Someone called for a little celebration in our lives this last weekend. We took a special trip to Houston to celebrate several things: Elizabeth's graduation (Peter's cousin), Phillip & Elizabeth's birthdays, Bill's retirement, and Oksana's baptism. We were going non-stop from party to party, and I think Joshua probably had as much cake over the course of the weekend that he had on his birthday. Here are quite a few pictures from the weekend...trust me, I'm actually sparing you, because I took around 300 pictures, so I'm only sharing a sample!
Elizabeth's graduation was so special. It is hard to believe that she was 5 years old when I met her for the first time, and in August she will be headed off to A&M! She is a wonderful example of a godly 18 year old that seeks God and serves Him. A tradition during graduations at Houston Christian High School, is that each graduate gives a rose to each special woman in their life. Elizabeth is giving a rose to DenDen, Peter's grandma (except Elizabeth calls her MiMi).
During the ceremony, Elizabeth sang her last song with the choir that she spent hours upon hours performing with during high school. (She is in the middle of the pic.)
Elizabeth with her parents, Beverly & Numa.
Joshua's favorite graduate cousin!
Joshua's favorite graduate cousin!
On Friday, we celebrated Elizabeth's graduation in style at the Houston Junior Women's League for a luncheon. It was in a beautiful house with delicious food, and 14 ladies who have mentored and encouraged Elizabeth since she was a little girl. Somehow, Joshua got to crash the party and was the only boy!
We celebrated Phillip & Elizabeth's birthdays...they share June 8th as their birthday.
On Saturday morning, we visited with Peter's grandma. She had a cute rocking chair that was just Joshua's size, so he enjoyed climbing off and on just about the entire time we were there.
On Saturday afternoon, we headed to Bill's retirement party at the Bush Intercontinental Airport firestation where Bill worked. The firefighters arranged the entire party and had a fried catfish & shrimp lunch, a huge cake, and a nice "award" for Bill.
Bill retired as a senior captain, and these were the guys on his shift.
Future firefighter?
Phillip and Joshua were watching the planes take off as they looked over the fire station wall.
The highlight of the weekend for me was Sunday morning. Peter had the privilege of baptizing Oksana, his 12 year old sister at FBC Houston. I wish I had a video or pictures of the actual baptism to share, because it was very sweet. Peter recounted several important times in Oksana's life:
~Peter & his dad went to L'Viv, Ukraine on a mission trip with FBC Houston and met Oksana at a children's hospital when she was four years old.
~The next year, Peter's parents traveled back to Ukraine to adopt Oksana as their daughter.
~Last summer at FBC Irving's children's camp, Oksana heard the message of salvation presented by Camp Pastor John Durham, and responded that she wanted Jesus to be her Savior. It was at that point that God adopted her as His daughter.
What a beautiful picture of God's sovereign plan for Oksana's life...that He would take a young orphan who was sick, and provide a wonderful family, bring healing to her body, and give her the ultimate gift of salvation.
You may have noticed that all of these pictures are of the Murrell Family! This trip to Houston was to celebrate many great things in their family. I managed to sneak away for an afternoon to visit with my parents and give them a little time with Joshua. Here are some of the adventures that Grandpa took Joshua on.
Digging for earth worms...
Joshua kept picking the worm up and trying to hand it back to my dad. He was not bothered at all by the slimy, dirty worm...a boy at heart!
5 comments:
EXCITING times in the Murrell family! My heart was overflowing for Elizabeth - what an amazing girl! And many congrats to your f-i-l on his retirement. I cried when I read about Peter baptizing Oksana. Oh my gosh, I can't take it!
Y'all definitely had a fun packed weekend!! So many touching and emotional things happening.
The part of Peter baptising Oksana totally moved me to tears. It is such a sweet story. I was glad to be reminded of it today.
Love the picture of Joshua standing on the fire truck!
And your dad and Josh digging for worms is adorable!! Such a boy. Ella probably would have started crying. Glad it was such a good weekend.
I am sad that I missed all of Elizabeth's stuff!! I was at camp during her graduation and felt so sick during her party! It looks like you had such a great weekend. I heard about Oksana's baptism. I hated that I did not get to experience that. I heard all about it. Wow..I missed out on alot!
Thanks for sharing your weekend! You had a great one! I love the picture of Joshua playing with the firetruck--every little boy's dream!
Melissa, What a sweet story. I had never heard about Oksana and was very moved. I love all the pictures especially the ones of Joshua playing with the worm. Tobey is the same way. He would pick anything up. Their curiosity of the world is amazing!
Post a Comment