Since we last wrote...

Time has flown since I last updated the blog, so here is a brief rundown on what we've been up to in the past (almost) 2 months!



Clara (4 1/2) still enjoys pretending, dressing up, playing with her babies, etc. and is lately really enjoying jewelry. It is fun to see her completed look when she gets dressed in the mornings! Her new favorite movie is The Sound of Music (who can blame her? :) and she has learned several of the songs. She has also spent a lot of time tracing and cutting various objects around the house and likes to write "notes" to us using all the letters she knows how to write.



Benjamin (almost 2!) is our little comedian. He still doesn't talk (except a few words), but gets his opinion across very adeptly with signs and noises. He makes noises that I could never imagine and then laughs histerically! He also loves running and trying to jump. He and Clara are usually inseparable and have become very creative in their play together. They both enjoy our backyard, sidewalk chalk, wagon rides, play dough and making forts. He willingly participates in her tea and birthday parties, but hasn't quite learned the etiquette since he will put his feet on the table, put chicken legs in the teapot, make loud sounds when eating and drinking, etc. Boys will be boys! :)



I (Gracie) enjoyed performing the Brahms Requiem with the Mississippi Chorus in May and am preparing for a recital with a flutist friend to be held in August and September (in Clinton and Charleston). The recital includes our favorite sacred and secular music written or arranged for flute and harp and will be a benefit concert to raise funds for a new building for our church. I also finished compiling a cookbook for our church and hosted a bridal shower last weekend. It was fun to use Andy's Grandma Eloise's punch bowl and cups!



Andy is the chairman for the committee to build a Family Life Center at our church. We are not sure when the building will be started, but hope that it may be by the end of this calendar year. The building will be used for youth activities, classes, and church-wide fellowship events. He has also enjoyed practicing his banjo and trumpet more lately and continues to perform with the Joyful Jammers band from our church. He is halfway through a sermon series on Philippians on Sunday mornings and is also in the middle of teaching an adult Sunday school class studying J.I. Packer's book Knowing God.



As a family we also enjoyed building our "square foot" gardening boxes and planting lots of seeds and a few plants. I hope to add some pictures to the blog in the next week or two--we've already seen some promising growth! We also purchased a firepit for our patio and have tasted some yummy roasted marshmallows right out our back door!



We don't have any big plans for Memorial Day since we are preparing to go on our first family vacation this week! It will be a short trip, but hopefully a great one. We will travel to the Ozarks, stay in a state park for 2 nights and also visit the Little House museum in Mansfield, MO. (I guess we are true Little House groupies these days! :)



Thank you for reading this long update! We miss all of you who read this from a distance and appreciate your keeping us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue our calling to live and work here in the "deep south!"