Some new spaghetti favorites...

One of our family's favorite meals is still good 'ole spaghetti! As long as we have NO WHERE to go immediately after dinner (on spaghetti nights)...we just give K her silverware and let her go @ it! She's done awesome w/ her fork for many months now, but let's face it...spaghetti is messy even for adults! : ) Therefore, here was a night recently when she was particularly hungry I believe! She certainly went DIRECTLY to the tub after she was finished!

Boy how we love this spaghetti face...

More MBSF 'Family Wknd.' pics (as promised):

Here is a slideshow of some more shots from our exciting first annual Spring MBSF 'Family Weekend' in Fayetteville. Enjoy! We (as well as the students) are already looking fwd. to hosting it again next yr.!

What we've been up to...

The last month has been a whirlwind! Here's a little of what's been going on in our lives...

- K turned 2
- K got the flu (and praise the Lord...P and I did not)
- P re-planned our MBSF mission trip in 9 days to a new location
- I attended a "Ministers' Wives' Retreat" @ one of our local Baptist campgrounds
- We went on several more deputations to speak to churches around the state a/b MBSF
- I helped host a friend's shower for the 2 beautiful girls they recently adopted
- I attended another close friend's bridal shower in BA

- We hosted approx. 50 people in town for an MBSF 'Family Wknd.'
- K and I have been on several play dates w/ friends
- We've celebrated several family members' birthdays recently (including K's Aunt Kimberly)
- We hosted a fellow MBSF director from Malvern, AR @ our house for a few days
- The kiddos and I have enjoyed playing the warmer weather outdoors

- Etc., Etc., Etc.

Therefore, it's not very surprising to say...
I know exactly what we're doing every, single wknd. from now until the wk. b/f lil' man arrives in May as well! Geeesh!
We have truly learned to only trust the Lord w/ our commitment to such an important ministry as MBSF. The time involved is certainly a blessing yet very consuming on the same hand. We know that the Lord planned our baby boy's due date in HIS perfect timing b/c of how it falls soon after the students' Spring semester ends. It will definitely allow us to focus all of our attention on our family and all of the big transitions HE has up ahead for us.

Ministers' Wives' Retreat:

Best friends from h.s. @ Linnie Foley's wedding shower:

(and our wonderful Mothers=aka hostesses)

Just a few pics from MBSF 'Family Wknd.' in Fayetteville:

Chick-Fil-A play date w/ Leah and Peyton:

Birthday parties galore:

(K's friend Nathan)

(P's sister and K's "Aunt Kimmie")

Bro. Ian Kumpe (MBSF dir. from Quachita Tech Univ.) spending time w/ K @ our house:

Outdoor play time in the beautiful Spring-like weather (w/ Maddox):

PREGNANCY UPDATE...

I am now 30 wks. pregnant and will even be 31 wks. already in just a couple of days. I am SO stinkin' excited! Still feeling great and just dealing w/ the daily 3rd trimester "lovelies" (as I call them). : )
Besides the usual waking up in the middle of the night stiffness, peeing more often than normal, braxton hicks when I push it "lovelies"...everything is going very smoothly! We're just so excited to realized that in almost 9 wks.-our precious boy will BE HERE! No matter what! (And that is if he just comes on time and not early.)
K loves referring to him as her "bubba" now and doesn't seem to joke a/b him being a "baby sisser" (aka-sister) instead anymore! She loves walking in his rm. and telling us who's rm. it is, setting up his bedding, buying him things, etc. We're already anticipating the close relationship they'll have someday soon! We pray that He continues to prepare our hearts and minds for the precious moments to come in our family...

MBSF craziness (Family Wknd./Mission Trip/etc.)

MBSF has had a fantastic semester thus far, and we look fwd. to finishing the sem. out strong! We've been blessed to meet several new guests throughout the sem. who have attended our weekly Thurs. night Lifeline mtg./bible study on campus. We're very passionate a/b the group that we have involved in MBSF this yr. and cannot wait to see what all the Lord has in store for this ministry in the near future!
Patrick planned our 1st annual MBSF 'Family Wknd.' last sem., and it successfully took place a few weekends ago. It was a blast! And I think everyone involved thought the same! We were overwhelmed by the response for a "first time event" which was long distance for most of the students' families! We hosted approx. 47 people around town all wknd. including students involved and their families. There were even a few students who were able to participate in the weekend's events w/out their families in town. I'll post a detailed post of the wknd. soon, but there are TONS of pics to go through first.
Since then, we've been insanely busy planning the MBSF Spring Break Mission Trip (P esp.). He was scheduled to take our group to Monterrey, MX for an 8 day trip. However, due to the increased violence and shootings all over MX (esp. in the border cities)...Patrick had to make the executive decision (after obvious counsel w/ our pastor) to look for a new location for the mission trip. Therefore, w/ only 9 days to re-plan a mission trip...we started planning the new trip to Henderson, Nevada (approx. 20 miles outside of Las Vegas).
I am thrilled to be going on the mission trip now that it's in the states since I wasn't going to risk (nor had my dr. approved) MX w/ such a short time of my pregnancy left. We'll be working w/ a new mission/church there and will basically be doing lots of community outreach, work projects around town, hosting a Vacation Bible School, etc.
I am NOT thrilled a/b leaving K for 8 days, but I know that she will have SO much fun being passed b/w the family members that are watching her while we're w/ our students.
The specific dates of our trip we ask you to lift us up during are Fri., March 13th-Sat., March 21st. It's actually 300 miles further (in driving distance) than where P was planning on taking our group in MX, but as long as I follow the strict instructions from my doctor as far as traveling concerns...all should be just fine!

There will certainly be MANY pics to come in the next several weeks after we return...so PLEASE check back!

Here are just a couple of recent group shots of some of our gang each wk. What a crew!

For more updates...bookmark our MBSF website in your favorites.
You can find us @:
uark.mbsf.org

Good friends

The parents of one of our close friends from college weren't able to make it to Kennedy's b-day party, so they came over the other night to give K her b-day gift. Jim and Jerl-Dean are very special to us and basically served as 2nd parents to our entire group of friends while we were in the Marching Razorbacks @ the U of A. They have always kept up to date on K's life, and have taken such an interest in her development and growth ever since she was born. We wish our schedules allowed us to get together even more often than we're able to. K had such a fun visit w/ them (as well as P & myself) this evening!

Gymnastics play date

Kennedy and I recently had another play date w/ Leah (my cousin's wife) and Peyton (who she watches full-time). This time we were graciously invited to join them for a fun 'bring a friend' day @ Peyton's gymnastics class. She attends the Little Gym in Rogers, and it was a very neat place! It took K a lil' while to warm up to all of the new kids/parents and the open group participation...which didn't surprise me that much b/c of the "warm up to new, overwhelming social situations" stage she's been in ever since she got close to 2 yrs. old. Plus, all of the parents there that day said their children did the same thing for the first several sessions when they began attending. It's only surprising since she used to be 'Miss Social Butterfly' basically I guess.
She loved the free time/unstructured playtime that followed the lg. group time and really opened up to trying everything! She was fine and dandy w/ anything the teacher wanted her (or the group) to do after that! Balance beam fun, basketball, bubbles, fwd. tuck 'n rolls, etc. I think she and Peyton had fun together, and we look fwd. to doing it again w/ them in a few months hopefully!
(Note: I'm not in many w/ K b/c I was behind the camera trying to get some pics of her 1st gymnastics experience.)
K certainly got a lot of joy out of sharing her experience w/ Daddy later that evening! It was very sweet!