A farewell party for Jeremy

 A farewell party for Jeremy given by coworkers from "The Farm's" Ohio Regional Office

2 houses

Our (current/Ohio) house is now on the market.  Now, we're just praying that it sells quickly...within the next 2 weeks would be nice!  We're going to close on our house in Illinois on June 27th!  We don't quite know yet how that's going to work out as far as packing and moving dates, especially with Joe's and Brandy's wedding on the 30th, and the 4th of July holiday in the following week.  SF requires us to use a moving company to pack, load, move, unload and unpack all of our things (for insurance purposes--imagine that!;), so at least we won't have to worry about that! 

Sandy

We had a little "piano lesson" one morning before Mommy had to go to work.

 This is Annah's daycare provider, Sandy.  She has been so good to Annah, and we will miss her!

Sandy and her son Zachary, who's a few months older than Annah.  We were so fortunate to find her, and to have her care for Annah these past few months!

Annah and Zachary

Our trip to Illinois

Our trip to Illinois - as told by Annah Christine 

 Last week I got to go on a big trip with Daddy and Mommy. We went to Illinois to look for a house because we are going to move there soon. We left Columbus on Saturday morning and got to Bloomington, Illinois about 7 hours later. I slept in the car most of the way there. 

 We got to stay in a really neat hotel called Jumers Chateau. It looks like a castle you would see in

Germany or somewhere else in Europe. Our room had lots of neat things for me to look at, like a shiny gold mirror, red carpet, and a big bed with a bright, flowered bedspread. I just learned how to bounce, and I had fun bouncing on the bed! 

 Jumers is close to SF's Corporate South offices in Bloomington, where Daddy will soon work in this building. Bloomington-Normal is a small city compared to Columbus, Ohio where we live now. But, in the twin cities of Bloomington and Normal there are over 100,000 people. There are lots of neat things there, like Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University. Beer Nuts are also only made there. State Farm Insurance is by far the biggest employer, and even has its own park, just for employees and their families! I can't wait to go there and play! It even has a kiddie pool!! 

On Sunday, we met our realtor, Pam. She showed us lots of houses in Bloomington, a few in Normal, and some in Heyworth (That's a little country town just outside Bloomington.) too. It was a very tiring day for me. Mommy and Daddy kept taking my carseat in and out of the car. I think we saw about 20 houses that day! I was really tired after that. But, we went to a great pizza place called Tobin's with Carol (Daddy's supervisor from Ohio) and her family. I'm not big enough to eat pizza yet, but Mommy and Daddy said it was great! So, if you ever come visit us, we'll take you to Tobin's!  

On Monday, Pam started showing us houses in the country. There were a few we liked in town, but since Mommy and Daddy grew up in the country, they really thought it would be nice for me to do that too. The first country town we went to was LeRoy. (Some people say it, "Lee-Roy," and some say it, "Luh-Roy." I guess either way is okay.) Anyway, it is hardly big enough to call it a town! But, it does have its own restaurant, grocery store and school. There weren't any houses we really liked there though. So, we went to Arrowsmith... 

 Arrowsmith is even smaller than LeRoy, and is about 19 miles straight east of Bloomington. On the way to Arrowsmith, you can see for miles and miles around you because the land is very flat! All around you are fields and big farms. Mommy and Daddy thought they grew up in farming country until they saw the farms in McLean county, (which is pronounced, "McLain," by the way.) It is the #1 corn producing county in the nation, and the largest county (land-wise) in Illinois. Moraine View State Park is only a few miles away in LeRoy. Anyway, back to Arrowsmith... 

 There are somewhere between 315 and 350 people living in the town of Arrowsmith, Illinois. It has no restaurant, no grocery store, and not much else there as far as places to shop or do business. There is a U.S. Post Office, so it is officially a town with its own zip code. I guess there's also a mayor and a town council and such. But basically the only thing that makes it seem like a town is that the houses are closer together than they are between Bloomington and there. Even though it's only about 20 minutes from Bloomington, it feels like the middle of "nowhere." It's a nice little place though, and the first house we went into there we fell in love with immediately. And, Daddy and Mommy decided right then and there that they wanted to make an offer on it. We left the house and Pam took us to lunch at Biaggi's (another great place we'll take you if you visit us!) and Daddy and Mommy signed papers for a bid on the house. Then we went back to Jumers to wait for Pam to call us. There was a counter, and then Daddy and Mommy countered, and we got the house! 

 Now I'll tell you all about our "new" house in Arrowsmith, Illinois. 

