Wedding Pics!

I realize you probably don't want to see a bunch of pictures of people you don't know...too bad ;)

The two youngest- A.J. and Cason

Cloud, Blu, & Shade with their cousin (and beautiful bride!) Dawn

The brothers..

Cambree & Daddy enjoying a dance

Two-steppin' with Paw!

Me & Sammy & Cambree

The six grandkids again..getting tired of taking pictures..

The six grandkids before things got crazy!

Our family decked out in the wedding colors of purple/red

Paw & B-Maw with all of their grandkids!

Me with my gorgeous sisters-in-law, Caity & Sammy

The whole family

It my party...!

We are in Austin for Blu's cousin's wedding today, but Blu wanted me to have a special birthday, so he planned a surprise little party for me here in Austin! We went and got pizza from Cici's, and then we went to a miniature golf place for some golf, presents, and cake! It was a little chaotic with 6 children under the age of 6, but it was fun!!

Caedmon took the game very seriously and refused to cheat.. :)

B-Maw, Cloud, my sisters-in-law Sammy & Caity, A.J., and Brenden!




I got a beautiful matching bracelet and earrings and a new shirt! Fun day! Now it's time to get ready for the wedding! :)

Cambree's Prayer

"Dear Lord, please let all the kids in the world have Bibles, and please let us have a good day (Blu leans over to remind Cambree to pray for Grandpa), and Lord please help Grandpa to feel better, and please forgive Daddy his sin for talking during the prayer. Amen."

It's my Birthday! :)

OK, WELL REALLY IT'S TOMORROW, BUT HERE ARE SOME PICTURES OF SOME OF THE FUN :)

GRANDPA TOOK CAEDMON FOR A FLAT-TOP :)

I WAS TRYING TO PICK OUT A CAKE, AND I PASSED THESE AMAZING LOOKING ICE CREAM TREATS, AND IT WAS WHAT I WANTED!! SO THAT IS MY "CAKE" :)

MY FAVORITE PART OF BIRTHDAYS IS GETTING TO SEE WHAT THE KIDS PICKED OUT FOR ME! CAEDMON GOT ME A LIGHTER FOR OUR GAS STOVE SO I WOULDN'T HAVE TO LIGHT MATCHES ANYMORE (HE'S SOOOO THOUGHTFUL!), CAMBREE GOT ME LOTION (SO THAT I WOULD SHARE WITH HER) AND CASON GOT ME SOCKS. HE HANDED ME THE WRAPPED PACKAGE AND VERY SERIOUSLY SAID, "SOCKS." :)

AND BLU GOT ME A KITCHEN AID MIXER, EVERY MISSIONARY WIFE'S DREAM!!

MAMA MADE ME AN APPLE TABLE RUNNER, AND MY PARENTS GAVE ME $, WHICH I QUICKLY SPENT ON BOOKS AT LIFEWAY!

OUR FAMILY AT TONIGHT'S WEDDING REHEARSAL! I LOVE MY NEW BOOTS! :)

New Day Updates!

For updates on what's actually happening at New Day while we are in the USA, please check out Wes & Laurie's blog at:

wilcoxzambia.blogspot.com

Fall Fun!

Here are some pics of our last couple of days!

I love this Daddy/Son moment of at the park!




Trying to take a decent picture.....see what I have to put up with?? :)

It's tough having to share. :)

Fun in the leaves at Rugrat Holler!

I love Cason's face!

Sometimes it seems that we try to cram as many memories as we can into the 3 months we are in the USA! I was so grateful that my kids got to spend a couple of days with my favorite Uncle - Uncle Charlie from North Carolina!

We shared a traditional meal of nshima, chicken,a and cabbage with Uncle Charlie & Aunt Martha! Here I am washing Aunt Martha's hands before the meal! (our kids were SOOO excited to eat nshima!!)

Uncle Charlie loved it!

First Church!

First church - as in our first speaking engagement since we've been back in the USA

First church - as in our first church we attended as a married couple!

On January 14, 2001, eight days after we were married, we walked across the street from our brand new one bedroom apartment to Parkway Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. This was a crossroads in our marriage (though only 8 days old) and in our relationship with God. Parkway was where we were forced to decide - are we going to be part-time Christians, or are we going to commit our WHOLE lives to serving God? We learned at Parkway about how to minister to others, how to share our faith, and how to avoid the perils of church softball teams. ;)

Parkway is where Blu was FIRST told by someone (Pastor Chris) "I see a call on your life from God." This opened our eyes to the fact that maybe God did want to use us, and we had to decide if we would allow Him to.

Parkway has consistently supported us in our mission efforts in Zambia, and it was awesome to speak there this past weekend!

Another first - New Day's first "mission team" consisted of Steve and Josh Duncan back in April of 2010! They camped in a two man tent out on the land when there was nothing except for 2 boreholes! Our kids especially bonded with Josh and were so happy to be reunited with him!

Blu & Josh

Steve & Kathy Duncan have been our mentors since they taught our newly married Sunday School class in 2001! Baby Zach, their sixth little one, is SO cute!

Here's the Duncan 6 kids, plus our 3! They easily added us into their family's mix as we stayed Saturday night with them!


Remember these pretty faces?? Lyndsey & Allison spent 3 weeks with us at New Day this past summer! It was great to see them again!

Our kids loved playing with Adam & Lyndsey's boy, Truitt, while us adults played a card game..of course :)

FAMILY TIME!

