family

It has been a busy few days and I have been missing writing!  Matt finally got home late last night from a wonderful trip in the Philly area!

He preached numerous times at two of our beloved churches and was able to reconnect with so many people there...thank you all for loving on him so well, especially Uncle Terry and Aunt Lori!  Man, did we miss being with you all, and I especially cherish those of you who reached out to me while he was there and reminding me of your prayers and love!  He even brought home some precious gold...Buzby corn!! Can't wait to eat it tomorrow night on his birthday! 

I LOVE that he got good good time with the precious Heckman/Hepner crew! We'll never stop missing living next to Phil, Emily, Ethan and Haylie. 

By day nine without dad, we were all struggling, and our dear friend Elisa blessed us greatly by coming from Atlanta and spending the weekend with us!  It was so good to be with her, the kids cherished time with her, and it was good for ALL of us to have a fun, patient adult with us, too. With life here still being so new, it is precious for me to have such a faithful friend for so very many years, and to share a bit of life here with her!

We took on the Mississippi Museum of Art, because the kids have been studying Monet in school and they had a fantastic exhibition on Van Gogh, Monet and Degas (and I wasn't taking four kids + friend without another adult :) 

Elisa is always down for whatever, and always such a faithul, praying and caring friend. SO grateful for the two days!

Even Ben had a blast...until too much art almost killed him and he literally slid out of his stroller moaning!

We also had a great service Sunday and were able to witness a few powerful baptisms.

This is everyone's first ever fall, and the kids continue to be in shock and glee over the cooler temperatures...it was sixty degrees here today! 

No one loves the fall-y temps more than Matt, and no one is more thankful dad is home than Ben-Ben!  Even though he had to be at the office today, we enjoyed a slow start with him before he and Elisa both had to head back to work!  

Thankful for continued precious friends for these girls.

Sunday evening dinner with this crew is always precious, but especially so with Elisa joining us (even though Matt wasn't here to do the dishes :). I am just so thankful to have some transparent, Godly, kind, thoughtful and praying friends in our lives like these women. We're all in different stages of life, and what a gift to have one another to pray for and build each other up!

Our family in the world sure is spread out, but I'm thankful for every ounce of it.