Workin' Away... (Kristine)

       These next few weekends are going to be super important weekends for the Reed household, but not for the reasons they typically would. Sunday is our 6th anniversary as a married couple and the Saturday after that is Kristine's 30th birthday. We'll be spending those weekends working on our Oregon house to get it finished and ready to sell. We are super super close, but still have some painting on the inside and outside, some landscape work and finishing removing our belongings from the location. It is our hope that this can be accomplished in the next few weekends so we can formally list the house with an agent. If you are in the area and would like to visit/help let us know. If you want to watch Jenna while we work, that would be an awesome way to help as well. We'll be visiting with Eric's parents some while we're down there, so we're looking for help around those times.

      Lately we've been trying to find a new normal up in Washington. It's a weird feeling to feel "at home" but also in a time of transition. We don't want to invest too much in the house we're renting up here knowing we hope to move closer to Eric's work, but at the same time we want to enjoy the time while we're here. I've been starting to invite people over for play dates for Jenna and have been starting to get involved in mom's groups in the area. The weekends we've been able to be up here, we've attended a few churches. A couple might have the potential to be a home fellowship for us, but we don't feel like we've found the exact one yet. We're seeking God's direction in this and would love for you to join us in prayer for God to lead us to the right place to get plugged into. Which is another reason for getting our Oregon house done, to really invest in the area up here! 

      The weekend before last we stayed up here for the Arlington Air Show on Saturday. Eric was able to fly his plane in while Jenna and I took the short drive up there. Jenna loved seeing the different airplanes and helicopters. She did pretty well during the air show and stayed with our beach towel. She loved the grass more than the aerobatic pilots though. She also was convinced the military tanks were trains though... This girl is developing a serious love for trains which is hilarious because we barely have any trains in the house! She can hear them at our house though and says, "CHOO CHOO! TRAIN!" all the time. She's got good hearing! To redeem her on the airplane side, she can hear a plane in the air, spot it and say plane. She can even spot one while we're driving in the car. So I don't think airplanes are out of the "cool" toddler crowd yet. 

      I (Kristine) have found a great local Asian grocery store to buy most of our vegetables, sauces and meat from and am working on finding a great fruit stand, bread store and place to purchase dairy from. Yes there are big chain grocery stores, but I find the best values are at the local places. PLUS the Asian grocery store I found is fabulous. It's got nearly anything I could ever want for my Asian recipes which definitely encourages me to cook Asian food more often. I say Asian because obviously there are many many many different types of cultures and food in that part of the world. A part of the world we still hope to live in someday. :) It'll be fun to cook some of the same dishes as our friends in Indonesia in this part of the world. I guess it's kinda my way of coping with the transition, plus my family benefits on the great food. 

    Jenna has been thriving lately. She says multiple words and has great comprehension of the English language even though she doesn't say any real phrases yet. It's fun to see her excited to see other kiddos or light up when her favorite show is on. She loves digging in dirt and playing in water. Which makes gardening a good hobby for her. I am trying to teach her...we shall see what happens. I don't have a green thumb! Which is why I buy actual plants versus seeds. I figure if the plants already got a good start, we stand a chance. 

  Prayers for our health would be appreciated too. The past few days I've felt under the weather and I am not quite sure why. Jenna's been teething and being a picky toddler so that adds to things. Thanks so much for all your support. Please feel free to ask us any questions you like. :) Off to work as a mama!

Blessings,

The Reeds