Pumpkins & Parties

Here are a lot of new pictures from the past week. On Saturday we went to our friend Felicia's wedding. Felicia, Jason and I worked at Camp of the Hills together and she was at Fortress on staff for several years. It was Elijah's first wedding since he was a baby, and he was so curious about it, and about her in her white dress. He was so unsure of what a wedding is, that on the way there after hundreds of questions, he finally said "Mama, I think I'm scared to go to the wedding." It was really funny, and in the end he had a good time.



Also on Saturday we went to one of Elijah's best buddies 3rd birthday party - for Ellie!! It was at a bounce house place and was so much fun. We had the whole place to ourselves and a lot of the adults even went in the mazes and down the slides with their kids. You can see Jason and Elijah here on one of the obstacle courses. His shirt is all wet in these from a water fountain accident! I'm thinking of having his 4th birthday here because the baby will only be a few weeks old then and this place does everything for you except provide the cake. Sounds like less work for me with a newborn! Okay, I'm not mentioning 4th birthday again - that's REALLY sad! Elijah will kill me one day for the picture with the pink crown on, but sorry buddy, it was a girl's birthday party and you wanted to wear it! :-)


















































We also finally made it to the pumpkin patch in Flower Mound yesterday and it was a lot of fun! Everything is free, unless you buy a pumpkin, so he played on the bounce houses, rode on a hay ride and ran around with his cousin Jonathan. There were a ton of characters to get your picture with, and these are the ones that he chose. I also finally got some very cute fall pictures with hay and pumpkins. Sorry that the pictures are not lined up with the words. This thing is acting weird right now and I can't get them straight. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Baby Update, Weekend & The Fair

I know, the picture of me is a little sad, but c'mon, I've been sick for over 2 months!!! This is the first time I've allowed a pregnant picture of me to be taken yet. I am 13 weeks in this picture and already showing a lot quicker than I did with Elijah. My Dr appt went just fine on Monday -we heard the heartbeat for the first time and Elijah thought that was really neat! I've decided to take him to all appointments that aren't going to be invasive so that this can start to become more real for him. Today is the first day in over 8 weeks that I have not had a nausea pill yet, so please everyone hold your breath with me!!! Just kidding, I'm trying not to get my hopes up but it's very encouraging. We are very thankful that God has given us this new precious life to take care of, and I am ready to start enjoying my pregnancy and last time alone with Elijah!

Last weekend, we went to Gainesville for Jason to preach and to hear Lauren's boyfriend, Matt's, Christian band play at the church. They were really good, and unfortunately all my pictures of it were too dark, but please click on "Matt" under my blogger friends and check out their up & coming band. Lauren even got to sing some back-up vocals and Elijah danced and played his air guitar all night long - it was hilarious! Jason has really taught him to appreciate good music and it showed that night - I think that was his first concert and he loved it! We also went to Depot Days while there (like a small carnival) and there are pictures from that below. It was also the first time that the whole family has been together in a while, since Matt & Nova have both joined the picture, so there is a Cox family photo below too.







On Wednesday, I ventured out to the State Fair with my mom, sister and nephew Jonathan. He and Elijah are big buddies and had a great time together! It was $1 day if you brought 3 cans of food per person, so we only stayed a few hours, and that was about all I could take, even with several "breaks" of sitting or laying down on tables! I don't think I've walked that much combined in the past 2 months as I did at the fair. The funniest part of the day was watching those two ride a few kiddie rides. A couple of them went really fast and I thought Elijah would get scared but he just screamed and laughed the whole time - I haven't laughed that hard in a long time, and I got a few "action" shots during the rides. I need to go lay down again. I'm impressed with myself for getting a new post up with pictures. We have a weekend full of birthday parties and a wedding, so I'll have new pictures soon, and we're going to attempt the pumpkin patch next week. Have a great weekend!

Thailand Update

***Real quick before I do the Thailand update...I told some of you that my next doctor appt for the baby was yesterday, but it was moved to Monday because my doctor was sick. So I'll have an update then maybe with some pictures. Also, I am finally seeing the light at the end of tunnel...my morning sickness is getting better and becoming truer morning sickness. I am still taking my nausea medication, but feel like maybe I'm starting down the path to feeling better soon. :-)
***Also, we are hoping to go to a pumpkin patch and the state fair next week (depending on how I feel) so I should have some October-ish pictures soon! I have seriously taken like 3 pictures in the last 2 months because I've been so sick!

On to the Thailand update....
I know that most of you began reading our blog in order to keep up with our "survey trip" to Thailand back in May. We have not forgotten the reason we started this blog, and finally we have an update for you.

That trip was life-changing for us and definitely the best trip of our lives so far! Elijah still talks about Thailand, specifically about elephants, waterfalls, the airplane rides, his friends O and his Singapore "girls" (as he called them) - he had SO MUCH FUN and we are so thankful that he was able to experience that and still remembers it! Thailand touched Jason and I as well....hearing the testimonies of many Thai Christians and what they gave up to become Christians, the wonderful Thai friends we made, the missionary families that took care of us, the food, the sights, the cultural experiences....these are experiences and memories that we will never forget! So for our friends in Thailand...We have not forgotten you, we love you and we thank you for making our trip so special!



We began meeting 2 years ago with a group of about 16 Christians interested in long-term mission work in Thailand. We have grown to love and respect all of these people very much. We knew that 16 was too large of a number for one team, and that likely all 16 of us would not be on one team. We also knew that for 16 people, we would not be able to all fit on the same time schedule to go over there. We want to inform all of you that the first team is forming and is nearly formed....8 of the original 16 have committed to begin training next September and move to Thailand in mid-2009. The other 8, for various reasons, whether it be family concerns, timeline or future plans will not be able to commit to that timeline.

Our family will not be able to commit to that timeline. Our priority right now is for Jason to finish school, and he will not be finished in time for us to join this team. We feel a little sad but peaceful about our decision, and are so excited for these 8 that will be spreading God's word in Thailand! They are so excited and would covet your prayers as early team development begins. This does not mean that a second team might not form in the future, and we are still open to that, if we feel that is where God wants us at the time. Thank you for your prayers for us as we have been asking God about Thailand since we returned from our trip in May. We would ask for your continued prayers as we learn where God wants us to be when Jason is finished with school. We know we want to be involved in some sort of ministry, whether domestic or international, and just pray that God will use our family to serve Him. God is in control, His timing is perfect and we will just wait upon Him.

The few pictures you see above, are special memories from our Thailand trip. I just picked a few...there were too many great experiences to choose from!

Have a great weekend!