About time for an update

Wow, I cannot believe it has been a whole month since I have updated the blog. A lot has been happening...I will try not to make this too long...but it will be long...sorry.

We made a trip to Kansas City for a business trip for Tim. While Tim was working, Megan and I hung out at the hotel. We enjoyed being one a little trip, but wish Tim did not have to work. I think my high light of the trip was that we got to take Megan swimming for the first time, and she loved it. She just splashed and splashed. Tim's highlight of the trip was that we got to eat at Chick-fil-a. We both really miss that as we have not seen one here around us:(

Mother's Day was also special. This was my first one with Megan outside the womb! Tim was so sweet to me. He got up and cooked me breakfast. When I got up, I walked into the kitchen, Tim had the table set with beautiful flowers on it as well as some gifts. I had a wonderful breakfast! I got pictures of the table and the breakfast and such, but did not get a picture with Tim or Megan that day...oops...well, I did get a cute picture of Megan by herself. That will have to do.

We had Awana Awards night the second Wednesday of May. That went really well. We had a good turnout (of course, we grilled out hamburgers and hotdogs...gotta come for the food!!!) with kids and parents. Tim had the opportunity to teach a Bible lesson and was able to present the Gospel. We praise the Lord for a year of Awana where kids can come and hear and memorize God's Word.

We also enjoyed a relaxing Memorial Day. Grandpa and Grandma Riffel were able to come and visit that day. Tim and I bought Megan a small pool which we set up. She loved splashing in the pool!! It is like a bath outside! Dad and Tim grilled chicken that day and we just had a fun family day!

We also had an unexpected event happen last week. My Dad went to the ER as he was having chest pains. Long story short, he had had a small heart attack. It was definitely scary for all of us as he was in so much pain. I am thankful though that Tim and I are here in Kansas where we were able to visit him in the hospital and be with Mom and him. We praise the Lord that He protected my dad and that he will be able to resume back to his normal routine after the time it takes to recover from this.

I must say that we are presently experiencing the roughest week we have had since we have been out here in Kansas.... from discouraging times in ministry to buying a house. I told Tim just today that I feel like we have been striving to minister here and serve here and trying to develop ways to even be able to have more of a ministry, and it just seems like this week, we are hitting road blocks and discouragements. As far as buying a house, we had signed a contract on our house, applied for the loan and a grant. We had thought the closing date would be June 18th, but then they called us and told us they had to change it until July15th to give time for the loan and such. We were fine with that b/c that is still before my sister's wedding, and we will still have time to move in and have rooms available to help with company. Plus, we would be in Rose Hill and be like a couple of minutes from my parents house and the church we are serving in. (That is our reason for wanting to get into Rose Hill, to be close to the church and be able to be more involved with having people over and such rather than being 15-20 minutes away from the church.) Well, today, we got a call that the grant money we were applying for is out for this fiscal year, and that we could wait until Sept 1st to apply again for it if the seller would agree to move back the closing date. We were SO disappointed. We are waiting to hear back from the seller's realtor. We really were wanting to get into Rose Hill by the wedding and such, but also, we have already put in our 30 day notice for this apartment, and well, plans now must change. Although, I would never choose to go through a week like this, the Lord is showing us that we need to be faithful to Him...He will ALWAYS be faithful to us. I read this quote on facebook today at the exact time Tim got the call from the realtor giving us this disappointing news on the house. It said "The sovereignty of God is believed as a concept by most believers. However, that belief will be tested in each individual at certain points through life's journey. It is at those specific points where a believer really shows whether or not that biblical concept is rock-solid truth!" My dad has been very encouraging to us this week saying that these are the times that the Lord grows us and matures us, don't let Satan have inroads to this discouragement, and make sure we are encouraging each other. I am so thankful for my dad who has been through many hard times in ministry and is able to encourage us and understand the hard times. (Thanks Dad!!) Please pray for our housing situation...we will keep you updated.

Lastly, on a happy ending note...and I mean a really happy ending note...Karis, Kayla, and Krista are coming in July for my sister's wedding. I am SO EXCITED to see them again and have them meet Megan! Can't wait to have some sweet sister talks and see the cousins play together. Enjoy the pictures

Megan's first tooth!

Today, Megan's first tooth poked through! I have been checking each day for while because I figured one would be coming soon. She woke up pretty early today, took a short morning nap, and was on the fussy side. I put my finger on her gum, and I could feel a little poke!! It was an exciting time to a struggling morning! I went and woke up Tim so he could get in on the excitement!! (I am not sure how excited her felt to be woken up, but he was very nice about it.) So now, I am waiting on the 2nd tooth to pop through. She has been fussy the last couple of days and has been waking up randomly in the night just crying. Hopefully once this next tooth pops tooth, she will get back to her normal happy self!!

Megan has also been rolling over from back to tummy a lot...especially in her crib. (Then she gets stuck because she has not mastered the tummy to back yet, so I usually hear her give a little cry out. I have to check to see if she is on her tummy, and if she is I turn her over. She has fallen asleep sometimes on her tummy now, but if she wakes up, she cries out. She is not very good at falling back to sleep on her tummy yet.)

