Our Last Day at Church

Today was such a hard day for me. It was the last Sunday we attended our church here in Knoxville. We pulled into the parking lot, and I started to cry. The people of Fellowship Bible Church are what made Knoxville our home. The scenery in this part of the country is gorgeous. The people of Knoxville in general are very friendly. But, it was the community of people at Fellowship Bible Church who made our lives here so wonderful.

Almost all of Ella's friends are from our church. These are the people that we shared our lives with on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. Knoxville would not mean to me what it does without having been a member of such an awesome church group.

The women that I became friends with were from all different age groups. From college girls to grandmothers, my life was touched so deeply by these relationships. I met women in this church that I strive to be like as I grow. My faith in God has been tested more and has grown more in the past three years than in any other period of my life. I am so thankful for the life we have led here. My prayer now as we move forward is that we will find another church home that affects us as deeply as this church has done.

Tonight, several of the families from our church attended a going away party for us. I am so touched by the number of people in this photo, and even more touched to know that there were other families that had conflicts but would have been there otherwise. We have been richly blessed. Thank you to each and every person who has touched our lives here. There are far too many to mention by name, but we love you all!

Brenna Loves School

Her first day was on Tuesday. She didn't cry at all. She had a blast. She didn't even come running for me when I came to get her that afternoon. I honestly thought it might have been a fluke since the only time she's really been away from me has been at church or with someone we knew well watching her.

This morning I said, "Brenna, are you ready to go to school again today?" She smiled really big and said, "school!" It was a few minutes before they needed to leave, so I turned on the tv for Ella and sat down. Brenna looked at me, frowned, ran as fast as her little legs could carry her to the garage door, and proceeded to try to get it open herself. She can't even reach the knob, so she turns around and gives me a dirty look and starts yelling at me. Scott said she said, "school" over and over again in the car, and when he dropped her off, she ran into her classroom and didn't even look back.

Our New Home

At this point it's as official as it's going to get until we actually close. We are moving to Haslet, TX, a small town 15 miles north of downtown Ft. Worth. We close on our home in Knoxville on September 14th and leave for Haslet that day. We close on our new home on September 17th or 18th. Here is the floor plan and pictures of the actual house.



The house:



As you walk in the front door you enter the rotunda. How posh! LOL The formal living room is straight ahead and looks out onto the covered back porch. The dining room is to the left, and the study and the hallway to the three front bedrooms is to the right.


The dining room is HUGE. We will probably put a table in the rotunda and move the chandelier from the dining room into the rotunda. The dining room will actually be our piano room.


The kitchen and family room are at the back of the house.
This is a view of the bar from the family room:

The kitchen looking into the dining room:

From the breakfast nook into the kitchen:

From the dining room into the kitchen:

The family room fire place:

There is a second fire place that looks just like this one in the formal living room. Have you ever heard of anything so silly in Ft. Worth, Texas as TWO fireplaces???
The window of the family room:


The master bedroom is also at the back of the house. It is off the formal living room. This is the wall our bed will go on:

The bay window out to the backyard:

And the bathroom:



At the front of the house, is a full guest bath:

A jack and jill bath from the hallway and the playroom:

And the girls room, which also has a bay window: