This is our "team" at Northwood with all the kiddos. Yes we are big, but are as close as family. I am so thankful for this group of friends! We truly have a rare group dynamic. One of our team members, Jennifer Hunt, is a far better writer than me and expressed it perfectly on her blog. Below are her words and all of our same thoughts:

"We had 35 of our closest friends over to our house this afternoon for lunch! These are the families on our "team" from church, and they truly are family to us. We have been together for a little over a year, and we have been through a lot.

These are truly the friends that will care for each other's kids without a second thought, provide meals, sit with you in a hospital room, pray fervently for you, share their deepest secrets and weaknesses, make your stomach ache from laughing, challenge you to greater depths in your love for Jesus. We love these guys so much, and we were privileged and oh so thankful to have them all together (minus one family and one sick 3 year old, plus Sherman and Becky visiting from the Glocal Ventures office in Vietnam) in our home this afternoon.

We all need friends. We need community. We weren't meant to be alone. Thank you, God, for such precious friends."



Above: the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and blew candles out on the cake!

What an eventful Fall! After our North Carolina trip, we've had school parties, trips to the pumpkin patch, carnivals and trick-or-treating. We still have heaps of candy lying around and are quickly being thrusted into Thanksgiving school parties and multiple family gatherings and eating marathons. In the middle of all this fun, we found out we are expecting a new member to our clan. Hmm... can we say morning sickness on Thanksgiving Day. Fun stuff! Baby will be here in June and though that seems far away, if these past few months are any indication, it will be here before I know it. Here are some pics of our Fall fun. Above: Making pumpkin cookies with friends.

Below: Pumpkin carving. Caleb did not like the smell or the yucky guts!Below: Pics at the Pumpkin Express in Argyle

Below: Caleb's school party

First Baptist Church in Keller Fall carnival.

We just got back from a trip to North Carolina to visit my brother and his family who just moved there. I fell in love with North Carolina because of all the trees, the mountains, the fall foilage, the clean sign-free streets and the architecture of the homes there. We had a wonderful time. We stayed in a cabin in the mountains, had a picnic in the mountains, visited Blowing Rock and took pictures on scenic overlooks, visited Mystery Hill Manor, had a late night Monopoly marathon, went to Gem Mountain and mined for jewels, and had a feast at John's house and a surprise celebration for my birthday. The kids put on a skit and a puppet show and it was hilarious. Caleb was tired and in rare form and if we had taken video, I know we would have won America's Funniest Home Videos. He was the alligator in the puppet show, when something went awry behind the curtain and in anger the alligator comes flying through the curtain. He storms off in a pout. Meanwhile, Claire is singing "I Will Survive" on her kareoke machine and Caleb goes into the puppet tent. All we saw is a toy gun coming through the curtain shooting the audience while Claire performed. We were all in stitches. It was hilarious. Does anyone know a child therapist I can contact? Below are some pics and below that are slide shows of our time in NC.

Now we're back home in ugly ole' flat Texas and I am going to need to start my book on Contentment all over again! :)

Beautiful North Carolina!

Best Buddies
John's new home in Cary, NC.
This is the view of my brother's house from the woods right behind it. Amazing!
Adorable Jill
Brad, Leslie, John, Kate and Claire at Blowing Rock

We stayed in a cabin in Boone, NC one night

On Blowing Rock
Daddy and Caleb

My surprise birthday party. The kids decorated the basement, sang a song, put on a puppet show performance making fun of how old I am, and we played games.

Luke and Caleb on the way to the airport for us to go home. :(

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!