Twelve years HOME!

 Got a text from Gavin tonight with a selfie that made me smile.

Think Krassimir had any idea when he first landed here in MN twelve years ago that there would be this much joy in his future?? :)

Bobbi's job

 Just over five years ago I posted about how Bobbi had gotten her first "real" job (as in, not just a temporary summer job.) As we had hoped, it was a great fit for her. Last month marked her five-year anniversary with Kwik Trip as a Food Product Demonstrator (FPD)! She has gotten to know many of the "regulars" and they will come in looking for her. She's seen co-workers come and go, some because they were just looking for temporary work, and some because they've been moved to other positions or other stores within the company. She takes pride in being someone who sticks it out even on the tough days (and she's had days she's told us she's ready to call it quits, and the *only* thing keeping her from following through is that she doesn't want to be the one who just leaves!) Besides, it's nice getting a regular paycheck. 😉

For over a year she's been working with another agency that works with people with disabilities in job placement, not because she wants to leave Kwik Trip, but because she's been hoping to work closer to 30 hours a week instead of just the 15-20 that she was currently getting. That's been slow going. She is very uncomfortable with anything having to do with numbers, so anything that involves cashiering is out. Yikes! That *greatly* reduces her options. She can't carry things, so stocking shelves isn't an option. Her cognitive limitations make something like answering phones and directing calls beyond her. So, although she's a very personable young woman, with a definitely range of skills, they just don't overlap in areas that are easily marketable. Greeting guests and passing out samples is a great fit for her.

So it was pretty hard hitting when she learned a few weeks ago that Kwik Trip is dropping, company-wide, their food product sampling program. They intend to keep all of the current product demonstrators on in other positions, but mainly in jobs that Bobbi can't do! We're so grateful that her store manager is motivated to keep someone with Bobbi's company loyalty in the company. So, while she's not going to keep 15-20 hours, she DOES still get to work three 3-hour shifts a week putting price stickers onto muffins and crisp rice bars and doing some light cleaning of the surfaces that she is able to reach.

Here's Bobbi wiping the counters by the coffee machines.

However, the week after she learned about her FPD position going away, she actually had an interview for a similar position with Sam's Club! Her FIRST interview after over a year long process of looking! 

And she bombed it. Oof. That was a pretty big downer to her. She also has not learned to see the hand of God at work in the coincidences of timing the same way Matt and I have had over the years., which made the blow even harder to take.

What a joy to, a few weeks later, see the same position open again; she applied, and got another interview! She related afterward that the (same) interviewer was surprised to see her trying again, and told her that she admired her persistence, and was going to give her one shift a week and see how it goes, with the potential of picking up another shift if it works out well for everyone!

So, before her FPD job at Kwik Trip ended and she was down to 9 hours a week, she had officially gotten a second job. While she has not started there yet, she has been hired! What beautiful provision for her. 

And, unrelatedly, she got her ears pierced a second time. 

Freshly painted

 Matt got some good uninterrupted time with beautiful weather over the weekend, and made huge progress on the garage work! He started with puttying all of the nail holes (that really looked funny!) and then got a fresh coat of paint over everything he'd been working on. Lovely!

Krassi's Rings, part 5

 Being caught up on the garage blogging, here's a little bragging post on Krassimir. He continues to delight me with the creative ways he combines his favorite toys - he reminds me of an architect who has a distinctive style, but boundless creativity. With the limited pallette of "rings" (loosely defined - something with a roughly wrist-sized hole in it - often circular, but not necessarily - sometimes rigid, sometimes not) and triangles and soft animals (whether stuffed animals or squishy plastic), he pulls together endless combinations, changing them up every few days, but always with that same "vocabulary" that makes his style so distinctive.

For your viewing enjoyment, a sampling of the most recent ones. (If you care, they uploaded in reverse order of time, so the ones at the top here are the most recent, and then go back in time to last summer)

Look how pleased he is with me wanting to take a photo! He's so proud of his work.

Upgrading to a BIG stuffed animal! Lucky Snoopy...

Friends at church will save the insides of duct tape or packaging tape, and their kids will decorate the cardboard, and then bring it for Krassi!

Notice there's a ring in the bottom of the ring!

I am continually amazed at the resourcefulness of creativity of this young man!

When Mom's away...

...Dad will play, which at our house involves a tool belt and some noise!

Leah and I and a few friends took 22 kids (including Reuben) on an all day field trip to Lake Superior, leaving Matt home again with no (major) interruptions, and look what he got done!

The east side of the front porch stairs now has the white skirt boards!

And the original house now has its siding reinstalled! He'd gotten the first seven rows or so on first thing in the spring, and then there it sat until yesterday!

And with that, I think I'm finally up to date! After six months of trying to post current progress and fill in the gaps since construction started in earnest last summer, I *think* I'm finally caught up, and perhaps can now spend the time I get to invest on things like this blog on current updates, which means maybe I can stay on top of things better! (? Maybe. We'll see.)

All my babies...and a couple more

 Yesterday I got a most precious gift. ALL TEN of my children were at church with us! It's a rare occurrence to have *everybody* together anywhere. Even at Christmas we're not always guaranteed that no one will be in the hospital! 😁 But somehow, this happened! Our good friend Scotty brought his camera along and we took the opportunity to get some nice pictures of everyone.

And *everyone* everyone. Owen is back from Montana! Earlier than he'd expected. We're super happy to have him back. And he brought back with him Sophie, whom he met while working at the ranch. We're looking forward to getting to know her better, too.

And Bobbi is back with us again - not here because of a picture, but here because she wanted to come along to church for the first time since February.

And Gavin, who's always at church anyway, but it's been such a joy to have him with us at church. That's a beautiful story.

The funny thing is that Matt and I look at this photo, and he said to me, "It doesn't even seem like that many people!" Not a day goes by that he and I aren't so very grateful that God's plan for our family was bigger than ours was! He wanted two. I wanted a "big" family - three kids. Good thing we were both wrong! 

~~~

Ha ha - I was re-reading this and realized I should share this photo, too. Above is the pretty one. THIS one is the one we enlarged and have framed on the wall in the dining room! 😂 

(Matt and I missed the command to make a funny face, which is why we're serenely smiling amidst the fun around us! But *THIS* is our family!)

Garage doors

 The installation ended up getting pushed back a week after one of the installers called in sick, but nevertheless, here we are now with garage doors!

In progress:

only a few panels in...

And finished!!

As the workers left, Matt mentioned how exciting it was to be able to close the garage doors as it had been a long time. The man looked at him kind of funny, thinking, well, that's kind of how construction goes, but what *Matt* was thinking is how it's been YEARS since we've been able to close the garage doors because the old garage (with no foundation) had been slowly sinking into the ground at the southeast corner to the point where it was so out of plumb that it was physically impossible to close the doors!

Good thing we don't put our trust in locks to keep us safe. :) Every single thing that does or does not come our way is in the hands of our God who controls the minutest details. 

But it does look prettier with the doors closed. :)