NJ and NY

Thank you for your prayers for our health. Heike is still a little congested, but other then that, we are doing great!

Our week in NJ was wonderful. The missions committee  generously let us stay in their missions house - an apartment right across from the church - and the apartment was wonderful! It gave us space all to ourselves and was perfect for us and so nicely set up! We even had a washer and dryer and dishwasher! The missions committee also had a little surprise party for Samuel on his birthday. He had cake, presents, lots of grapes and crackers, and another helium balloon! =) We were so touched and encouraged. Throughout the week we met with various friends and supporters but thankfully we didn't get too busy and were able to rest too.

We are now in Nyack, NY, and are headed to Boston today to spend the rest of the week with Doug's brother and his family. From there we will go to Ithaca on Saturday. We had a nice couple days with good friends here:

Samuel at the command center

Samuel is still traveling pretty well, but is getting more grumpy and is obviously getting tired of the frequent transitions. Please continue to pray for safe travels, good health, our support situation and for Samuel.  Thank you so much!

Prayer request

All 3 of us have colds and are pretty congested. Samuel is and has been grumpy. Please pray for good health, strength, patience and good rest especially as we meet with people and speak.

On the road

We arrived in MD yesterday evening. There were at least five accidents on I95, between Richmond Virginia and D.C. As we crawled along at 25-35 miles per hour for at least 2 hours, I tried to remind myself to be thankful that we weren't involved in one of those accidents. Thankfully Samuel was a champ despite the fact that we were at least 8 hours on the road. I KNEW people were praying for us. =)


This morning we spoke at a church and then met with the missions committee for lunch afterwards. It was very encouraging, and everyone was sweet to us, even the poor nursery lady who came to get us during the service because Samuel had a meltdown.


Unfortunately church is usually during his morning nap time, and he is starting to do the whole 'separation anxiety' thing. So all that considered, Samuel did well, even during the long lunch where he amused much of the table by tearing hungrily into a bread roll, stuffing bite after bite into his face.


We are staying with one of Doug's good college friends and old roommate, so it has been relaxing and enjoyable.  We will hear back from the church soon, they seemed to want to get behind us in prayer and also financially, so we are excited about that.


Tomorrow we leave for Tom's River, NJ.  We will be meeting with the missions committee on Tuesday-which also happens to be Samuel's first birthday!  We were able to celebrate early with Doug's family in Greenville, and we'll probably celebrate again once we get back home with other family members. Here's a couple pictures of the party:

Wearing the #1 crown that Aunt Jane gave him

He wasn't sure what to do with the cake at first

But he enjoyed the attention!

Favorite Family Photos

So we had 2 photoshoots. I'm posting my favorite pictures, but you'll find out which one we picked when you get our new prayercard!

Location: Bonam's House
Photographer: Jeremy Bonam

Samuel is almost 1 year old!

Location: Irmo Park (it was HOT! We mopped our faces in between the pictures.)
Photographer: Amy Hamilton

She took some cute ones of Samuel too, but I don't have all her pictures yet. Samuel was a trooper, although by this last picture, he was done. =)

Photo Shoot!

We're getting family pictures taken for a new prayercard. We're hoping to get it printed before we leave for our support raising trips up north.

Here's a link to some of the pictures: http://photographybyajhamilton.blogspot.com/

A week of vacation!

We just got back from a lovely vacation with Doug's family. There are a lot of pictures on Facebook, so that's the place to really see how our time was, but I'll post a few of my favorites for those of you not on Facebook.

Samuel loved the beach-and eating sand

Snuggles with cousin Timothy

Hanging out at the pool

Story time with Grammy and cousin Aaron

All of us (minus Doug's brother Keith) in front of the beach house

We are so thankful to the Lord for all the fun times with our family!

I can't believe it's July already!

Our activities in June:

-Settling into our new living situation.
-Doug training his employees and transferring management of the company.
-Samuel had an ear infection and has been teething.
-Trips to Greenville, SC to spend some time with Doug's family and help them paint and get one of their rooms ready for guests.
-Doug and I took 2-3 days and went on a belated anniversary trip. Doug's parents watched Samuel and a good time was had by all.
-Doug's first Father's Day!

Our mini vacation/anniversary trip

Samuel loves playing with his grandparents and vice versa

We were very happy to see Samuel again and he was pretty excited too =)

Happy Father's Day!

What July will look like (Lord willing):
-Doug's work is winding down--much to my delight, because I finally get to see more of him--and we can work more on support raising.
-Vacation with Doug's family at the beach for a week! This starts tomorrow!!!!!!! Can you tell I'm excited?!?!

We're planning to hit the northeastern parts of the US in August, specifically NJ, NY, and MD. If you would like us to stop by and see you, let us know!

Praises:

-Samuel is 10 and 1/2 months old and healthy! He walks with support and stands alone pretty steadily. It won't be long before he is running.
-Cheaper living situation
-Doug being able to work less
-First vacation in 2 years

Our special kiddo

Prayer requests:

-Support raising!
-Issues with our health insurance. Right now our insurance is ridiculously expensive and is taking a large chunk of our current incoming support. Doug is working on trying to get us onto a different insurance.
-Travel plans and time management
-Our relationship with God and with those we live with and within our family

Post-nap stare