This year the night before Halloween we carved a pumpkin with Annabelle. The videos in the smilebox are hilarious because of her reaction to the inside of the pumpkin!
On Halloween night, we went trick or treating again with our friends, Dan and Gina, and their two daughters, Leah and Riley. We had such a nice night! Gina's mom had a dinner for all of us, some special treats for the girls and then off trick or treating we went! The girls did a great job walking this year, last year we remember having to carry Annabelle about 1/2 way through the night. The last video in the smilebox is of when Annabelle went up to the first house to trick or treat.
On October 30th we got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. What an amazing sound and such evidence of the little life growing inside of me! It was a 160 beats per minutes. Annabelle's was about a 150 beats per minute. It took him awhile to find it, but when he did it was so cool. Annabelle seemed unfazed at the moment, but later she loved telling everyone that she heard the baby's heartbeat!
Side note: I am in scrubs because the 3rd grade teachers dressed up as medical professionals for Halloween. I was a nurse, and my appointment was right after school. I felt so funny walking into the doctors office dressed as a nurse!
For the past year we've been praying that God would bless us with a brother or sister for Annabelle. If at night while praying with Annabelle we'd forget she'd always remind us to pray. So it is our joy and with thankful hearts that we announce that God has answered our family prayer! I will be expecting May 17, 2010.
Again this year, I went with my friend, Deb and her children to the pumpkin patch. The kids had a lot of fun on the wagon ride, feeding the animals, eating donuts and drinking cider. I think this is becoming a yearly tradition!
Our friends from College, Chaz and Kari Dull are missionaries in Ecuador. Chaz and Josh were suite mates in the same dorm and played Soccer together. Kari and I were in the same dorm and one semester when I was an RA they redid the dorm and Kari and I were roommates! I remember she was so spiritually encouraging when I lived with her. It was such a blessing to have them stay at our house this weekend and speak at our church. They were an encouragement not only to us but to those at our church who heard their presentation.
L to R: Gabriella (2), Cademon (3), Davis(6), Hudson(7) Annie (2)
Kari has a blog, The Dulls in Ecudor, and does such a good job of keeping up with it. The big thing I learned this weekend about their ministry is how the church planting missionaries work. They have a tough job. They meet new people, disciple them in the Lord, and train them to lead their own churches. Once the churches are functioning under national believers they move to a new area and do the same thing. God has gifted both of them for this ministry and laid it on their heart. You can tell from the way they talk that this is truly where God has planted them. It is so encouraging to see our friends serving the Lord faithfully!
As you'll see they have 4 kids. Their kids were awesome! Annabelle loved them and they were the most polite kids. Our home felt empty after they all left.
