The Last Six Months

Wondering what we've been up to the last six months? Here's your answer:

This adorable little puke-factory is Samuel Thomas Turner (Sammy). He was born on October 14th and was 9lbs even. He's a big baby and keeps getting bigger.  He really is pretty cute and loveable but has somehow found a way to spit-up more than Ellie did.

Another pastor in the area told us a few months back that going from one kid to two was the hardest transition (he has 5). Well, I don't know if that's true but I can definitely say that having two is somehow way more than twice as hard, especially when they're both in diapers and demanding lots of attention. So we've been a little preoccupied the last 6 months. Yes, this is my way of blaming the baby for the lack of updates...

Ellie seems to like him okay, she's tried to give him his bottle and put goldfish in his mouth. When he spits up, she usually says something to the effect of "Uh oh, Sammy spilled". If he cries or gets fussy, she'll tell him: "It's okay Sammy." Such a nice big sis, eh?  Sam gets a kick out of watching Ellie and Tripod play and chase each other. It's nice to have some built-in entertainment for each other.

Baby? What baby. Just look at me.

Ellie just celebrated her 2nd birthday....wow how time flies. She is a riot, keeps us laughing all the time and is so much fun.  Kerstin's parents were in town so she basically had a "birthday week" with lots of presents and cake.

What did you say about cake???

I've also been busy at the church. Over the last few months we started a Bible study on Acts at our house, I've been leading a study of the Savoy Declaration of Faith (a congregational adaptation of Westminster) for the leadership of the church and teaching apologetics to the the high school Sunday school class. I've also had the opportunity to preach through some difficult passages in 1st Corinthians and to preach on less than one days notice. It's been challenging but a great learning experience. (I'll try to upload a sermon or two here since we're having problems with the church website at the moment).

Starting this Sunday I'll be co-leading a high-school youth group with one of our deacons. We'll be going through the Truth Project, a 12 week study on Christian Worldview. It should be a great, thought provoking study and I'm looking forward to working more with high-schoolers, a group I've never thought I was very good with.

We're also about to enter into a new phase at the church, working on some things that we've been planning and thinking about for quite a while. So please pray that it will go well and that we'll have wisdom in how to lead the church and that God will enable us to see what is best for His people.