 The house is a 98 year old Victorian Shaker style home. Here's a picture of the front of it: 

 The family that lives there now, the Sullivans, have been there for 12 years. They have spent the entire time completely restoring the house, and it looks fantastic! It has hardwood floors all throughout it, which Mrs. S sanded herself--by hand! All of the woodwork, trim, and doors are original, and so is the built-in china cabinet in the kitchen: 

 and the living room fireplace and mirror above it. 

 It has 4 bedrooms, 7 walk-in closets, an enclosed porch/entry-way on the front 

 and back porch 

 2 window seats

 2 bathrooms--one with a clawfoot tub and marble sink! 

 a dining room 

 a den 

 There's also a full unfinished basement, and an attic. 

 The backyard has a deck with an arbor over it, 

 a 2-car garage, basketball hoop (so Uncle Travis can teach me how to play when I get bigger!), 

 and a swimming pool! 

 Mommy and Daddy were worried about having a pool with me being so little, but the only way for people to get in is by lifting and putting down a ladder that only a big person can. So, I won't be able to sneak in by myself until I'm quite big enough to swim on my own anyway. 

 We got to go through the house again on Thursday before we left while the home inspector checked it out to make sure everything is okay with it. (He said it's in great shape, and there's not really anything to fix!) While Mommy and Daddy were going through the house, I got to hang out with the Sullivans' 15-year-old daughter. She let me play with some new toys and we had fun. 

 The Sullivans let Mommy use their digital camera to take some of the pictures you see, and they showed Daddy and Mommy how to clean and care for the pool, and showed them some special things about the house and yard, like a permanent marble shelf in the downstairs bedroom, and the original key to the 2 pocket doors. 

 Mrs. S gave Mommy a diagram of all of the flowers, bushes and trees planted in the yard, and an envelope with all of the tags from them! The Sullivans have done so much to the house; we're sure it must be hard for them to leave it after raising their 3 kids there (They are moving to Wisconsin to be near their families, and just bought a house there that they're going to restore!), but we will sure love living there and taking care of it ourselves. 

 Here are some more pictures of it: 

 left front side of house 

 downstairs bathroom 

 doorways from living room into downstairs bedroom and dining room 

 upstairs bedroom 

 second upstairs bedroom 

 third upstairs bedroom 

 Mommy and Daddy keep saying that God definitely guided us on our house-hunting trip. They didn't know how we were going to find and buy a house in just one week, but God's angels must have been guiding us around 'cause we did it in 2 days! We are so blessed, and we are really excited about moving to Illinois. 

On Tuesday night while we were there, we visited Dmitri, Michaela and Mason. Dmitri and Michaela work for SF too. We know them because they used to work here in Ohio with Daddy. They moved to Illinois about 2 years ago, and their son Mason is almost 1 1/2. I think he and I will have lots of fun playing together! 

 Wednesday night we had dinner with Pete. He graduated from Capital's Conservatory with Mommy, and just finished his Master's degree in horn performance at Illinois State. He took us to the Ozark House, which was also a super great place to eat! But, Pete won't be living in Normal very much longer. He just got a job with the Air Force Band near St. Louis. He does have a girlfriend at ISU though, so Daddy and Mommy told him he better come stay with us when he's back in town--or at least stop by to say hello! 

 And, that goes for all of you! We'll probably be moving into our "new" house in Arrowsmith during the first week of July (we think). So, anytime you're anywhere near the middle of Illinois, we hope you'll make a stop in Arrowsmith to see us! Or, plan a vacation to Illinois and come stay with us for a while! We should have plenty of room, and we would love to have you! 

Here we go!

Our adventure has begun!  We're in the process of choosing a realtor to list our house, and we'll be spending a week in Illinois trying to find a "new" home.  We're really looking forward to our trip to Bloomington-Normal, getting to see the area, and deciding where we'd like to live.
        
Last weekend went to Indiana, the place which will always be home to us,  and were able to spend time with our families there over the holiday.  Our move will actually be taking us a little farther away from our families, but still within a day's drive. 

Annah is now 7 months old and still growing faster than we can believe!  She now says, "Ma ma," and makes a lot of other noises that are sounding closer and closer to words.  She can get up on "all fours" and rock back and forth, and scoots around very easily.  When she sees any kind of paper within reach, she immediately gets a hold of it, crumples it and sticks it in her mouth.  Annah loves playing "peek-a-boo" and banging things together to make noise.  She even likes to play the piano!  She's also been introduced to fruit within the past week and seems to enjoy it.  And, now she actually listens and looks at pictures instead of trying to chew on books when someone reads to her.  There are new adventures with Annah every day.
        