We also recently started her on her veggies! Tim and I ventured out and decided to try to make our own baby food. It went well (I am so glad Tim was willing to help me on it!) We have frozen squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, and green beans.) Megan started out with Squash and is now on sweet potatoes. She has enjoyed both of those veggies. I am going to try the carrots next! It is so funny because she knows now when we put her in her high chair, she is going to get fed! She loves to eat.

One other thing that I found really really cute....Megan loves watching her Praise Baby DVD. She has seen us put it in our clearplay dvd player when we set it up for her to watch. Well, today when I was putting in a CD into the clearplay dvd to listen to, she started squealing like she was going to get to watch her movie. I think she was confused when the music came and nothing was on the T.V.

As for Tim and I, we were able to take our teens to a Teen sensation at a camp a couple of Saturdays ago. A lot of our teens were busy that day unfortunately, but we were excited to take the three that could go. We had an enjoyable time there. Two of the boys we took do not have a Christian family, so it was a good opportunity for them to hear the Gospel. One of the boys did respond. Tim was able to go through the Gospel with him. He did pray, but we are not really sure where he is still (obviously since the prayer is not what saves you....and only the Lord knows what is in his heart). We do praise the Lord though that he was able to hear the Gospel. These two boys come to Sunday night Bible study and Awana on Wednesdays very regulary. One of the boys sometimes comes on Sunday night as well to church so we will continue trying to reach out to these boys.

Tim and I are also looking into buying a house in Rose Hill. That is where the church is that we are serving at, and we feel like if we can get into the town, we would have more of an outreach with the community. (We live in Wichita now which is about 15 minutes away.) We are praying that the Lord would open up a door to find one that would work.

Awana is coming to an end here as school is about to be up. We have had a wonderful year with the kids! Tim and I are now starting to plan for VBS and taking the teens to camp this summer.
That is pretty much what is happening here in the Armstrong household!

Happy Six Months

Little Megan is six months today. We can't believe how fast time has been going. We are so thankful for our precious little girl! We love her so much!!! These are a couple of pictures I took of her throughout today!





Megan playing in her saucer.



Megan sitting up!




Megan was worn out after a long night at Awana.

More of Megan

I thought I would post some pictures of Megan....she is getting to be so funny.

There are a couple of sets of pictures that I will quickly comment on...the first one are the ones with her in her crib. She has been scooting all over the place in her crib. It is always interesting when I go in there to check on her or get her up after she wakes up to see where she is at. She also loves pulling the blanket over her face when she falls asleep.

Recently she has been starting to give a really cheesy smiling. the last few pictures are ones of me trying to capture it. She was just making the craziest faces. Her "new" smile is where she wrinkles up her nose and squints her eyes a little. It is so funny.

I can't believe she is almost 6 months. She is growing up too fast.

Easter weekend and more!

I can't believe it is already April. This year is just flying by already. We have had a busy month so far. We started this month off by having the Awana Grand Prix. Tim was so excited about making his first car ever!!! He made a nice orange and blue Mets car. He car did okay in the race, but did not place. I think it won two and lost two. We had a fun time dressing Megan in her Mets outfit to match Tim's Mets shirt as well. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Grand Prix. We started off the night serving pizza and pop, had the race, and Tim gave the devotional. We are very excited to see many parents attend the event and have the opportunity to hear the Gospel.

We also had the opportunity to purchase our first mini van! We bought it from a friend in VA so Tim flew out there last week and then drove the van back. It was a very long trip for him by himself, but praise the Lord he made it back safely! I (Kristen) am enjoying having a mini-van. It is very nice and roomy!

While, Tim was travelling back this past Saturday, my mom and I had the opportunity to take 9 3rd-6th graders to a junior sensation activity at Amazing Grace Baptist Camp. It was an all day activity. The night before we had 5 girls stay with us at my mom's house so that was a lot of fun. We left the next day at 7am and got back at 8 pm. It was a long day, but the kids had a blast and were able to hear God's Word as well! (Megan was a trooper that day as she spent quite a bit of time in the stroller and carseat.)

Then of course, yesterday was Easter. The teens did a little reading and then we had different special musics lined up for the service as well. It was a great day focusing on the cross and His resurrection! My grandparents came up for the service so it was nice to see them. We went out for lunch, and then enjoyed spending time with them in the afternoon as well.

And now for the update on Megan...she is now 5 1/2 months and weighs 15 pounds 15 ounces!...As you can see by the video below, she is starting to do many new things...she is getting to be very "talkative" with her sounds. She is also starting to sit up some. We have to stay by her side because she topples over sometimes, but it is so fun to see her getting there! (She still is not rolling over yet though...she rolled over one day 3 times in a row, but not since then.) She is really moving around in her crib these days though. Tonight, we went in after she fell asleep and she was totally turned sideways. We just laughed. She also always seems to fall asleep with her blanket over her face. She is now having cereal 3x's a day and seems to be enjoying her cereal. She is definitely better at eating it now than she was on day one!

Well, that is about it for the first couple of weeks of this month. Enjoy the pictures!