NEW BLOG SITE.....

Hey everyone! Don't hate me, but I have changed by blog site!

Our new blog is:

www.lifewiththegates.blogspot.com!

This will be a long post, so bare with me.....

Hudson and Juston at the Aberdeen swimming pool!

Hudson decided after one day of uncertainty at the pool that he actually did like to swim! He was turning into a little fish, and now we have moved and don't have a pool up here yet! :(

Playing drums at Papa J's house!

Playing drums with Papa J playing the guitar. This has turned into the CUTEST ritual between the two of them!

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The Journey to Michigan begins....

Hudson listening to the ipod while we were driving! Of course his favorite to listen to was "Ron!"

On Wednesday afternoon, we drove over to South Haven, MI which is about 35 minutes from our house and enjoyed the afternoon at the lake Michigan beach! The temp was about 85 degrees, but the water temp for that day was 63! Needless to say, we only put our feet in!

Juston, Hudson, and P-pops

Hudson and Grammy riding the carosel in the mall!

P-pops, Hudson, and Grammy- we took this picture Saturday morning before we took the Gates to the airport! Hal and Sonya graciously made the 12 hour trek to Michigan with us last weekend, and stayed all week to help us set up our house and get settled! We couldn't have done it without them! I would still be up to my eyeballs in boxes and chaos, and probably have been ready to shoot someone if they hadn't been here to help! Thankfully, my stress level remained low with all their help! Thanks a bunch Hal and Sonya!

This is a random picture, but we laughed so hard at Hudson when he stuck those 2 flags in his pull-up and made it come halfway down!

Father's Day 2008

Hudson (and mommy!:) painted Juston a picture for his office!

Juston is such a wonderful daddy! It has been so fun to watch him over the last 2 1/2 years turn into a loving father! I love to watch Juston and Hudson interact, and I know they already have a really neat relationship!

Thank you Lord for Juston and what a great father he is to Hudson and soon to be Hamilton!

And finally, our new

Michigan Rent House....

Yes, this is a Christmas tree in my front yard! Even has the real smell and everything!!! :)

Foyer-this is what you see walking in the front door. The steps lead to 4 bedrooms, and the open door you see leads down to the finished basement which is Juston's office (not quite ready for pictures ) plus a bedroom/bathroom for all our company! And yes, there better be company! :) :)

Family room

Dining area

Kitchen

Another view of the kitchen/family room area

Downstairs half bath

Hudson's room- his room isn't quite complete yet. We will be changing his bed into a big boy bed soon, so once that is done I'll post new pictures of his room and new bedding!

Hamilton's Room- also not quite done, but thought you could at least have an idea of what it is starting to look like.

Hamilton's bedding- isn't it just fabulous! Speaking of Hamilton, we had a doctor's appointment with our new OB last week and everything went well! We really like the new doctor which was a huge relief! We scheduled the repeat c-section for August 4, so if my counting is right- I only have about 47 days left until he is here! CRAZY!!!

The deck- which we have eaten several meals out here because the weather has been soooo nice! I think the high today is only 71, and so Hudson and I ate breakfast outside this morning. In fact, he asks if we can eat outside with EVERY meal!

Hudson's new swingset in our backyard! The home owners were nice enough to leave it for us, and he has already gotten a lot of use out of it!

Okay, I think that should catch everyone up! Thanks again for all the prayers that have been offered up for our family and this transition! Just because we have a home doesn't mean they can stop! :) There is still a long road ahead as far as feel truly settled and situated with church and friends and getting used to being away from LR friends and family we left behind.  Even after being here just one week, I truly still believe this is where God wants us to be for this season of our life, and I feel proud to say that we listened to what His desires were for our family and followed his lead, even though it was hard to leave LR and will continue to be hard for a while.  I am so glad we trust in the God whose very hand is always present in our lives!

MOVING on Saturday!!!!!

We can't believe the move is actually approaching so quickly! The moving company starts packing up the house on Thursday, then they load the truck on Friday, and deliver our stuff on Monday! We will be leaving LR on Saturday and driving half the way to MI. Then on Sunday we will make the rest of the drive.  So I guess I will be out of pocket as far as blogging goes for a little bit, but once we regain internet service, I will post some pictures of our new rental house!

Thanks again for all the praying you guys have done for our family and this big life transition for us! We are really excited to see what God has in store for us in Grand Rapids, Michigan!