Weekend Recap - A Beautiful Memorial

The past week has been a whirlwind. Some of you knew that Will left again on July 12th for a trip to China with a small group from our church. He was home 5 days in between Africa and China. I hated to see him go again, but am so thankful for the time he had in China, all he got to experience, and the impact he had on people there. He has a servant's heart and I am so grateful!

My family is big on surprises. I can remember several times my dad went out of the country for mission trips and my mom would always love to do something for him while he was away so he'd be surprised when he got home. So when Will left for China, we were going down our longggg list of things to do before Baby K arrives and choosing what we (my parents) could do to surprise Will. The consensus was to build our closet expansion! Woohoo! Will's clothes are getting the boot from his old closet because it will now be Crew's closet. We live in an old house where there's not much closet space so my dad built a pretty amazing walk-in closet in our bedroom. The only good thing about not being able to talk to Will while he was away was that I had no chance of spilling the beans about his surprise! My parents were at our house every day working so hard while Will was gone. It's almost done and I can't wait to show the finished product! Our bedroom also managed to get a fresh coat of paint...and soon will have it's own makeover too. (once I decide on bedding!) I felt pretty useless all week because of being preggo...and not knowing a thing about carpentry...but I am so incredibly thankful for my parents and all their hard work this past week! Will was SO excited to see the closet and I know he'll have a blast organizing all his clothes...one of his favorite things-organizing!

Ginger got to come to work with me one afternoon last week and loved it. She was the perfect little office dog!

Remi was excited when I told him his daddy would be home

We were all so happy to have Will home on Saturday! No more traveling for him!

This past Thursday my grandmother passed away. She had been battling Alzheimer's for years and years and her struggle is now over. We had her funeral yesterday and it was so special remembering her life and how special she was to everyone. The only thing that has brought peace during this time is knowing, without a doubt, that she is with her Heavenly Father now and that she is healed in Heaven. She was a woman of faith and loved her Savior. I am so thankful for God's grace and His promise of eternity with Him. She is healed of her disease, reunited with family, and celebrating in Heaven. How amazing to think about!

I am so grateful that Will was able to make it home in time for the funeral. I was able to get a hold of him Thursday when it happened. He came home with a special story that was shared at Grandmother's funeral yesterday:

This past week we were in China for a mission trip. Conversations regarding the Gospel must be done carefully and intentionally, as most of the Chinese have no knowledge of God. Late one evening I was emailing Courtney to check in on her and her family after hearing the news of her grandmother's passing. One of the Chinese students we were with asked me what I was doing, and so I explained the situation. He responded saying that it was so sad to hear. Amazingly, God used this story of sadness to provide an opportunity to share the Gospel and the hope that we have in Christ after death. This student heard the name Jesus for the first time with the help of Grandmother's faith and the promise of forgiveness and eternal life that Jesus has given us.

Weekend Recap - He's Home!

I'm back from the beach and Will has made it safely home from Africa. Boy, did I miss him! That was 8 days of no communication that I'd rather not do again...but he's going to China in a few days so we might have to do that just one more time. I'll be posting on my family beach trip this week and he'll probably do a post or two of Kenya and Tanzania. He had such a great time and I've loved hearing all the stories! Thank you to everyone who prayed for him!

I got back home Friday and spent the day resting at my parents with our dogs and their dogs (because they didn't get back until Saturday). I think it's safe to say that Remi missed Baby K...or just his pillow!

Almost time to pick Will up from the airport! Remi was pretty excited.

He's back! AND he grew a beard while he was gone! I kept just staring at his face at the airport because I had never seen his beard this long. He didn't shave the week before he left and while in Africa. I missed my husband so much and it was hard leaving him this morning to go to work! Already dreading him being gone again for the China trip, but I know he'll have a great time!

On Sunday morning we had church down at the river (Mississippi) for baptism and brunch. It was SO HOT (which is why we didn't stay for brunch...I was dyin'!), but it is so neat to see people baptized in the river. We almost didn't go because of being tired from traveling, but I'm glad we made ourselves get out of bed!

The rest of Sunday was spent watching movies and sleeping! We came home and ate lunch then went back to bed. I knew Will was tired despite his denying it. He actually stayed awake until about 4:30 and then slept for 2.5 hours. (He was 8 hours ahead in Africa so I guess his body was thinking it was nighttime!) He woke up for dinner and we watched a few episodes of One Tree Hill then back to sleep again. He's going to have just enough time for his body to readjust to the time difference before going to China and being 13 hours ahead! Makes me tired just thinking about it!

Military Man

I'm sure that most of you who are friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter have seen all about what we did this past weekend. If not, I'll brag some more on my brother, Cody, on here! Last Wednesday night the whole family left for Fort Benning, Georgia. It was such a long drive there. We got to the cabin we were staying in around 2:30am and had to leave for graduation at 8am that morning. Needless to say, we were all a little tired and may have been sleep-walking, but that didn't last long once we got to see Cody graduate. He graduated from Apache Company, 1-81, 4th Platoon on May 10, 2012 as an Army Tanker!

Me and Cody after his graduation

Will & I

We left to drive home on Friday morning. Cody flew home and we got to pick him up from the airport that night. The reunion of him and his dog, Montana, was priceless. It was so sweet to see Tana that excited to see Cody!

Family at the airport

We had a Homecoming Party for Cody on Saturday afternoon. Cody really enjoyed having family and friends come by to see him. It was a great turn out!

A great cake made by Ginger Clark. She made our wedding cakes too

Army Armor insignia

The party invitations I made

We ended a great weekend by celebrating great Mothers! After church on Sunday, Will & I went to his parents' house and had a DELICIOUS lunch. Steak, green beans, corn on the cob, fried potatoes, and shrimp! Doesn't that just make your mouth water?! We spent some time with them and then ran by my parents' to give my mom and Nana their Mother's Day gifts. Will & I have both been so blessed with godly mothers and grandmothers. I have had amazing examples of how a mother should be and I can only hope that I will be half as good as they have been someday!

Happy Monday!