Welcome Home DAD!

Yippeee! Dad is home! We welcomed Dad home with a sign that read, "Welcome home, Dad!" and a bunch of hugs and kisses. Estimated that over 900 people were saved! Isn't God good?! Besides the people reached with the Gospel, this time away has reminded me how precious this man is to me and how much a little boy needs his Dad!

Here he comes!

"My Dad ROCKS!"

Notes from Dad

We sent Dad off to Ghana, W. Africa on Thursday, July 22. He was gone 10 days with 9 others from Oasis to do door-to-door witnessing in the villages there. The missionaries there will begin a new church with the converts made while this team was there. This is so exiciting, but also very scary! We had been praying and preparing for this trip for months and I don't think either of us dreamed it would ever be this hard to be apart this long and this far away. Before he left, John wrote 9 different notes to Dalton for us to read each night before bed while he was gone. He numbered them and put the day that Dalton was to read it. Dalton was so excited every night to get to read the next note that Dad had written him. On the day John left, I was telling him, "Don't go!" (kidding, of course) and Dalton said, "Mom, he has to go! He has to tell those people about God!" Here are some pics of Dalton and the sweet notes from Dad.

Thursday: Night 1

Dalton,

This is the first night of many that I will be gone. I love you. Be good for your Momma. Don't drive her nuts or make her be an acorn. (inside joke!) Sleep good and I'll see you in eight more nights.

Love, Dad

Friday: Night 2

Dalton,

This is the second night of my trip. I know you and mom are doing good. Tomorrow is Saturday and maybe you can talk mom into taking to Larry's Pizza. I love you. See you in seven more nights.

Love,

Dad

Saturday: Night 3

Dalton,

This is the third night of my trip. I am missing you and mom like crazy! Are you still being good for mom? Tomorrow is church day. You get to go to big class and I think the Shine Shop will be open for you. I love you!

Love,

Dad
(Note: After we read the note on this night, Dalton said, "I miss Dad". I said, "I do, too." He said, "But, don't cry, Mom, okay." Also, I do realize he has had the same P.J.s on for the past 3 nights :)

Sunday: Night 4 (can you tell that we get really silly before bedtime?)

Dalton,

I'll be home in less than a week now. I know you and mom have been praying for me and I can already tell. Thank you. Obey your mom and listen to her. I love you and miss you and mom. Can you tell mom how good she looks today? Moms need to hear how beautiful they are.
Love,
Dad

(If I said that I did not cry after that one, I'd be lying! Then for some reason after I read it, Dalton said "Read it again!" What is this boy trying to do to me? :)

Monday: Night 5
Dalton,

This is the 5th night of my trip. Which means I'm more than halfway through it. I am getting to tell people about Jesus in a place called Dodowa. I love you and am ready to see you again!Love,

Dad

(He laughed and laughed about "Dodowa"! Not sure why he kept wanting to put the notes on his head!)

Tuesday: Night 6

Dalton,

This is the longest I have ever been away from you and mom. You and her are the biggest joys in my life. Which means you're my favorite people :) Keep being good for mom. I love you.

Love,

Dad

(Gran came to visit a few days while Dad was gone. It was a lot of fun. Dalton started calling her "Granny" while she was here. She pretended it bothered her and so that made him call her that even more! He is really beginning to show a personality of being a teaser and a prankster.)

Wednesday: Night 7

Dalton,

I've been gone for almost a week now. Keep praying for me. I have one more day where we're telling people about Jesus. After that we will begin our trip home. I will see you on Saturday.

Love,

Dad

(We discussed after we read the note what we would do when we saw Dad in the airport. We both agreed that we would give him big hugs and kisses!)
Thursday: Night 8

Dalton,

I know by now I am ready to see you and mom. I need a big hug from both of you. I will begin traveling tomorrow. You and mom can pray that I'll be safe as I travel. Keep obeying mom and listen to her. Don't drive her nuts.

Love,

Dad

(One more note and one more night!!!!!)

Friday: Night 9

Dalton,

This time tomorrow I will be home. Sleep good tonight because I need you to pick me up at the airport tomorrow. Tell mom that our flight should be in around noon. I am already traveling back home. It is just taking me some time to get back. I love you. When I see you tomorrow, I will need a big hug and kiss from you (and mom).

Love,

Dad

(Afte we read the note, we discussed who was going to get to Dad first to give him hug and kisses. He told me to go slow and he would go fast. We love you Babe and can not wait to see you!)

