Patrick, Josh, Beth and Brenna

I thought I would give a little update on how my family is doing. PJEB are in San Antonio, Texas this morning. So far they are doing very well. I told Patrick that everytime I call the children are laughing in the background, so last night when he called he had the children to pretend to be crying in the background. I think I'm glad they're having a good time :)

On Monday they will head back to Alexandria, then to Center, Texas for a Missions Conference, then on to Fort Myers! I miss them so much, but I'm so glad they're doing well. Patrick really is a "Super Dad". He can cook, clean, and have a lot of fun with them. He also watches them very well, which is a great comfort to me! Thanks, Babe, for all you do for our family! Hurry home!

My three Sisters

It's been good to be here and visit with my 3 sisters. So far I've had some quality time with each of them. I enjoyed sharing a table with Keela at Sonny's and William didn't realize we could talk so much! Tabitha and I did some mall shopping together and then worked on some sewing projects too! Today, Tay and I went to lunch and did some shopping. I'm so glad I have 3 great sisters. I'm glad, also, that we have such a good time together. I love you three!

Hello Everyone From SW Florida

Well, I made it to Florida on Thursday. It was very hard to say goodbye to Patrick, Josh, Beth and Brenna. There were a few tears on my part in the airport. Then, my plane left an hour late, so that made me miss my flight in Atlanta. They put me on standby for 5:00 flight (That meant I missed my Dad's birthday party :( ) I wasn #16 for standby and they only called up to #7. So, they put me on standby for the 9 o'clock flight, but said they didn't think I would make that one either. I called Delta (they have black phones set up, instead of real people!) I cried to the lady on the phone....to make a long story short I was on FIRST CLASS!!! for the 9 o'clock flight! It was so cool. There are so many perks in first class I didn't realize! For one, they give you real glass cups! But, after sitting down I realized why the Lord had my day go the way it did. I was able to witness to Mr. Greg from Muskeegon, Michigan! He didn't get saved, but he really listened and took a tract. We had a good time talking. He was a very nice man.

Now, I'm enjoying being with my family. We were able to celebrate my Grandma's 88th birthday last night. I'm so glad I was able to be here for it. Tomorrow I have my midwife appt. I'm having fun so far, but missing my family. 3 weeks will be here soon.

I'll update soon.

My last post for a bit

This will be my last post for a while, since I don't think I'll have wireless signal for the next week. Please pray for us as we're leaving North Carolina in the morning to head to Mississippi to pick up our motorhome. Then, we're on our way to New Llano, Louisiana, then to Alexandria, Louisiana. I will be leaving from Alexandria Thursday morning (Nov. 13th) and will arrive in Fort Myers around 4:30. I'm excited about going, but missing Patrick, Joshua, Elisabeth and Brenna already. Josh took this picture of me on Sunday. 31 1/2 weeks, and 8 1/2 weeks to go!

Loving the Colors in North Carolina

I think I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Fall is my favorite time of year!!! I'm so glad we were able to enjoy some of the fall colors during our visit to Statesville, North Carolina. Here's a few from our visit to the park today.

My Latest Quilt

I've had some free time while we've stayed in a hotel this week. I'm so glad we made room for my sewing machine! I completely finished this quilt from start to finish. It's a cuddle quilt that I made for Mrs. Grace Selby, the secretary at our church. She's the one who led me to the Lord when I was five. I haven't made the label yet, but I'm going to name this quilt "Far Above Rubies" taken from the passage in Proverbs 31 about a virtuous woman. I hope she likes it!

The Election

Just wanted to post a few thoughts.

It's 10:53pm and it looks like Obama is most likely our next president.
Unfortunately, he's not who I voted for, but I have to remember this:
God is still on the throne and the Bible says that God holds the king's heart in His hand. As a child of God, it's a comforting thought that the Lord knows what is going to happen and I'm trusting in Him.

When it's time for Obama to be our president, we as Christians, will need to respect him and treat him as the President of the greatest nation on earth. We may not have voted for him, but as the leader of our nation he deserves our respect.

Just as a side note, he's just as much white as he is black....just a pet peeve of mine that no one in the media seems to remember that.

