The Long and Short of It

Back in September Matthew came home from work with an idea.
The aircraft project he was working on with his company, Aerovironment was nearing the next stage- flight testing.
After careful research of potential and previous test facilities, it was determined this particular aircraft's flying capabilities would be tested at Edwards Air Force base.
We knew it was highly likely Matthew would be asked to be part of the test team, which created an interesting challenge for our family.
How does a family of 4 with two children under the age of 4 function consistently without Daddy Monday thru Friday (and sometimes Saturday and sometimes Sunday). I know, I know- plenty of single parents make it work for one reason or another, but it just wasn't going to work for us.
The decision seemed simple- temporarily relocate the family closer to Daddy.
The problem was, we didn't know exactly when this little (ok- BIG) relo would happen, so we did what anyone else would do- start purging junk and packing.
As 'deployment' approached, our suspicions were confirmed. Matthew was asked not only to be part of the team, he was honored to be chosen as Crew Chief- a title we didn't understand fully until he started working on base.
Matthew was officially 'deployed' during the holiday season. He and the rest of the team stayed in hotels near the base until after the holidays.
It was rough only seeing him the occasional week night and weekend in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The deployed team worked 10-12 hour days, 10 days straight to ensure their time off Christmas Eve-January 2nd.
During our time off together, we realized how urgent it was for our family to find temporary housing in the desert so we could be together. We called on a listing we saw in the local newspaper that sounded perfect. It was available, the owners were Christians. Seemed perfect to me, but Matthew thought we should wait.
Just after the first of the year Matt went back to the hotel as the girls and I packed up Christmas and the rest of the house. The second week of January, I couldn't take it anymore. Being apart was too tough. That week, the girls and I drove out to finally meet with the owners and see the inside of the house. Matthew met up with us during his lunch so we could check it out as a family.
We were disappointed, but felt we needed to make a move quickly for our sanity.
It was a Friday morning. We made tentative plans to start moving into the house that Sunday.
The girls and I drove home to Simi Valley, Matthew went back to work.
That night, 90 miles apart as we laid down for the night, Matthew and I each prayed God would show us what to do.
Saturday morning I woke up to a text message from Matthew. His friend John found a listing on Craigslist that morning he insisted Matt call on.
That day Matthew left work early and drove to see the house. He fell in love, filled out the paperwork and gave a deposit without even talking to me.
This was the house we prayed for.
We made move in arrangements for February 1st.
The more we talked to our new landlords, the more we came to understand God's plan.
Cassie and Gunnar bought this two and a half acre property next to Cassie's parents 5 years ago with a plan to build their dream house to start their family. They built the house and learned starting their family would be harder than they thought.
They moved to Oregon to be closer to Gunnar's family and rent their house.
Shortly after their move, they learned of a young mother in California looking for parents to adopt her unborn child. For legal reasons, the parents needed to live outside of California. They trusted God's plan when they moved, and it was revealed to them when they were there for their daughter's birth just over a year ago!
When their most recent tenant gave her notice in January they thought it might be time to move home. In faith, they listed the house on Craigslist that same Friday night we prayed for God to show us our house.
Saturday morning all our prayers were answered!
We moved from our tiny 1950's 1,000 sqr foot rental house in Simi Valley to this gorgeous 2,300 sqr foot custom home built in 2006 the first weekend in February with the help of great friends!
The week we moved in, both girls got the flu. The second week we had a few days to unpack, then it was time to re-pack for a 3 week Florida trip for one of my high school friend's weddings. We've been home just over a month now and are finally feeling settled.
Easter weekend Cassie, Gunnar, and their daughter were in town visiting Cassie's family so we got to meet them face to face. We are thrilled to have such amazing friends now! (and an open invitation to Oregon any time we want!)
We don't know how long our stay in the desert will be, but we trust in God's plan and are embracing our great adventure!
In the weeks and months to come, I'm hoping to walk you through the last 6 months in photos and keep up to date on our daily adventures!