The Dumm Farm

This past weekend we went to Joplin, Missouri to stay with the Dumm family and speak at Forrest Park church. The Dumm's have a farm outside of Joplin that we stayed at and were so blessed! It is such a beautiful place. And they are such an incredible family. They are the family that came to Kenya this past January that Bud went and met up with. They have four girls but had brought the two oldest to Kenya, ages 10 and 12. The wife, Krissy, had come on a team last year in March. Their church will be sending a team again this summer in June so we got to meet with them Sunday night. I'm just overwhelmed with thankfulness to have them be a part of Mattaw. We ask the Lord often to bring the right people along to be a part of Mattaw Children's Village, whether it be in a big or small way. We had prayed way back for where we needed to visit before going back to Kenya and felt we should make it up to Missouri. I'm so glad we did! And I thought Texas was the only place that has such great hospitality and made you feel right at home. I was wrong! There are indeed people outside of Texas that do and we just so happened to stay with them this past weekend :). Lets recap the weekend...

We drove there Friday. It was a 6 hr drive from where my parents now live. Have I mentioned they moved? Yep, moved AGAIN. Northwest of Ft. Worth. The time went by super fast to get there. We timed it well so that Claire and Elisha slept most of it. Elisha was nice to us and slept 3 hours of it. We got there around 4ish. Bud went around the farm with Matthew. Elisha liked seeing the horses, cows, tractors, and bunny. Take note I said "seeing". He wasn't too interested in getting close. They have a baby calf that is orphaned and missing one ear. They have to bottle feed it. Elisha got all excited at first until the calf ran full speed up to him and he realized when we said "baby" it was a baby that was bigger than him. I pretty much didn't see Elisha all weekend. He spent most of it running off playing with all the girls. Everywhere else we went there were children that would take him to play too. The girls we stayed with were so sweet and played with Elisha and Claire all weekend. Bud teased Makensey that she was our nanny for Claire. She was awesome with her that's for sure. That night Matthew and Krissy had their parents over for dinner as well as their aunt and uncle. They cooked a delicious meal with brisket and all the fixins. You could have fooled me and made me think we were in Texas with all the good food and hospitality. Even sweet tea. We enjoyed getting to hang with all of their family. Matthew's parents came on the trip this past January as well.

The second daughter, Reagan, is a great softball player and had a few games this weekend. Bud went to watch them Saturday morning but it was delayed because of the rain so we never got to watch a game. Lunch Saturday we went to another family's house, the Meneval's. What a precious family. The husband, Carson, went with the Dumms this past January as well. He and his wife plan to come to Kenya next year. Very excited for them to come! They made us a feast for lunch. Bud ate three steaks. Yes, I said that right. They have a two year old little boy that is a few days older than Elisha. Also a four year old little girl. That night we went to the church and spoke to the children at their night service. We had a Mattaw table set up and were grateful for those that signed up to sponsor.

Sunday morning we went to church again and did the same thing, different group. That afternoon we went over to the Towery's house, who were the couple that led the team last year. Another awesome family. The wife is leading the team this year. That night they had a big cook out. They invited the people that went on the team last year as well as those coming this year. We were able to talk to those coming this year. There were A LOT of kids running around but it was fun none the less!

This morning we took our time having breakfast with the Dumm's and then left at about 10. It felt like a little bit of a longer trip this time but it still went well. We were a little sad to leave! But glad to be back with my parents and spend our last week here before flying out NEXT MONDAY!!!!

Here are some pictures from the weekend. I got them from Krissy's camera because I forgot to charge our camera's battery. And when we got to my parents, I found that we had the charger the entire weekend. Oh well, Krissy got some good ones...

From left to right: Krissy, Makensey, Claire and I, Bud and Eli, Abigail, Reagan and Livia. Matthew took the picture.

Livia and Abigail with Claire. So sweet!

Reagan feeding the calf, Jordan. Elisha not so sure about it.

Makensey and Claire at church

Claire smiling and talking to Reagan

Bud and Eli playing a game with the girls. I'm pretty sure he was cheating.

Matthew, Bud and Makensey at church

Alicia and I. Alicia will be coming with the team this summer and staying a month!

Bud and I talking about our precious Kenyan children, it never gets old!

Did I mention that we leave for Kenya a WEEK from TODAY?! I'm glad to have this last week for last minute packing, running errands, and spending time with family but gosh, I'm so ready to be back! Oh and please pray for my sister in law, Kim. She is scheduled to have her fifth baby this Wednesday. What perfect timing since we'll fly out of Houston. I'm excited to meet the little guy.