Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Fishing in WV

We just spent the week in West Virginia with Amanda’s family. What a special time we had with everyone.

Copy (1) of IMG_0454

Above: Papaw taking the grandkids on a tractor ride

Below: Mamaw and kiddos at the park

IMG_0410

We took all the grandkids fishing on the river. Papaw caught one fish and each kid got to reel it in. Poor fish but the kids had so much fun.

IMG_0437IMG_0443IMG_0446IMG_0486IMG_0495IMG_0556

Martin Reunion

We have had a great time reconnecting with family and friends during our time here in the States. On May 11, we had a family get together for all of Amanda’s dad side of the family. Even though we don’t see each other very often, it is always fun to be with family.

IMG_0371

Above: The whole Martin side of the family

Below: Grandma Martin and Ernie

IMG_0338IMG_0342

Above: Aunt Brenda and Taran

Below: Bradyn with bubbles

IMG_0354IMG_0392

Above: Taylor and Kali

Below: Uncle Frankie and Bradyn

IMG_0374IMG_0396

Smores around the outdoor fire

IMG_0397IMG_0405

Amanda and her cousin Belinda were the best of friends when they were younger. They grew up together and spent all of their birthdays together since they were only 4 days apart. The good ole days!

1st Loose Tooth and Beach with the Davis Family

In May, Taylor got her 1st loose tooth. It took almost 3 weeks for it to finally come out but Taylor finally has lost her 1st tooth. All of this happened while we were spending the week at the beach with some sweet missionary friends from Botswana-the Davis family.

IMG_0130IMG_0155

Above: Taylor’s very loose tooth on the bottom and then it popped right out.

Below: Walking and riding on the dock to the Intercostal Waterway

IMG_0121IMG_0135

Below: Pictures with the Davis family. We had popsicles to celebrate Taylor losing her 1st tooth.

IMG_0168

IMG_0186IMG_0210IMG_0227IMG_0286IMG_0291IMG_0298

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Speaking engagements

I apologize for not being better about blogging over the last few months. Since January we have been traveling around visiting with family and friends and speaking at churches up and down the east coast and blogging has certainly come last. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers during our Stateside. We will be returning to Botswana on July 10, 2013. For those of you we have been able to see and connect with we are so thankful for that time. We would love to hear from you on how we can be in prayer for you…our email is bltast@hotmail.com

FAmily pic at Colonial Heights Baptist Church

A picture of our family from a missions festival at Colonial Heights Baptist Church in Virginia.

National Zoo

Since Taylor is finishing her 1st year of Kindergarten, we decided to take a field trip to the National Zoo in Washington, DC. The kids enjoyed seeing all of the animals. Fun experience, the male lion stood up and roared and then proceeded to roar about 20 more times back and forth with all of the visitors that day.

IMG_1938IMG_1939IMG_1945IMG_1960IMG_1964

It’s amazing that this zoo is free. Seeing the African animals makes us a bit homesick for Africa.

School day with Grammy

Grammy works as in a Kindergarten class, so for “take your child to work day” she took both Taylor and her cousin Noa to school. To say that they both had a blast is an understatement.

IMG_1933

IMG_0872IMG_0873IMG_0895

Silly boy

Bradyn has changed so much since our arrival in the States. When we arrived he would not let mommy out of his site and now he is this little independent boy who wipes mommy’s kisses off. The kids got 2 games-Fibber and Headbands- for Christmas from Uncle Scott and Aunt Sara ad Bradyn likes to try to play them both at the same time. Silly boy makes our life interesting.

IMG_1922IMG_1930IMG_1931

IMG_1918IMG_1920Above: We have been going through all of the attic stuff at Brent’s house and we brought down a lot of Brent’s old toys. Above Bradyn has a camera “taking pictures” of everything.

Below: Bradyn and Grandad cruising on the motorcycle

IMG_0904

IMG_0176

All of that camo…his middle name much be “Hunter”

Beach with Martin’s

We had a great week with Amanda’s side of the family. The beach was very cold but the kiddos didn’t seem to mind.

IMG_1815

Playing a bit of Putt-Putt at the beach

IMG_1818IMG_1828IMG_1831

Sweet Frogs…Awesome!

IMG_1832

Trampoline jumping

IMG_0244

IMG_0242

USS Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington, NC. My family all went when my brother and I were little…brought back a lot of memories.

IMG_1843IMG_1846IMG_1848IMG_1851IMG_1865IMG_1876

Feeding the sea gulls on the waterway off of the dock

IMG_1913