Sticky Fingers

So I was hoping that we could make it the last 10 days without any drama....WRONG! Dalton was in the bathtub tonight and he hollers, "Mom, come here! I have a surprise for you!" I go in there and he had gotten his finger stuck in one of the holes of a little ball that he likes to play with in the tub. I tried to get it off there, but could not get it to budge. I got him out and called Grandma. She suggested oil, lotion, cold water, etc.... His finger was not budging and it looked like it was beginning to swell. I called Paige to see if she had any words of wisdom. Her first thought was to call John, but since that was out of the question, Todd suggested Ms. Becky, the master of tools. I called her and she had all her tools laid out on the counter by the time we got there. She sat Dalton on her kitchen counter and went to work. He sat there so brave and Ms. Becky had that ball cut off in no time. We got it off just in time to get to the last night of VBS at Uncle Jeff's church. When asked by his teacher, "What's been your favorite part of Bible School this week?" He immediately responds, "When I got the ball cut off my finger!" His finger still had a red ring around it at bedtime. Thankfully, we still had 10 sweet fingers, 1 less ball, and a good lesson on not putting our fingers where they don't belong!

Showing off his finger stuck in the ball.

Ms. Becky working to get it off and Dalton being so brave

Ahhhh....you could see the tension just lift from his body when she got that ball cut off. Thanks Ms. Becky! On the way to Bible School, Dalton said, "I love Ms. Becky!"

Nickelodeon Story Time LIVE!

Surprise! I love surprising Dalton! John and I surprised Dalton this week with Nickelodeon's Story Time LIVE! He had no idea what we were there for until he sat down in his chair at Robinson Auditorium. Honestly, my reasoning for the surprise is 2-fold. First, this boy loves surprises and wakes up every morning asking what we are doing to day. If I say, "I don't know", he then says, "It's a surprise?" To which I say, "Sure!" (because most days I have nothing planned and it's a surprise to me, too!) Second, if I had of told him, he would have literally drove me CRAZY until it was time to go! So for our sanity, we decided to surprise him....it was GREAT for everyone involved !:)

Grandma got to go with us to the show.

He sat in Grandma's lap during the first half of the show and watched intently.

Ni Hao Kailan!

"We've got the whole wide world in our yard to explore!"

"Wonder Pets, Wonder Pets we're on our way...."

Dora and Boots

We had a great time and he was still talking about it the next day. During intermission, he said, "Tank you, Mom and Dad for taking me!" Totally worth every penny!

Branson Family Getaway

Before I get to talking about our Branson vacation, let me show-off the newest Mickan addition. Our friends, the Mickan's, had Sennett Jace Mickan on June 30. Dalton and I took a quick trip to their house last Saturday so that Dalton could meet big sister Saigel's little brother. He is so cute and they tell me that he is really a good baby. Dalton and Saigel have not seen each other much this summer and they were very excited to play together. As you can see they had dress up time as soon as we got there.

Harmony Bear, Sunshine Bear, and baby Sennett. Not sure where Dalton came up with this, but he has decided that he wants to call the baby "Sennett-tude". Sounds kinda cute to me! Cindy told me that when Saigel went to see Sennett in the hospital for the first time, she asked the visitors that came to see him if they wanted to "pet" him! So cute! Love it!

So we took a quick trip to Branson last week and had so much fun. I think we have reached the age where vacations can be fun again and not just a ton of work, especially if John and I decide before we go that this vacation is not about us, but about Dalton. Then we end up having lots of fun watching him have fun! We stayed at the Grand Country Inn. They have an indoor water park, theater, restaurant with a great buffet, indoor putt-putt golf, arcade game room, and pizza parlor. In other words, it is a great place for kiddos! We went to a show called "The Amazing Pets". Dalton was glued to the stage the entire time!

I love old trucks like this one. Dalton's nursery was decorated with antique trucks and cars, so when I saw this one in the parking lot of our hotel, I could not resist a photo op!

We found a great place to eat at the Branson Landing called "San Francisco Oven". The pizza was awesome! Can't wait to go back! After supper, we found a great ice cream shop called "Orange Leaf". Wow! This is a self-serve yogurt shop where you pay by the pound. They have so many flavors of yogurt and they let us sample the different kinds before we chose one. Dalton chose coconut with lots of sprinkles and John and I shared a chocolate/peanut butter swirl yogurt. Delicious!

Loving that pizza at San Francisco Oven. I also liked that the kids meals came with a bowl of fruit.

He was looking so cute I had to get his picture!

Dad and Dalton checking out the fountains.

Dalton asked Dad for some money so that he could make a wish. Here he is holding the money John gave him. He closed his eyes and threw the money in the fountain. We asked him what he wished for and he said, "Mom and Dad". We still are not real sure what he meant by that. Hopefully, he is not wishing for a new Mom and Dad :)

"I wish for a Mom and Dad"

Silly boy!

I have really enjoyed staying at home with my little man this summer. So thankful that I have a job that allows me to do this!

My two favorite guys in the whole world!

As you can see by looking on the ground in this pic that it did rain one afternoon but that was okay....It made for a great afternoon nap time that we all got to take advantage of! I love a good nap in the rain!

Playing his first game of putt-putt golf. Hole in one!

John did end up winning our game of putt-putt, of course, but only by a few points!

Having fun at the water park

Branson is also a perfect place to go for this age because it's only 3 hours from our house. I have not quite gotten the courage to take him on a long road trip to the beach yet, but he did great on this little car trip. Maybe next year we will think about a longer road trip! Thank you Lord for the good family memories we made on this trip!