2011 has been a great year full of many surprises and life lessons. We started out the year in Minnesota living with 5 other adults and 2 other kids. Tim was working mostly full time hours at Sholom while Dana stayed home with Shiloh and watched our friends' daughter 3 days a week.
In March we celebrated Dana's Grandma's 80th birthday and bought an RV from some dear friends in Missouri. We drove the bus back to Minneapolis (mostly fueled by used veggie oil) and we prayed about traveling with friends to Rainbow Gatherings. We had just paid off all of our debt (thank you Jesus!) and were ready for something new.
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n May we went to a national 24-7 prayer gathering in Tulsa, OK. Again we drove our RV (see picture) mostly on used veggie oil and enjoyed a refreshing weekend with Dana's family as well as dear friends from 24-7 Prayer. During the weekend gathering we had some great conversations and Father brought a lot of clarity to our hearts.As a result we moved to Woodland Park, Colorado, in July to rest and grow in deeper understanding of Father's love for us through his family, the Church. We spent a few months of simply 'detoxing' from city and intense community living. Our days consisted of going on walks, playing at local parks, reading, painting, going on hikes, visiting the local farmer's market and starting new friendships. During this time Tim found a used pottery wheel and started making lots of pottery, some of which he has been able to sell! The most amazing part of it is all is that Tim's wrists, which you probably have been praying for, have been doing awesome! Some folks at a fellowship here prayed for Tim's wrists a few months ago and they have been feeling fantastic. Praise Jesus!
After many months of job searching Tim got a job at Moolala. Unfortunately they made major lay offs just two weeks later. Tim took the in between time to make more pottery and started selling some pieces on Facebook. Since then Tim has been taking orders for Christmas and shipping pottery to several states across the U.S. After only a few weeks of searching for jobs Tim got a job at the local UPS Store and has been there for a month already.
In November we hosted most of Dana's family for a weekend to celebrate Shiloh's 2nd birthday. It was a wonderful time of celebration and Dana's twin brother even got engaged on the same day as Shiloh's birthday party!!!!! Ryan and Maria will be getting married in Texas in July and we plan to attend. We also enjoyed a week long visit from Jake, Rachel and Donovan in October as well as a week long visit from Tim's mom in early December. We are thankful to have this time with family even though we moved far away.
As if there wasn't enough to rejoice in already, we also made the joyful announcement that we are expecting another baby in March!!! Dana has been doing great though she is starting to feel more and more uncomfortable. Little Kramer is growing and doing great. Little Kramer seems to be just as active as Shiloh and eager to come out and play in a few months!
We will be traveling to Bartlesville to celebrate Christmas with the Nagele's. Dana and Shiloh will remain until Jan. 2 while Tim returns Dec. 27th in order to work.
As we look forward to the New Year our hearts are full of hope, joy and peace. We are so excited for baby #2 to be welcomed into our lives. We are excited to grow further in relationships out here as we continue to settle in. We are excited to see the family of God growing together in love as we follow Jesus together. We are excited to express God's creativity through painting, pottery and parenting. We are filled with hope for our families, friends and neighbors to understand God's love for them more. We are filled with joy in the presence of our loving Papa who lavishes his love on us as his children. We are filled with peace even when the world around us continues to spiral down and down.Praying for God's rich presence in each of your hearts this Christmas and New Year!
Kramertribe