My Latest Creation

I just wanted to show pictures of my latest thing to sew. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out! I won't tell you who the special lady is that I made them for(she might be reading!!), but this is what they are: Here's your dilemna~~It's time for a trip....Where do you put your shoes? Do you just throw them in with all your pretty clothes? Stick them in a Walmart bag? I made these drawstring bags to hold a pair of shoes for while you travel. The lady I made them for is a neat, put together, organized and very special person. I hope she enjoys them!

We're ready and Watching!

The kids filled out their maps with the number of votes for each state. We'll fill them in tonight!

Our day at the laundromat

While we were at the laundromat the kids spotted one of those claw machines to get stuffed animals from. They all had brought a little bit of money and they wanted to play. Me and Patrick explained that those machines are a waste of money and you never win anything. After our speech, they said they would really still like to play, so we reluctantly let them. On Josh's first try he won this raccoon. We were all so excited! Then, Beth played and won this frog!

Then, Brenna played and won this blue teddy bear.

We were shocked! So, Patrick played and won....nothing :( We decided we just need to stick to laundry!

Friends in Hattiesburg

One of our favorite things to do while we're in Hattiesburg is to go to our friends the Hartmans. They used to be our neighbors when we lived there. We used to go to their house all the time for dinner, me and Mrs. Hartman would go for walks in the morning after I dropped Beth and Josh at school, and their dog Honey came to visit us all the time at our house! We love to plan a night with them and she always cooks us dinner. Our favorite is fried catfish! She makes the best. Then, we always play a game of Oh-Shaw with the whole family, then end up with a Rook tournament. We had a great time as usual! (As a side note....this is the third time in a row the women have won the Rook tournament! We are so good! Patrick and Bro. Hartman are VERY competitive, so they can't stand this.) We're looking forward to staying with them for a couple of days in February when we'll be at a Missions Conference. This is Beth's friend Rachel Padgett. They were in K-4 together. I can't believe they're now in 5th grade! They like to write to each other and call each other from time to time. I'm so glad they've kept in touch. We had a great time while in Hattiesburg, but as usual, it went way too fast.

Our Old House

We were in Ocean Springs, Mississippi last week and decided to run by our old house in Biloxi. We moved to this house when Josh was 4 months old. We lived here for about 9 months. We loved living here and loved our neighborhood. We went by it about 2 years ago and the place was nearly destroyed by Katrina. We really thought they were going to tear it down. The house at that time was completely deserted and there were a lot of walls with water marks 4 feet high! A lot of water came through that area. We were one block from the ocean. We were excited to drive by and see they've completely renovated it. It looks fantastic! Dad, this was the house you came to visit us on 4th of July and it was soooo hot!

Josh's Squirrel Hunting Trip

We arrived in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and we just love coming here. It's like coming home to us. We saw several people gathering in the parking lot, so we stopped to say "hello". Little did I realize, it was the annual boys squirrel hunt. When they saw Josh they invited him to go. My first reaction was "No way, not my boy away from me on a camping trip all night!" Then, I had to take a step back and realize my boy is 12 and really growing up and these were people that we trust. So.....we said "yes". Josh was so excited! We ran home and packed his stuff. I sent him with my camera, cell phone, water and snacks. And, then they left, and I prayed. We all spend so much time together, that when we're apart it can be hard.

Josh was able to see so many of his friends. I'm so glad I packed him some snacks. He was the only one with snacks and water. He was very proud to pass them out to everyone. Even though he didn't get a squirrel he had a great time. They started with a hunter safety course. I'm so thankful they're so safe and careful. Then, they had a cookout dinner and a devotion. The devotion was on how to be a man for the Lord. From what Josh told me, it sounded really good. Then, they went target shooting. Every boy was assigned a "Mama". (Basically every boy had an adult hunter assigned to him. One hunter for every boy) That night it turned cold. Josh said a lot of the boys snored in his tent and he shivered all night. Then, they got up at 4, had breakfast, and went in the woods with their "Mama". I wish he would have gotten a squirrel, but I'm so thankful he was able to see so many of his friends and have some "boy time".