Halloween Carnival with friends

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family Reunion

We traveled down to Alexandria, Louisana for the Mahfouz family reunion this weekend and had a great time visiting with family and eating lots of yummy middle eastern foods. Dave's great-grandparents were from Syria and the family carries on the tradition of cooking the foods from the middle east mixed with cajun as well! Always fun to try these and I was really suprised Kennedy liked most of them, Caleb was too busy playing with his cousins to eat.

 

 

 

 

1st Field Trip

Kennedy took her first field trip of kindergarten last week to Motley's Pumpkin Patch here in Little Rock!! Caleb and I met her there and had such a good time watching her interact with all her classmates!! We watched the pig races, which is always her favorite, went on a hayride, learned some cool facts about pumpkins, went on a cow train ride, played in the hayfort and had some lunch before heading back to school. I cannot brag enough on how blessed I feel to have her in Mrs. Haupt's class and with a great group of diverse kids!!! I'm so happy with where God has her this year!!

 

 

 

 

Fall Fun

 

 

 

 

Moving Edouard to UCA

Our Rwandan son, Edouard, started UCA this fall, the same day Kennedy started kindergarten. We moved him to his dorm the day before they were both to start their new journeys, one to college and one just getting started. We were happy to have him close enough to come home and visit whenever he wants and we talk to him about once a week. He seems to be really enjoying his time so far.

 

 

 

Kennedy's First Day of Kindergarten

We had a very busy summer and I did not blog a single time, so I will try to catch up on what has been going on around here. The biggest event was Kennedy starting Kindergarten. She was so excited and is having a great time, meeting new friends and learning many new things. I'm so thankful that she got a wonderful, sweet, precious teacher and has a friend from church who she already knew in her class!!

 

 

 

 

Edouard is Here

So, about a week before we were to leave for Disney World we decided to a host a Rwandan Student for the summer!!! I've always wanted to be a part of the Bridge to Rwanda mission of our church, helping out the people of this African Nation and we finally had the extra space in our home to do just that!! It is amazing how God provided what we needed at just the right time. About a week before the church bulletin ran a message that they needed host families, a friend asked if we had any use for a sleeper sofa. At first I said no, then I decided to take it just in case, and what do you know, God had a plan for that sofa bed all along!! I'm so thankful to have this opportunity to help this young man farther his education, he is already a blessing to our family and has such a kind and thankful spirit! He will live with us until August 6th and take English at UALR and then he will move on to being a full-time college student at a university in the US somewhere. I feel so very blessed to experience and learn about his culture and Kennedy and Caleb are already head over hills for him! Kennedy tells everyone she has a new brother and Caleb ask for him when he is at school. Keep our family in your prayers as we take this journey with Edouard, that his transition to American culture will be a rewarding experience for him without too many hardships and that our family can provide for him the love and support he needs this summer!!!

Caleb is three!!!

Our baby boy turned three yesterday!!! What a fun and exciting three years it has been. Caleb has added so much energy, joy, superhero play, and love to our family, we can't imagine how tame our life would be without our little guy!! We celebrated with a small party at home just having over a couple of his friends, eating one of his favorites, pizza, and of course, a chocolate Spiderman cake. Edouard, our new son/brother for the summer was there to celebrate Caleb's special day!! His first American Birthday Party was a hit!!

Easter Day

Easter Morning we travled down to PB to celebrate with the Coyle side of the family. We always have a great time and I'm so thankful that Kennedy and Caleb have so many cousins to celebrate with!!

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Morning

 

 

 

 

 

Disney Reveal

Dave and I talked for months about how we wanted to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary coming up this July. We wanted to take a special trip, but really didn't want to leave the kids for more than a few days at this stage in our lives. We finally decided to go to Disney World and all celebrate as a family!!! We debated how, if, and when to share this news with the kids. We wanted to surprise them and settled on telling them a few weeks out from our departure. Dave researched, like he does everything :), and found a cute idea of placing a package with Disney goodies on the front porch for them to open, revealing the surprise. Their reaction was so joyful that it brought Dave and I to tears, nothing like seeing your babies so excited!!! It was pandemonium when it finally registered with them where we were going and I don't know who is more excited, me or them :)