Paving the Way

It has been a long week! Brad and his dad have been working every day on the basement, trying to get it all finished for Paul before we move. That leaves the packing to me...not my expertise! In between packing here and there, I am taking care of the meals, packing, laundry,packing, cleaning, packing, still working on stuff for NCA and their licensing requirements, packing, etc. There are not enough hours in the day. Brad wanted to leave on Saturday...it is now Sunday and we will be lucky to leave on Tuesday!
I can't wait to be all done packing, loading, and on the road. I want to just leave all of Colorado behind. We have really found that a lot of the people here are so caddy, clicky, judgemental, and very opinionated and love to share their opinions quite openly no matter who it may hurt! No one seems to be subtle and where is the kindness? The church experience here has been quite different from the churches in Arizona. We have not felt very connected here. Our hope and prayer is that God will provide the authentic relationships that we had in Arizona...fellow Chrisitans who will love you for who you are, not judge, be encouraging and supportive, and not intentionally hurt people's feelings.
In times of hardship and times of neediness you really find out who your true friends really are! We have had NO help from our church body, neighbors, or friends from PCCC with moving, packing, anything...a few calls from some of our journey group, and only one offer for help. It really saddens me, but I shouldn't be surprised, really. Our neighborhood has been such a disappointment. Most of these neighbors in our culdesac atttend PCCC and are even leadership, yet they show as little Christianity as I have ever seen...very caddy, clicky, nosey, judgemental, sharing no love of Christ with others, even their own church body that live right across the street. I have never experienced this type of neighborhood and definitely not this type of church body! It breaks my heart that this is representation of God and the church!
We have learned a lot since we have been here in Colorado, mainly how we don't want to be and how we don't want to live, especially when we are children of God, followers of Christ, representing the everlasting, loving Creator of the universe. It has been a reminder of how God wants us to be, how He wants us to treat others, and how He wants us to be used by Him for His glory and honor! I do thank God for these lessons, because it will help to build our character to be better servants of Him and for Him!
I am thankful for all that we have endured, because I know that God is refining each of us in our family to be what He wants us to be! Thank you for the trials of this last year and a half...in our weakness we are made strong in You!

God's Faithfulness

God has been so faithful to our family, especially lately. We have been prayerfully considering moving to Indiana for so many reasons. Since we surrendered that possibility to Him, He has really opened doors for us and has really directed our path to move forward. Yesterday I bought a for rent sign to post in our yard and within an hour we had a call, a tour today, and told it is a done deal an hour after the tour. We are so blessed to be able to get out of this lease and not be stuck in it!
We are really praying for a piece of property that would be a perfect fit for our family. It is a house an property on 20 acres of wooded land. It would be such a perfect place for us! We are hopeing and praying that this is God's perfect plan, but will be thankful for whatever He provides!
The next few weeks are going to be crazy busy as we pack, finish the school year, and finsih up loose ends before leaving Colorado.
We are going to keep looking to God for strength and direction! He is so faithful to us, even when we are undeserving!

Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs

We spent a family day at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. We enjoyed over a 5 mile hike over a 4-5 hour period. The rock formations and views were breath taking! If you don't have faith in God, that will make you come around! Peighton rode in the stoller and hiked and climbed up some rocks. She had a great time, but was a little bummed because of the lack of bugs we saw! She is a bug lover. The other day in the yard she collected 26 rolly polly bugs! Preston loved climbing the rocks. He is such an outdoor boy! Paxton just loves hanging with the family and making the most of it, like his mommy! Brad did incredibly well, considering his heart and the problem he endures with the elevation. We just took it nice and slow, so we all could enjoy each other and the beauty!
We are trying to enjoy some of the Colorado sites before leaving in two weeks! Colorado has so much beauty all around. We will miss the mountainous views!

The pink and purple bearded lady

So Peighton was coloring with her markers and when we least expected it, she colored a beard on her face with pink and purple marker. She then proceeded to the basement where Brad was working and pointed to her face saying "Peighton beard like daddy." It was so adorable. She did a really good job giving herself a full beard in the right spot.

