How blessed

As we get settled into our new home, Ben and I are overwhelmed by God's goodness and His blessings. After the deployment, Ben and I were desperate for some time together as a family. We got our wish and we have spent more time together in the last 4 months than we ever thought possible! We LOVE our new house and we LOVE living in Las Vegas! The weather couldn't be more amazing, we are surrounded by friends, both old and new, our household goods have arrived along with both of our cars and everything was in relatively good condition.
We are thrilled to be back in Las Vegas partly because it means we get to attend our old church, Grace Point. It's a great example of how a church is to be Christ for the community. We are involved in a small group again which we both think is vital to our spiritual growth.
Our house is in a great neighborhood. We feel very safe here and there is a community pool, gym and playground right around the corner! We have met and already used a great babysitter who lives across the street. There is a Target, Walmart, Costco, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and (my personal favorite) a Massage Envy all within a mile or two from our house! We can walk to some of the best parks that I (or more importantly, Gemma) have ever been to. I can even pick up a coffee at Starbucks on the way! The Library is also within walking distance and if I get tired of walking, there are larger paths for me to bike along as well! There is a nice new casino with a food court and movie theater that plays IMAX movies within walking distance.

The view of Mount Charlston from our street. This is back behind our house. If you go out the front of our house and look to the left, you see this view:

I am reminded of Matthew 11:28, "Come to me all you who are weary and I will give you rest." We can speak personally of the reality that Paul speaks of in Philippians (??) that God won't give us more than we can handle. We both felt like we were at our breaking point just a few months ago and now we have crested the mountain and are seeing the beautiful valley in front of us.

Did I mention that our house has closets? That might not seem like a big deal to most people, but after living without closets for almost 4 years, I got tears in my eyes when I saw the size of the closets in our house. :)

Our backyard is like our own personal haven. The landscaping is beautiful, the flowers make the whole place smell like spring, and Gemma has plenty of room to run around and play! We have put up a Hummingbird feeder with hopes of attracting the little guys. I have seen a few since we have been here, but none of them have ventured into our yard yet.

The yard even has little lamps that light up the footpath at night (we still can't figure out how to control when they come on).

Gemma is adjusting to being in our new home. In true style, Gemma entered into the terrible two stage with a bang. Up until a few weeks ago, she wasn't really talking that much. When we were staying in the hotel on base waiting for our stuff to arrive, Gemma was sleeping in the pack n play right next to our bed. She woke up one night around 2am and Ben rolled over to rub her back and he told her to lay down and go back to sleep, to which she replied, "No, I don't want to!" That's awesome for a first full sentence! She now walks around the house saying it and also says, "no, stop!" Hmmm, she also had a spell last week of fighting sleep which hopefully we are nearing the end of. Thankfully, she still has her sweet moments. When we hold her she lays her head down on your shoulder and pats your back. She helps me make her lunch almost everyday. She loves crawling up on the counter and mixing things. We are just hoping the sweet moments keep overshadowing the not so sweet ones!

We have already been lucky enough to see a few friends that have been traveling through town. It seems like everyone comes to Vegas at some point! We are eager to share our new home with friends and family so please come and visit soon!