On the Road Again...

I'm sorry that it has taken so long for me to post something here. Our life in the last few weeks has been a flurry of activity. Rob has been talking with a wonderful church in Canada for a very long time. We have been sending and receiving e-mails, having phone interviews and web cam inteviews etc. They have wanted Rob to go for his final interview since June...that's right...I said June. Due to delay after delay with our US visa renewal process this year, he has not been able to go for that interview. Let me be clear, Rob can go to Canada at any time, however, his being able to return to us here in Wisconsin was what we have been unsure of. While it would be manageble to have Rob take a few days away to do his interview...having him unable to come back while I work close to full time on the night shift, manage 4 kids, pack a house and set up a move was just more than I could even think about doing on my own. So we have been sitting here completing form after form for INS thinking that at any time we would be approved and go forward. That has not happened. We just received another request for additional forms from INS just two weeks ago.

We have decided [after a lot of prayer and discussion] to end our petition for our visa renewal, and return to Canada so that Rob can do his final interview at CrossRoads Church. When Rob and I sat down about 10 months ago as our last potential ministry opportunity was going up in smoke, I had Rob list out for me what his dream job would be. Well, I have to say, that CrossRoads offers Rob each thing on that list!! They have been so patient waiting for us to work out our issues with INS, but it has gotten to the point that we have absolutely no idea when we would be able to go for this interview [we have been working on this renewal for almost an entire year!] Two years without work is a very long time for anyone, but it has been especially long for Rob and when you have your dream job sitting there in front of you, it gets to the point that you have to trust God and do what He is directing you to do even if it seems foolish and illogical.

So, we are heading back to Canada so that Rob can do this final interview and we are trusting God that we will be moving to Alberta for Rob to join the pastoral team at CrossRoads Church in Red Deer, Alberta in 2009. We will be leaving Wisconsin on Thursday December 11th and going to stay with our loving, kind and very long-suffering parents. [A special thanks to both sets of our parents for being willing to have our chaos descend upon them! :-) ] From Toronto, we will be flying to Red Deer on the 13th for Rob's interview and a few interviews for me at the hospital in Red Deer. By the end of that week, we are hoping to officially know if that is where God has finally opened the door for us to serve.

Please keep us in your prayers as we go down this road. Doing something in faith like this when you have 4 children is very scary indeed. But, God has been with us for the last 2 years. He has always met our needs and we know that He loves us and has a plan for us. I hope that we can see many of you here in Wisconsin before the move, but if that is not possible due to time constraints, please know that we love you and it has been our pleasure to share the last 6 years with you here in Fond du Lac. We will never forget you!! For our Canadian friends and family, we are looking forward to a wonderful Christmas with our fabulous family and are hoping to see many of you in Ontario before we are hopefully making the long move to Alberta for Rob to start his job.

I love this picture of the baby that I took the other night. We have been so busy sorting, organizing and packing that we have all been very tired. We have gotten rid of a lot of the bigger things that we aren't moving and we moved our lawn furniture into the living room to have somewhere to sit until the move. The kids think that we should have made that change long ago. :-) This picture completely sums up how I have felt over the last two weeks....

Halloween

I have to say that Halloween is my very least favorite of the seasonal holidays. I have issues with it and for many years we didn't celebrate it at all. Then we sent the kids to Harvest parties at whatever church we were serving at. The last two years, we have allowed the kids to trick or treat in our neighborhood with Rob. Fond du Lac does not celebrate Halloween with great enthusiasm. They only allow trick or treating on the Sunday before Halloween between the hours of 3:00 -5:30 pm. This is due to a child abduction with a very terrible outcome on Halloween night about 20 years ago. On that happy note, here is our brief selection of Halloween pictures from the last week. I'm sorry they're late. It's a combination of not really liking Halloween and being very, very, very busy here.

Here they are...the Wizard, the Fireman and the Queen.

I really liked this choice for a Jack O' Lantern. Jonah drew the bat and the ghost on paper and then Rob transferred the design onto the pumpkin. I think it came out really nice.

Here's the glowing Jack O' Lantern that was on the front step. Seth wanted a straight forward simple design. :-)

The King

Well, with Halloween around the corner, we have been dressing up a lot around here over the last few weeks. I thought that I would share this picture of Seth dressed up like 'The King'. He needed some help with cutting out the crown but the blanket robe was all his doing.

I have had a fabulous week with my son. He has done several things this week worth making known to all of you. This week the original prayers continue and Seth said, "Dear Jesus thank you for making me...me." What a fabulous prayer. What an outstanding feeling! We should all be so thankful for who God has made us to be. Thinking that this was something they were covering in school, I asked his teacher and she assured me that they were not. So, that is just something that came into his mind and he shared it in prayer. I'm speechless.

