I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In

It's that time of year again... Jamie's annual Christmas Blog Challenge (see Rules that apply).  I missed the first day (yesterday) and I was tempted to changed the post options to show that I did post yesterday but I'm not a cheater (just apparently someone who seriously considers it).  

Anyway, three "ships" did come in last week to kick off the holiday festivities- ones from Colorado, Atlanta, and College Station.  My mom's sisters and brother-in-law came in for a visit mid-week, and Lindsay and Kyle came on Friday night and stayed the weekend with us.  

My aunts and uncle had never met Steven in person so it was special to introduce him to more family.  He loved them all and had a blast- especially with Uncle "Gak" (translation: Jack) who played with him a lot.  They all went home Sunday and yesterday afternoon Steven asked to go to Mammaw and Pappaw's to play; we had been going over there for most of the day the last five days.  

Old Friends Going New Places

We drove to College Station on Wednesday morning to visit our friends the Fergusons.  They have been missionaries in Peru for the last two years and are back in TX for a year before moving to Calgary (read more about their ministry below).  We hadn't seen them since Lindsay's wedding right before they moved to Peru so we were excited to spend some time with them and introduce them to Steven in person.  Anyway, we go waaay back.  John was our RUF minister in college and Charlton and I were his first wedding he performed; Heather was one of my bridesmaids and Kevin, their middle son, was our ring bearer.  I didn't realize at the time we asked them both to be in the wedding that there was nothing they could really do if Kevin decided weddings weren't really his thing.  Despite a little belly sliding along the side of the stage, he did great.  That's why people really go to weddings anyway, right- cute kids and the food.

Heather took some great pictures with her camera.  I don't think there's anything more exciting for a mom of a two-year old than someone offering to take pictures of her child because they just want to.  Thanks, Heather!  

He actually stopped and and looked at the camera when she asked him to and they are amazing pictures.  I guess Steven already loves the Fergies as much as we do!  They live on 4 acres bordering a neighbor with miniature ponies.  

What could be better for Steven than five big kids ready to play with him and lots of space to run around.  

It was a great day for all of us!

John and Heather (along with their kids) are making the change from being missionaries doing campus ministry in Peru to being missionaries doing church planting in Calgary.  I copied this description from John's old blog explaining their new ministry and below it have posted how you support them in their work for God's Kingdom if feel so led:

A brief summary: As we've thought about where we should invest ourselves in this next stage of life, we came up with 4 criteria: We wanted to be (1) in an important urban center; (2) near a major university; (3) in a post-modern / post-Christian context; (4) where the PCA (our church) is thin or non-existent. As we thought about the ways in which God has been shaping us and forming our thoughts along these criteria, I have accepted a call to be a part of a multi-site / multi-congregational church planting movement in Calgary, Alberta (we received a recommendation from Mission to North America’s Church Planting Assessment Center in June). 

We looked at a handful of other options—including in our beloved home country of Texas—but none matched up with our desires like Calgary did. Calgary is (1) a beautiful city of over a million people with ~20,000 moving there every year; (2) home of the Univ. of Calgary—36,000 students; (3) post-modern and as several Canadian pastors have told me—very post-post-post Christian; (4) has only two PCA churches with about 200 people attending. In some major cities of Canada, over 40% of the people are atheist. Further, the fastest growing religious categories by rate of increase between 1991 and 2001 are Paganism (+281%), Native Spirituality (+175%) and Islam (+129%). Calgary needs the Gospel: only around 10-12% of the city attends a Christian church of any kind, and that number is shrinking rapidly.


We are excited and scared at the same time, feeling that this will be the biggest thing we've attempted to do for Christ's Kingdom to date. We have grown a lot, learned a ton, and we really feel like we are more prepared to do this now in ways that we wouldn't have been able to do several years ago. So we ask for your continued prayers.

Some of our supporters have asked us about continued support & partnership. The short answer: Yes! August will be our last month employed with Peru Mission, and then we will be in full-time fundraising mode for Calgary. There will be a few months gap until our mission board / paperwork, etc., are all in place to process gifts & receipts. We will keep you posted. 

Thanks for being a part of our lives and the work of Christ’s kingdom. It is a privilege to be in this together with you. 

Grace & Peace, 
John & Heather Ferguson

Donations can be made to the New City Church Planting Movement in Calgary, including making donations by mail, online by credit card, via electronic funds transfer, or by stock donation. 
If you choose to send in support with a check, mail the check to: 

Mission to North America
1700 N. Brown Road Suite 101
Lawrenceville, GA 30043-8143

Office: (678) 825-1200
Fax: (678) 825-1001

1. Make your check out to “MNA.”
2. In the memo line, write “John Ferguson.” MNA prefers to list the church planter on the check rather than the account number.
3. 100% of your contribution goes directly to this project! There are no fees charged by MNA for these services.

School Days- Update

Sorry to disappear for a few weeks- I am overloaded with my to do lists this season.  We had a good Thanksgiving with both of our families this year.  We went to Charlton's parents' that Day for dinner with all the siblings, and then spent Friday with my parents.  We missed Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Kyle who were with Kyle's family on the other side of Texas but we survived knowing that Insey and Kycle are coming in to stay with us this weekend.

