Seattle Trip

First things first....We have a contract on a house! Our main mission for our trip was accomplished and we are so thankful. Before our trip, an unanticipated obstacle to getting into a house had arisen and we went not really knowing what was going to happen. But once again, God has absolutely amazed us by His timing. He went above and beyond to provide for us during the trip. He continues to show us that He is with us and is in control of every detail.

So, we thank each of you who prayed while we were gone! Kaitlyn got better, and other than a miserable landing into Seattle, she did great! We got to see some snow, but the weather never hindered our plans. It was an exhausting week, but in light of what we put the girls through, they were amazing. As we walked through the first few homes, Hannah kept saying, "But there aren't any toys!" as if to say, "Nope, we can't get this house." We finally got her to realize that she'd be bringing her toys to put in the new house. Hannah also had a lot of fun getting to play with some new friends - children of other church planters in the area. We are thankful she has made some connections that will help in her transition. Right now she thinks all of her Nashville friends are going to be with her in Seattle.....

Here are a few pictures of our house. It is framed, but there is still about 2 months worth of work to be done before it will be complete. We are hoping this means we get to pick out tile, colors, etc. Now, look at these pictures and wrap your mind around the fact that this house was listed for $439,000 and we were excited because that is CHEAP! And actually it was originally listed in the $460's, so we really got a deal!





























One reason the real estate is so expensive is because the land is very valuable, so therefore most houses in the Seattle area have little or no yard.















Although I was sad to give up having a yard, this community has a playground for its residents. This will actually work to our advantage for church-planting purposes as people will naturally be drawn out of their homes.















Here are some finished homes down the street from us. We really like the Northwest architecture. The newer homes are all very Eddie Bauerish. Families have already moved into a few of the homes and we are guessing by the time we move about half of the homes will be occupied. So we'll have plenty of new neighbors to meet and more to greet as homes continue to be filled.















Here are some pictures I took while we were driving around. Seattle sits between the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges. We're excited about the fact that ski slopes are as close as a 45-minute drive!




























Here are some pictures of downtown taken from a local park. The body of water is Puget Sound.




























Finally, here's a picture from our July trip, taken from the Space Needle. On clear days Mt. Rainier "hovers" in the distance. It's absolutely beautiful.