A Visit from the Jamesons

Last week, Nathan and I greatly enjoyed a holiday visit from our good friends, the Jamesons!  They came all the way up from Houston for the week to see us and help in the ministry.  We had a fun time together and were blessed by their presence in so many ways!

(All photos taken by the Jamesons during their stay.)

Spaghetti dinner together following their arrival on Monday afternoon.

After dinner, Nathan decided to whip up a batch of peanut butter fudge.

He had quite the excited audience!

Tuesday was our work day.  The older children, together with their dad and Nathan, painted the two church offices - including the ceiling!

Sarah Jane also did some trim painting in the hallway of the fellowship hall.

Meanwhile, Josiah, Jonathan, and Jeremiah took turns helping me in the kitchen as we baked yummy treats for Thanksgiving goody bags to deliver to neighbors and friends.  They were great chefs!

Jane helped the littlest ones decorate the bags with handprint turkeys.

Judah taking a break to play outside.

Jeremiah and Jubilee enjoying the beautiful, crisp weather!

Joy Elizabeth was a diligent painter!

She also helped later in the day to tie dozens of tags and ribbons on our various goody bag items.

Jane put the finishing touches on the bag decor and made them look so cute!

Jonathan and Josiah baking more cookies.  These boys worked hard ALL day!

Joseph painting Nathan's portion of the office.

After a full day of work, the Jamesons kindly treated us all to a delicious dinner out!

Back at home, it was time to stuff the bags!

Pumpkin chocolate chip bread, molasses ginger cookies, homemade hot cocoa mix, and a letter from Nathan including a Gospel message completed the packages.

On Wednesday, we went around town and delivered the bags to the police station, the fire station, the mail lady, our next door neighbors, church members and their neighbors, and others in the community to whom we wanted to be a blessing.  The bags were well received, and we pray that the message they contained planted seeds in people's hearts and lives.

Thursday was Thanksgiving, and we had a delightfully relaxing morning as we prepared food and played games together.

Kelly did a great job cooking and carving the turkey!

Our scrumptious spread: turkey and gravy, stuffing, corn casserole, broccoli rice casserole, mashed potatoes, and cranberry jello salad.

Josiah excited to get a turkey leg!

And let's not forget dessert!

Mmm...Jubilee helped bake the pumpkin pie and Nathan made the apple bars.

After lunch, while the little ones napped, Nathan gave a special, two-hour Bible study to the Jamesons at their request covering an overview of the story of Scripture as well as a chapter-by-chapter explanation of the book of Revelation.  We all enjoyed the teaching!

Then it was time for a hike!

Jubilee and Nathan, her hiking buddy.

The gang's all here!

Story time before bed.

The Jamesons left the following morning to return home.  We are so grateful for their visit and the blessing they were to us and so many others!

Pregnancy Update

I'm not really sure why I was making this face in the picture, but it's a good shot of our growing little boy, so I thought I'd include it anyway! :)

25 weeks down...15 to go!  I am very grateful to report that things are moving along well with my pregnancy.  Baby Britton is right on track with his growth rate and heart rate, and if his activity in the womb is any indication, he's going to be one energetic fellow!

According to a blood test the midwives ran at my last appointment, my iron and blood platelet levels are quite a bit lower than they need to be.  This would explain why my energy level has often seemed sparse!  Thus, for the past several weeks, I have been taking iron supplements and chlorophyll in addition to my usual prenatal vitamins, as well as eating platelet-building foods regularly.  Hopefully, my next blood test at the end of November will show improvement!  Your prayers in this department would be greatly appreciated.

We are still set for a delivery around the end of February, and plan to deliver at the Northern New Mexico Birthing Center where we have been very pleased to receive great care and helpful information from the midwives who work there.

As I have been reading various books on pregnancy and the development of a baby from conception, I have been blown away by the incredibly intricate process God designed of the creation of a human being!  His formation of a new baby from the very beginning is so perfect in every way.  Despite the struggles with nausea at the beginning and lack of energy more recently, I am truly humbled and deeply grateful for the privilege of carrying this child that God has seen fit to bless us with.  It is our earnest prayer that Baby Britton will grow to love the Lord with all his heart and serve Him faithfully with his life.

Of Visitors and Snowy Mountains

This past weekend, we had the privilege of hosting Nathan's brother, his fiancé, and our good friends, the Horvath girls, for a visit!  They all drove up together from Houston for a fun-filled weekend stay. Especially exciting was the fact that they were here for the season's first snow!  (To those of you who live in the north, this will probably not seem like a big deal, but for those of us from Houston, snow is quite the novelty!)  During their three day visit, we enjoyed going on a hike, ice-skating, singing for an elderly couple who are part of our church, participating in youth game night, singing in church, playing lots of games, and discussing all sorts of interesting topics!

As always, Leah brought her trusty camera along and captured many of the weekend's memories for us...

On our way to the mountains for a hike.

This is the same trail Nathan and I hiked a couple weeks ago...only this time, we encountered snow scattered here and there!

Joel and Katelyn

Crossing the stream.

Do you see the traces of snow?

Katelyn getting a little help.

A small, rushing waterfall.

Rachel, Katelyn, and Katrina

Enjoying the fresh, mountain air together!

For youth game night, we had a toilet paper costume contest as one of our group games.  This is the terrorist Nathan's team created.  A little too authentic-looking, maybe?

A ninja.

A pirate.

A hippy.

Another favorite game we played was Round Robin around the ping-pong table.

People getting eliminated...

The Britton brothers battle it out!

This girl picture was taken late in the evening after a very full day! 

Heading back to the mountains to see the snow!

Wheeler Peak

Gorgeous.

The Taos Ski Valley after just receiving its first significant snow fall of the year.

Brrr!  It was cold up there!

*Friends*

The beautiful Horvath sisters.

Hey look!  I got to have my picture taken with Superman!

He's pretty super all right...

The soon-to-be bride and groom!

More glorious mountain pictures...

Having Joel, Katelyn, Leah, and Rachel here was such a blessing!  We had a wonderful time together and are so grateful for the encouragement they were to us and to our church members.