Things are moving into place

Well, we made the move from the temporary condo, to the new townhouse. We are loving the townhouse and feeling like we live in a home, not a vacation resort..lol. Our townhouse is a couple blocks from the water and is almost new. It's a 3br/3ba 2-story townhouse with a garage. We are loving having a garage and all the storage. We had prepared ourselves for condo living, so anything better than that is a huge bonus!! Kirsten says "stairs are over-rated" She hates when it's her time to vac them!
In January, our family, church members and friends came to meet me and the moving truck and packed us all up. One family (the Jenkinators..tee hee) even helped me drive the truck all the way back to FL. Friends like this are priceless. Not only did the clean, and pack, and come and stay with us, they took time out of their crazy lives to drive us back down here, unpack and set everything up. I love you "Jenkinators"!
Now that we are settled, day-to-day life is getting much easier. We are back on track with our school work and are set to be done in early April. The kids are working very hard and are learning more and more everyday. Chris is still loving his job and has been traveling alot! He was gone over 14 days this month. He is learning alot though and really falling into his job well. Everyone at work seems to really like him and he has made some friends. We have found a wonderful church and are feeling like this is where God wants us right now. After many visits and many different churches...this one seems to fit the most. They have wonderful classes for all of us, Chris is doing a Courageous class, Awanas for the kids, and they are very Missions-minded. They have over 12 trips planned for the next year. Its very exciting. The church is called St Andrew Baptist Church and is located in the St. Andrew Bay area of Panama City.

We have started to do more and more with the homeschoolers in our area. We have went to some of their homes, went on field trips, and had a nice Valentine's party at a park!

Bailey's health is continuing to improve. Since January, we have been trying a Gluten-free diet with him and he looks better than usual. We have had him off of the pedia-predisone since then also. We weaned him off slowly and we are hoping he can stay off of it. He has been on it since he was 3 or 4. It is soooo bad for you. Please pray that he will continue to heal. We are very excited for the sun, sand and salt of the spring/summer. This usually heals him even more. We have found one dermatoloigist in Tallahassee, but we are hoping that we won't need to go see her very often. Please be in prayer about us finding doctors in general. I am in need of a good OB-GYN, we need a chiropractor, a dentist for all of us, a family dr, pediatricians and an orthodontist for Kirsten's braces. whew!!! The thoughts of that is completely staggering to me. The pediatrician alone is enough to make me freak out. Most dr.s just cringe at the sight of Bailey. They want to mess with his meds, his treaments in general. For now, we have our own way of doing things and he is getting better, I just don't want someone to mess with it. LOL.

Bailey cooking up some treats!!!

Well, we are hopeful that now that Spring is almost here, family and friends will return for some visits. The kids are excited to show the grandparents their new rooms and their bicycle skills. I can't wait for "visitors" to come for a visit as well...it gets a bit lonely here. In March, we will be celbrating Kirsten's 11th birthday and in July, Bailey's 9th. It seems NO WAY possible that they are this old. They are so so big now!

Clint and Linli are still in China...working on getting Linli a visa so they can return to the US this fall to finish up school and so she can work on her Masters. I can't wait to see their faces. Their wedding is set for May 20th in China. My parents will be traveling there to be present for the ceremony. Considering the price tag, the Hyder's will not be attending. The price for flight alone would be near $7000. We will be helping my parents with a reception at the end of summer/fall for them held here in the states. We are very excited about that as well. Kirsten is starting looking for a dress to wear and I have been hitting up pinterest for lots of ideas. We have also continued our studies of Mandarin so that we can speak more to her family when they visit. So, until next time! zài jiàn....that's Goodbye in Chinese!