Our Summer on the Road

We have been BUSY, traveling all summer, getting home, preparing for the new baby (due in less than 3 weeks!)....But I'd like to quickly catch you up on some of the highlights of the summer.  We praise God for the safety He gave us with many miles of traveling.  He blessed every meeting, every service, every camp and VBS...we are overwhelmed at the awesome opportunity to be used of God in our country and pray that the fruit remains in the work that was accomplished.

Wonderful Sunday services in early June at Maineville Baptist Church in Ohio.

Enjoying some Chickfila ice dream :)

David loves his chips and queso!  He's a foodie like his parents!

First Vacation Bible School of the summer!  Peoples Baptist Church, Mansfield, OH.

The kids go wild with this game!

We spent a week at Mt. Salem Revival Grounds in WV...Caleb preached hard and God really moved in the teens hearts.

David got to go swimming for the first time!  He loves to splash! :)

Then it was on to Hopkinsville, KY for a wonderful week of VBS at Greater Cumberland Baptist Church.

"Hi!!!!"

7 months along!  Excited to meet our little boy in 2 months!

We sure enjoyed our time staying with our friends Michael and Nadia Shaver!  

David and Jaden Shaver became fast friends!

Happy 4th of July!

fireworks!

A family selfie :)

Such a tall boy!

Helping Daddy work :)

Had a great "God and Our Country" Sunday at Trinity Baptist Church in Texas City, TX!

smooches for our baby!

Had a blast swimming in Pastor Hector Rodriquez's pool in TX!

Sunny smiles!

We had a great time with our dear friends, the Rodriguez family!

It was so special to get to meet up with an old PCC friend of mine, Shelby and her husband Adam while we were in TX!

She snapped this cute shot of us :)  Possibly one of our last family photos as a family of 3!

Getting Lighthouse Baptist Church fired up for an exciting week of VBS!

David went to toddler S.S. for the first time on Sunday, July 13, at LBC in Mississippi!

Getting the neighborhood kids excited about VBS!

Great week of VBS - broke all previous year's records - had tons of kids and many saved!  Praise God!

Our family after church Sunday night in Decatur, TX on Caleb's 28th birthday (July 20)!

When we arrived at our friends' house (James and Andrea Leeder in Albuquerque, NM) we had a fun birthday party for Caleb!

Caleb reading to the Leeder kids and David :)  Love how David looks like he could fit right in with their family with his blonde hair!

While in Albuquerque, we had the amazing honor to be a part of the first ever Our Time Southwest youth conference!  It was an amazing time and God really worked in hearts...

Caleb enjoyed an afternoon with the teens and youth pastors at an amusement park!

Enjoying some Rudy's BBQ with Pastor Reyes (the conference host) and Pastor Lenentine (their church facilitated the conference) and our pastor, Joseph Brown, who flew out from IA to speak at the conference!

David helping daddy pack up our book table after our final meeting of the summer, at New Heights Baptist Church in Albq, NM!

July 20, 2014 - Caleb turns 28!

It's hard to even put into words how thankful I am for Caleb...he is such a passionate and devoted man of God, a loving, sacrificial husband, and the most fun, exciting daddy a kid could ever ask for! We are so blessed to have him in our lives!

David - 21 months old!

David turned 21 months old on June 20 - sorry for the delay in posting this...it is less than a week before his 22 month birthday! Yikes!!  David has been turning into such a little person these past couple months.  He is SO verbal...he learned to say "Please" instead of signing it (which he'd been doing for many, many months now).  He learned how to say "help" so he can ask for help when he needs it instead of just whining!  Steps like this on his verbal journey have been SO helpful!  He can say almost any food/drink he wants, so when he's hungry, he knows how to ask for what he wants - no more guessing game!  He is turning more and more into a full-fledged boy - what I mean by this is that he loves rough and tumble, wrestling/tickling with daddy, making boyish sound effects while he plays, etc....we did NOT teach him these things!  It's amazing how much about being a boy just comes naturally!  And also, I think he has picked it up along the way, observing other boys in the nursery or in places we're staying.  He is a VERY observant and smart child.  I know every parent probably says this, but it's TRUE!  We are walking through a mall and he sees a dog or monkey or some animal on a sign off in the distance...he starts saying "doggie" or making monkey sounds or whatever and we squint our eyes, searching for the item he sees.  It usually takes us a good while to spot it!  He can copy after me and say almost every letter of the alphabet (and can actually recognize a few himself).  We are definitely enjoying each day/week/month that goes by here lately...it's amazing how much development he's going through now!  It's so much fun!

Here are a few shots from his 21-month photo shoot :)

yay, I got a teeny smile :) haha!

mid-conversation :)

A Week in Indiana!

We had the awesome chance to stay with my Aunt Bev in Indiana for a week at the end of May.  We had Monday-Friday off (except for one Weds. PM meeting in the area) and enjoyed special time with her as well as lots of exciting adventures!  Check out the photos :)

We arrived on Memorial Day - here we are sporting our patriotic colors :)

Story time with Auntie Bev!

On Tuesday, we went to the Indianapolis Zoo!  My aunt has been bringing my family and I since we were little (it's always been one of our favorite memories of visiting Indiana each year!).  Now the next generation is getting to make the same memories! :)

Checking out the rhino's with dad!

