October happenings

I can't believe it's almost November! This month has flown by!  Here are some of things we've been up to this month (besides settling in to our temporary new home with Doug's parents here in Greenville):

Speaking at wonderful church in Rising Sun, MD. Samuel is trying to eat a pager. =)

Samuel started taking more then a passing interest in books--which really helped the long car rides go quicker

Weekend fun trip in NC with some college friends

Samuel loving pasta

Samuel discovering the joys of Daddy's nose

Samuel showing off the big scrape on his forehead. He is truly a toddler now!

God also provided for us to visit another church in Columbia and speak there. It has been a busy month, but a good one!

Coming up, we have another speaking engagement this Sunday in Columbia at another church that just started supporting us. It is so fun to see God provide for us! We are also looking to travel to FL the first or second week of December, so if any of you are there and want to see us, let us know.

Doug is still working, for which we are grateful, as we still need some income. I, Heike, have officially resigned from my nursing job in Columbia and am focusing on Samuel and support raising and packing. Too bad I don't get paid for packing, that seems to be a job in itself! =) We are so thankful for the support that is already coming in. THANK YOU for your love and prayers!

New Address - again

We have moved and are settling in to Doug's parent's place. This is our new address, and will be our permanent one here in the States:

115 Coxe Drive
Greenville, SC
29609

We are enjoying mom's cooking and esp. her babysitting skills. =) Doug and I are both a bit overwhelmed as we start sorting through stuff for Germany and working on support raising. Doug is also still working some, which is actually good because we need the income. Please pray for us that we would use our time wisely and God would take us to Germany in his time.

I'll post some pictures when I get them uploaded to my computer. =)

back in SC - for now

We're back in SC after 4,183 miles, 94 hours of driving, 8 states, 2 tropical storms, 1 earthquake, and 1 major diaper disaster.

What a trip! God protected us and encouraged us and blessed us beyond our expectations. We didn't pay for a single night anywhere, and often people fed us or took us out to eat, so we hardly paid for any meals.

Financially we are at over 70% of what we need per month now! So we are hoping by faith to be in Germany by the end of the year. Possibly November or December.

A few favorite pictures:

Riddle boys at the Boston Zoo

Cousins!

Aunt Heike with her amazing nephews

Samuel's first experience in a mud puddle - he walks everywhere now!

Now that we're home, we are packing up again-this time to move in with Doug's parents. All our winter stuff, boxes we've already packed for Germany, and kitchen stuff we aren't currently using are already at their house. This is, Lord willing, our last move before we go to Germany.

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. =)