February Milestones and Memories

 

Josh was supposed to run the Umstead Trail Marathon last year but had a knee injury and had to defer to this year. He said this was so much more difficult than the Richmond Marathon he did because of the trails. His goal was to make it in five hours. He crossed the finish line with 4 minutes to spare! I got to meet him at the finish line since it was local.

If you know Zeke at all you know that he always has to be working on some kind of project. His current project obsession is turning our basement into a workout room. He went to Home Depot and bought some supplies to finish walls and paint. He has spent hours down there cleaning it up and it really does look nice! Now, to save for some equipment!

The kids asked if they could invite some friends over for the Super Bowl. I absolutely LOVE when the house if full of teenagers and kids. And their friends have awesome moms who always come through with extra snacks and drinks to add to what we've got to feed the masses. I'm pretty sure Josh and I were the only ones that watched the first half, but by the half-time show came around the kids were into it. 

Cai got a haircut. Yup, you read that right. He hadn't had a haircut in probably seven (or more) years. I was shocked when he came and asked if he could cut it because it was starting to drive him crazy in his face, especially when he was playing sports. So I made an appointment (This one is kind of a big one. Mama ain't gonna be responsible for this cut!) and he went through with it. Smiles and all.

The final pictures were right after getting home after the haircut so the curls hadn't even taken form yet, but it is so curly and so cute! I love it. And he does too!

Richmond Marathon - November 13, 2021

 

Zeke and Josh did a thing.

They signed up for their first Marathon.

Zeke wasn't allowed to sign up for the whole because he was only 15, but decided that the half would be a great start into this running world. They drove up to Richmond and stayed with Josh's Uncle.

I stayed home with the other kids but I was glued to my phone.

I registered for updates and I could track their runs on my app so I could watch them move through each mile. It was so addicting to keep up with.

They did an amazing job and are both ready to book another race.

Ancestry Adventures - St. Peter's

Josh has really been digging into our ancestry since his grandmother passed away last winter.  It has brought us to many graveyards and old buildings.  In fact, every time Josh says we are going on an adventure the kids have to ask if we are stopping by any cemeteries on the way because that happens about 9 out of 10 times these days, ha!

From what I could gather, this church used to house some soldiers in the Civil War.

Some of the soldiers carved their initials into the walls of the church.

This particular stop was really neat.  This church building is the supposed site of George Washington's wedding, and also Josh's great-great-something's wedding.  His ancestors were apparently friends with the Washington's.  Although we didn't find any headstones with our ancestors names on them this time, it was a trip well worth the time.

When Daddy Turned 39

...everybody wanted to wear the hat, ha!

Daddy Daughter Dance

We weren't sure if our girls,

especially our 14-year-old,

were interested in the Daddy Darling Dance our church was hosting.

But when they were asked they BOTH immediately said "yes"!

They had a blast with their daddy.

In fact, Josh may have had more fun than they did, lol!

Throughout the evening I kept getting videos of him

and some other dads really showing off their moves, haha.

It was a special night for all three of them:)

Rainy And Josh In Uganda

Josh's parents take a yearly winter trip to Uganda to spend time with Josh's brother and wife, Jonathan and Kelly.  They squeeze in a year's worth of holidays and birthday celebrations and jump into normal ministry life with their family.

This year Josh was going to be joining them to do some worship discipleship training for Jonathan and Kelly's worship team as well as some other surrounding worship teams.  So why not ask Rainy to join the fun?!

We needed to update her passport and raise the funds and she did an AMAZING job baking cookies and selling jewelry to get there!

Getting packed and ready was an adventure too.  While Josh and Rainy were trying to make sure their luggage met the weight requirements the other kids started pulling items from all over the house to see what was heavier or lighter, lol.

The trip was very nostalgic for them as they walked the streets we used to walk as a family and visited our old hut we lived in on the Arise Africa compound.  

They even got to go do some ministry out at the babies home where Alethia used to live.  Jonathan and Kelly (and their girls who predominately run it!) try to get out there once a month and do Bible stories, crafts, songs and games with the kids, so Josh and Rainy got to join in on those activities too.

We love Auntie Patricia

Josh had such a refreshing time with the worship teams during the days of training.

On Sunday morning Josh led with the Jinja Town worship team and his dad preached.

One of the nights the church held a worship night with Josh and the Jinja Town Worship team. I think a highlight for Josh was when Rainy got to lead a song WITH him!

Thank you, Kelly, for capturing most of these beautiful shots!