10.27.2009 Halloween Costumes

We had such a lovely day playing in our Halloween Costumes today! The boys love their costumes; so much so that I can hardly get them to take them off! I was a bit worried because Grant wore the Tin Man costume last year and remembered it. He was insistent that it was his and threw a fit any time he'd hear Mason was going to be the Tin Man this year. That is, until he got his Scarecrow costume in the mail today from Grandma Beutler. She made him the cutest little Scarecrow costume and he no longer cares that Mason's the Tin Man because HE's the SCARECROW! How cool! And Mason just loves his hat. Silly boys. They DO look very cute, if I do say so myself. We took them to the pumpkin patch tonight and they definitely stole the show. I'm amazed more people don't dress up to go pick out a pumpkin down here. I mean, it's not like you're going to a field to pick your pumpkin like up north. It's not a dirty endeavor, and the costumes make it so much more fun! It's a good trade-off for not having a real pumpkin patch.

Our African Adventure!

Dear Friends, When we began our life together nearly six years ago, we created a vision for our life. As part of that vision, we dreamed of serving the Lord together in the capacity of medical missions. We have had several opportunities to fulfill this calling in our life, however, it seems that with each opportunity that has presented itself, Sara has ended up pregnant, and we have not been able to go. In fact, we've joked that perhaps we misunderstood our calling and we're just supposed to be fruitful and multiply. Earlier this year, Chris was presented with an incredible opportunity by to accompany his Family Medicine Program Director, Dr. Richard Sams, to Nairobi, Kenya on a medical mission trip through the month of January 2010. It was not even a possibility in the beginning that Sara would be able to go with him, so you can imagine her surprise when he came home one day and announced he had purchased her ticket to go with him for the entire 3-1/2 week mission! With great emotion, he said that "We can finally begin our ministry together." What a blessing! We have prayed for this opportunity for years. We will be going through the organization, World Hope (http://www.weareworldhope.com/). While we are there, we will be working in an outpatient setting at small medical clinics in remote areas of Nairobi. Chris will be seeing hundreds of patients, many of whom have not seen a doctor in years, if ever. Sara will be taking vitals, working the pharmacy, and helping wherever else she may be needed. It is with this purpose in mind that we write to you - our dear family and friends - and ask that you partner with us by keeping us in your prayers through the upcoming months. Please pray... * That we would be prepared mentally & Spiritually for the things that we will encounter medically. * That Chris would be given the gift of healing. To God be the GLORY! * That the medical team (3 physicians, 2 family members) would be protected physically from the diseases in the area, including HIV, malaria, and various tropical fevers that he can't spell. * That we would have many opportunities to present the Gospel of Christ boldly to those with whom we come into contact. * That Grant and Mason will be safe, healthy and secure, and not miss their parents too much. * That we (especially Sara) won't be distracted by missing our children. * That God would show us His heart for His people and we would not return home unchanged. * That we are able to come up with the $6000.00 it will cost for us both to serve our Lord in this way. We cannot do this without you, the Body of Christ. We are so thankful for you - for your prayers, and for partnering with us on our first medical mission trip. I cannot wait to see how the Lord will work in our lives, and the lives of the many patients we come in contact with during the month of January. Serving Him together, Chris and Sara "...Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest." John 4:35

10.07.2009 Flowers and Silliness

One of the favorite past-times of the boys is helping me water my flowers. I think this can be attributed to the fact that most of the time they just spray each other until they're soaked from head to toe. I have enjoyed having flowers so much this year (especially since the ones in the pots I got for free!! Yeah)! My Mandevilla is my prized possession that I bought when we moved to our new house. For a long time I didn't have a trellis for it but I put one up a couple weeks ago and it is really taking off and climbing up the trellis already! Love it! Oh - and I was doing laundry. One of Grant's jobs is helping me mate socks. He mated Daddy's dress socks and then put them on with his underwear. I thought it was pretty funny and he was quite happy to pose to showcase his silliness.

Tent Togetherness

Chris has been working crazy hours now that he's back on inpatient service at the hospital. Most nights he hasn't even been home before the kids go to bed. Tonight he was home by 7:00 so we had dinner as a family, and then we let the kids stay up until about 9:30 to play with daddy for a while. What a fun night we had! The boys built a blanket fort in our room and played in it for a while. When they had finished with that, a pillow fight ensued! They're such boys, for sure! ;-)

10.03.2009 Happy Fall!

We have some dear friends down here from New Jersey, so they're used to lovely fall weather like we are. This week we had some lovely "fall-like" weather, with some of the evenings even reaching into the 50's and the days only getting into the mid-80s. It was perfect. So we decided to have a fall party; unfortunately, however, by the time Saturday rolled around for our party, it was in the 90s again. So we made Mexican Chicken Chowder and ate it outside anyway! Ha! We also made an incredible taco dip and yummy apple enchiladas. Thanks, Julie, for making fun fall deliciousness with me! We had a great day!

