I'm having a very emotional day today.  I was able to help in Ben's class this morning, got a call from Olivia's school that they had a water main break and were letting out school immediately (10am). So, I was able to spend the afternoon with my two sweet kids who are growing up far quicker than I ever dreamed they would, we went to our house tonight and were told it would be ready in 2 weeks!!! Olivia cried as we sat and talked for a long while about things at school.  What an emotionally charged day!  I feel as if so often I complain about so many things (I'm pretty good at that).  And I find myself constantly saying, well when we move, or when it's summer, or when this happens things will change, etc... why is it so hard for me to just enjoy today?  Enjoy the kids fighting and begging to stay up later, enjoy my sweet 6 year old sitting on my lap asking me to play with her hair, enjoy my 4 year old giggling so loud I'm afraid he'll wake up the sleeping neighbors.  So today I vow to enjoy each day. Truly, in a way I never have.  I'm so thankful for what I have, a great husband, and two amazing kids, a brand new house (almost) and amazing friends and family.  Why would I ever feel the need to complain?  Praise God from whom all blessings flow... because I am so blessed!

We have POWER!

I'm happy to report that on Wednesday Jan 8th, 2014 our house officially received the gift of electricity! :) And what a gift it was!! Here are some pictures from our visit tonight.  With the lights ON!

It's no secret that living in our apartment has been.... a bit challenging.  There are many things that are inconvenient and when we move out of here, I plan to make a list of things I will never take for granted in our new home, and I plan to frame it and display it as a reminder of how truly blessed we are.  But, tonight as I listened to Ben pray, I realized how ungrateful I have been where we are now.  It may seem weird or odd, but i have disliked just about every second of living here.  But Ben's prayer tonight  made me realize how even living here has been a blessing.  

Twinkle Twinkle little star, oh wait (giggle) that's a song.
Dear Jesus, Thank you for sleep and thank you for food, even though we aren't eating any right now, and thank you for closets and for our repartment, so we aren't cold. Amen

Something about that last line really hit me... the kid is silly most of the time, but he knows how to give him mom a reality check. So tonight I to will thank God for this apartment, because it keeps us warm!

New year excitement!!

The house building process can be a bit of a headache, lots of decisions to be made throughout the entire process.  One headache we didn't expect was to be told there was no power or water run to our land.  No big deal right?  We'll just run it off the neighbor's power and water.  Because that's what people do... well not if your neighbor says "no" and there is no easement saying you can.  Talk about a disappointment.  Then our builder spoke to the farmers who own the land across the street.  One said "no problem" one said "no pole, but you can go underground". Then Vectren came back and said, sorry you can bury a line under a county road.  Many tears were shed on my part during this ordeal.  But, yes thankfully there is a but.  Our builder did a lot of talking and somehow Vectren decided we could go ahead and run the line under the road. PRAISE THE LORD!! After we found this out it was still a long process of getting papers signed, but finally on Friday, January 3rd, Vectren came to our house and ran the wires so we could have electricity!!  It apparently is a 2 day process, which would mean they'll finish it Monday, however (yet again), we are going to have subzero temps and snow on Monday.  -2 as a high to be exact. So... maybe by Wednesday we'll have electricity in our house!!!  I will be sure to do another post when it becomes official!

2013 year in review!

This year has been such a BIG year for our family! 

In January we were anxiously awaiting the birth of our little Hank! And the day of Erin's shower we got to finally meet cousin Zoey! Now that we are done having children, I love to snuggle these cuties any chance I get!

 

February was a fun month! Hank Allen Bevis was born!! Our family instantly fell in love with that sweet baby! And we have loved watching him grow so much this year!  Nate and I also celebrated our 7th anniversary! Seems like only yesterday we were getting married! So blessed to call him my husband and my partner in this adventure called life!

In March we celebrated Easter! The time of year we remember our Savior's sacrifice for us! I also celebrated my 31st birthday (not near as tough as 30 was), and my mom was able to come spend some time with us over Spring Break! The kids loved having her here for more than a day!

In April we spent the month enjoying the beautiful weather with family.  Aunt Sharon came to Mt. Vernon and we love getting to spend time with her! 

May was a big month for us! Holiday World opened!! We loved going this year now that the kids are getting older.  So fun! It was also a big month because our sweet baby girl Olivia, graduated preschool!!  It hit me at the graduation that Kindergarten would soon be approaching.  

In June, Olivia started gymnastics! She has absolutely LOVED going each week! She gets to see her sweet friend, Mallory as well! We also spent a weekend with The Stanarts.  Wouldn't you know it, last year was insanely hot and this summer, in June, it was to cold to swim in their pool! We always have a blast spending the weekend with them! Nathan also turned 32!

In July we celebrated Bob's 60th birthday! So thankful to have him in our family!  Olivia went to Snickerdoodle art camp with Mallory! They had so much fun!! She will be going back to that in 2014 for sure!  We also have VBS at chuch which is always a fun week!

August brought on a whirlwind of emotions! We sold our house and moved into an apartment in Princeton, we began on our plans for building our new home in Haubstadt, and our sweet girl started Kindergarten!! I knew that day would be hard for all of us.  Olivia cried for about 2 weeks here and there, thankfully never at drop off.  But after 2 weeks she got use to going and now she absolutely LOVES school!! 

September we broke ground on our house!! We had no idea what the next several months would be like, but we were excited to get it started!! Also in September, our other baby went to preschool.  How in the world is Ben old enough to go to preschool? I have no idea! But thankfully he loves it!

In October we celebrated Olivia's 6th birthday! She had a friend party at Sandy's Pizza and then we took her to the American Girl store to buy her first American girl doll, Saige.  She was so excited for that day, and it did not disappoint! She loved it! 

In November we headed back to our favorite place on earth! Disney World!! This time we decided to drive, which wasn't horrible.  Grandma and Grandpa Garrison surprised the kids by meeting us in Tennessee and going down with us for a few days! And we went the same week as our friends, the Elpers! It was so fun to get to meet up with our fellow Disney loving friends down there! We also celebrated Thanksgiving and were reminded that we have SO MUCH to be thankful for!! Living in an apartment has really made me appreciate the small things in life.  I could list them all, but I'll save that for another post. 

December we celebrated the birth of our Savior! So thankful that Jesus was born to save us all from our sins! What an honor to know Him! We had 3 Christmas celebrations, passed around the Flu, had a snow storm that canceled 3 days of school and enjoyed a nice break from life for a bit. 

As I look back at our year, I am so thankful for the many blessings in our life! We are all happy and healthy and we have more than we could ever deserve.  God is so good and we are forever thankful for each and every event that has taken place, the good and the bad! Can't wait to see what 2014 brings for our family!