Signs of Fall

The Dixie Classic Fair

If you've read any of my earlier posts, you know that I love the fair.  The foods, smells, and rides all remind me of my childhood.  We took the twins last year and they rode a couple rides but they were really too small to do very much.  We thought this would be the case this year but to our surprise, they were tall enough to ride all of the kid rides.  While at the fair, we were given two free wrist bracelets for the kids!

I was really surprised how many rides the kids wanted to ride.  This air plane went really high up in the air.  They also rode the swings (my favorite to ride with them), fire truck, tractors, jumbo slide, and caterpillar roller coaster.

Eden's favorite part of the evening was riding the ponies.  She thought she was a really big girl riding the pony all by herself.

Silas wasn't able to to ride any of the rides but he enjoyed watching the twins and looking at all the lights.  We must have cheered a lot for the twins as they rode the rides because he learned how to clap while we were at the fair.

Corn Maze and Cow Train

Our Sunday School class planned a trip to a corn maze but Silas and Eden got sick.  Gabe and I enjoyed spending some one on one time together.  The corn maze was fun but we really spent a lot of time chasing kids through the maze and threatening them to not go through the "walls" so we wouldn't lose them.

Halloween

This is the best picture we have taken yet of my kids plus my brother's kids.  If you look closely, you can see that I am hunched down behind the bench holding onto Silas so he doesn't fall. :)

Eden, the diva cowgirl.

Gabe, the cuddly cowboy.

Silas, the clueless cow.

I wanted to coordinate the kids' costumes for Halloween so when I found Eden's costume, it all started to come together.  Gabe already had the hat and boots but Silas was the tough one.  I couldn't find a horse costume that didn't require the child to walk so I figure a cow was the next best thing.  I don't know how much longer I can control what the wear for Halloween but this was fun!

We are on our way to Colorado, time for the interview!

The application review committee met today, reviewed our application, and they have accepted it.  We are invited to Colorado in early December for the next phase, interviews!  If we pass the interviews then we will be officially appointed by WorldVenture for long term missions.

 

On a side note, we've had a second showing on our house.  The person that is interested has to sell a town house near WFU before they can buy anything else.

 

Thank you so much for your prayers!

 

Daryl and Leah

The application is finished!

Dear praying friends,

 

We are so excited to announce that our application for long term missions has been submitted to WorldVenture!  After completing the application, addendum, biographical sketch, obtaining 8 references each, completing 4 psychological tests, a Bible studies chart, background checks, and writing our beliefs statement we are so relieved to hand it over to WorldVenture.  It is truly only by the grace of God that we finished that packet.

 

Today we heard from our missions board that the applicant review committee will meet next Monday to review our application.  If our application is accepted, we will go to Colorado (their headquarters) in December for interviews; if our application isn't accepted they could tell us what needs to be improved upon and we will go from there.

 

We would really appreciate your prayers during this time.  We are asking that you pray for this committee that they will be led by God in a decision regarding our application. 

 

Other prayer requests:

- We are almost finished with a missions class.  Only 2 more weeks to go and a final paper.  Please pray for us in this final push.

- November marks 2 years since our house has been on the market and we've yet to have an offer (it's 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths 1800 sq ft in Winston Salem, NC, we are offering a fair price and down payment assistance).

- We are continuing to pray about a ministry opportunity in Senegal.  Please pray for God's guidance and for the McCarthy's who are hoping to get back to Senegal and back into their ministry by the end of the year.

 

Praises:

- God has provided us a vehicle, for free.  We were able to sell our other vehicle and we are now car payment free!

- Leah's transition back to work this school year has gone extremely well and the kids have transitioned well too.

Pumpkin Patch and Pumpkin Carving

 We discovered Hawk's Pumpkin Patch last year and loved taking the twins to it so when we started thinking about where to take Silas to pick out his first pumpkin, we came right to Hawks. 

We met our friend, Kenan Garner, at the pumpkin patch to look at and play in the old wagons.

 



 

This is the first time the twins have carved a pumpkin.  Neither of them liked to get their hands messy with the inside of the pumpkin but they liked scooping out the seeds.

 

Gabe asked for his Daddy to make him a cowboy pumpkin and Eden wanted Mommy to make a princess.  They didn't turn out to bad considering that it has been a long time since we've carved pumpkins.



September Snapshots

We spent the month of September getting into a new routine and enjoying one another's company.

 

 

Gabe loves to dress up and since he has been introduced to the movie, "Toy Story," he really likes to wear cowboy hats.

 

 

My 3 goofy kids.  I brought this laundry basket into the living room for one of them to play with.  While we were all watching a movie together, I looked over an saw all 3 kids crammed into the basket together!

 

It's time to say good bye to the pool for the summer.  We have really enjoyed the pool a lot and we are looking forward to spending even more time in it next summer once Silas can walk.

 



 

Daddy and Silas at Dan Nicolas State Park.

The twins go to preschool

Today is Gabe and Eden's first day of preschool.  They are going to Grace House in Kernersville and their teachers are Mrs. Lauren (as in aunt Lala) and Mrs. Leah.  Their cousins Abram and Lila Ruth are also in their class.

 

Gabe immediately found Tow-mater and was content.

Summer Time Adventures

August was a hot month but we tried to make the most of it.  We had a blast in the first couple weeks of the month enjoying the last of summer before Mommy had to return to work.

 

We went to the zoo.

 Gabe and Eden loved seeing all of the animals and they enjoyed spending time with just Mommy and Daddy.

 

 

 

 

We had a fun time playing at the Children's Museum with our friend, Eli Lewis.

 

 

 We had a lot of fun on Daddy's company trip to Lake Lure.  We didn't care for the lake too much because the water was kind of cold and there were a lot of geese.  Besides, the pool had a lazy river and a waterfall.

 

Gabe and Eden discovered goggles and although Eden doesn't like to put her head under water, she really likes to wear them.  Gabe learned how to hold his breath and swim a few strokes under the water!

 



 

We went to the butterfly farm, All A Flutter with our cousins Graycie and Levi.

 

 

 Gabe didn't care for holding the butterfly; I'd catch one for him on the sugar pad and he would drop it on the ground.

 

 

We enjoyed many trips to the park and we learned how to swing on the monkey bars.

 

 

Everything is always more fun with water!