Family

Last weekend was such a treat for Jeff & I! We had all our kids in our home at the same time! Rachel and Derek arrived on Saturday. We enjoyed a quiet, "laid back" kind of day with them. Even got some game playing in. Here we are playing Rook - one of our favorites:

Then Sunday, Josh, Erika, Karla, Andy, Carman and Lainey-Bug all drove up for church and lunch.

Mom and Howard also came:

Paul & Mary Mooney and grandson, Nate also ate dinner with us (didn't really have a good picture though to include of them). Here is my sweet granddaughter:

We were especially thrilled that Karla was still in Josh and Erika's care and was able to come too. Here she is with a gift from Leigh Ryan (Leigh is the queen of gift giving--thank you!!)

And a gift for Laine from Leigh as well:

I was trying to catch a few minutes amidst the hecticness of getting dinner ready and cleaning up to hold this baby doll:

Wish it wasn't blurry - but a special, special treat to have both of the girls in my lap :-)

And I loved this one too -- with my own daughter included:
Josh playing with Karla below.....he'll be such a good daddy! Josh & Erika had thought all week that Karla would be going to her grandmother's any day and did not think they would be bringing her with them. However, on Friday before their visit, they got a call that the paperwork had been messed up and it could be 6-8 months before she would leave their home! However, on the following Wednesday, they got the call that they were to bring her to the DHS office at 4:30 that afternoon. Another shock. So they packed everything up and took her. They were surprised and thankful that they got to meet many of her family, including her mom and her grandma. Karla cried though when she had to part from them and I know Josh and Erika probably cried all the way home. Please pray that Karla will be loved and well cared for and that they will teach her about Jesus. Also pray for Josh & Erika as they continue to travel this foster/adoption road.
Papa saying goodbye -- the visit was entirely too short and too quick!

On Monday, Jeff & I went to Branson for a couple of days to celebrate his belated birthday. We've gone to Branson the past three summers for his birthday celebration. Due to the very generous gift of a couple of people from our church family, we got tickets to some shows! This is Liverpool Legends. Yes, they looked and sounded almost identical to the Beatles. In fact, George Harrison's sister "owns" the group and was there at intermission to answer questions, etc.

We also toured the Titanic exhibit. Jeff has always been a major student of the Titanic disaster. He even has a sermon series about it. So we thoroughly enjoyed our time here:

They didn't allow any pictures taken of the inside, so all we have is these of the outside.

The other tickets that were given to us was for the musical show, "SIX." It was such a great show! Six brothers who sang and did all the back up music with their mouths. There was no band or sound trak, although it sounded like a full band behind them. Amazing!! We highly recommend this show the next time you are in Branson.

The brother on the far left had a ridiculous hairstyle - but it was quite humorous and the brunt of many jokes! His children call him their "Chia Pet."

Before we left town, we returned to the Pierce Arrow Show. We've been to this show many times in the past.

The main reason we enjoy the show is because of the comedian, Jarrett Dougherty. He is hilarious!

We love his Reverend Cecil routine!

All of the cast ending in a pretty patriotic song

Some cute pictures to close out this posting. Again, please keep Karla in your prayers - such a precious little girl!

Lainey-Bug turned 3 months old this past Monday. She's growing so fast!!

And this one will surely put a smile on your face. After her bath....such a funny girl!

A Busy Summer!

It's hard to believe that summer is already half over! It is flying by, goodness!! In fact, 2010 is half over and I'm wondering where the days have gone. But as I think back, I've been on three church related trips (Missions Symposium in Conway, AR in January; National Meeting in Ft. Smith, AR in April and Soar in Dallas last week). I've also made at least 3 trips to NWA for Lainey-Bug, which I'm itching to get back down there as it's been 3 weeks since I've seen my baby girl! Here are some pictures of the summer activities thus far (under this posting is all about the week at Mom's with my sisters and extended family).

This picture was actually taken in May - it was Josh's first time to see Laine as he had been working away from home for 6 weeks. Rachel was on her way home from being in Kansas for Mother's Day weekend, so it was really neat to be able to get a picture of my three kiddos along with the first grandbaby!

If you recall from my previous posting, I mentioned we were getting ready to go down to NWA for a "prayer shower" for Josh & Erika. Their church, Metro, was hosting it for them as they had been approved for foster children....in the process of hopefully adopting some day. Just the week prior to the shower, Erika had gotten a call that they needed a temporary home for a little 4 year old girl named Karla. So it was really neat that we got to meet Karla that night and that she was present for this "prayer shower." Here is a picture of the sweet precious girl and Josh & Erika:

And one of us with them.........

Karla and Lainey-Bug.....

I had brought a gift for her as well ......

