Highlight Reel: An Eventful Week

This past Sunday at our church we had children evangelists, Tim & Yvonne Rimmer also known as God's Handiwork, with us. They had a colorful set, puppets and skits and did a great job ministering to the children. It was Everett's first children's service and his first time seeing puppets.

He was pretty interested though being a baby who can't keep still it was hard to keep his attention the entire time. When he's older I know he'll love it!

For the rest of the children and adults the Rimmers did a wonderful job. There was an awesome move of God following each service and five received the Holy Ghost!

Playing with friends after church.

  ~~~~

The past few weeks have been pretty stressful and crazy in our house. Changes in Dustin's current job that could and probably would effect him and us long term motivated Dustin to look for other career opportunities. Thanks to a friend of ours and after much discussion and prayer, Dustin decided to apply for a new job. This job was a job that Dustin could progress and grow in, would afford more opportunities than where he was currently at and the benefits worked for our family. He would be working for the government setting up wireless networks but first he had to acquire three certifications in order to qualify. He studied for weeks and passed all three tests required for the job. And because of God's goodness and Dustin's willingness to work hard, the job was offered to him and he begins his new job next week. I am so very, very proud of him for working so hard. The studying was time consuming and wasn't easy but he stuck with it. Once again he has impressed me with his desire to provide for his family and I couldn't respect him more for it. We are both thankful for our family and friends who supported and prayed for him while he studied. God has been so very good to us by opening up this door and caring for us.

One of the perks of this was that Dustin was able to take his vacation time for the year. He was off for two weeks, the first week was spent studying but the second week was all about vacation! First Dustin and his dad went on a guy's get-away. They spent the night in Baltimore, Maryland and visited the Inner Harbor and went to a Baltimore Oriole's baseball game. They had a great time!

After that Dustin and I had plans to go away for two nights. One last hurrah before we have two babies and it gets even harder to get away. And honestly, after a couple months of non-stop studying for Dustin we needed the time together with no distractions. We packed up Everett's stuff and my mom came and picked him up.

So much stuff for two nights!

Dustin and I headed to Atlantic City, New Jersey first. The three hour drive turned into four with traffic but we finally arrived. After arriving we headed down the boardwalk to Rainforest Cafe for dinner but upon learning there was an hour wait and it already being 8:00 we decided to pass. We chose the first restaurant we saw, Morton's Steak House. It sounded expensive and it was. Our hungry stomachs and most of all our pride kept us in our seats even after we saw the prices. So $120 later we walked out not completely satisfied with our meal of a 6 oz filet, two crab cakes and mashed potatoes. One of our only regrets about the trip. We learned the hard way! We finished the weekend by heading home early, I was experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions and was uneasy about being away. We ate dinner at a local restaurant, went to another restaurant just for Creme Brulee and ended our time together with a movie.

Meanwhile Everett was having fun being spoiled by my family. One of the things I love about my mom watching him is that she makes sure I get many updates and pictures. It makes being away from him a little easier when I get to see and know how he's doing throughout the day. My mom thinks I'm silly but I'm happy she obliges. :)

Everett went for walks, ate a lot and played with my siblings. He had fun and so did they!

The weekend ended with the attendance of my cousin's wedding which was beautiful. It was also my birthday so following the wedding we headed to Inner Harbor in Baltimore with my family.

Everett loves his Papa!

Everett & Papa checking out the ducks.

We had a nice time walking around the Harbor and ended with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory which was delicious!

My sister Keandra & I.

While we were there Everett also got to ride the carousel for the first time. He was unsure of it when it first started and then not quite halfway through decided he wasn't a fan. I ended  up taking him off of the horse and holding him for the remainder of the ride. Maybe next time. :)

While very eventful we had a great week. It was nice having Dustin home, being able to slow down and take a brief pause before life gets crazy again with Dustin's new job this month and a new baby arriving next month. This is definitely the summer of many changes for our family but they are also wonderful blessings that we are thankful for!