Wonderful week!

Timothy walked outside yesterday and took a picture of our cricket farm :) Yes, there are about as many inside the house too...just not all in one spot. They come every year with the rains. In fact, about 5 or so years ago, we made a survey trip down in this area as we were praying about where the Lord would have us to work. Of all the places we visited, this was the one town I said I would NEVER want to go to....there were soooo many crickets and I was literally scared to death of them. I wouldn't even get out of the van. I remember Daniel talking to someone at a payphone and the crickets were jumping on his neck and going down his shirt!
Well, the Lord sent us right here! :) And He even gave me grace to handle the crickets. They honestly don't really bother me anymore. A couple nights ago, one jumped on my face while I was eating supper and I just threw it off. The Lord is so good to even care about my fear of bugs ;)

We had such a blessed week last week. It started out with the good report from the doctor, and we thank the Lord that as I've been up and around this week, there have been no noticable problems with our new little bean (as the children affectionately call him/her) :).

We spent the week getting "caught up" on chores/school ect... and Daniel too was able to go back to his regular routine. We were very blessed to have Brother Juan and his family with us through Friday. We enjoyed some meals together, hearing him and his wife sing songs together (the Lord has given them both beautiful voices), and our children enjoyed playing with their little girl too.

Brother Juan's wife, Martha, spoke to the ladies/young ladies of our church Thursday night about things that pertain unto being women belonging to Christ. She encouraged them in the Lord through His Word in how we talk, dress, live, and serve.

Another thing that made our week so wonderful was Daniel annoucing to the family that his uncle, Pastor Tom Lucatorta, who has a church in our home town area in California, wanted our family to come to their mission's conference the first week in November. After much prayer, Daniel felt the Lord leading him to accept the invitation, so we will be making a trip north next week. It will be a whirlwind trip....it is a 32 hour drive "home" not including the border crossing or stops (potty breaks, fueling up, eating ect...), so it takes us a good full 3 days to get there. So the plan is to leave Thursday (the 30th), we'll arrive Saturday evening, attend the conference Sunday through Wednesday, and then be back home here Saturday evening. Brother Juan will be coming back up to preach for Daniel the Sunday we will be gone.

The children have only been to a couple of missions conferences during our deputation time, but that was about 5 years ago, so most of them don't remember. We were explaining to them what a missions conference is and we are all so excited to be a part of one again.

But then, to be honest, there is another part of going to the USA that is at the fore front of all these little Lockwood's minds...Daddy and Mommy included. Here are some of the comments I've heard this week:

*Oh mommy, do you think you can buy a couple boxes of malt-o-meal to take back home with us? (Timothy)

*I can't wait until we cross the border and see a Taco Bell....I LOVE their bean burritos! (Elijah)

*Oh Mommy, we can buy some stuff to make pumpkin pie and the other yummy things we do on Thanksgiving like at Grandma's house. (Rebekah)

*I LLLOOOOVVVVVEEE the states! They have these pizzas that you take home and put in the oven and they are super yummy! (Abigail)

* McDonalds french fries are there everyone! Yeeeeaaaa! (I think I heard that comment from about 6 of them).

Okay, so apparently we all miss American food. I've been telling Daniel the past few weeks, "Why is it that everything that sounds good to my queasy tummy or any craving I have ALWAYS something that is only in the USA?" :)

Enjoying a meal of beans, salad, chicken, and pasta with Brother Juan and his family.

Sorry that this picture is sideways :) But here is Brother Juan, his wife Martha, and their little girl Genesis. They are just so sweet and we enjoyed our time with them so much.

I took this last picture just to show you what my children do anytime I eat anything! When I'm morning sick, rather than eat big meals, it helps if I eat little snacks throughout the day. So I had grabbed a couple of crackers out of the cupboard and all that heard/saw me, ran up for a bite. I said, "Stand right there while I get my camera." I had them do it again so I could show them how silly they all look :)