the Buckwalter farm

On a snowy December day we packed the entire contents of our house into several  truck loads and started the new year in a new little house in Conestoga that we now call "home". After months of searching and waiting and hours and hours of painting it is hard to believe we were here.

The day after Christmas I started a marathon of packing that did not stop until I unpacked the last box almost two weeks later. There was grace for the journey but I am so glad to be settled and if I don't have to pack up our house again for a very long time I would be very happy. :) I tossed and turned the week before we moved wondering how it was all going to work out and how in the world we were going to fit everything into a house half the size of our old one. We got rid of a lot of stuff, decluttered and simplified.  I am pleasantly surprised that everything has a home and it even feels roomy. I like that there is a lot less house to clean and everything is freshly painted.

My other worry was about the kids changing schools. All Christmas break Sarah would ask me how many more days till she has to go back to school. I could tell she was worried and I could feel the butterflies in my own stomach when I thought about them having to switch schools half way through the school year. The night before it was time to head back to school we prayed and at this point Sarah was still saying she did not want to go. But suddenly as we prayed she remembered a little girl she saw when she was visiting and that maybe just maybe she would go tomorrow and ask this girl to be her friend. The next morning after many prayers and farewell hugs Moses and Sarah got on the bus smiling and waving. Thank you Jesus.

Sarah did not meet her new friend the first day but on the second day she came home saying her new friend was Grace. I thanked the Lord for Grace and his Grace on this transition. A week later I went to a mom's prayer group where I met a mom who had a daughter in Sarah's class only to find out she was the mother of Grace. She told me she heard about us before we moved and was praying for us. She went home and told Grace, who prayed that the new little girl would be in her class. I came away from that conversation so encouraged that God was working and preparing a friend for Sarah even before we moved and that His grace is sufficient for every transition!

So Conestoga is starting to feel like home. When we were looking into buying, Moses had two requirements...the property needed to have sticks to build forts and trees to climb. We found that the houses in our price range did not fit this requirement or our heart desires. So we opted to rent where the kids can climb trees and romp through fields and have space to be free. Where we can have a wrap around porch and grow a garden. It feels right to raise our kids on a property like this.

A crazy comfirmation that we were in the right place was that this farm's previous owner was a ninety something man with the last name of Buckwalter and the property was known as the Buckwalter farm. Pretty nice confirmation if I do say.

Probably the biggest transition is getting used to the ten extra minutes it takes to get anywhere! Seriously...there is no fast way to and from Conestoga. :)

Last Saturday was a little gift from God with weather almost near sixty in the middle of January. Mark had the entire day off and we spent lots of time exploring the property and taking pictures. Here are a few pictures Mark took of our new house. If I would have known he was taking pictures I might have cleared away a few dishes but then it would not truly be home right? I would love to give a full house tour sometime but for now here is our kitchen, living room and the outside room to live. 

 Welcome to our kitchen.  Pull up a seat and sit awhile. One of my favorite parts of the kitchen is the butcher block we found at a local antique store. The other is the vintage hutch I found on craiglist. Both are new things we added when we moved and I love them!

 Here is little Miss Eden exploring her new playroom/office.

 Our cozy little living room.

 The house has been sitting empty for three years so there is a lot of yard work and clean up to do. But there is tons of potential and I can't wait till spring time to get busy. The house looks big in the picture but we actually only live in one half. The other half was an addition that was built on in the 1900's but never finished. So there is rooms but no plumbing or electricity. It is just sitting empty. There is a lot of potential there as well.

 This is the cute little spring house that we are using as a garage to store bikes and such. I like the character.

 The back door.

 The porch is one of my favorite parts of the house. I picture myself spending lots of time out here in the summer watching the kids play in the yard.

 Like our last house there is lots of room to roam. This property has a lot of little creek beds and ravines to climb and explore. The kids thought this was the coolest thing ever to have this in their back yard.

 And yes, Moses is happy to report that there is a lot of sticks to make swords and forts and lots of trees to climb. They are happy boys even if the picture says otherwise!

"There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragant than ever again."

~elizabeth lawrence~