Des Moines

After leaving Cleveland, we drove to Des Moines, IA to spend some time with Tearsa, Ben and Family.  We arrived on Tuesday and on Thursday little Daxton G Coombs was born.  He’s a beautiful baby and Cole and Elise love their new baby brother. 

                                 

            

We did manage to get a baseball game in before the baby was born.  Ben and Tearsa gave Rod tickets to the Iowa Cubs game for his birthday.  It was a fun time.           

                  

Ben had to leave the day after the baby was born for six weeks of rotations, so Rod and  I got to spend lots of time with Coleson and Elise while Tearsa took good care of Daxton. 

One day we took Cole to his T-ball game and then we went to the Sweet Corn Festival.  Tons of Iowa sweet corn is shucked and cooked by volunteers and served free to those attending the festival.  We got to watch the parade, Cole and Ellie got to tour an ambulance and then Cole got to spray a can with a fire hose.

                   

              

We did a day at the Zoo and had loads of fun.  We rode the train and saw all the animals.

             

             

                        

Another day we went bowling.  Cole and Ellie used the ramp for the ball and the bumpers on the lane and did great.  Ellie danced her way to and from the ball.  Cole had to finish GG’s turns.  Grandpa, of course, beat us all soundly. 

                  

We were there for the Iowa State Fair.  It’s supposedly the best fair in the country.  We saw the cow sculptured out of butter and Grandpa pretended to be a farmer. 

              

We were there for Cole’s first day of school.  We got to go to the school with him a few days before to meet his teacher, Mrs. Rogers, and see his classroom.  The first day of school he met the bus with all his friends in the neighborhood.  It was a neighborhood happening.  I can’t believe Cole is old enough to go to school.

            

            

We had a fun 10 days in Des Moines.  It was hard to leave but glad to be heading home.

Home

While we were finishing the last of our mission, our family at home was busy getting our house ready for us to come back to.  They are having new tiling put in the bathrooms and new carpet upstairs and down.

                        

                                                  

                         

                         

                                  

                                                          

                                   

Mindy and Ryan avoided the camera, as did Maryn who was taking the pictures, but everyone has worked very hard to have the house ready for us when we arrive home. We are grateful for loving family who have supported us throughout our mission and made it easier to serve knowing they were serving each other. 

                            

Kreg, Maryn and girls put up new lights by the front door for Rod’s birthday.  We love our family!!

Cleveland

Our first stop on our way home was a few days in Cleveland to visit with Casey, Lindsey, Carly and Holland.  We had a wonderful time with them and, of course, we went to a baseball game too.  The Indians were playing the Twins.

             

             

Carly has always enjoyed going to ball games with Daddy and she especially enjoyed the cotton candy this time. 

We have loved being able to see them three times since they moved to Cleveland and getting acquainted with these granddaughters.  Holland is one of two granddaughters born while we were serving our mission.  Carly is especially fond of Grandpa James (Rod).  They will be a good excuse to come back and visit the mission.

Last Week in the Mission

Elder and Sister Warnock arrived on Saturday, July 28th after one week and 2 days in the MTC.  They stayed in the Mission Home for 2 nights.

                                           

We moved out of the apartment on Monday and moved our stuff to Wheeling to put in Wes and Sara’s moving van.  The Warnocks moved in to the apartment and got settled for the next 12 months.  We came back to the Mission Home where we stayed for 5 nights while training the Warnocks in the office.

                

              

We enjoyed our stay in the Mission Home with President and Sister Topham.  They were wonderful hosts and the Mission Home is beautiful.

               

We had a good last week in the office training the Warnocks and saying goodbye to the Elders.  Elder Huber trained me and is going home in a few months. 

                                          

We officially said goodbye to beautiful Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Mission on August 4, 2012.  It has been a wonderful adventure and the Lord has blessed us abundantly as we have served with Him in this work.  This is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and we have been blessed to help share it in this part of His vineyard.  We will miss it but look forward to time with family and our next adventures.