09.27.2009 Grant's doing his hair!

We were getting ready for church this morning and Grant's hair was sticking out everywhere. It definitely needed fixed before we could go to church, but he would have nothing with that. So finally he decided that he wanted to do his hair all by himself. So we let him. Half of it was spiked, the other half was combed forward; he even pulled out the gel to make the spikey part stay up. But he sure was proud of it, so we didn't have the heart to change it. Sure enough, he went to church like that. I'm sure everyone thought he looked like an unkempt child, but I figured it was worth it for him to be proud of himself. And it certainly made me chuckle. Of course I had to throw in a picture of sweet Mason, too. Aren't they handsome boys?

09.26.2009 Typhoon Lagoon

It has been quite the week. Grant has been testing me every second of the day, and I am at my wits end! Chris is working like crazy and has had several frustrating days, only to come home to a wife who is ready to pull her hair out. Grant took diaper rash cream and spread it all over the walls, furniture, bedding, his brother this week - TWICE! He got in so much trouble the first time I never dreamed he'd do it again. He's also purposefully gone potty on the carpet in his room and climbed into Mason's crib and went potty on Mason, too. I don't know where this behavior is coming from, but it has taken every ounce of determination and purpose to make it stop. This definitely cannot go on! So thanks to my mom, I've been working on some creative disciplining and I must say, I never knew I could enjoy disciplining my children so much! Some of it is quite fun and even therapeutic! ha!

So after a very frustrating week, we needed a break. All of us did. Chris' niece was down here in FL at his parents house with her hubby and 2 kiddos, so we arranged to meet them at Disney's waterpark, Typhoon Lagoon for the day on Saturday. What a blast we had! The kids were perfect, well behaved children, and we enjoyed catching up with Tiffany and Mark, playing with Jade and meeting Bryce. What a fun time! Thanks, guys, for giving us a much needed break! Whew!

09.22.2009 My Little Helper

Grant has found a new love - vacuuming! And I must say, I love having him help out, too! Ahhh - the kids can finally help. Is this the reason people have children afterall?? Surely it must rank high on the list! Ha! (Oh, and I chose this pic, mom, so you could see our patio furniture - you haven't seen it yet, have you? Isn't it pretty? It has cushions that go on it, but they're put away right now)

09.19.2009 Car Show at the Landing

There was a car show downtown today, so we took Chris as a fun thing for him to do. There were all sorts of cars - he needs to be writing this post evidentally because all I care to tell you about was the fountain! I'm sure he'd be greatly disappointed in me! ha! It was sweltering hot, and we found a fountain for the kids to play in. For a while, Grant was not there, so it was just Mason. It was very cute because all these old people would stop and watch him and enjoy this little guy playing in the water. They were even pulling out their cameras to take picture of this stranger baby. It was amusing. Soon, Grant and Daddy returned and they joined in the fun, as well. They were soaked, but a good time was had by all - even while we had to look at the cars! Ha!

09.18.2009 Fun Night Out!

I realized that Chris and I had not been out on a date in a very long time. So, as if we had to have a reason to celebrate, I racked my brain for a fun idea for a date! It occurred to me that the 19th is the 6 year anniversary of when Chris proposed to me, and the 22nd was the 7th year that we had been together. So I lined up a babysitter and took Chris on a progressive dinner. We went to a Mexican Restaurant for chips and queso (we always went to a little restaurant in Wilmore for this when we were dating) then we went to Waffle House for a patty melt plate (yet another of our frequent dating haunts). We were going to go to Wendy's for a frosty afterwards, but we were so stuffed, we just couldn't fit it in! So we took a trip down memory lane in an entirely new city and enjoyed ourselves immensely! It was fun!

09.16.2009 Sleeping soundly...

I realized it was pretty quiet around here, so I went in search of my little one. Grant was in the playroom playing by himself and I couldn't find Mason anywhere. Anywhere, that is, until I went into my bedroom to find him having pulled the pillows off of my bed, his blanket and "duckie" off of his crib all snuggled up on the floor. It was too precious not to take a few pictures! :-) It's moments like these that make me realize just how few moments we have with our children. Boy, it's going fast!