November

 I wanted to get a couple of quick monthly recaps up before the end of the year!

The kids began their November with the student fall retreat. I love the sweet relationships they have been able to cultivate in our student ministry.

Josh officiated his cousin's wedding up near Richmond, VA so we got to spend a couple some quality time with his parents and mom's siblings which has NEVER happened! I wish I had more pictures. But these will have to do. It was a beautiful ceremony. COLD, but so beautiful.

Josh has officially been blessed with enough freebie tickets to take each of his kids to Cameron Stadium to watch a Duke Men's Basketball game. Jude has been waiting patiently and his time finally came!

Alethia had a fun birthday party for a friend and I'm so glad the mama shared this photo!

And we can't forget Thanksgiving! It was the Via's year so we drove up to Josh's parents house, with two extra little loves in tow. Evie LOVED helping Meme get ready for our Thanksgiving feast. And then the next day our kids got to help begin Christmas decorating, along with some other cousins.

Summer Camp(s) 2024

 

This was the first year that ALL FIVE OF OUR KIDS went to the same summer camp together. But first, Rainy joined the Elementary kids at their camp. She came home EXHAUSTED but had a great time!

She had enough time to come home, sleep, do laundry and pack back up and join the middle and high schoolers back to the same campus for their week at camp. Jude has finally graduated to STUDENTS and is so pumped so that meant they got to experience the week together.

Honduras 2024 Recap

 Over the past several years Josh has stepped into worship pastor at our church on top of his other roles. He LOVES it here. Part of that job is staying connected with our ministry partners across the world and every once in a while  I get to partner with him as he travels.

April brought us to Honduras. We have two global partners in Honduras. It was my first time to Honduras and I was actually surprised about a couple things. The electricity has the same outlets. I've never been out of the country where the electrical outlets were the same as America. I was also surprised that they drive on the same side of the car AND the road as us. Just some interesting facts if you were wondering.

Our first stop was with Fernando and his family in La Ceiba. Fernando and his family work with the Garifuna People. He grew up in one of the Garifuna villages about 6 hours outside of La Ceiba and found himself working with Wycliffe to translate the Bible into his own language so he could share it with his people. Currently he is working on a discipleship curriculum in his own language to share with others who speak and work with that people group. It was so cool to listen to him speak about the history of the Garifuna people. I had no concept of that people group or any of its history before coming. And meeting his wife and family was one of my favorite parts!

The next missionaries we visited were Stephen and Erica Switzer. Stephen was our former High School Student pastor and he and his wife moved to Honduras and began a ministry called Embraced International. They work with the Honduran Government to reunify children with the families that they have been taken away from, specifically because of poverty. They come alongside the families and bring support and empowerment to find the job, the home, or the proper surroundings for the government to give their children back to them. It was so good to hear the stories and so beautiful to meet a couple of the families that have recently gotten their kids back. 

The first family was so resourceful. That mama was amazing. She made a storefront at her home so she could make money AND support her kids.  She has chickens to provide eggs and meat. She has handmade weights to stay in shape. Her work ethic is so admirable. And her love for her kids is evident.  (I didn't have a phone to take pictures, hence all of the pictures of me, ha!)

The second family had me at coconut (since you remember my own story with coconuts, lol). This family had a vision and plan for a coconut business and the Embraced team helped empower them to make it happen. 

We could not be more proud of what the Switzer's are doing. And I have a new friend in Lesbi (their psychologist). We connected right away and became instant friends!

Permits, Birthday Parties and The Kitchen Sink

January was full of adventure. A mission trip, a successful DMV appointment, a birthday, indoor soccer, and lots of togetherness. It was cold and cloudy but we did have some warmer, sunnier days that were so good for the soul. 

Rainy is always bringing home fun circus toys to play with. It always makes for a very entertaining afternoon, lol.

Alethia was invited to a fancy 15th birthday party. It was so sweet to watch Rainy help her get all dolled up. She was gorgeous, but alas, she didn't want me to get a picture. You'll just have to take my word for it.

I've decided that my favorite sport to watch is indoor soccer. It's like a mix of hockey and soccer. It is super fast-paced, no off sides and no out of bounds so they play off the wall and it is SO intense.  This is Cai's first time playing indoor but I'm pretty sure he's hooked!

Alethia got her level 1 permit! Now to clock those hours to get her on the road to independence.

This was the view for a week without Jude in the house. He and Josh headed to Guatemala on a mission trip and the whole house felt empty. Nobody to play hockey or keep conversation going non-stop! Even Berkley missed him.

I celebrated my 45th birthday and Josh took me to Crawford and Sons restaurant downtown Raleigh. It is the second time we've gone and it does NOT disappoint! They even reserved the window seat for us since it was my birthday. Rainy continues to bring fun circus toys to learn and practice. 

So this happened. Our sink completely came unglued and without the supports underneath (which were actually never installed) and without the proper instructions from the installer not to use the sink for at least 24 hours after installation (they said nothing after it was installed last year, so it was just a matter of time) the sink just fell through. I ran to the sink to hold it up off of the plumbing underneath, yelled to Zeke to go run out to the shed and grab a big bucket from the shed to prop it up on while we figure out what to do. So I did what every normal person does when their spouse is out of the country and a catastrophe happens...I call my friends who are pros at all the house things to come and save the day! I literally don't know what I'd do without Paul and Martha. We were back in running water order within just a couple of days.

While the boys were in Guatemala we got addicted to this fun HGTV show called Styled. It's fun to watch them transform spaces. Before and afters are our favorite and it even got our own minds thinking creatively about our own space as we learn from Nicole and Caffery.

December

 December was full of all things Christmas. From Jingle Jam at church at church to ginger bread decorating to Christmas parades and Christmas lights. It was full and it was fun. We even had a visit from the Hambrick boys and then they took Jude and Zeke back with them for a couple days. They were EXHAUSTED after their adventures.

I can't forget to mention Zeke ran an all-nighter with his buddy Garrison. He clocked nearly 43 miles total!

We had a quiet Christmas morning here at our own home and then my parents joined us in the afternoon for dinner and togetherness. The next morning we packed up and headed to join the Via family in VA for our next Christmas.