Here, There, and Everywhere

Here is a recap of some of the things we have been up to lately.

We hosted a Friday game night recently and had a lot of fun.   We ate and played Phase 10.  I love playing games so any time we can get a group together and play I always enjoy it.  My mom came down and brought Mrs. Ann and Ms. Teresa with her.  Both of these sweet ladies have traveled to Guatemala with my mom to visit us so it was fun to share some Guatemala memories together as we played. 

Sunday morning we spoke at Shady Grove Baptist in Hazlehurst.  After the service we spent some time at my mom's house.  Here are a few photos I took while there of her and the boys.

Ben, Mimi, and Cruz

my mom and Cruz

I am up early on school days.  Lately it has still been dark when I get up so I have been able to see some beautiful sunrises out of the kitchen window.  This was last Monday morning.  What a beautiful sight to get my school week started.

David took the boys on Tuesday afternoon to get a much needed haircut. 

On Wednesday night we spoke at Pine Bluff Baptist Church in Hazlehurst.  Before going we met my dad for supper at Burger King and spent a little time visiting with him.

Ben at Burger King

On Thursday night I took part in a "Mom's Night Out" with our homeschool group.  We met at a local art studio and painted Christmas trees.  We began the night with a finger food meal and enjoyed each others fellowship as we sat around the tables and painted. 

My poor looking Christmas tree.  I am no artist.  I just went for the food and fellowship. ha

On Friday when we finished school and Cruz finished his piano lesson we loaded up and drove to Jackson.  We had plans to meet family for supper but went early to run some errands.  One of our stops was at LifeWay Christian Store.  When Cruz  "graduated" K5 we presented him with his first Bible.  I had marked all of the Bible verses he had memorized that school year and have continued to mark each one since.  I want to do the same for Ben when he finishes kindergarten so we picked out a Bible for him and had his name put on it.  He did not get to see it because we want it to be a surprise for him when he receives it. 

Ben's new Bible that he will get at the end of the school year

Another stop we made was at Toys R Us.  Don't they look excited!  The purpose was to get an idea of some things the boys would like for Christmas.  It was their first time to go to that store and they were blown away by the amount of stuff sold there.  We left with a few catalogs and a lot of big wishes.

After a few more stops we made our way to the Cock of the Walk to meet some of David's family for supper.  It is a fish house and we love to eat there.   It is something we always try to do with them on every visit home.  Here is our family with Aunt Lisa, Sarah, Shane, Aunt Libby, Kevin, and Aunt Terry.

It came a storm while we were eating and the temperature dropped quickly.  On the drive back home we stopped by Cups for coffee and hot chocolate.  It was a perfect treat on a cold, rainy night.

On Saturday morning my mom and Mr. Thurman drove down and treated us to breakfast at Cracker Barrel.   We have done that several times with them while in the States and we always enjoy it. 

After breakfast they came over to our house to visit more with the boys.  My mom brought pumpkins and stickers to decorate them with.  Here they are decorating their pumpkins. 

  Here is how they turned out.

Mimi, Ben, Cruz, and me

On Saturday night our friends the Browns came down and ate supper with us.  After eating we sat around the table finalizing plans for an upcoming trip we will all be taking together.  I forgot to take a photo of us that night but believe me you will get all you want to see of the seven of us together in a few more weeks.  I am so excited!

David and the boys with Bro. David Patterson.  He is the pastor at Highland Baptist in Crystal Springs where we spoke on Sunday morning.  We enjoyed getting to visit with his congregation and update them on our work in Guatemala.  Bro. David brought a team down to work with us several years ago during our time with the Kekchi and has an interest in coming back.  We are hoping it will work out for a group to come back again and see our work now.

We ate lunch with David's mom and visited with her some before driving back home. Sunday evening we went to a Trunk or Treat at Southway Baptist Church in Brookhaven.  The boys enjoyed playing the games and especially enjoyed filling their buckets with candy. 

Trunk or Treat at Southway Baptist

silly Cruz

They had a really fun time and we were able to get back home before it got too cold.  I have not enjoyed this cold weekend we have had.  I am ready for the temps to warm back up this week.  Brrrrr......