Year One!

Today we celebrate year one! Wowzers. I would love to say that this year has been pure bliss and ease. A year where transition hardly was felt, and everything ran smoothly, but alas that would not be true. "The first year is really hard", those words of wisdom came whirling in every few months as we worked to move into a family of three. "Life is a marathon not a sprint" popped up on those days when I wanted to pull the covers over my head. It hasn't been easy or the stuff of fairytale, but it has been life. From the first few days as a family of three we felt like we were face to face with life. Life in its beauty and life in the messy. This year has had its share of highs and lows, but as we come to the dawn of year two I am so thankful for a partner to journey with and for a God who we can both anchor to and trust to carry us through. On those early winter mornings when prayer and a Psalm were all that called us from our beds, to the warm evenings of summer we have placed one foot in front of the other and chosen to keep stepping forward. This has been a truly amazing year, and one that I know we will look back on to recall deepening love and the ever present love of God. We are so thankful to all of the friends and family who have faithfully supported us over the year!

Some highlights:
Cannery Pier Hotel! LOVE Love this place. Thanks to the very generous gift of our Home Community, David and I were able to share our first days as Mr and Mrs surrounded by the beauty of the Columbia.

Our gift from the Cannery!


It was a wee bit cold in Astoria. July?








After our honeymoon, we were able to take a week for a familymoon in August. We were again blessed by gifts that made this trip possible.




We got to explore the Oregon Caves. Amazing!

Crater Lake. Simply Beautiful!

Again.. July??



Lots of relaxing!
Then it was off to the races with school, school, and more school.

Paige had a wonderful 5th grade year at Portland Christian Elementary. David worked as a sub for Portland Public, and I finished my Masters degree in December! Whoo..wee!


This Spring has been a whirlwind of activity here on Cooper St. Farm. Living in a wee house has had its share of struggle especially since I work at home. So, after some advice from dear friends we decided to expand our space by adding an office. Through the amazing skill of my husband and father this space is coming together beautifully!

We also planted a garden this year. It has been pretty amazing to watch it grow throughout the spring and summer.

As we celebrate the dawn of a new year, we are looking forward to all God has in store for our family. We are celebrating Paige's Rite of Passage to 13 (you can follow that journey here:
celebratingriteofpassage.blogspot.com. I will be teaching at Concordia as an adjunct Psychology professor. David will continuing working with Portland Public Schools. And without a doubt more than we can imagine. Thank you so much for your role in this journey. It is through the encouragement of our community that we are able to faithfully walk this journey!

Love,

The Springer family