THANKFUL THURSDAY

Oh for these, life's simple pleasures,
Chocolate & Coffee, my "sweet" treasures!

Pals & Pumpkins

We had the joy of having some very dear friends come to visit with us this past weekend! It did our hearts so much good to see Chris & Ashley! They are such a Godly young couple who are willing to say "yes" to any opportunity God brings into their life (they spent a month in Peru to assist their church in a new church plant there). I've been saying since we moved here... selfishly & a bit joking, but with a hint of "no, I'm being serious!" thrown in...that I'm praying for God to move them here to help us facilitate growth toward Godliness in our local body. We are at a catch 22 in our body because we do not have many young families, so, when young families do come and visit & don't see any others in their age bracket they tend to feel a little out of place. My prayer has been that God will send young couples and families who are willing to roll their sleeves up and serve this local body so that we will not grow for growth sake but we will grow into a healthy, God centered, mission minded, open handed, Christ exalting, beautiful bride of Christ!!!
**that could be a whole other post**

So, back to our visit, we had such a fun time and Tess loved the attention! Chris & Ashley had never (yes you read right, NEVER) carved pumpkins so we had to include that in our time together. It was fun seeing Ashley get so excited about scooping out pumpkin guts and then carving away.

It was such a relaxing and enjoyable visit with them ~ I'm so thankful God allowed our paths to cross a few years back and that He continues to build our friendship!

Tess "carving" her own little pumpkin

Tess didn't really get into the whole pumpkin carving idea but she did still have fun!

Dada carved a heart in Tess' little pumpkin!Look at the excitement on her face...I love it!

BHARATIYA RAAJKUMAARI

Hindi for "Indian princess"

As I told everyone in this post Brent took a trip to New Delhi, India and brought back Tess & I such beautiful gifts. This is the little outfit for Tess. Indian people have a much smaller frame than most of us Americans so we had to do some quick "alterations" to get the shirt over her head (her thick hair didn't help the matter!) She also had some pants that matched the shirt but they weren't exactly the right size so we just opted for some purple pull ons! When we went to church and the older ladies told her she looked "so pretty" she patted her shirt and said, "dada!" She is a very observant little girl. I was amazed that she left her scarf on the entire time!

Brent had two suits tailored in India (they are much less expensive there) ~ this is the black one ~ He told the congregation he was going for the "Johnny Cash" look (one gentlemen told him he looked like a hit man!) Tess' little shoes were also a gift from Dad from the Indian market! I was also wearing an Indian shirt so we were all decked out!

As I was proofing this post I just happened to notice that my button on the right of my blog: The Unreached People of the Day is the Musahar, Hindu of India people group...how fitting. So if you happen to read this today (it will be a different group tomorrow) please take a moment and click on the link to see how you can specifically pray for these people. All nations, all tribes & tongues need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ!

Planes, Places & People Part 2

I had so many pics from my trip that I just decided to do another post...see Part 1 for more pictures.

SWEET FRIENDS

TOBY & TESS THEN

TOBY & TESS NOWOur dear friends the Dix's helped Tess & I get to the airport to come home.

Tanner & Madison were such a big help to me!!
So was their mama, Julieann

SAM & JACK
I had the privilege of watching these two when they were just little guys! They have gotten to be such big boys and sooo sweet. Wish we could have spent more time visiting but my days were short and there were so many faces to see.

Christy~my old assistant mgr. and her sweet little girl!

The Saxon Family
When I was working I would take my lunch breaks over at their house and hang out with their dog, Rascal and eat their food and drink Angela's Mountain Dews~good times!

The Saxon's then

The Saxon's now
MOLLY & TESS THENMOLLY & TESS NOW
Tess quickly attached herself to Jake & Molly ~ and they indulged her every whim!!

The Bright Family
Brianna would dog & kitty sit for us when we were out of town then when Tess came along she began watching her when I had to go back to work!
We miss having her around!

There were so many other people we saw but I just didn't have my camera handy...hopefully we will get another opportunity to visit again!

SUCH PRECIOUS MEMORIES !

Planes, Places & People Part 1

These past two weeks have been a hub bub of activity for Tess & I. Brent has been in India with the All India Prayer Fellowship Ministry so we decided to take a trip to visit some family and friends we haven't seen in awhile. I also had the brilliant thought to "redo" Brent's office as a surprise. Thank goodness for my parents & some kind friends at church because without them it would have never been completed! Before we left we also had the opportunity to attend my older brother's induction into the Hall of Fame at our high school for his past achievements in track in field/cross country. He was quite the runner in the day. Anyway, needless to say Tess has been toted here and there and she has done great!

Flying is always an adventure with a toddler! Airlines...I have a love/hate relationship with them. If you have ever flown with little ones you know what I'm talking about...love that an otherwise 8 or 9 hour trip should (should being the operative word here) take just a couple of hours.

The picture below is of Miss Tess before everyone is seated and we have to move seats b/c the flight attendant says there are not two oxygen masks in those single seats.... (up until they are 2 they are still considered "lap infants" ) so we moved to a double seat which someone asked me later and I never thought about "do those have THREE masks?" Hmmm....not sure but I wish I would have thought to ask because I had to change seats on each flight ~ that's 4 times!

• hate having to take off every piece of clothing to get through security
• hate that most people are oblivious to a mother who is visible struggling to get the carry on, her very curious little person, and a stroller all through the checkpoint ~ oops did I mention that I forgot to dump the sippy cup out and now we have to have our bags checked
• hate buying bottled water for $10 (ok so that's a little exaggeration but geez does it have to be sooo expensive ~ it's water!)
• hate being crammed on a tiny tin box flying who knows how many miles above ground
• hate having to decide if I'm going to attempt to take Tess to the bathroom to change her diaper....ok I don't even feel right about calling it that b/c technically it's not a "room" it's a shoebox ..."oh wait, what is that warm feeling on my leg?! You have got to be kidding me!!"
  
• hate that once the plane lands you stand with your neck bent half in the aisle and half still in the seat for what seems like foreeeever!
• hate opening your luggage and seeing everything that was neatly packed is now just a piled mess!

I guess the time you make up with flying should make up for all those things I dislike about flying but seldom they do!!

The time I got to spend with some very dear friends and sweet family was well worth it though!

HALL OF FAME SERVICE
My sister-in-laws family & some of my family at my brother Hall of Fame induction service.

He was also recognized at the football game during half time

PARK WITH PAWPAW & MEMOO (my parents)
Tess "chasing" my dad

A trip to the Zoo with Uncle Chris & Chancy
A VISIT WITH TESS' GREAT GRANDMOTHER MAMA

TIME WITH BADOTTI, PAPPA (Brent's parents)
& THE COUSINS (Brent's sister's children)
Brent's parents have a golf cart and his mom takes the kids on one CRAZY, WILD, ride thru the cemetery (she's the pastor's wife...it's not disrespectful if she does it! he he)
This was Tess' 1st ride & she loved it!
Maci Clare will be 3 in March...Tess will 2 in Jan. MC is a cute little petite thing!I think this photo is funny...just look at Tess' expression!