New Pics - 3 months

We are trying to keep up with monthly pictures for those of you who only get to watch Mary Beth grow through the internet. Well I was a few days late this time but close enough - Here are the 3 month pics.

Fall Festival

We took part in our first Westside Spartanburg Fall Festival put on by our church. Our student ministry sold tons of food to help students with financial needs go on retreats and mission trips. There were rides, a mechanical bull, tractors, helicopters, and firetrucks. I can't wait until Mary Beth gets older and is able to realize the fun she has. What a fun day!

Bucky and Stephen working REALLY hard.

Stephen and Mary Beth in the firetruck.

Mary Beth is driving the John Deere!

Our little buddy Xan and the fireman.

Successful Mall Hunt

My first big ministry event was a success as we were able to take 30 middle school students into the mall to find mall runaways. That was fun, but then back to the church for time of worship and a short devotional.

God is definitely good.

Sleep Depravation

She looks so peaceful, doesn't she?

But she also likes to do this...

People often ask us if we are getting any sleep

God's Grace is sufficient and He alone sustains me.

It has been almost 3 months now since I(Laura) have had a full nights sleep. Somedays I think that my body is finally adjusting and it seems normal to get only 6 hours but others I feel like a zombie all day. (not so long ago I was one of those people who needed at least 8 hours of sleep just to function)
Mary Beth was doing well sleeping for 6 hours pretty consistantly, but then the last couple days she must be going through some sort of growth spurt or something because shes starving every 2 hours around the clock.
I look forward to the entry when I can happily report that I have gone to bed and woken up 8 hours later!

Florida Family Vacation

Since Mary Beth was due in July, we weren't able to travel for a summer vacation so we went to Amelia Island, Florida to visit Nana and Papa (Stephen's parents). Stephen and I even got a morning at the beach by ourselves while Nana babysat Mary Beth. It turns out that September is a great time to go to the beach because there aren't a thousand people around.

Rite of Passage

So we started a new tradition here in Spartanburg for our Middle School Guys. The Rite of Passage into the student ministry may be a carryover from Ninth and O, but I can always add new flavor. Boys covered in paint, dirt, and sweat learning what it means to be a Man after God's heart is always gonna be fun.

As requested... 2 month pics

Same Adventure New Location

Sorry for the gap in entries – life has changed in the last three weeks: new state, new apartment, new phone numbers, new job - pretty much a new life… and now we have internet hooked up so we can tell you all about it. So be prepared for the longest blog entry known to man.

For those of you confused right now, let me fill you in. At the end of August we moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina for a Middle School ministry position at Anderson Mill Rd Baptist Church.

THE ROADTRIP:
We made our first road trip with Mary Beth when she was five weeks old. We were very interested to see how she did with the 7-hour car trip. We considered driving through the night so she would sleep, but thought it would be best if we got a few hours of sleep so we decided to leave after her 4 am feeding. Well 7 hours turned into 10 hours. We had a flat tire that thankfully we noticed before we had major problems, but we had to stop every hour to blow it up. Needless to say, there were 2 exhausted parents and a cranky baby who were very happy to arrive safely in Spartanburg. We stayed at Uncle Tim and Aunt Diane’s beautiful home and had a great visit as we met a lot of people, signed our lease at the apartment, and finished up all the final details before the move.


PACKING UP and SAYING GOODBYE TO LOUISVILLE
The week before we moved, we had a packed week in the Ville. Tuesday I worked my very last event with the CYM before passing the baton to my replacement Kasey. We had the Fall Celebration picnic and got to hang out with all the staff families and Youth Ministry students from Boyce and Southern. Great fun but hot.
It turns out that we procrastinated a little too long and Wednesday we had the daunting task of packing up our apartment. Wednesday night was our last night at Ninth and O and Stephen gave a final challenge to the students. At the end of the evening Chad spoke and told everyone that it was our last night and that he would be helping us pack the U-haul on Thursday. He then shared with everyone about a Scripture that he wanted to challenge Stephen with as he looks forward to loading the moving truck…
Mark 6
Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. These were his instructions: Take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.
We had some great laughs and a few tears that evening. Love you guys!
On Thursday, we loaded the U-haul and discovered that we probably should have gotten a bigger truck. Like a giant game of tetris, our friend Bucy was a mastermind as packed into every possible square inch. Shout out to everyone that helped us! Thursday evening after much needed showers, we went to hang out with Chad and Jenny. The boys babysat and Jenny and I went out for a steak dinner. Great times! Then went home to finish cleaning the apartment.


THE MOVE
After our tire incident during our road trip we were reminded how Satan doesn’t like it when God’s people do His Will. He seems to always have an attack planned.
Our only goal for the day was to make it to Spartanburg alive.
I (Laura) don’t particularly care to drive on long trips, so in the car alone with a 6 week old and a Jack Russell, staring at the butt of a U-haul for 10 hours wasn’t something I was looking forward to. God is good! Without any trouble of any kind all 5 of us (3 of us and 2 dogs) plus a truck full of stuff arrived completely unharmed.
We arrived at our apartment to find 8 guys from our church ready to help us unload, what a blessing.

One Month Flew By!

Wow! We can't believe one month has already gone by. But we also can't remember what life was like without her. A full night's sleep seems like such a distant memory. Honestly our expectations have been fully met and beyond. God has truly blessed us with a wonderful daughter.

First Date Night

Laura's parents came up for the week along with Laura's grandmother. We had a great time and were able to go out(by ourselves) for the first time in a while. We went to see a movie and grabbed ice cream. What a fun time we used to take for granted. We knew Mary Beth was in good hands(that were always clean). It sure was a memorable week.