The Joy of Moving!

Well, the packing and storing has started in full swing! Brad has been a machine, as best as he can be with the Colorado elevation! He is finishing the basement, packing, and hauling our stuff to the storage unit. Our house is a mess and will be for the next two weeks until we leave Colorado behind us. It will be a long two weeks, finishing up school, packing, storing, etc. But it will be well worth it once we get to Indiana and get all settled! Until then, we are working hard, getting things done, and trusting in God to continue making our path straight!

Leaving Colorado Behind WIth Joy!

God has opened the doors for us to leave Colorado! We are so thankful for this opportunity to leave Colorado behind and start fresh! Our year and a half here has been so full of pain and loneliness! We just want to walk through the doors of opportunity that God is providing for our family in Indiana. The elevation here is so hard on Brad's heart. He acts like he is 80 years old! He played basketball with the boys the other day for 15 minutes and was completely exhausted! His quality of life is so poor here. When he is in other states with lower elevation, he does great.
We are looking at buying a house on 20 wooded acres only 7 miles from my dad and Shirley. There are so many pros to us making this move: Brad's health, Brad's territory is there for his job, my dad and Shirley are there and we have so missed being around family, opportunity to live on acreage and let the boys enjoy being boys, nice small schools for the kids, chance to lead a simpler way of life and not be so close to neighbors that are so caddy and nosey!
Some of our concerns are finding a church and life group. Our church in Arizona really set the bar high! I have researched a lot of churches and haven't really found one that would fit what we are looking for. I know that God will provide a church home for us! That is really the only concern that we have, which makes this move a peaceful one.
God has truely been paving the way for this move to happen. He is in control of every little detail and we are trusting in Him and walking by faith!
We will be leaving here on May 31st, putting everything into storage. We will then be going to Minnesota for a month for 3 graduations and a family reunion. We will then be going to Indiana and staying with my dad for a week or two while Brad and his dad fly to Denver and load up the moving trucks. The kids and I will not be returning to Colorado.
The hardest part of the move will be seeing the boys leave their friends behind. They each have one really good friend here and that is always tough.
I know God is faithful and will be everything we need!
Goodbye Colorado and Hello Indiana!

A Very Scary Day!

On April 21st everything was going like normal for the Dandurand Family. Brad had just flew out for a trade show and would not be back for 8 days. Peighton took a nap and woke up at 2:30 all happy go lucky, playing and having fun. We went to go pick up brothers up from school and when Paxton got into the Trailblazer, he asked me what was wrong with Peighton because she was just shaking in her car seat. I looked back at her and she was acting like she was freezing. I got her home right away and gave her some tylenol and was about to take her temp. My thermometer batteries were dead, so I couldn't take her temp. I know she was burning up pretty good, though! She was sitting on the couch and became a little irritable. I called a friend to get some advice. He said to call her pediatrician to see what they wanted to do. As I was about to call Dr. Josepher, she sat on the floor and then fell back. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she was stiff. I immediately callede 911. She ended up having two more seizures before they got to the house. The last seizure she had was pretty scary...her lips turned blue and she was like gasping for air. The paramedics finally arrived and took her vitals and got her into the ambulance. By the time she got into the ambulance, she started to come around. She was crying and wanted me to comfort her. By the time we got to SkyRidge, she was doing much better and was much more responsive. They took her temp and it was 106.7! They gave her some Motrin and we waited for an hour and half until her temp went down. It was such a scary time seeing your child seize like that! The boys never had that high of a fever and definitely not seizures. I had a long night as she kept spiking fevers. The highest it got after that was 105.5, which was still so scary. She ended up having fevers for over 5 straight days! A lot of long nights. Her pediatrician blames it on a UTI. She had a minimal amount of bacteria in her urine. She is going to have an ultrasound of her kidneys and also a test on her bladder to make sure that everything is anatomically correct. If everything turns out okay, then they may just rule it as a virus. I was so thankful to have my dad and Shirley here during this time! It was such a comfort having them here!