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).