A long time comin'

Another long situation for the Toftnesses.  After looking at the pictures of Oliver from the Healthtex installment, I felt bad that I've told him no to cutting his hair for so looooong. Poor little dude...he was starting to look like he had an animal roosting on his melon. It was cute for a while...but that was a while ago. Oops. This is especially unacceptable because I'm a cosmetologist- all the gear I need to chop suey is right here, I don't even have to take him to the nearest Cuttin' Corral.  Maybe I was taking our current study of 1 Peter (in Bible Study Fellowship) a little too literally: "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.  Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight"  1 Peter 3:3-4.  But as we learned at study, this is referring to what we put the emphasis on.  "People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart"  1 Samuel 16:7.  Hopefully my heart doesn't look like a bad hair day to God.

And here is the Olive now, handsome as heck.

 

I don't know why I would trouble you with a 'before,' but...

The loooonggg day

It's actually been a long season.  Not spring (though that's been pretty long and lovely, as well!), but the season our family just came out of- a single engine season.

About a month ago, Andrew's faithful old truck conked out on us.  *sniffle*  Since then we've been looking and test-driving and rationalizing and praying for wisdom.  While waiting for the right vehicle, Andrew needed something hefty for cabinet delivery/tool hauling, so he would borrow his dad's truck or work van.  Other times, when he just had to commute to and from the shop, he rode his good ol' Cannondale road bike or I dropped him off at work or the kids and I were left at home with no wheels.  Well, not NO wheels, there was the wheel barrow, the two lawn mowers, or the fifteen bikes...:)  Needless to say, it's been a humbling experience relying on each other or others for transportation.

But yesterday-- Margs and I went with Anj to the cities to test-drive some cargo vans- yay.  On the way down Andrew got a Charleston Chew and a can of Arizona Tea (two of the longest treats he could find at the gas station), so we started joking about how he was just readying himself for the long van he was going to buy.  After checking out a couple big fat vans north of the cities, but not really feelin' it, we headed south to Savage.  And there she was at MartysAutoMart: an EXTENDED cargo van.  The long day just got longer.  *enter Hallelujah chorus*

Sure, it's the world's biggest block of white on four wheels.  Sure, it's got as many miles as the 626 (together they've banked up a half a million!).  Sure, only 2 of the 4 doors unlock from the outside (Andrew has to crawl in the passenger door or back door if it's locked.  Hehe.)  But it sure was cheap and we sure are grateful to God for ending our lengthy search with such a huge answer to prayer.  Huge.:)

Unrelated to this post, here are a few pictures from last fall to satisfy your photo hunger.  My happy honey with the pumpkins shortly before Margsy was born, and me with the pumpkins on Halloween, 9 days after she was born.