WE'VE ENJOYED THE LAST FEW DAYS WITH OUR FAMILIES AND GETTING OVER JET LAG! :)

AT "RUGRAT HOLLER" (DARBI'S PARENTS), WE RESTED, SLEPT, RESTED SOME MORE, AND HAD A DAY FULL OF DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENTS! WE TRIED TO DO SOME SHOPPING AT TARGET BUT QUICKLY GOT OVERWHELMED AND LEFT QUICKLY :) WE ENJOYED SOME MCDONALD'S, JALISCO'S, AND APPLEBEE'S! WE ALSO HAD A GREAT TIME AT THE ANNUAL HARVEST SUPPER AT OCKER CHURCH WITH MAMA DEE & GRANDPA!



THE KIDS ALSO HAD THEIR FIRST TUMBLING CLASS IN TEMPLE! THEY ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. CAMBREE KEPT SAYING "NOBODY HAS A TUMBLING UNIFORM LIKE ME!!" :)


WE THEN HEADED TO "THE MOUNTAIN" (BLU'S PARENTS) AND HAVE ENJOYED TIME WITH BLU'S FAMILY/BROTHERS/COUSINS. LAST NIGHT WE HAD AN AMAZING COOKOUT - BLU'S YOUNGER BROTHER SHADE IS A FABULOUS COOK! TODAY WE ARE HEADED FOR THE LONG-ANTICIPATED WALMART TRIP.. :) AND MAYBE CICI'S PIZZA FOR LUNCH.

Brothers Cloud, Blu, & Shade in front of Cloud's house


WE HEAD TO SPEAK AT OUR FIRST CHURCH ON SATURDAY - PARKWAY BAPTIST CHURCH IN COLLEGE STATION! GIG 'EM!

ALL IS WELL AT NEW DAY FROM WHAT WE HEAR FROM WES & LAURIE. WORK IS CONTINUING TO FINISH UP THE GUEST HOUSE AND DEBBIE'S HUT, AND THE WALLS ARE GOING UP ON OUR NEXT ORPHAN HOUSE! THE KIDS ARE ALL DOING WELL, AND MUCHONI TURNED 7 THIS WEEK! STILL NO ELECTRICITY...

THANKS FOR PRAYING FOR OUR FAMILY, THE WILCOXES/MORANS, AND EVERYONE AT NEW DAY!

PICTURES AS PROMISED

HERE ARE SOME PICS OF OUR TRIP BACK TO THE USA!

THE DAY BEFORE WE LEFT, LAURIE & I WENT TO GET PEDICURES, BECAUSE BELIEVE IT OR NOT, PEDICURES IN ZAMBIA ARE AMAZING! UNFORTUNATELY WE HAD TO WALK 2 MILES HOME FROM OUR PEDICURE, BUT THAT'S ANOTHER STORY.. ;)

THE BOYS WATCHING AIRPLANES TAKE OFF AT LUSAKA AIRPORT

KIDS ENJOYING THE PLANE RIDE (ESPECIALLY THE FREE TOOTHBRUSHES!)

HANGING OUT AT THE LONDON AIRPORT

A BETTER PICTURE OF THE COUSINS - EVERYONE WAS SO TIRED BUT SO EXCITED TO SEE EACH OTHER!

WE MADE IT!!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS! WE MADE IT SAFELY TO THE USA!

OUR FIRST FLIGHT TO LONDON WAS UNEVENTFUL AND THE KIDS DID GREAT! THE FLIGHT FROM LONDON TO DALLAS WAS A LITTLE HARDER- WE WERE STUCK ON THE AIRPLANE FOR 2 HOURS BEFORE TAKEOFF SO THAT WAS ROUGH! BUT WE ARRIVED AT THE AIRPORT AND WERE GREETED BY TONS OF FAMILY!

IT HAS BEEN A WHIRLWIND OF A WEEKEND - SWIMMING WITH COUSINS, PARK WITH MRS. DIANNA, SPENDING THE NIGHT WITH BB & JOANNA, CHURCH AT FBC ALVARADO FOR THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, AND OF COURSE, SOME JET LAG!

I DID A TERRIBLE JOB OF TAKING PICTURES BUT I WILL TRY TO BLOG SOME TOMORROW..

THANKS FOR PRAYING US BACK TO THE USA!

HERE WE ARE AT THE AIRPORT - THE TIDWELL COUSINS TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME - CAEDMON, CAMBREE, ANDIE, BRENDEN, CASON, & A.J. WITH PAW & B-MAW!

GOODBYE TO THE TIDWELLS, HELLO TO THE MORANS!

ON THURSDAY, WE HEAD BACK TO THE USA FROM OCTOBER 7TH TO JANUARY 24TH! WE ARE EXCITED FOR A BREAK, ALONG WITH SPENDING SOME TIME WITH OUR FAMILIES AND SPEAKING AT VARIOUS CHURCHES DURING OUR TIME IN THE USA! HERE IS OUR FAMILY ON OUR LAST SUNDAY WITH ALL OF OUR ZAMBIAN SUITS/DRESS SHIRTS ON!


MEANWHILE, THE MORAN FAMILY FROM ALABAMA WILL BE JOINING NEW DAY FROM OCTOBER 5TH TO DECEMBER 19TH! JOSH AND CHRISTY HAVE BOTH BEEN TO ZAMBIA NUMEROUS TIMES.....SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU COME TO NEW DAY ON A MISSION TRIP??? YOU COME AND SPEND 3 MONTHS! :) WELCOME TO JOSH, CHRISTY, RILEY, AND WESLEY!


(SIDENOTE: AS THIS IS MY PERSONAL BLOG, THE NEXT 3 1/2 MONTHS WILL FOCUS MORE ON OUR TIME IN THE USA AND NOT AS MUCH ON THE GOINGS ON IN ZAMBIA, THOUGH I WILL TRY TO KEEP YOU UPDATED!!)