1. I left Saturday morning for New York. I left from our airport in our little Virginia town. I had never been to the Shenandoah Airport so I was delightfully surprised at how nice the terminal is. I was nervous but well informed on how to check in and what to expect. Everything went well and I survived the flights. I had a few anxious moments in Dulles when the flight was late getting in and there was some question if I would be able to fly stand by. I was able to catch the flight and arrived safely to be greeted by Suzy, Tim and Oscar.



2. Here's the boy, just as cute as ever, but now a whopping 8 pounds 4 ounces. He's cute and cuddly and stays awake longer. We have had several conversations early in the morning. What a thrill to watch him grow. He has a sweet disposition and still smiles in his sleep. He looks more like his handsome daddy all the time. He stills has his mama's sweet little bow lips and is very strong for a little man.



3. Halloween is Friday and his mom is trying out various costumes on him. His little shirt says, "There's a new sheriff in town". Isn't he just the cutest?" If you think I brought him some Halloween costumes give yourself a pat on the back. I guess you'll have to stay tuned for the latest in Oscar apparel.



4. Speaking of his sweet mama here's a quiet moment of bonding between a boy and his mom. I remember cuddling with his momma like this when she was this size. How quickly time flies!






5. Tim left yesterday afternoon and about 15 minutes after he pulled out of the drive way the smoke alarms started going off. I was baking muffins and the smoke alarms are really very sensitive to smoke or heat. They are all connected so when one went off all of them went off. Suzy and I were opening window all over the apartment and blowing on the alarms. They are all electric so we couldn't pull out the battery. Leave it to his talented and smart mom to figure out that we needed to turn off the breaker in the fuse box. Would you believe Oscar slept through the whole ordeal? I was really proud of Suzy for thinking her way through the problem. I laughed because it seems like things always go wrong as soon as your man leaves on a trip.



6. Speaking of things falling apart as soon as your hubby leaves...Suzy just got their computer back and got to work on some of her Oscar pictures. Then just before she could post them or email them the computer started to act up again. Thankfully I brought my laptop with me. So I'm hoping to give my girl some computer time to catch everyone up on her wonderful little man. She's thinking of starting a new Oscar blog.


7. I've had some time to post on my Diva blogs. I have Diva's Diary for Emma and Diva's Adventures in the land of Oz for Oscar. I like to post stories about their parents when they were little. You never know when they might need a good laugh about "baby Momma".

2. Yesterday Mr. Wonderful and our neighbor Mike played Lumber Jack and went to cut some wood for this winter. They worked together and got each household a load. Beckie and I always feel better about having the guys go out together, especially when chain saws are involved. They were quite pleased at the wood they gathered. Mr. Wonderful got our wood heater working today. (You can bigify the picture by clicking on it!)




3. I'm leaving Saturday to fly to New York to stay with Suzy and Oscar for a week. Tim will be out of town and I rarely need a reason to go visit my kids. This is a shout out to my sis for making it possible. Those of you who know me really well know that I don't usually solo, so this is a big adventure for me.

1. We are just finished our fourth container for Ethiopia. This past weekend we have been loading bed springs, and bunk bed ends for 440 beds. We also loaded very heavy library shelving as well as wardrobes and solid core doors. All of these supplies are going to Adis Abba for new dorms that are being built in the Mennonite Bible College.



2. We were thrilled to have a group from Savannah Christian Church come and volunteer to help with the physical loading and preparing items for shipment. Most of them are about the same ages of our kids so it felt like having extended family here. Here they are posing with the Missionary Karl Hansen after completing the load.




3. The weekend was filled with hard work but also fun times too. Earl is showing us that this container has everything including "the kitchen sink" not to mention 21 toilet seats, lighting fixtures, mirrors and a lawn mower.


4. Our outing to the Blue Nile for Ethiopian Cuisine was a big hit. The food is served on one big platter and you eat it with your hands. You use a thin piece of bread (like a thin pancake) called Injera to pick up the morsels. We ate lots of unpronounceable items but it was good and so much fun. The group really enjoyed this unique experience.



5. Karl and Vera Hanson are definitely "hands on" missionaries. They worked right along with us loading items or taking bigger items apart to conserve space. It cost about 15,000 dollars to do a container and will take about a month to get into Africa. It can take as long as four month to get it cleared from customs though. Interacting with the missionary really helped the group feel closely unite with the project.



6. Praying over the finished container was a highlight too. What a privilege to send it on it's way, trusting the Lord for it's safe arrival and for the excitement of the students when they help unload this container.


7. My weekend was filled with all kinds of experiences. Some very physical and exhausting, some fun, and adventuresome, some heartfelt and emotional. Saying goodbye to friends is never easy either so this afternoon will be filled with rest. Hope you had a filling weekend too.