While the camper life has been an adventure filled one, Jake and I are very happy to report that this afternoon we were able to move into our rental home! Tomorrow we will finish moving in the necessary things to get us through the next 6 months while we build. We are both breathing a big sigh of relief- there is just something comforting knowing you are in an environment where you have anything you may need for any situation.

Here is a snapshot of the camper we were blessed to borrow. It was such a nice one!

 

Tonight is far from over for the Carroll clan as we will be heading to the church for the annual youth lock-in! Yes…we are crazy, and well aware of it. The plan is to have all three of us there until around 2am at which point Jake will take Malachi on home and I will load up the kids for an iHop run. We figure that I am more used to the sleep deprivation so it would be the safest option in regards to driving a bunch of rowdy teenagers.

Tomorrow we will get back into the swing of life. Malachi’s appointments start back up and Jake will head back to work on Wednesday. The break has been a busy one with lots of transitioning so we are welcoming the comfort of routine back into our lives. And having an address! Hello again amazon.com!

Here is a sweet picture of Malachi playing at his great grandmother’s house over Christmas break.

The beginning of this week was focused on our new home! Meetings with the bank and contractors kept us pretty busy and we were able to whittle our to-do list down significantly. We have staked off the area that the house will sit on the new property and marked which trees will come down. The entire lot is covered in very tall pine trees, and unfortunately pines have shallow roots. While we would love to leave all the trees, it is not worth potentially causing damage to the house in case of inclement weather. We are now waiting on the city to come and do a soil test to tell us where the septic will need to go.

We also had a fun visit with a local family that has two adult daughters with CP. They have custom built a home that will grow with the girls and it was so nice to get to see firsthand some of the ideas they thought of. It has definitely kept our wheels turning in regards to the new build.

Jake and I spent the non-errand running time at the camper playing games until bedtime. We used to play games ALL the time as a young married couple, and when Mr. Malachi came along we obviously curtailed a bit. We are both extremely competitive and it was nice to have a little flashback to a less complicated life. And Malachi loved helping dad with his dominoes.

On one of the slower days we went to the movies with Malachi. We watched a silly kids movie called “Sing” and boy did he get into it. He laughed and squealed with joy through most of it. Like a typical three year old, he lost interest after an hour but still behaved enough for us to finish the film.

Malachi has done great with the chaos and was literally giddy when we got into the camper. He thought it was hilarious that we were all within an arms reach of one another at all times. He has such a good nature and sweet spirit about him. We dragged his special mattress out of storage and set up a mini-Malachi room on the dining room table.

We were able to visit with Boomer dog this week, and he is as happy as can be. He is getting spoiled rotten by my brother and sister-in-law and clearly loving the mini-vacation. It has been hard to not have him around. Malachi was especially excited to see him. We are not able to have him in the rental house, so it will be a long 6 months but knowing that he is happy and just a 20 minute drive away makes it a bit better.

Malachi received one final Christmas gift from his Aunt Becky, and I have to tell you that she knocked it out of the park! She ordered him a switch operated fart machine and he has laughed and laughed, having a blast with it! I took a video for you:

Tonight we will be talking to the teens about the importance of intercessory prayer. This has been on my mind a lot over the last week. I can’t even begin to tell you how blessed we have been by strangers and friends in the last several weeks. It has blown us away. At night when I sit and dwell on it all I find it so overwhelming to even know how to begin repaying the kindess. As I laid one night processing it all became clear: “Pray for them.” My prayers have been focused on the many people that have been the hands and feet of Christ in our lives. From paying for meals, to lending campers, to simply being prayer warriors for Malachi, my prayer time has been filled with faces and names.

I have also learned this week how refreshing it is to spend my time in prayer focusing on the needs of others as opposed to my needs. It pleases the Lord when we make our requests known to Him, but I also firmly believe that it pleases Him greatly to hear of our love and concern for our brothers and sisters.

Well friends, we are off to the dollar store for some necessary supplies for the lock-in. I hope you are as excited as we are about the amazing things God can do in 2017. We are expecting more miracles for our Malachi.

Much love,

Jake, Leah, and Malachi