The Papworth/Hickman/Mead clan
We flew into Chicago on Monday night from Oregon in the middle of a big storm. We circled the airport for a long time while it was closed due to the bad weather. Despite the delays and the bumpy ride, everyone stayed really cheerful. After some very bumpy moments, Kaylah asked me to hold her tight and asked if the plane was going to crash. I said no, the pilot knows what he’s doing and besides we have God with us and He’s taking care of us. She snuggled into me and said, “Yes, we’re His lambs.” Precious moment. My heart did get going a bit with the turbulence and the the baby jumped inside me when we bumped onto the ground hard! The plane full of people all clapped as we finally landed! Anyway, we are here in Chicago now, enjoying time with my aunt. Peter spoke at her church Wednesday night and it was a really special time with a loving group of people. We have three more church visits scheduled in the next week and a BBQ on Saturday with some of our prayer partners.
Our time in Oregon was so special. We packed a LOT into the four weeks we had there! I did have moments of feeling pretty exhausted but the gracious people we stayed with were so thoughtful and kind to us and that helped so much. We will truly miss them! Peter spoke on 4 occasions and we saw many friends and prayer partners. It’s been fantastic to connect with the people who partner with us to make our ministry possible. We also had many special times with my family. There were lots of tears on Monday when we said goodbye. It was especially sad seeing the kids say goodbye to their cousins who they had such a wonderful time with. I will share some photos with you from the past month . . . most of them are from our times with family as these were the moments we tended to capture with photos!
After being awake and travelling for more than 20 hrs., Kaylah finally fell asleep on the plane as we approached Oregon!
As always, the views from the air of the mountains and the carpets of evergreen trees were spectacular.
What a joy for the cousins to finally be together.
Most of us had never met Benji, who is just a little younger than Kaylah.
And we all got lots of cuddles with Elly who is nearly one.
We had a fantastic time in central Oregon. It was HOT and everyone had so much fun in the river.
Joel and Matthew (6 mos apart in age) had hours of fun together . . . considering all the girl cousins in the family, how special for the two of them to have each other. (Notice Hannah in the background, standing up in the kayak!!!)
Claire and Kaylah
Bike riding was another fun experience . . . these lucky ones got to ride!
Our friends Terry and Nancy were so gracious to entertain us and allow us to use the dock on the river behind their house. It was such a joy to spend time with them. The kids didn’t spend much time dry!
Back in Portland, the kids had more water fun in their cousins’ neighbourhood pool.
Bombs away!
The time we had with the friends we stayed with in Portland was a major highlight for us. What wonderful and gracious friends to host our big family for a whole month in their home. We will miss them!
A special treat – seeing hummingbirds come to their deck.
We visited with many, many friends . . . here are the kids having fun with some of them.
And here’s our family with some more dear friends.
We even got to visit Uncle Ron!
Our schedule was pretty crazy at times. The late nights and lack of naps took their toll on us, especially Kaylah . . .
But we all survived! God graciously gave us the strength we needed.
We were able to celebrate two family birthdays while we were in OR . . .
For my sister’s birthday, we all went to the beach.
This was a fun find (not appreciated by all members of the family!)
Kaylah’s got her hand ready to hold the next little Mead . . . he or she is growing bigger all the time! Nine weeks to go . . .
Grandpa took us all to a local baseball game. Here are the kids meeting one of the players afterwards.
It was definitely an all-American experience for us! The girls were given some bats that the players were done with and had them signed.
We will savour the memories . . .
. . . memories of our wonderful family and friends.
Thank you for praying for us during this trip. We are enjoying every day but also looking forward to being home very soon! It will be really wonderful to be back with our friends and church family and get back into a more “normal” routine. We fly out next Thursday night and land in London Friday morning. We are excited to see what God has for us in the months ahead.
