Moving Overseas Yard sale!

THIS Saturday

October 3rd from 8am-12pm

4340 Warfield Pl.

Raleigh, NC 27604

Hope you can make it!

Busy Week-End- Papua New Guinea Social

If you are even remotely close to Baltimore, MD this Saturday, we would love for you to join us. This is just going to be a small, informal event where we hope to build awareness of the work of language development and Bible translation that is going on all over the world. If you can't make it, hold tight. We hope to have other socials like this in York (PA), Charlotte and Raleigh. Also, we would love for your prayers during the event...

In other news, our good friends are hosting a yard sale while we are away. Our small group all pitched in and donated items for the sale. All the proceeds are going towards our support "quota". We are just so blessed that we have friends that are willing to help us in such a BIG way. (Shout out to the Westfall's, Toomey's, Ertel's, Matzer's, Enzor's and Simpson's).

Busy, busy week-end...

Where we are...

Just thought I would take a minute to fill you in on what is going on with us!

As you know, we were in training in Charlotte for the month of August. As you can probably glean, Ben began "school" when we returned. He is in a Parent's Morning Out class which meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-12:30. On Wednesdays, I am in a women's Bible study, and Ben gets to play with all his friends from 9:30-11:30. Basically, we wake up, eat breakfast, go to PMO or church, come home, eat lunch, Ben goes down for a nap, Ben wakes up from his nap about 3, and then Caleb is home about 3:20. It really is a good set-up. While Ben is in PMO, I work on "going overseas" stuff and/or scrapbook with my new bestest of best friends, Amy! Mondays and Fridays are reserved for cleaning the house or doing laundry. I am NOT complaining. I actually feel like a fake stay at home mom. The whole "Caleb getting home by 3:30" thing makes me feel like an imposter.

So, that's our schedule. On top of that, Caleb has started playing indoor soccer again. The timing could not be better. The season will end before we leave in January. I have also started the training to become a Stephen Minister. That meets every Tuesday night. My heart hurts for people, and this is a ministry that provides presence for people going through a myriad of things. I am so looking forward to this training. It will give me invaluable skills for the field, but also will give me something to transition back into when we return to the states.

Guess that is the best recap for now...

Peanut Butter and.....

JELLY!

Casey, Sarah and Kieren....on the road to South Africa!

Our friends, the Prince's, are moving to South Africa THIS week-end. At church on Sunday, we all commissioned them. It was basically one big send off, acknowleging that Grace Community was going to support them- financially, prayerfully, emotionally, etc-erally! =0)

Our pastor delivered a beautiful message on Isaiah 6:1-8. To sum it up, ministry begins when you are broken. It is not necessarily when you at the top of your game, that you are effective. Most of the time, it happens when you realize that you are unable to do a thing on your own strength. Please check out their website when you get the chance.

As you can see, they are going with their baby daughter Kieren. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers....We love you guys, and will miss you!

Haydn's 1st Birthday!

Over the week-end, Ben and I attended Haydn's Birthday party. Stephanie, Haydn's mom, graduated from Campbell with me AND we both worked at Revenue. Let me just say, she knows how to throw a party! Not only was this a birthday party, but it was a chance for me to see her brand new house....which is gorgeous.

Enjoy the pictures: The big cake was made by a family friend, but Stephanie made all the little airplanes herself.
YUM!

Ben was able to play with bubbles with the birthday boy:

Haydn:

The infamous cake time!

What can I say, Ben is comfortable eating a purple airplane:

Happy FIRST Birthday, Haydn. Thanks for the invite!

One of my Addictions....

Besides Barney....call me crazy, but I LOVE Barney. I never thought I would post that, but there it is for all to see. The concept just makes sense to me....normal kids dancing and singing and encouraging Ben to dance and sing with them....sometimes I do not even see the big purple dinosaur....sometimes!

My other addiction is couponing! Look at my loot:

I paid $9.00 thanks to a little bit of super easy organizing and Harris Teeter triple coupon day! My receipt says I saved over $70.00.

Get Your Ben Fix!

Ben is growing up so fast, he grew out of his bath tub. Just kidding....every now and then he gets to take baths in the "big boy" tub (AKA- our tub)!

Good-Bye, Della Dog & Abby Dog (....and Kerry & David, too!)

Our friends, Kerry & David, recently moved to Portland. We know them through church, have watched thier dogs in the past and have become good friends! Kerry just received her PH-freakin'-D. She is a super smart speech pathologist. She accepted a position teaching at PSU, thus the move. Just wanted to post this to tell them how much we all already miss them! Ben, also, obviously misses furry friends who actually let him pet them!

Visit Soon!

Why Don't I Care About Flowers?

One thing I could never quite figure out: I do not care one bit about gardening or flowers. With fall rapidly approaching, I find myself looking forward to all the fall colors....leaves, flowers, the works. But, I have no interest what-so-ever picking out my own flowers and planting them.

For some reason, our flowers never last....I used to joke that the only reason I am good with dogs and kids is because they remind you they are there.

Sigh....is something wrong with me??

Travels and Musings Blog

Caleb just posted a really good recap of our time in Charlotte. Please check it out! I hope to post more from this past week soon. I am finally starting to feel better.and Ben just cut two more teeth. We have been a little under the weather because of all of that. Looking forward to getting back to the blog...

So Sick....

I officially have a cold. I thought maybe it was allergies, but it is definately a stuffy nosed, scratchy throat, I can't sleep at night type of cold. YUCK!

Yes....I'm THAT Mom!

Who can't get her son's music video out of her head! ENJOY!!

Good-Bye, Kirk!

Things have just not been the same around this house for Kirk once Ben was born. Our little "King Kirk" became stressed, agitated and growl-ey. He never snapped at Ben, but did not allow any Ben hugs either. Needless to say, he has officially moved in with MeeMom and PopPop Paul in Baltimore. They offered to watch him while we were in Charlotte and offered to watch him while we are in PNG. They don't think that it makes any sense to give him back for a couple of months since he is doing so well at their house.

As sad as this is for me (Caleb has not stopped jumping for joy since we got the news), I think it is best. MeeMom and PopPop buy him dog toys he can destroy and feed him well and my brother Andrew lets him sleep in his bed. Kirk now has a sister named Sandy who is a beautiful, big golden retriever.

Hopefully my mom will send pictures so I can post them soon.

Thank you SO much, MeeMom and PopPop and Uncle Andrew. This frees us up to travel more as we try to build our partnership team in the coming months. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Happy Birthday, Abigail!

Our little god-daughter turned 1 while we were going through our training in Charlotte. We were SO disappointed that we missed the big "shin-dig". Our friends Joe and Christina have always been able to through the best parties EVER (thanks to their remarkable creativity). Abby's birthday was no exception. As a way to give back, donations were made to our account to support our overseas ministry. I am humbled by our friends' generosity....and again, creativity! There are SO many ways to be involved in the work of language development and Bible translation. Thanks, friends!

Can't wait to see you soon...