a two and a half month vacation...

February--life was turned topsy-turvy in a matter of hours.  Suddenly and a bit unexpectedly (can I say that since we had been preparing for it for over a year?), Michael was put on furlough.  What does that mean?  It means his company did not have enough projects to keep everyone busy.  But they wanted to keep him.  They hoped they would win some more projects soon. They gave Michael 30 days of furlough (which was extended by some other factors into about 10 weeks of time at home) during which time he still had benefits and was an employee but wasn't being paid.  At the end of the time a decision would be made regarding bringing M back.  I had two days struggling with my trust in the Lord's plan.  But during this time, I asked multiple people to pray about our time together as a family because I anticipated all sorts of familial stress.  God was so gracious!  He answered that prayer 100 times over!  We not only survived our daily task of looking for jobs (anticipating a lay-off), doing school with kids, doing chores around the house, etc..., but thrived.  I will remember it as one of the sweetest times together as a family!!!  Essentially, it was a 2 1/2 month vacation.

We were very cautious spending money but we enjoyed small, cheap outings.  Like:

Sonic during happy hour

Trips to Sam's Club for groceries and a pizza lunch

Lots of Daddy-kid time-  Abigail had her first date with Daddy (Sonic again)

To the Garden Center to pick out a few vegetable plants for the backyard

A trip or two to get donuts or kolaches down the street

Discounted tickets to see Beauty and the Beast for E's birthday

Lots of snuggle time and Bible stories with Daddy

And another attempt at camping out (under the porte-cochere again).  We were far more successful with cooking marshmallows for smores over the gas cooktop in the kitchen.  After dinner, we settled down outside to watch "Prince of Egypt" projected on the garage door.  After the movie, the real fun began.  Between mosquitos, and even worse, the equally pesky kids who wouldn't go to sleep, we all headed inside again around 11:30pm.

Michael encouraged us to try and redeem the situation by trying a camp-out in the living room the next night.  This was far more successful.  Perhaps the kids were too tired to cause mischief by this time?

And all these in addition to an extra long visit to Sherman, a trip to the rodeo on value day, time to exercise whenever we wanted, lazy mornings, and lots of family togetherness.  I thank the Lord for that time!

Addendum:  After 10 weeks of time at home, Michael's vacation came to an end.  God closed the door with one company but the very day the furlough ended and the door closed, we received a welcome letter from a new company!  We had been praying about God's timing from day one.  This is, yet again, a pile of memorial stones wherein we can see our Faithful God at work!