Steven had a Thanksgiving feast at school last Monday, and I went to join the festivities.  Their feast was actually chicken nuggets and fruit which Steven ate really well- we were all happy!  He would not leave his Indian hat he made long enough for me to take a picture,

but I did take a picture of this picture on the classroom wall with the Dalmatian ears from fire truck day.  Steven is loving school now!  It probably took him about three weeks to adjust to being dropped off at school; it was hard but worth it.  We gradually were able to talk about all the fun stuff he does there and his new friends and teachers.  Now he gets excited and talks about it to his grandparents and my friends- his favorite activities are craft and music time.  I have to be sure to get my kiss because he just walks right into his classroom.  He also doesn't need Frank to walk in  anymore which I am very happy about so I just put him with his sleep mat.  He is eating pretty well now at their lunchtime but naps at school are pretty hard to come by which I guess is understandable.  I don't know if I could sleep on a floormat surrounded by 6 other two-year-olds either.    

Sunday Best

It was in the 30's when we woke up this morning and even though it was warmer when we left for church, Steven got to wear his first blazer.  This is of course not including the time he wore a tux for Aunt Jenn's wedding over a year ago- a tux is a tux.  Mimi bought him this very cool dress shirt and blazer- it's even more adorable in person.  We took pictures in front of the bookcases in Charlton's study because we thought it'd be funny.  Notice that the lower shelf in the first picture is Charlton's law books (how appropriate) but then we balanced it out with our collection of Harry Potter on the shelf above.   

Charlton was trying to get him to pose with one fist under his chin

Tired of taking pictures by now but still cute.

Power Tools

Charlton put together Steven's big (big) boy bed last weekend.  He was running out of room in his convertible crib so we figured it was time to upgrade.  I was a little sad to put the crib away but his new bed is just so cool.  Steven thinks so too.  He was jumping up and down while Charlton put it together.  It was Aunt Lindsay's bed in college and we were happy to get it out of the attic and put it to good use again.  Thank you, Aunt Lindsay, Mammaw, and Pappaw!

Steven was also mesmerized by Charlton's screwdriver- I guess it's just innate in boys to like power tools.

Trying really hard....

Watch out!

The new bed with his new train sheets- I'm looking for a quilt or comforter but found these at TJ Maxx months ago and had to get them.  

Then he broke in his bed by jumping off which is now not allowed for fear he will break his head.  He wanted to jump into the small space between the bed and his dresser- less than a foot wide.  I did not put this shirt on him for these pics- ironically and fittingly he already had it on.  =)

Another hair-crazed Halloween

Steven was Thing 1 (a character from The Cat in the Hat in case you're not up on your Dr. Seuss) this year for Halloween.  We thought it would a fun one to do since their one of Steven's favorite characters right now and oddly enough there weren't lots of Thing 1 & 2 costumes being donned this year.  =)  We also like doing costumes that involve playing up one of Steven's best asset- his hair.  

You might remember that he was a rock star with a Mohawk 2 years ago for his first Halloween (2 months old)...last year was pretty lame and he didn't dress up for long since I caught a stomach bug.  I told Cheryl it must be the (family) Halloween curse because Meadow caught the same thing this year and they were quarantined like we were last year.  

Here Steven is providing the background music for his grandparents and friends.

When Steven saw his friend, Will the firefighter, he ran to get his firetruck, and then handed it to him like,"here, this should be yours."  Within two seconds he decided he had been too hasty and really wanted to keep the firetruck for himself.  I was glad to see though that all the books we've been reading (and the visit the fire dept paid to his school) have helped him connect jobs with people and what certain trucks are for.  he is just generally crazy about trucks and trains.  

Greeting Asher who dressed as an adorable monkey.  You can also see his baby "bee" brother in the background.  

I decided to "dress up" two hours before our small gathering and threw together what I had in my closet.  I ended up with a western style shirt (from Steven's cowboy birthday party at 1 yr) and fake costume jewelry from my Breakfast at Tiffany's look= a Texan oil man's trophy wife of course.  My lipstick was gone by this time and collar wouldn't stay up but it's the effort that counts.

Steven smiled for both his pictures with the grandparents- that's got to be a record.

Our buddy, Luke the fighter pilot

Handing out candy at the front door.

Pumpkin Patch

Fall is my favorite time of year and we are finally getting some weather that is really enjoyable.  So, yesterday we took Steven to a petting zoo/farm where they also have a small pumpkin patch set up.  Now with the weather getting cooler, I'm getting in the mood for fun and parties and this is just the first of many seasonal festivities for the upcoming months.

Beginning of Fall

It's October...which in Texas means we're still wearing shorts and eating snow cones.  [This was last weekend- thankfully it has cooled down a little and we're now enjoying weather with highs in the low 80s and high 70s.]  Steven wanted "red" but didn't mind also tasting our blue and purple ones to make sure they were ok too.  

  

He's showing off his red tongue; we, of course, thought it was funny but I'm sure he was thinking, "isn't my tongue always red- what's the big deal?"

First Aggie Tee

We got Steven his first Aggie tees the weekend we escaped to  Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Kyle's place.  I always love going to College Station during football season- the excitement is contagious- and I just couldn't resist getting Steven one (or two).  We did not acquire many A&M things for Steven when he was a baby so I feel these were overdue.  Lindsay showed us to a tent sale where they were selling "bookstore stuff" cheap.  You've gotta love that.  I don't remember them doing that when we were in school except for special event t-shirts like for Maroon-Out.  Anyway since the t-shirts either run small or shrunk when I washed them, I knew I better take some pictures before he can't wear them anymore.  What better place to take them than outside at the playground where Steven's in his element.

Posing (not that he did much) is tough work!

A comparison...

Steven at 6 mos.

and now at 2 yrs.

Again at 6 mos.

And at 1 yr. (I remember taking this picture comparing it to the above and thinking that he was so big!  Actually I think I thought that at 6 mos. too.)

And last week at 2 yrs.