In front of the elephants

On the train ride (well it hadn't started yet...thus David's hot, tired, bored expression!)

David's first time on a carousel (riding the animal by himself!)

Checking out the dolphins before the dolphin show began

On Weds., we hit up the mall and ate lunch at Johnny Rockets!

"Gimme FRIES!!!!!!" (lol!  David LOVES french fries!)

On Thursday, we went to the Children's Museum (ranked #1 in the world!)

It was so much fun seeing David interact and get involved in the different exhibits!

I know it's blurry, but can you get a load of this smile?!?  My aunt snapped this picture at lunch, when I was playing with David and getting him to smile.  It's so rare to get a truly HAPPY face from him on camera - so this picture is very special!

Sand box!

One of David's favorite activities at the museum was climbing up and down these stairs (which he did with no help from me - just a watchful eye!).

Ringing bells in the China exhibit

It was so special to get to spend Thursday evening with my cousin Jason and his kids, Augie and Emma in Bloomington, IN!  I hadn't seen them in 8 years!  Special night for sure!

After an amazing italian dinner, we got ice-cream  :)  Here is the ice-cream king himself, making quick work of his cone!

One of David's favorite things the whole week was playing out in Aunt Bev's backyard and on her deck!  On friday, after a whole week of practice, he finally learned how to step off of the deck without any help (human or handrail)!  This was a BIG accomplishment for him and he was QUITE proud of himself, as you can see!

"Hurray for MEEEE!"

Cutie pie with his hat on (gift from Auntie Bev from the Zoo!)

What a special week we had!

David - 20 Months Old!

It's unreal to see our son growing up before our very eyes!  He is all action and adventure, loves playing with his truck, "BoBo" (he named it himself!), and balls and running free in wide open places (he'd rather do that then play on the park playground!).  But he has an intellectual side too, where he loves to sit and play with legos for long periods of time and he LOVES reading books (we read ALL the time!  He never gets bored with his books no matter how many times a day we read them!).  Sometimes, I'll switch it up and ask HIM to read to ME! :)  "David, tell mommy what happens on this page?".  Sometimes he just looks at the pictures, but there have been times that he's jibber-jabbered something, with excited vocal tones and facial expressions, pointing to the pictures, and I feel like he thinks he really is reading the story to mommy!  It's so adorable!

One day near David's 20-month birthday (May 20), we went to the park, and I brought our good camera and snapped a few shots for his 20-month photo shoot.  He was on the go the whole time, so it wasn't easy to get good shots (especially of smiles -- David is typically rather stoic when the camera comes out!).  But I managed a few :)

This picture makes me wanna cry!!  He is SO toddler now...no more baby left :(  Sniff sniff!

"Swing me higher, Daddy!"

Hmm, to smile or not to smile...

Cutest wink ever!

Some interesting facts about this 20 month old!

May Meetings

We packed up and left home in the beginning of May for our busy spring/summer tour, which will have us out until July 31st (less than a month from baby #2's due date!).  We have had some great meetings and some fun family memory-making adventures in the past month and a half...let's take a look back at some of the churches we've had the privilege of being with and some of the memories we've made along the way!

Our first stop was Berlin Heights, OH where we had a great service on May 4th at Berlin Heights Baptist Church.  We also enjoyed fun fellowship with Pastor Cotterill and his family!

On May 7th we were with Lighthouse Baptist in Plainwell, MI.  

We enjoyed a fun day at the Grand Rapids Zoo!

Ice cream goatee :)

On Mother's Day, we were with Zion Baptist Church in Traverse City, MI.  

Excited to think that next Mother's Day I'll have two little boys to hold!

We had a couple days off, so we toured Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island waaaaay up in the Upper Peninsula area of Michigan!  It was COLD up there!!  But we loved walking around the old fashioned town (on the Island, there are no motorized vehicles - only bikes and horse-drawn carriages!  Really makes you feel like you've stepped back in time!)

On May 14, we were with Landmark Baptist in Petosky, MI.

The next night, Thursday May 15, we had a wonderful service over at Bible Baptist Church in Charlevoix, MI.

Posing with my handsome little man at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Shepherdsville, KY on Sunday, May 18.

Got to spend a day with our good friends, Pastor Sam and Beth Epley while in KY.

Then it was on to Parkersburg, WV, where we sang and preached in Landmark Baptist Church's midweek service on May 21.  While in town that week, we enjoyed some great fellowship with Bro. Abdel Judeh and his family!  This was David's first time on a trampoline :)

David and his buddy, Derek Judeh, loving the park swings!

This boy LOVES chic-fil-a sauce!!! :)  Can ya tell?!

While in Ohio, we got to meet up with my sister and her family (who actually live in Utah, but were in Ohio that week to visit Paul's family)!  So thankful that God allowed us to cross paths - I finally got to meet my new nephew, Logan!!  

Pirate-themed teen banquet that we sang and preached at on May 23 at First Baptist Church in Akron, OH.

With Pastor Grimaldi and his wife after our Sunday PM service.

On May 28, we were with First Baptist Church in Tipton, IN.  

- Caleb with Pastor Mark Ward -