Happy Easter

As I celebrate my 5th Easter today, I am filled with joy for what Christ has done for me, and for all who believe in Him. Jesus prepared himself and his disciples for his death and resurrection at the Last Passover Supper, and Passover now takes on an even more special meaning to me. I was so thankful to celebrate Easter at our old church in Virginia with several good friends. The worship music was beautiful, and the message was powerful. It was so nice to talk with some of our friends, and Caleb and Ben did great in the nursery.  I thought about the friendships we made these past couple of years, how God has been working in our lives through these relationships, and how he will use each and every one of us for His good purposes. The only thing that would have made today better was being with Nathan, but I know he was celebrating an unforgettable Easter in Ethiopia, which makes my heart joyful.

The boys received sports Easter baskets filled with eggs, a sock monkey bunny, books, balloons, and Caleb got an Elmo loofah. Elmo is a popular word in our home these days.

I had no idea how much toddlers like balloons...tips to new moms...buy balloons!!!

After church, the boys and I drove through our old stomping grounds. We drove by our old home, through downtown, past Caleb's daycare, and my favorite coffee shop:). It was reminiscant to drive through our old town, our family has made a lot of wonderful memories there.

For the past several years, it has been a tradition to have Easter brunch with the Kerns family. When we got to Justin and Tara's their girls were very excited to see us since it had been a couple of months. They were amazed at how big the boys are getting and how much Caleb was trying to talk. They adore the boys and are so good with them. Delaney and Caleb have a special bond, she always watches after him so carefully and he really likes when she plays with him.



Tara and Justin's parents, Tara's sister's family, and Justin's sister was also at the house, so it was great to see everyone. I love this picture of Alexandra and Ben.

The trampoline is by far the most popular place in(outside) their home. They got it for Christmas last year, and I think they jump on it everyday. It was raining outside, but that did not stop the kids from jumping!



And it didn't stop Caleb either. The only thing the rain stopped was the Easter egg hunt:(

Ben got a lot of love today.

There are several talented bakers in the family. Tara's mom baked this cute lamb cake. Every time Caleb saw it, he would make the 'baa' then 'shh' sound, since he thought the lamb was sleeping:).

They also got a new puppy, Kona, to keep their older chocolate lab, Mo company. He is 3 months old, soooo adorable, and well behaved for such a young dog. He and Caleb bonded quite a bit today.

A group shot of everyone: Ryan, Alexandra, Caleb, Ben, Mackenzie, Zoey, and Delaney

My attempt at a brothers shot. One day I will get a picture with both of them smiling...one day! We had a fun day with the Kern's, ate a great brunch, and Caleb ate lots of jellybeans and chocolate. We promised it will not be a few months before we see them again.

And we ended the day playing with balloons.I hope you had a joyful Easter!



Spring is here!

The daffodils are starting to pop up everywhere, and I can almost see the start of the cherry blossoms. This weekend was beautiful, it was close to 60 degrees...time to get outside!

 

One of Caleb's favorite things to do is play with bubbles, and bubbles were on his mind...all morning. 

 We played with bubbles at the park, and Caleb even blew a few himself. It's fun to watch how excited he gets if you even mention playing with bubbles.

He had fun going up and down the slides.



And he made a few friends at the park too.

There were lots of sticks to play with, and open space to run, run, run.

And Ben sat so patiently watching his brother the entire time. I wonder if he wonders when he will be able to run and play with his big brother?

Caleb is starting to take more of an interest in Ben (not in a let me whack you when dad and mom are not looking kind of way). When Ben cries, Caleb wants to rub his head, or try to give him the pacifier. It is very sweet.

We finished off the evening with no-pants basketball, in honor of March Madness. Go GATORS! Sorry IU.

On Saturday we went went to the Patuxent Research Refuge. It was established by FDR is 1936, and it was the United State's first and only refuge to support wildlife research. It is made up of almost 13,000 acres of forest, meadow, and wetland habitats, and trails that roam throughout the refuge.  

 We spent most of the time walking outside around the lakes and looking at all the pretty budding trees. I love the sparesness of flowers and popping color at the start of spring. Everything looks so fresh and new, and it will only be a matter of weeks before everything is lush again.

 If you look closely, you can see a big snake that we saw along the way. Everyone in the visitor's center was talking about it, and one of the rangers said it was a northern watersnake.

 This is called Goose pond...Nathan LOVES geese (not at all) and I thought of him when taking the picture:).

 

My two cool dudes... 

I'm impressed with how much Caleb can run and be on the go all day long.

 He does slow down from time to time.

And he occasionally sits down too. Actually, he is waddling like a penguin in this picture. I taught him how to waddle today when we were sitting down, so I guess he thinks he has to sit to waddle. I love little kids!

Before leaving, we went inside to see the animal exhibits. I have a story at a future time about Caleb reaching for doors.

 I had a great day outside with my little boys!

We finished the evening playing after dinner, reading stories, and taking a bath before bed. As I said earlier, Caleb really likes to play with Ben, and he does a good job making Ben laugh. Shortly after this picture, Caleb started rolling Ben. My first instinct was to tell him to stop, but Ben loved it and was cracking up!

 I think this is the start of some wild days ahead of us. We can't wait!

 

 

Ben has 2 teeth!

When Nathan and I were out of town, Ben got his first two bottom teeth! He's such a sweet, happy boy, and he lights up the room with his smile.

 He drools ALL the time

 And here is what he has to show for it :).

We love you Ben.

Changed.2013

I wanted to blog about this sooner, but we were gone most of the month of March and just got back a couple of days ago. As I type this post, Nathan, his dad, and 9 others who are part of the team 'Changed.2013,' are about 4 hours from landing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for a mission trip with the organization Hope For His Children, from 29 March - 7 April.

 Hope for His Children exists to show the love of Jesus to orphaned, abandoned, and impovershed children of the world by: 1) increasing awareness of the childrens' desparate needs, and 2) by generating support for the children.The team will be working with several local mission partners in country. I am missing some of them, but here are the ones I know of:

- Compassions Family International is a drop-in center in Addis Ababa that shows Christ's love by providing food, clothing, and education to over 50 children daily.
- Onesimus Child Development Association is a Non-Government Organization in Addis Ababa that seeks to rescue Ethiopia's children at risk, ensuring they remain in or return to a loving home. They work with children who are on the verge of 'streetism' and with children who solely live on the street.
-  Kechene Drop-In Center serves some of the poorest people in Addis Ababa.

The children love having visitors, and the volunteers provide labor for projects, love on the children, teach lessons, play sports, sing songs, etc.

Please pray for each members':
- Compassion and love for the people they are serving
- Togetherness of the team
- Unique talents and gifts to share
- Safe travels to Ethiopia, within country, and back to the states
- Good health
- Protection over the families at home

Yesterday evening the boys and I drove Nathan to meet up with the team. It is a unique opportunity that Nathan and his dad will get to serve together, and I am very excited and thankful for that. Here are 3 generations of Purcell men:).

Thank you for your prayers. More to come when the team returns!

Go and make disciples of all nations - Matthew 28:19.
 

Around the world

It's been a busy March for us! Earlier this month, I went to Europe

Nathan was in Asia for a couple of weeks. As a bonus, he met up several times with his good friend Bart from college and they visited outdoor markets, Buddhist temples, and local restaurants. 

The drink holders are so practica!

Finally, we met in the Middle East

We even found a big green park by the gulf, amongst the brown desert 

We are thankful for the opportunities we had this past month, for loving grandparents to watch our boys, and we are excited for the next chapter of our family's life. We have been back for a few days, and now Nathan is packing his bags for Africa. Stay tuned...