Sweet Friends...a Heavy Heart

This last week has been filled with hard news to take. Our family has spent a lot of time on our knees pleading before God on behalf of two precious families.

Our friends, Chuck & Kristi Walker received some incredibly hard news last week after the birth of their sweet son, Zane. After many days of tests, it was determined that Kristi has stage four cancer in many areas of her body. Amanda wrote about this on her blog in detail, so please click here to know how to pray specifically. They have three sweet boys: Cade, Mason & Zane. We love the Walker Family and are believing that God can perform a miracle to restore health to her body.

Today was a hard day as our church celebrated the homecoming of Ileeta Watson to her heavenly home. Ileeta was a full-time staff member at our church, so I have had the pleasure of serving with her and getting to know her well over the last year and a half. She was a genuine, selfless servant and has impacted so many lives. Even when she was sick, she always had a kind word to say and rarely even said anything about the pain she was in. I have learned so much from her during the time that we worked together and I have been blessed by her! I loved the stories that some of her closest friends shared at the funeral. Today has made me think about those I love and the friendships that I hold dear. I hope that we are even closer in 25 years and that all of our children love spending time together as well. They truly have a unique friendship.

Please pray today for her daughters, Candace & Natalee, her mom, Alma, and all of the other family members and friends that were so dear to her. It is hard to even think about a work day without Ileeta there.

Fall is in the Air

Last Thursday while my mom was here, she took us to the Dallas Arboretum. I have only been there during the spring, so it was nice to see all of the fall colors and TONS of pumpkins. They had a big pumpkin patch, a pumpkin house, and all of the walkways were lined with pumpkins! It's no wonder Joshua kept pointing out the pumpkins while we were there.

Here are the boys posing for a picture in front of the cottage...

Joshua adopted the cottage as his personal playhouse. He invited us inside, played peek-a-boo by opening and closing the shutters and door. It was difficult to take this picture because he kept wanting to close the shutters.

Another peek-a-boo picture...

Gabe posing in the pumpkin patch...
























...with the pumpkin house in the background.


















Joshua loved the floating pumpkins...























At the end of our time at the Arboretum, Joshua picked out two pumpkins...one for himself and one for Gabe. He picked out small ones because he wanted to be able to carry them.

Here is Joshua's pumpkin...
























And Gabe's pumpkin...

Josh & Friends

We are making it this week without Peter...God has been good to give me and the boys some sweet time together, but man I was sure glad when my mom arrived after work on Monday! The reinforcement is here! We spent all morning today running errands to get ready for our apartment's National Night Out event. It was a lot of fun...thanks to some great friends...Ashley & Christian kept the bounce house in check, and Nate Smith was awesome entertainment. I will have to post some pics once I get them downloaded. The best picture of the night will be the four young girls who stood three feet away from Nate the entire time he was singing. It was as if they were at a rock concert and they had front row seats. They were swaying with the music, had an air microphone for themself, and there was even a little jumping going on at some points.

Back to Peter, I forgot how weird it is to not be able to hear from him. When my phone rings, I expect it to be him on the other end. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for him...I am trusting that the Lord is doing some miraculous things through the team. They have two more days of building the pastor's house and ministering to the village, and then they will head back up river. Tonight I met a friend of one of our residents...we were talking and I told him that Peter was in Nicaragua. He asked if he was in Managua...I said that he flew in there and then went to Puerto Cabezas and then Wes Palm (not the spelling, that's just how it sounds to me). He said, "I know just where that is, is he working with the Palmers?" Hello! He went on a mission trip to the same region when he was in high school and worked with the missionaries that Peter's team is with right now. Isn't the Lord sweet to give me the encouragement of someone who knew exactly what Peter is facing tonight?

So the post originally was going to be about Joshua and his cutie pie girl friends, but I got side-tracked. My sweet friends Janelle and Kristin posted some pictures and stories from playdates we have had recently. Because those pictures are still on my camera, I am putting the link to their posts here. Grandpa Ashdown, this is for you! I know that you check for updates often, so here are some great pictures and videos of the boys.

Playdate of Joshua, Gabe & Ella at the park a few weeks ago. Click here for some fun videos of the kids singing as they play.

Playdate of Joshua, Gabe & Laney at the Lewis' house on Sunday night. Click here to see the best choke-hold picture (don't worry, there were no lasting effects on Gabe...he's just fine).

Mikitos and Mosquitos

Peter is headed with a team of 13 to Nicaragua this morning. We made it to the airport at 5:30am and stuck around a while to see him off. They will return next Saturday night...very late! I am so grateful that my mom is coming on Monday to stay with us and help me keep my sanity!

Below is a very brief description from our pastor and trip member, John Durham, of the purpose of the trip:
Our team will be building a church and a pastor’s home for the Miskito Indians on the bank of the Coco River next week. We are partnering with IMB missionaries in Nicaragua and are going to a remote village called Tulimbila which is a 7 hour upriver trip in a canoe. Please pray for three things: 1) Safety and health of the team. 2) The seed of the Gospel to be firmly planted in the hearts of the Miskito Indians. 3) Completion of the church and house in the week we are there.

Pray for the team members: Peter, Jared, Daniel, Steven, Aaron, John, Daniel, Chantz, Phil, Will, Greg, and Cody.