Nort Invasion....

Jesse and Jared are so thrilled to have a real honest to goodness "nort" living in our backyard! (If you don't yet know what a "nort" is and why it is named such...click on April's posts in the archives and you will soon know all about these giant creatures that Jesse and Jared get so excited over.)

The back of our house is situated along a highway and the Oregon Department of Transportation decided that the highway needed widening, so just a couple weeks after having moved into our new home and bringing premature twin boys home from the hospital, we got a call from them and were informed that they would need a portion of our property. We obviously weren't too happy to hear this news. Would you be, haven't even made the first mortgage payment on your first home? Well, to make a VERY long, complicated and confusing story much shorter, I am happy to inform you that this highway project should only in the end, affect us for a short time. PRAISE GOD as we thought our back yard was going to be cut in half permanently! And yes, they will mess it up real good over the next week or so, and we'll have to put it all back ourselves, but the good news is that they are paying us for this inconvenience, and from the estimates that we have gotten to rebuild and finish a lock & load retaining wall and put back A HECK OF A WHOLE LOT of dirt, we SHOULD come out ahead. We are still praying that no major glitches will arise that might ruin that outcome, but we are trusting God, that in the end this will all turn out in our favor. I can't even explain the headache that this has caused us over the last two years when this whole saga began! We have had things changed on us SOOOO many times, met with lawyers to find out our rights, talked for hours with the ODOT folks...we have made umpteen phone calls having to deal with our mortgage company to get a partial release signed on our property, called and met with several contractors to get estimates on the cost of putting all this mess back together so we would know if we were being paid a fair amount etc. etc.

And now here we are, just as this is all about to come to a climax and I find myself actually excited and thankful! Excited that my two little guys will get to watch the big "nort" doing it's job right up close and personal....how often is it that one of these big monsters rolls up on your property and gives you a private show? And excited and thankful that things are finally HAPPENING and that for the most part the "waiting to see how it will all turn out" is just about over! Once again God has used something that at in the thick of it all made us feel like kicking and screaming, to teach us to trust Him more fully, and to hold the things of this world with an open palm. Oh yes...I am also thankful to my hard working husband who spent 3 long and hot days this past week moving our fence in temporarily so that the kiddos could still have a nice place to play and watch all the action safely! You can bet that we all will be doing more of this in the next few days....so pass around the popcorn, bring on the "nort" and let's get the show started!