Welcome to our Family-
How did we get to where we are today?
Welcome to our family. That's what we are all about~ how many people could have a live-in PapPap, and not have it any other way? We've always been a close family, and life is good~ if we could describe our web site's main theme of 'home and family values' in one word- that would be our answer- FAMILY! 
Even though we've always been close, life hasn't always been easy. We've been through endless happy times (piece of cake!), sickness, death, financial hardship, even been 'shunned', but thank the Good Lord for our family! Been through it all together. Not sure if you can get awesome blessings without learning how to deal with the hardships of life. What's that saying- "If it doesn't kill ya, it'll make ya REALLY strong?" It's kind of ironic that we have such a large family now, as my husband and I are both only children (and we STILL don't know how to share!). We both had awesome parents that raised us with strong character and values- thank the Lord for them! They are responsible for the morals we have today. We started our married lives by living with my husband's parents while we saved money for our own home. Immediately, we learned an important lesson- life isn't always about you. If you can put other's needs and wants ahead of your own, then you'll find blessing- I think that's when our family bond was born.
On to our first home, and 4 little ones~ My husband says God gave us children to show us and help us overcome what we lack. Some days my response is "I really don't want to overcome any more." :O Seeing some pretty major differences with what the public schools were teaching, compared with our own values, started us down the homeschooling journey. What a daily adventure- not always easy, but a joy!
In the midst of our homeschool journey, my father passed from cancer- I think it was then I had to grow up. Another life lesson: Make every moment count! My mother-in-law was also facing some major health issues, a rare genetic disease called MEN1, which led us down the raw food journey. Wow, what results, and we felt great! Sadly, due to complications from a surgery, she passed the following year.
It was that same year we also left our church of 10 years. Having children showed us the importance of our choices. Realizing we didn't full-heartedly believe underlying views, our children would one day see that hypocrisy in us. We had no choice but to leave, and were shunned, lost a job, and a life as we had known it for a decade.
 It wasn't until then our eyes were truly opened- we saw life with a clearness we didn't know existed. Sometimes when on the inside you can't see, you have to step out of the box to understand. Things were finally beginning to make sense, an oppression we didn't realize we had was lifted, and a vigor for life returned. That brought us closer together than ever. If we had to choose to do it over again, we would in a heartbeat~ another life lesson: When you think you have all life's answers and your way is the only way, you begin to die on the inside. Life's a journey with something to be learned from everything and everyone.
That's our life in a nutshell- OK, a pretty big nutshell :). Our PapPap is now back with us, and we're reembarking on a journey of what we value in life~ rebounding from falling back into unhealthy eating, to a life returning to physical health, finding new family traditions, a homeschooling lifestyle, and learning martial arts - all together- talk about making us grow! Come with us and see where life takes us~ we can't wait to see what is next!
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