What was suppose to be 10 days in Josh & Erika's home has been extended for over a month now. I have no doubt that they have fallen in love with her and it will be very hard to let her go. She is to be placed with her grandmother and siblings soon. Please join us in praying that she will be loved and shown Jesus in the home where she will go. And please pray for grace for Josh & Erika to be able to "let" go when necessary and for wisdom when to "hold" on and pursue permanent custody of a child(ren). It's a wide-open mission field for my kids and I'm so proud of them for walking this difficult path. Just in the short time I was privileged to be around them with Karla, I observed what wonderful parents they will be and I pray daily God will send them children of their very own to raise for His honor and glory!

Jeff returned home that night after the prayer shower, but I was so blessed to get to spend the next couple of days helping take care of Lainey-Bug. Here is a picture of her during that time:

Just a couple of days after I came home, she started smiling!!

What a joy, this girl is to all that know her!!

The week after being in NWA, First Baptist hosted her VBS. What a wonderful week it was! Here are Leigh Ryan and Kellie Boyes who organized and directed the event -- you girls are amazing!! (Also in the picture is Tyne Boyes who helped each night with the administration part).

I helped in crafts (I'm sure those of you who know me well, wondered what in the world I was doing there with my very uncreative abilities)! But I had a great time!

We had almost 200 kids come thru our doors that week. And praise the Lord, twelve of them came to know Jesus as their personal Savior (in addition to 2 others during the week in Jeff's office)!

On the last night, there was a celebration for the offering that was given for missions. As each goal was reached, a person was to get a pie in the face - so about 7 or 8 of our very courageous adults got pies! The top goal was reached so Jeff also got a pie and I had the honor of putting it in his face (it had twice the filling as all the other pies!) :-):

Thank you, FBC volunteers and workers for your sacrificial time and love that you gave these kids. For many, it will be forever embedded in their memories and hearts!

During VBS week, Lainey-Bug turned two months!!

Then the week after VBS, we headed with our teenagers and sponsors to SOAR - a powerful youth conference in Dallas, Texas (hosted by BMAA DiscipleGuide ministries). It was another great week. The kids were all really good and best of all, one of our own accepted Christ as her Savior! Thanks to our sponsors for another exhausting sacrifice of your time but a week that prayerfully changed our students' lives!

Our group stayed Friday after the conference ended and went to Six Flags. However, Jeff & I, who are feeling our age, headed on home. We are major Mexican food lovers and sure miss our favorite restuarant, El Chico, since moving back to Kansas. So we made a stop in McKinney, Texas to eat there. What was so funny though - was the fact as we were finishing up our meal, I looked through the windows of the room we were in and saw our good friends, Hollis & Gilda Stanbery eating at another table. Gilda is always texting us pictures of them eating at El Chico, as she knows how much we love it. We would eat with them often at the one in Fayetteville when we lived in Rogers (sadly, it has closed since we moved away). The Stanbery's did live part time in NWA where their son, Josh leads worship at the Church of Pinnacle Hills and that is when we developed our friendship with them. However, their main home is in north Texas where they are now living.

Upon seeing them, Jeff decided to take this picture and text to Gilda:

I saw her look at her phone, then hand it to her husband. He immediately gets up and starts looking for us - ha!! So we spent an extra hour catching up and visiting with these two wonderful friends! They really wanted us to spend the night, but we needed to get home in order for Jeff to be ready for Sunday. We didn't take a picture of the 4 of us that day, but this is the most recent picture I have of us (they were so kind to come up to Kansas for Jeff's mother's funeral). We love you both!!

And then the weekend we got home was the 4th of July! We had a wonderful patriotic service at church that morning. That evening, we joined the Hall family for a delicious meal at Leigh and Dave's, then headed north to Pittsburg to my cousin, Greg & Michelle Hardister's home for our extended family's traditional 4th get-together and fireworks. I didn't get any pictures of these activities - but it was all great fun! We then spent the night with Mom and a portion of Monday enjoying the holiday.

Here are a couple of pictures though that the boys texted or emailed me of the 4th with their girls!

As I'm writing this blog, I get a call from Andy and Jeff & I are going to get to babysit Lainey-Bug tomorrow night while he and Carman celebrate their 5th Anniversary. Whoo Hoo -- we are so excited to see her (and hopefully Karla too--along with the kids, of course!).

Next week is church camp! Jeff will be going and staying the week, but I will just be going for a one day/night "visit." Jeff will turn 57 while he's at camp. We hope to get away to Branson for 24-36 hours the next week to celebrate. Looking forward to Rachel & Derek coming for a visit in a couple of weekends.

So summer will continue to roll right on by and before we know it, Fall will be here and then the Holidays! Time slows for no man......so let's just enjoy every day God gives us to the fullest! That's my plan!