Charleston-Week 1

Our new house in Charleston.

We are finally here in Charleston and the crazy thing is we have already been here 1 week. It seems so surreal. This move is something that Mike has been praying about for over 2 years. I have been seriously praying with him since May and we made the decision to come in June. Charleston has been a part of our daily household vocabulary for quite awhile. So to actually be here and to be already a part of the River Church family seems crazy. But the awesome thing is that it has been so good. Throughout this whole time we have been praying for God's provisions. If I could only tell you each way that He has provided for us. He has done it in so many creative ways, from having a good friend put money in our cooler in the U-haul to a very random retirement check that came out of the middle of nowhere. He has provided us with money, meals, kind words, warm smiles and hugs. All I can say is thank you God. Thank You for getting my family here safely. Thank you, Lord, for an amazing house that is perfect for us right now. Thank You for friends and family who loved us enough to see us off as we left Hiram. Thank you, Lord, for the amazing friends who were gracious enough to receive us here in Charleston. Thank You for the family members & friends who came with us to make sure that we were set-up and settled in our new home. I could go on and on, but the point is we are thankful, happy and beyond blessed to be a part of River Church and its community. And, River Church officially launches 1 week from today!

Here's a pic inside River Church's gathering place.


I'll post more about Will soon. Until then, here are some new pictures of him in the new house.
Will in his ball pit he got for Christmas.
Will trying to be daddy.

I'm back

Alright, alright! I am finally back from my little blog-cation. Sorry to those of you who read this blog, but I just couldn't get motivated to post during Christmas. We spent a lot of time with our family and I guess I didn't want to pull away from them to sit down and tell you what has been going on in the Fessler house. Lots has happened since I last posted so let me try and catch you up:
1. We had an ultrasound and found out that my due date is July 25, 2010 instead of August like we had originally thought. Sweet...Will came a week early, maybe this baby will too.
2. I officially became a stay-at-home mom. My last day of school with kids was Dec 18 and I also went back Jan 4 for a teacher workday. It was emotional, but that was to be expected. The friends that I taught with are very dear to me and I will miss them.
3. Mike and I found a house in Charleston. This is a huge relief since we move in a matter of days. It is nice to know that we have a house to move to.
4. Packing is in full swing around here. My mom and dad came last weekend and are coming back this weekend to help in the packing efforts. Mike was in Charleston last weekend and is going back this weekend to help with River Church services, so it is nice to have the help here. I have never packed a house and have found that it is challenging. I mean you don't want to pack everything, because as soon as you do, you will need something that you just packed. And there are only so many places that you can put all those boxes. Right now they are in the garage, because we have people calling to see the house about renting it and I still want the house to look nice. Please pray that we find the right family to come and rent our house.

Other than that Mike and I are trying to enjoy our last few days in our house and Hiram. We are preparing for a huge snowstorm that is supposed to blow through here later today. This might be Will's last chance to see snow. Not sure that we will see too much in Charleston!

A Family Christmas Wedding

My sister, Lindsay, and I. She is 24 weeks pregnant and made me promise not to put any pictures of her on the blog. Sorry Lin, I thought this one was cute. :)

This past weekend, my cousin Katie got married. We partied all Friday and Saturday and basically just had a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures from our eventful weekend:

Us at the rehearsal dinner. Doesn't Mike look snazzy in his coat and tie?
Jake in his tux. He was sooooo cute!
All five cousins.
Will and I doing the cha-cha slide. I have a little dancer on my hands.
Four of the cousins with our TN Tech husbands. All four girls played ball at Tech and we all met our husbands there as well.
Having fun on the dance floor.
Yet another family picture.
And my favorite...
Will with a soulpatch. We found a vending machine at lunch on Saturday that gave "master disguises". We were hoping for a moustache, but thought it was hilarious when we got a soulpatch. Like father, like son!

Exciting news!

Yesterday we went to the doctor to confirm what we pretty well knew. Yep...we are expecting our second child! I am 6 weeks pregnant! It was a little earlier than we had planned, but that's ok. We are extremely excited and feel so blessed that God would give us this gift. Baby #2 will be due sometime around August 1, 2010, just a few weeks shy of Will's 2nd birthday.

