It is fully spring in Colorado; which means we're having lovely days of sunshine and warm temperatures, so warm that shorts have been pulled out as well as sandals. But it also means that snow and cold can return at any moment, as it did just this past weekend. Going from 80 degrees and sunshine to 30's and snow overnight is always dramatic. We laugh at Colorado weather most of the year, calling it a 'drama queen' and 'bi-polar', but never more so than in the spring. You have to laugh, or you'll cry. And so too, our family's life has been very dramatic lately. We have teenagers now. And so we're trying to laugh, not cry. And we're slowly succeeding more often.
Plans are moving full speed ahead, well, maybe only half-speed. I cannot believe it has been three months since we were in Hungary, the time is just speeding by and some days I wonder if we'll be ready for our move in September. If three months has gone by this fast…. Yikes! Several big decisions have been made, and we thank you for your prayers as we weighed all the pros and cons, did lots of research, prayed, discussed. First, as of this year, we are not going to put our house on the market after all, we'll rent it out instead. We may try and sell it down the road, but with the housing market as it is right now, we're waiting. Second, we are going to ship a container full of our stuff, something we were going back and forth on. The kids will have their familiar and favorite items. We are also looking at not renting our garage, only the house and using the garage for storage and to leave our minivan in it to have on return visits. So the possibility of storage has opened even more doors as we sort through stuff. And wow, we have so much STUFF.
Lastly, we've made decisions on the kids' schooling. Both boys are in the middle of an enrollment process for Provost Academy, an online High School that is also a free public school. Anna has been more trouble. Okay, not her really, just deciding how to school her. : We considered homeschooling her for a long time, especially as all the free public online middle schools were not working out as an option - they all require the students to at least be physically in CO for state testing in March (not the best time of year to schedule our visits back). But as the homeschooling plans moved forward and the price came into view, we wondered why we didn't just use that money for a private online school. And so, more research ensued. We have finally chosen Keystone Online Academy, and while not free like the boys', will not cost us much more in the long-run than buying the homeschooling supplies. Next school year will find all of our children attending online schools. Something not even imagined so recently. I'm pretty curious to see how it all works.
In the midst of planning and sorting our day to day life has continued… with a few adjustments. Last month we welcomed Paul into our lives. He's renting our guest bedroom and Norbert's Buick Century for several months. He's taken over Norbert's old job at NARA, and is here off and on, overseeing the work in Seattle and Alaska (just as Norbert did) while also still doing work at his old job in CA. His family is remaining in CA until the school year is over, so he needed a place until then. They had been praying about moving to CO, so we're all pretty excited to see God's hand in all these plans, from sides we had not even considered. Our boys have been so gracious, especially Joshua, who gave up his room to be converted back into a guest room, and they're back to sharing what was just Josiah's room.
Josiah just got to have quite an adventure, going with his school's choir to perform at Walt Disney World in Florida during their Spring Break. Lakewood High School's music department is something we will miss, but I am so glad Siah has had the opportunity to be a part of it this year. We'll be seriously looking into some sort of music program for him in Hungary, maybe in Budapest. Outside of such exciting events, life is becoming bittersweet here in Colorado… the last time for this or that. We'll be looking for a home for our pet bunnies here soon too (prayers for that appreciated). And then we're looking to squeeze in time with friends while we can. My folks will be coming to visit us in early June, just as the kids get out of school and timed to see Anna in one of her riding competitions. And we are still planning to spend our final month in CA with other family, and hope to see what old friends there we can. We thank you all for praying with us, for encouraging us. Please keep those prayers coming. It has been a hard few months since we announced our move, and we know at least some of that is due to spiritual attacks. Of course, as we've heard so often, being attacked means you're a threat, so we'll enjoy that aspect. But we're also aware that we can't make this move alone, we need your prayer covering. We will also be setting up a way that people can support us in a financial way, as the move is a big expense. Thankfully a mostly one-time expense, but still expensive. Donations can always be made through Mile High Calvary, attach a separate note with it that it is for our family, and they will get it to us.
May you all be enjoying spring in your corner of the world. We're looking forward to seeing if our robin family comes back to nest on our back patio again. Blessings….
Rachel,
Writing for the Lakatos family