Saturday, Taryn performed in Celebrate Music, which was a concert including nine graduates of Churubusco High School who have gone on to be music majors in college.   The performance included two solos by each performer, as well as group numbers.  Those performing were and the schools they attend(ed) were: Lori Baughman - Wheaton College, Melissa Baughman -  Cedarville University, Rachael Byrne - Indiana University & IPFW, Carmen Fitzpatrick - IPFW, Jennifer Gross - Ball State University, Joel Kenemore - Indiana University, Taryn Lopshire - Capital University, Alissa McDowell - IPFW, Chris Mettert - Ball State University.  The event was produced by Harold Norman, with proceeds going to the Turtletown Players and to support VH1-Save the Music as Jennifer Gross' cause in her competition for Miss Indiana.  It was a fun time, went together very well, and the audience gave great reviews--at least to the performers!

May Moments

Just a few photos from the past month...

Annah's sitter, Sandy, likes to give her lots of choices of toys.  We try this sometimes at home too.  She's getting a growing collection.

We might need to start teaching her how to brush...?

Peek-a-boo!

Annah loves to play with her reflection in the mirror on our den door.

And, you might say she has great "taste" in music...?

It's time to start chewing...

Mmm...my first cracker...

Just hanging around with cousins Wilson and Charles at Grandpa and Grandma Lopshire's house...

Jeremy's 26th

A birthday celebration at Don Pablo's with Andy and Julie

 "Me llamo Dumbo!" -- ??

 Nice hat Dad.

2 weddings, 2 teeth, and talking

First of all, we want to send out a big, Congratulations to Matt & Sheli Lopshire on their marriage May 5!  We were able to be home in Indiana to celebrate with them. 
       
Also that weekend we had our family pictures and Annah's 6 month pictures taken.  Watch for them to be posted sometime in the near future! 
     
 This past weekend we made the trek to Toledo for another wedding. Congratulations Niki and Russ Wight!! It was such a beautiful ceremony!  We wish both couples the best for long and happy marriages! 
      
Sunday the 13th was our own first wedding anniversary, as well as my first Mothers' Day.  We celebrated by watching our wedding video, looking through the wedding pictures and spending the day with Annah.  It seems like longer than a year, but it has been a pretty eventful one! 
       
Annah popped her second tooth through on the 12th.  Then, Sunday she started babbling some new sounds, including, "Ba ba ba ba ba," and "La l a la la la," which turned into, "Da da da da da...!"  She has now eaten and liked carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, and green beans.  Potatoes are next and then we try fruit!! 
      
This weekend is Jeremy's 26th birthday!  Wow, he's getting old! ;) 

A BIG CHANGE!!

Well, how to say this... We're moving to Illinois!! Jeremy has accepted a position as a Health Service Business Analyst for Policyholder and Agency Systems at SF Corporate Office in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois!! His first day will be July 9th! SO! We have an unfathomable amount of things to do in the next few weeks, including selling the house we just bought 8 months ago, finding a new place to live, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera! We are very excited about this opportunity! At least at first, I will be able to stay at home with Annah, which is an answer to prayer that we thank and praise God for allowing!

One of the things that makes this adventure bittersweet is moving away from all of the wonderful friends we have made here in Ohio over the past 6 years. We really love this area and everyone we know here. It will be very hard to leave. But, we refuse to say, "Goodbye," and we hope to be back sometimes to visit. It's about a 6 1/2 hour drive between Columbus and Bloomington, so we hope some of you all will come visit us too! We plan to keep in close contact with all of you!

 Along those lines, we plan to keep the website up and running, since now we'll have even more people to miss across the miles! However, I will obviously not remain employed by Capital University in order to have the space on their server. So, we are in the process of finding a new "home" for our website too! We'll be sure to update you when it moves.

 If we don't already have your e-mail address, make sure we get it so we can let you know when and where we move the site. We'll try to keep you posted during the next few weeks, but we anticipate being in quite a "whirlwind" state of mind as we make this move so quickly! We would appreciate it if you could keep us in your prayers that things will go smoothly. E-mail us or sign our guestbook.

Tooth!

       It's so hard to believe Annah is six months old now!  She popped through her first tooth last week!!!  It appeared on Friday, and she wasn't even fussy or crabby about it coming through!  She's still not quite crawling, but is really getting around by rolling tummy to back to tummy to back over and over, and by scooting herself around on her tummy.  It's time to get everything up off the floor--oh boy!