Two, Five, Six, Seven

The other day Kate floored Brian and I when she started counting the number of puzzle pieces. "One, Two, Free, Four, Fi, Si, Seben," she said in the cutest voice imaginable. The most surprising thing is that neither Brian nor I have particularly worked with her on counting. We'll have to give the credit to either Mickey Mouse or our Mother's Helper, Caty. Either way her counting is cute and increasing. We can now make it up to ten, though our favorite sequence is two, five, six, seven, (note the omission of three and four) and if we ever get lost we start back at two. I think the way she says seven (seb- en) is particularly endearing.

That little number se-ben has certainly been stuck in our heads lately, because of Kate and a few other things. It has been seven years since Brian and I were married, seven years since Brian started the seminary, and seven years since we've lived in Chicago. Well, seven year later and we are headed back. Brian has accepted the call to be pastor of Lord of Glory Lutheran Church in Grayslake, IL. We are very excited, quite overwhelmed, and a little sad to leave our life in Michigan, but we really feel that this call is a great fit for us both in ministry and in family. We are very thankful for this wonderful call and what it means for us.

We've started the process of finding housing, moving states, packing our current house for our fifth move in seven years, and departing St. Peter. The people in Michigan have been very understanding. We are thankful for that, and the excitement of everyone in Chicago. We have a lot to do in the two weeks before our move date, but I'm sure we'll manage.

Our little girl has been great and even been better as of late at entertaining herself. Her favorite thing to do is to set up her figurines, count them, and put them back in the bag as we caught in the picture above. I am very very very thankful for those characters and our adorable little girl who gives me a mental break from our big to do list.