Well … appears it has now been two months since we last wrote. We’ve been trudging through time, it seems. There have been a number of joys, but certainly no lack of stresses.

We’ve welcomed a few visitors. Ed & Cori routed themselves and Hodor through the Cities for a brief visit. Papa & Nana made a quick jaunt north for Simeon’s first birthday. Nana Steph surprised us by showing up with them.

Our good friends, Dave & Carly have returned from overseeing summer camp at Luther Dell and we’ve again begun our Thursday night gatherings for gaming, beer drinking, and good conversation.

We’ve moved! After Simeon tested high for lead at his nine month checkup, we determined that the Longfellow home was leaking lead and temporarily moved into the Philippines room of the Mission Home. After being there for a few weeks, we began wrestling with whether or not we should return or stay. A number of factors led us to the point of staying. Foremost was the relationships that could be nurtured by our being nearer the regular happenings of the WMPL community. We were able to have impromptu meals with others living in the Mission Home and Coach House. I was able to return home and join Adrienne and the kids for lunch each day. They were able to again attend morning prayer at the office. Also, Aelah would cry each time we tried to return to the Longfellow home. This clued us into the thought that she must really like being near so many people on a regular basis. A hint … there might be something to staying … and so we are. I could write more on this sometime.

It’s been a transition for sure. We made the move in small bits … a load now, a load later, and so on and on. We’ve finally moved everything (except the piano and Adrienne’s old art locker). And, in the midst of the move we’ve been trying to purge stuff. The joys of moving into a small space. We have yet to fully settle.

Adrienne helped coordinate and facilitate a refreshing of our church nursery. It’s looking great. Still a few loose ends to tie with that project.

Adrienne also began attending a Bible study on Tuesday mornings at a church nearby.

I continue to work on the website, developing tools to assist our workers in communicating their story to the fellowship. It is still so easy to get lost in the code at times, but I do pray that the tools we are developing today will prove to serve the mission well. There are still a few structures I’d like to put in place, but we have begun some implementation and training. Much more is yet needed. I also need to devote a good amount of time to documentation, so that those who would follow after me might easily pick up the tools and readily use them.

We’re also investigating the possibility of a new color copier/printer at the office. I’ve been involved in configuring it for use on our network and assessing how well it will serve our purposes. The jury is still out on this one. I think the need for such a machine is quite evident … whether it’s this specific one is yet to be known.

I, and a few of the other young guys at the office, have resurrected a ping-pong table that was long in storage and have been enjoying a game now and then.

Simeon has begun walking. We’re now working on night weaning and sleeping longer nights. Getting nearer to that end. He climbs. Oh, how he climbs!

You can almost always find Aelah telling stories. Her imagination is thriving. Such fun! She also enjoys singing her way through the day. Also a joy!

I’m sure I’m missing much, so I’ll just dump a load of photos here. Enjoy!

(Remember, you can click to enlarge and cycle through with the arrow keys)

Until next time … God keep you.

• Joshua Vandercar
• November 6, 2014
• Family, Life
• birthday, family, visit
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