Cactus Flower

  Fall Foliage:   We got to go up to the Parkway for a church picnic earlier this month.  Leaves weren't quite ready yet on that weekend but temps were already dropping and we all about froze to death - that's fall - a drop in temperaures!   Fairs: We got to go as a family to the Dixie Classic Fair this month and the boys got to enjoy the rides while the Mama and the Papa walked around with friends looking at all those big giant vegetables and horses and what not.  Dalton and Mama even got chosen to participate in a crazy hypnotic comedian routine.   Flutes:   On another drive to see the peak of fall foliage we met up with a man who makes wooden and reed flutes.  He was set up at the Moses Cone house along the parkway.  Greyson and Papa had walked away when they redecided and went back to make a purchase.  Of course, then we had to listen to a flute recital all the way back to Reidsv...

So how do the three go together? I've been praying for a park since we got here to the States.  It's a park near the mission house where we are staying while here on furlough.  There aren't the public squares where people gather like there are in Brazil.  But quite a few young people gather in the park every afternoon.  One of our boys likes to go down there every day to play basketball and hang out.  I've also been praying for a small ministry to do while being at home most days with one of my boys doing his school work at home this semester.  One of the ladies in the missionary circle at the church here had an idea to make baby blankets for a local women's shelter.  The lady had been the owner of a cloth store and had a lot of fabric at home.  She gave me a bolt of calico and I started sewing. The two ended up going together when some of the folks of the church began to consider how to reach out here in Reidsville like the missions te...

Greyson, our youngest, got to spend a few days with his only true blood first cousins this past week.  While home on furlough we still don't really get to see them much as they live way out in Eastern Texas and we usually stay in the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina.  Even though it was a long trip and Greyson may not have been all that excited about being "stuck" with a house full of younger than he cousins, he had a great time and even interacted with the neighborhood kids all also much younger than he. That's the neat part of being raised in a culture that promotes play and interaction among kids of all ages....  even though American football was sort of a new thing for the big cousin. Good job, Greyson!