Updates

Before (Becky Goodman and kids visiting!)

Living Room and Kitchen gutted!
After

It's been awhile, I know. Let's see. In January we went to WI for my grandma's funeral and while we were gone, a valve busted in our upstairs bathroom and flooded our house. A friend was taking care of our animals and thankfully came to the house and found the disaster. He was able to turn the water off and called some other friends (local men) and they all spent several hours vacuming water out of the house. Thank the Lord for friends! We drove home the next morning to evaluate the damages. It was not good. The insurance sent a drying company out immediately. As soon as they got here, they started tearing out ceilings, floors, walls. It was sad. The insurance had a 40' RV delivered so we had a place for the boys to sleep and a place to cook. It is also where we hung out during non-sleeping hours. I think the insurance has paid out approximately $95,000.00. It has been a very stressful 4 months, but we basically have a brand new house with brand new furniture now.We were able to re-arrange the floor plan a bit throughout the house also.We built a wall that seperates the kitchen and living room, but the dining room and living room are open. I love it! When they re built the basement, we also changed some things and now have a HUGE family room! So in all, we now have 8 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, living room on main level, family and game room in basement, a den for my sewing machine, computer, and books, and a kitchen I never dreamed of being blessed with. We had a second kitchen in the basement before the flood, so the insurance company paid us to replace all the cabinets on both levels. We didn't want the second kitchen, so we were able to buy all new appliances with the extra cabinet money. It came out almost dollar for dollar. I am very thankful!!
Well, on a different subject, Josh has been with Angie and Scott since March. He has been wanting to spend time with them for a few years and this was a perfect time for him to go. He is doing very good. We miss him alot! DJ also left in March for basic training. We went to Missouri last weekend to visit him. He is also doing very well. I am proud of the stand he has taken there spiritually. He has chosen to grow spiritually and draw closer to the Lord through this. I am very excited about who he has become. Everyone else is doing great. Busy!! Here are a couple pictures. I will put a few more on later.