Dave and Sarah's Pad
featuring: Dave, Sarah, Johnathan, and Matthew

Hi everyone,

It's been a long time since I've written to everyone and let you know what's going on in our lives. I'm going to try to keep this relatively short and to the point, but I'm not always good at that.

Jonathan is doing great and growing up very quickly. He's turning into a little boy and is definitely no longer a baby. He's very happy most of the time his imagination is developing quickly. (Bread crust doubles as a truck or an airplane and he likes to pretend that he's a dog.) Jonathan loves to be outside and will drag us to the door every chance he gets so that we'll take him outside. He enjoys 'reading' with us before bed time. His favorite thing to watch on TV is a Veggie Tales video. He points to the TV or the cabinet where we keep the videos and says "Bop" (a.k.a. Bob the Tomato to most Veggie Tales watchers).

I'm doing very well with my second pregnancy...only 10 more weeks until my due date. I'll continue working for 7 more weeks and then take some time off before the baby comes. Most of you know already, but in case anyone doesn't know yet, we're having another boy. We think that he's stuck with the name Matthew, but we're still working on a middle name. As of now, it's likely to be Todd. We talk to Jonathan a lot about the baby in Mommy's tummy, but I don't think Jonathan really gets it. I'm sure that within a day or two after the baby is born he'll understand that his brother is not going to go away.

Dave is doing well also, He's currently working on a resume and cover letters to send to architecture firms, primarily in Grand Rapids. He's made several phone calls and most of the firms he's talked to have said that they're hiring now. That is very encouraging for us. We won't be able to move until after the baby is born, probably in early September but hopefully he'll have a job lined up well before that time. I've told my manager that I will most likely not return after my leave of absence. He's said that I'm welcome change my mind and return to work though. I haven't given official notice of my resignation yet but I did want them to be prepared to be short one engineer. Please pray for Dave (and the rest of us) during this time. Writing the resume and cover letters is a bit overwhelming for him. There is much more pressure to find a good job this time than there was the last time he looked for a job. He needs God's wisdom to know how to word the resume that he'll send out to more people soon. We are getting more and more excited to return to Michigan, whether it is Grand Rapids, Grand Blanc or the Ann Arbor area.

It's time for me to close again. I'd love to hear how all of you are doing. Write when you get a chance.

Love,
Sarah, Dave, Jonathan and Matthew

updated: 5/15/1999

Letter posted 7/1/99

Letter posted 9/30/99