granpaangranma

Catch that?

If not, that would be Grandpa and Grandma-- I suppose Hope finds it works best by saying their names all at once as if they should always be together in her world.

Since they live more than a dozen hours from us, a visit like this is pretty special! It was so sweet to hear them praying over us and our home throughout their time here (they are such the prayer warriors-- an inspiration). Though I like for our guests to rest and enjoy when they come to stay, they also repeatedly reminded me, "This is not a spectator sport, Katrina." :)

Basically that means this; some people have home warranties or the like.

We, well we, have Grandpa Martins.

He helped Joe fix everything from chairs gone rickety, our favorite lamp broken in our move, our garage door, and (keeping our fingers crossed) our dryer that almost blew up (literally!) just before he arrived (Do you hear the angelic voices singing? Hmm... that must be just me, though surely you can understand why!)

And don't even get me started on how the dishes were washed, floors swept, laundry folded, etc. as if by some magic snap of the fingers...

Best of all, they had time with their grandkids and we all had time to soak in their seventy plus years of stories and wisdom. Here's to hoping the next visit isn't too far away!

On some other semi-unrelated notes... after taking them to the airport the girls and I hit up some indoor, beat the rainy weather, fun in the big city. When I saw this picture...
I had to take a minute. Doesn't she look so... so... so almost grown up? Man.

And don't forget... two days from now, this Saturday at midnight, our adoption raffle will officially conclude. We are blown away by the generosity of your hearts in helping Pavel be an orphan no more. This is the verse that keeps ringing true to us:

James 1:27 (New International Version)
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress...

You still have time, if you so feel lead, to get in your five buck chance at experiencing the taste of victory! We'll reveal the grand total and winners on Sunday.

Maddie just asks that you not expect her to include one of her teething biscuits with the 7 lb. ham. Even this sweet girl has her limits. :)