books to pack for the long period and which to keep accessible.  With the turn of Spring around the corner I opted to keep almost exclusively garden and outdoor books.  

While Eli was packing his first box he pulled out this white three-ring binder from my shelf.  I assumed it was my photography portfolio and told him he would enjoy looking at it.  Well, he opened it up and wasn't excited about anything he saw.  Obviously, I had to see why so I went over and looked at the book he had found.  It turned out to be a collection of all of my grandmother's recipes.  I had no idea I even had a book of my gram's recipes.  What a treasure to find on my very own shelf.  This book naturally made it to the keep out pile so that I could peruse it at my leisure.

The three-ring binder is full of photocopies of hand written recipes of all kinds.  Most of them are labeled with the person she received the recipe from.  It is amazing to me that if we could continue to keep hand written recipe cards like this we could track genealogy for women, or at least women who like to cook. If you are in a cooking mood please feel free to come on over and we can attempt one of my gram's great recipes!