Fire!!!!

It's been a while, folks, but this time I actually have a good reason. We had a house fire in the laundry room on Thanksgiving morning. It started with a malfunctioning heater (even though the insurance company is saying that it's our fault). But, we were really so blessed because we were going out of town the next day, and we were going to my mom's in just a few short hours. If we wouldn't have been there, the whole house would've gone up. My studly man, JP, was trying to put out the fire ( in his underwear, I might add) with a bowl filled with water. I reminded him that we have fire extinguishers, and that accomplished a great deal more. The fire was out by the time that the fire department arrived. The house sustained very little fire damage, but lots and lots of smoke damaged. We were out of the house for 3 weeks while a restoration company cleaned the house and it's belongings. We finally moved back in on Thursday evening. It is so wonderful to be home, even though there are still boxes everywhere, and we have a ton of unpacking to do. And, to complicate matters, we had a big blessing occur...

I'm sure one day we'll understand God's timing on this, but what we've been waiting for has finally happened. We got a *permanent* placement. She has been with us for a couple of weeks now. At first she was in respite care while we moved back into our house, but now she's with us. If I don't understand the timing, I definitely understand why we've had to wait so long. I believe with all of my heart that she was meant for us. She is 15 years old, and she just fits in perfectly. She loves the kids and vice versa. I'll call her Tinkerbell here. It's just such an incredible blessing.

Well, guys, I'm going to sign off now, but I just wanted to say thanks for the prayers during this time, which has been difficult, and we'd appreciate any more that you'd throw our way as we fight with our insurance company. Merry Christmas everyone!

P.S. I'm on the Taylor for Jacob bandwagon now :)