A Day at the Farm

Yesterday for lunch we went out to our friends' farm for lunch.  Mrs. Shirley, our pastor's mother, invited us out so that Kyle could meet the pony and her new barn kittens.  We had a great time exploring and adoring these sweet little fur balls at the same time.

Mrs. Shirley loves her kitties and if purring is any indicator, the feeling is mutual.  

Pretty soon Mrs. Shirley started pulling tiny fuzzy kittens out of the corner of that old feeding trough.  They were so precious!  At about ten days old, their little meews were so quiet and shy and they felt like cotton in my palm.  They smelled sweetly of hay.  Kyle was very intrigued by them, naturally, but was mostly content to just sit and watch them.

Mama Kitty was pacing around, climbing in and out of the trough where she keeps her babies as we were holding and stroking her treasures; she didn't settle back down until we returned all her kittens to her.  All five of them, barely able to walk, scooted right up next to her and began nursing vigorously.  Mama Kitty was purring contentedly as her babies continued to meew and paw at her belly.  I know the feeling.  This is her first liter of kittens and she is highly protective of them.  Rightfully so, they still need their mama.

When they finished their mid-afternoon snack, Mama Kitty left her babies all cuddled up together in a ball and ventured out to spend more time with Daddy Kitty and her visitors.  What a gracious hostess.

Obviously these kitties are very much in love.  Something about your first child(ren) does that for you.  So sweet!  They didn't stop cuddling the whole time we were there.

Mama and Daddy Kitty share the barn with a horse and a pony who greeted us kindly when we arrived. Of course, Kyle loved riding the pony!  Come to think of it, he probably would've stayed on the farm if I would have let him.  

Riding the pony....

Our afternoon was completed by a swing from the tree.  Nothing quite says "country" like a tree swing. 

On our walk back to the house, the kitties followed us all the way.  Mr. Ed said that was the first time he'd ever seen them follow anyone the whole way from the barn to the house.  I suppose they didn't want us to leave as much as I didn't want to go!  

~Abby

Swingin' Monkey

I had a lovely date earlier this week with my favorite monkey while many of the other missionaries toured the Lincoln Museum.  After a long few days of missions conference, it was refreshing to let Kyle play hard at the park all afternoon.  He has been such a trooper through all the craziness.  

Love that sweet face!

Lotsa giggles from this little boy!

Going down....

....Made it....

....Trying to climb back up....

....Back down again!

~Abby

Champion Traveler

We have had a wonderful and encouraging first few days here at Missions Conference in Illinois.  Jonathan had the opportunity to share the ministry of AIM on Saturday and we've been able to hear of the work of many other missionaries from around the world.  It is always encouraging to hear the testimonies of seasoned missionaries and reconnect with our beloved Cornerstone family as well.  Kyle is taking all the craziness like a champ and I am so glad!  I won't have much time to update while we're here but, I thought I'd give some credit to our champion traveler.  Fifteen hours in the car and just a couple of frustrated crying spurts.  Not bad, I'd say, but of course I'm slightly biased.

Cruisin' in style with his velour neck pillow...

Wonderin' why Daddy put this crazy hat on his head and enjoying some A&W root beer...

Catchin' some zzz's after lunch...

I was getting a little nervous driving through this mess but, Kyle napped the whole time... Good boy.

He escaped his car seat momentarily and this was the result...

We stopped about an hour from our destination to get a caramel sundae for our car seat trooper.  I gave him tiny bites almost the whole rest of the way.  Poor thing, he was so sick of the car seat he wouldn't stop trying to unlatch the straps.  

He didn't sleep the whole ride though.  Not even close.  So, we read these books over and over and over again.

We learned to stack cups so quickly I couldn't even get a clear photo to show you.

We played with his African animals, Little People and..... 

We listened to Kyle's favorite song, Justin Beiber's Baby, on repeat.

<3 ~ Abby

Lucky Winner

I don't recall ever having won anything in my life until this past weekend.  My name was drawn as the lucky winner for this cheery table runner.  I am giddy with excitement!

It makes me happy sitting on my kitchen table.  Plus, it is travel size and can be easily packed into a suitcase for "trips across the pond."  Perfect; my kind of decoration.  I have just a few things I hope to get into our suitcases so that when we set up house in Africa, I can feel like it really is home.  This most certainly will be included in those few things.

Thanks Mrs. Jean!  You don't know how special this is to me.

~Abby

A New Car

..... Seat!

Kyle has almost completely outgrown his infant car seat.  His head comes past the top and his feet stretch far past the bottom.  I feel certain this cannot be very safe.  With our l-o-o-o-o-n-n-g trip to Illinois coming up this week, we wanted to be sure he had a new, safe seat to ride in.

"This Teddy cookie is so yummy!"

For a belated birthday gift (because we haven't had time since his birthday weekend), we went to shop around last weekend (I haven't had time to post about it until this weekend) for a big boy car seat.  He enjoyed trying out different ones and it appears he felt like a very big boy facing forward.

We were unable to purchase anything on the spot.  Wal-mart had nothing to my liking and Target was sold out of nearly every one in their display aisle.  Amazon saved the day again.  Twenty bucks cheaper and free shipping - score!  It arrived this week and Pops secured it tightly into the backseat of our car.

Get really comfortable there, Buddy, because you'll be in that seat for more hours than I care to count over the next few weeks.  

We begin our trek northward late this week and will be back after Easter.  We are excited to see everyone but not excited about the drive up there.  We're veering from our usual route in order to stay with friends in Tennessee on the way up.  On the way home we will be leaving from Michigan after visiting with my BFF and her family, which should make the scenery more interesting both ways.  Unfortunately, Kyle won't know the difference so I'll be taking lots of smocking, tons of lectures for my next classes and earplugs. 

~Abby