Christmas Fessler Style

Will "helping" me wrap presents. Don't ask me why he has to stand on every present!
Christmas is already here...so hard to believe! So, we at the Fessler house have been trying to get in the Christmas spirit. We have watched Christmas movies on ABC Family, decorated the house, made homemade Chex Mix, baked Christmas goodies and even put Will in Christmas pajamas. Last night I even wrapped presents. It all sounds warm and fuzzy, but then add in a 15 month old and things get interesting. We find decorations from the tree all over the downstairs and let's just say wrapping presents can be an adventure. Will has even figured out how to work the radio that we use to listen to Christmas carols. So now we hear part of a song and part static because he is constantly changing the station. Oh goodness, its funny, but tiring at the same time. But I realize I only get to have Will this small once. So I'm doing my best to enjoy every minute, no matter how frustrating it may be!
Playing with Grandma's decorations.
Will and Caleb.

Recent Will Randomness

Will and Jake! These two love each other and play well together. But they also spell double trouble when they get together!

So...it has been awhile since I have posted about Will. He is changing a lot right now. I feel like I have to soak in every minute I can, because before I know it he is on to something new and different. Here are some of his new things:
1. He is very good at saying "yeah" and can sometimes say "no". We have fun with this by asking all sorts of crazy yes or no questions just to see what he will say.
2. Not only is he saying yeah or no, but he will sometimes say yeah and shake his head no or vice-versa. A little confusing, to say the least.
3. His favorite phrase is "Oh wow!". We have no idea where this came from, but one day he said it and it stuck. He has other phrases that sound like korean at times, but sometimes if you listen right, sounds like he actually said something in english. He really suprises us sometimes!
4. Will loves belly buttons right now. He likes walking around with his shirt up wanting you to poke his belly button. He also likes to lift my shirt to find my belly button. Luckily he hasn't done this in public, yet.
5. He loves pointing to facial features. He is not yet recognizing ears when you say ears, but at least he knows that these things on his head are important.
6. He is learning to open doors. SCARY!!!
7. Flushing toilets is so much fun for Will right now...not so much for our water bill.
8. Christmas trees...he loves Christmas trees. Needless to say, ours has only non-breakable ornaments on the bottom.

Oh my, how this child has stolen my heart. I love him dearly! Here are some new and recent pictures of my little man.
Will loves this car! I have to find one for him!
Sitting in little rocker at Marmie and Poppy's house. A toy black cat usually sits in this rocker, but when Will is there he throws it out!
Will and his lawnmower.
Will loves the computer and he will use whoever to be able to get on it. Here he is with Kristin, Andrew's girlfriend. Will adores her!

Here We Go!!

It's official. When January rolls around the Fesslers will be living in Charleston, South Carolina. Yep, that's right. We are moving!!!

Why are we moving you ask? God has called us to do ministry full-time. We are going to help plant a church, River Church, which will be meeting in the West Ashley area of Charleston. One of Mike's good friends and his wife were given the vision to plant the church. When I say plant, I mean to start a new church from nothing. We are not going to a church with an existing building or congregation. We are literally starting from the ground up, which is exciting and a little scary at the same time. The church will officially launch on January 31, 2010, but other church staff & core team members along with their families are already in the area meeting new people and connecting with them. From reading e-mails and talking to our friends on the phone, it is amazing what God has already done and how He is building River Church.

SO, where do Mike, Will and I fit in? Well, Mike has been hired on as the Pastor to Students and will also fulfill other roles as needed to help effectively launch the church. We have had several people say we are crazy, and I guess according to the world's standards we are. I mean we have a house and I have a secure teaching position with benefits. We are leaving behind a nice, safe, comfortable life for the unknown. We will be living off of financial support that so many of our generous friends & family members have offered to us. We have no idea what to expect, but we truly feel as though God has called us to be a part of this awesome oppurtunity. We trust God fully and we know that if he is calling us to Charleston, he will provide for us and not let us fall flat on our face.

There is a little nervousness, but I think it is more anxiousness, like we are ready to go. Our hearts are already there and we are ready to serve the Lord by loving people. We will miss Hiram, our house and our friends and family, but we know that we are on to bigger and better things. We know that God is going to bless our decision to go as we live our lives for Him.

In the meantime, you can check out all things River church at riverchurch.com.