Arkansas Visit

We went to Arkansas on Thursday for a long weekend visit to see my sister and her fam. We'd visited them several times when they lived in Searcy, but not since they've moved to Jonesboro so it was fun to see their new house and new town. We were insanely jealous...they have a Zaxby's (best fast food chicken place EVER!) that Ted and I used to frequent in college and still miss:( We had a great time catching up and the boys got some good bonding time in. Jude's eyes were wide as saucers, following his "big boy" cousin around the house! Tyson did a good job of sharing his toys and trucks, for the most part:) Oh, and there was a particularly harrowing whiz around the kitchen with Tyson at the helm, pushing Jude in his wobbly shopping cart....then they switched places. Ted stuck close in case of disaster.



Lauren's doing great, cooking that baby well:) They found out they're having a little boy, so Ted and I reluctantly brought back some boxes of Tyson's old hand-me-downs that Jude has been wearing. I guess the clothing swap can continue for years to come. Jude deserves mention here: he fought a cold most of the time we were away, but despite that the 14 hour round-trip drive was actually quite pleasant. He cried for 30 minutes on the way down, and maybe 5 minutes on the way back. Good job, Hammy.

We found out this past week that we were accepted to serve with International Teams. We requested 3 different cities, but each of those places needs long-term volunteers, more than 2 years. So we were given a few more places that need volunteers that fit with our timeline, and Ted and I are still in discussions about a couple of places. I think we'll have it figured out in the next week or so. We've been emailing back and forth with the volunteers based in different places to see what their neeeds look like, ask about living arrangements, and figure out budgeting. So now, we're just praying about it and looking to God to send us packing in the direction he wants us....kind of scary and nerve-wracking, but also really exciting. I think we're both at a point where we're pretty much ready for whatever. Life already looks a lot different than it did 6 weeks ago, and our minds are much more able to stretch and envision stuff we would have had trouble picturing then. So, we'll see, but of course I'll keep everyone posted.