We're slowing getting settled in to our new house and neighborhood. We're still working on getting our home organized. We did take some breaks and enjoy time at a new park close by.
We dropped off a box of items to Goodwill and ventured in to look for a picture frame. We didn't find anything but the kids loved pretending to drive these cars.
We registered Eli at his new school and then had time to stop by the library and get new library cards. Eli and Austin are thrilled to have their own library cards!!
And Eleanor has enough hair to have a ponytail! :)
We have a community pool and it's the best thing ever. A few days this week we went swimming twice in one day - once before lunch and once after Eleanor napped. It's been extra hot so the water has felt extra great. And I took a million photos of Eleanor in this floaty because she looked sooooo cute. We also swam as a family on Friday and Saturday evenings. It's a quick walk down to the pool and then we love getting exercise and enjoying family time together without spending lots of money! (We do pay $23/month for HOA but that's still cheaper than other family activities we can do!) The boys are getting better at swimming and it's fun to see them gain more confidence in the water.
On Saturday morning, Aaron took the boys to run errands so I took a quick second to paint Eleanor's nails and try another ponytail!
Aaron mowed the grass and our yard is so huge. We can't get enough of the trees, glorious trees!
Aaron and I were asked to sub for Sunbeams today - the kids are so cute and we love that Austin is in the class! During singing time, Eli was picked to participate and I snapped this quick picture.
This week my testimony of tithing was strengthen so much. I have always loved tithing because it's a commandment that I can follow with exactness - pay 10% of your increase.
When I started working full time, I realized that I had to decide if I was going to pay 10% of the gross or net income. I felt like paying on the gross income was the best way to fully pay on my increase. When Aaron and I got married, he felt the same way about tithing, so we continued paying 10% on our gross income. We've continued that habit as we've added more children and expenses into our budget and we've continued to see the windows of heaven pour upon us as we've paid a full and honest tithing. As we prepared to sell our home in Colorado (and this being our first time selling a home), Aaron and I discussed how we'd handle everything financially - meaning, we made $84,000 on our home and we planned to use every penny of that money as a downpayment for our new home. Questions popped into my mind - if we're using it as a downpayment, is it an increase to our income? Should we pay tithing on it? Aaron and I prayed about it and both agreed that paying tithing on it was the right thing to do.
As I type this, I'm overcome with gratitude with how we were blessed in this whole process. We've seen so many miracles and blessings that I know are related to tithing. When our Colorado home sold, we paid tithing on the increase. Several weeks later when it was time to pay our downpayment, the total cost after what we negotiated with the sellers, was $78,000. We've continued to see blessings as reimbursements from our Colorado home have come in the mail. Additionally, a huge blessings that I just realized today, is Eli's eye doctor appointment was paid by our insurance. We don't have eye insurance and when I called our insurance to ask about Eli's appointment, I was told it would only be covered if it was a medical reason that he was being seen, not just for a check-up. We felt like Eli needed to be seen by a pediatric eye dr., so we decided we'd pay for the appointment out of pocket. Eli was diagnosed with a lazy eye and I found out today it is being covered by our insurance - the appointment was around $450!! Wow, such a blessing.
I know paying an honest tithing will open the windows of heaven. I've experienced it before and my testimony has been strengthen so much this week.
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