He also introduced me to one of his school friends this week. Seth had forgotten his lunch at home and so I raced over to the school to drop it off. After seeing me in the classroom, Seth brought this little boy over to me. He puffed out his chest proudly, looked up at me, put his arm around the little boy and said, "Mom, this is my pal, Rene." He smiled at me with that little chest held out so proudly, he could have been a soldier standing for inspection by a superior officer. I looked down at his friend and told him that it was nice to meet him. The two friends turned and ran to another part of the classroom getting ready to say The Pledge of Allegiance and hear morning announcements. His teacher looked at me with tears welling in her eyes and said, "Wasn't that just a wonderful thing for him to do?" And I agreed.

When we received our diagnosis of Autism just about 6 years ago now, Seth being able to do these things was thought to be an impossibility....at least the doctor told us that it was.

After that meeting in the doctor's office being told that Seth had already reached the pinacle of what he would achieve in life especially in the areas of relationships and social interaction; after being told that he would need to be institutionalized; after being told that he would likely become violent and unmanageable; I did the only thing I knew to do...I prayed. I believe that God met me that night. He said this into my spirit, "Why do you believe that woman over Me? I made him and I will decide what he will become." With great humility I ended my prayer reminded that God is indeed bigger than our circumstances.

I have to say, that this week I was again reminded of that conversation with God so many years ago. I am so thankful that God has been right and not the very qualified specialty Pediatrician we had taken him to. I want to be sure to tell you that Seth still has many deficits and areas that need a lot of improvement. But, I see God's faithfulness and I know that if He has brought our boy this far, that He is more than able to take Seth as far as He wills for him to go. I am thankful this week for the promises of God and I want to encourage all of you to remember that He does keep them!

Mommy's Little Helper

Tonight while I was loading the dishwasher after dinner, I turned around to see this site ... a baby in the dishwasher. She was attempting to pull out the bottom rack and unload the dishes that I had just loaded. With this crew of 4, it is always difficult to get tasks completed. Thankfully, I know that I am not alone in this. Those of you that have had small children around know that this is true. Whenever you start something they try to 'help' you. I had forgotten what it is like to have a one year old in the house getting into everything. It is moments like this that are reminding me to work smart and fast!! :-)

The Biker Chick

Not too long ago, my parents went to a family wedding in Upstate New York. While there, they went to Orange County Choppers. My dad loves TLC and watches just about every show on that channel. So, he couldn't resist stopping by the shop and checking out the bikes. I'm sure that he wouldn't have minded meeting Mikey, Vinnie, Paul Sr. or Paul Jr. either for that matter. Anyways, being grandparents, they couldn't resist picking up something from the shop for each of the kids.

Here's Spencer in her OCC onesie. She looks so cute. She has finally decided that she likes to have her picture taken and now smiles every time the camera comes out. :-)

Happy Birthday Duncan Seth Tannahill

Well, Happy Birthday to our son Seth. He turned 8 today! I can't believe where the time has gone. It seems like yesterday that he was born. Seth has Autism and that makes life for both he and us quite challenging. Despite all of the challenges that Seth has, he has a zest for life that is contagious. Seth loves to have fun. He loves to experience new things, and go new places. Out of all of our kids, Seth is the one that is always up for an adventure.

Well, my son, I pray that this year will be a wonderful one filled with lots of growth and new adventures.

We love you!

Here's the Cars birthday cake that Seth asked for. I think that it came out beautifully. I picked it up at Wal-Mart and the Lightning McQueen on top of the cake is a toy that he has been playing with ever since we stopped singing 'Happy Birthday'.

Seth loves balloons so Rob took him to the store and he picked out 8 balloons for his birthday.

Here's the older kids sharing a birthday hug.

Here's the birthday boy with the Bald Eagle that Grandma and Grandpa Kozsukan sent him. Seth has an obsession with Bald Eagles and he is so thrilled to own his very own eagle. He is a beautiful puppet with stiff wings that flap. Seth named him 'Edgar', and as you can see by the smile on his face, he loves him!

The Little Farmer

Hoorah!! The computer has finally decided to co-operate and has uploaded the pictures that we have been trying for days to upload. Well, since it was such a hot, sunny, wonderful weekend, we decided to head off to a local farm to pick pumpkins and apples. The farm is called The Little Farmer and it is a wonderful place with activities for the whole family. They really make pumpkins, apples and other produce into a very family friendly experience. We had a lot of fun as you can see, however, the day ended with Seth being missing for 20 minutes and once found he refused to share his soda with a wasp and was stung. It sure was eventful!! But we were happy that we all arrived home safe and sound after a fabulous day out in the country.

Here's Lauren on one of their tire swings. You're seeing that right - it is shaped to look like a horse. Boy, the tire swing has come a long way since I was a kid!

The older kids liked this huge chair and immediately climbed up on it for a picture.

The older kids loved this 'fort' made out of hay bales. It had tunnels and passage ways. They spent a long time here.

Here's the gang walking through the corn maze. Rob and Jonah thought that it should have been more challenging. Are they Tannahills or what?!

I really like this picture of the baby in the corn maze. She had a lot of fun.