Tennessee Trip-Zoo

After Isaiah's tournament since we were already two hours west, and the two kids in school had fall break the following week, we opted to just keep driving to TN to see Travis' parents. Travis wasn't able to go as he preached on sunday and then had a lot of work to do..so anyway off we went. We rested a lot which was good especially after the long soccer weekend, and the rain helped us do that. We got to go to the Zoo (see pictures below) and then over to spend some time with Uncle Steve, Aunt Lori and Jacob and Tyson...oh how the kids love playing with their cousins. We had a good time with Granna and Grandpa and are thankful for them!

Soccer Fun

Well Isaiah has been playing soccer for awhile now, this year he is on a team that plays in two tournaments a season out of town, so his first tournament was in Winston Salem. His team has never played together before, so they are still learning their new coach and how everyone plays together, that equates to a season of learning how to lose....which is a lesson to be learned for sure. Here are a couple pictures.

By the way Isaiah is number 6!!

Shiloh Zhengyi-Update

Shiloh-hebrew-meaning his gift, or he who is to be sent. Also a site in the bible as well as a battle in the Civil War. Zhengyi-her given first name that means justice or righteousness.

This is our little girl, we probably aren't supposed to post her picture yet, but we weren't told not to, so here she is! She is two years old, born June 9th and we can't wait to go get her. An update, we did have to do an amendment to our homestudy to add some new language in regards to her health so that it would align with her medical chart so we got that done and sent off to USCIS and should get final approval this week from them, then we will just mail this off and wait for our travel approval. We are thinking now that this will be November, we have already received our visas and have them ready to go!

Travels cont.

We then went to a retreat house in Chase City, Va, called Whitefield with David, Lorraine and the kids in September. This was a house that a VERY generous and gracious family provides for those in full-time ministry as a place of retreat and rest and that it was. Even with all the kids, just the slow pace, the big space, and the many adventures of the great outdoors made this a fun place and one that we hope will have many returns. The kids got to fish, some for the first time and everyone that did caught something, of which we ate for lunch the last day! We also got to play games with David and Lorraine which was lots of fun, and just chatting and living life with them for a couple days! It was way too short! Enjoy the pics!

**Wanted to highlight this picture just to show you that Anna and Bella decided to switch dresses, they came out like this:))

Travels cont.

More pictures from Georgia.....

Aunt Beth relaxing on a bench in the park.

While the bigger kids played soccer the younger ones made up plays on the stage.

We also took pictures of the memorial that Beth had made for grandma, along with some long lost relatives.

This park also had a creek, that provided loads of fun.

This was us at the top of the falls!

Climbing the stairs to the falls!

This picture doesn't do them justice but they were beautiful!

Aunt Beth with Tobin, precious.

And of course we had yummy smores!! We had a great time in Georgia and thankful for all the memories made!

Travels cont.

In August we went to Jasper, Ga to visit Aunt Beth, or actually converge on her home. Since David and Lorraine and the kiddo's were in the states, we wanted to make the most of their time and get all the family together so Beth was gracious to open her home to all of us! Granddaddy and Uncle Herschel came up from Florida and we had a great weekend. Our family slept in a camper one of Beth's neighbors graciously let us use and everyone else slept in Beth's place. We had fun going to falls, parks, playing soccer in the road, driveway, park wherever, eating smores, eating other food, and trying to keep up with all the kids! So like we said not many conversations took place with 8 kids under 9, but hey, we all had fun..enjoy the pics..

This was the camper we stayed in, a great adventure!

This was cute, sibling love, and this red chair is a favorite at Aunt Beth's.

Porch fun!!

Granddaddy wheel barrel rides, great fun!

Adults versus kids soccer was an event that went on all weekend! More pics to come tomorrow!!

travels cont.

Also in June Travis was able to take a group to Turkey to visit with some of our workers there. This is always an encouraging time for him and hopefully them too! He was able to teach a study on fear/anxiety/worry something along those lines and I heard that it was a great study that everyone enjoyed! We missed him, but thankful he could go and have fun hanging out with the Messicks and Houstons.

Summer Travels..etc.

I know it has been a while, I will try to recap some of our summer/early fall travels, they seem to be more than normal. I think we are trying to do as much as we can before #5 arrives, because who knows if we will ever leave the house again with five kiddo's:)) So we started the summer by going to Florida to the beach with the Williams family in June! I wish I had pictures, will have to get some from the family as I didn't take any. But we had a good time going to the beach and pool everyday and playing with the cousins and enjoying everyone. I've always said there is nothing like a Florida beach:) We ate some great fish, thanks to uncle steve and had a great time with family. Williams Family take two: We went to Tennessee in July, this was our planned trip, the beach trip was more spontaneous(I love those type of trips). Again all the Williams family was there, we got to go out on Uncle Steve's boat, this always is great fun! We had a great time seeing everyone and relaxing! **I will get pictures of these trips and post them later.