Ronald McDonald House

In January, Jarrod and I had a conversation about his 40th birthday...he didn't want a big party, so we decided to honor his special day by serving the awesome families at the Ronald McDonald House in Durham. When the day finally came it was more awesome than we could have ever imagined!!

March 17, 2013

Our amazing group of friends and family who came to show some love to the Ronald McDonald House!

The families loved the food!! Jarrod's family makes a dish called "red chicken" and by the end of the night there was only a small container of leftovers! The ribs provided by our neighbor were also a big hit!!

Joseph was a big help with the cookies!

Jarrod's mom, Jan, is famous for her HUGE batches of chocolate chip cookies! 

The families were excited about the leftovers. :) At the end of the night, we sealed them up in ziplock bags so they could have a snack in their rooms later. 

Connie and her girls loved helping out! They want to come back and volunteer in the future. 

The Birthday Boy!!

The kids were awesome...especially since some of them were there for many hours helping out!

Sweet Eli and Shannon!

This lady has been at the House since September 2012. Her daughter was CURED of sickle cell...and they left the House to return home the day after we visited!

Jarrod's sister, Jennifer, was amazing...she has lots of experience cooking for large groups of people! She is always in charge of the meal planning when we all go to the beach! :)

Of course, we forgot something at the House and had to go back the next day. This was a great opportunity for a picture with Ronald! :)

Legopalooza

Jarrod and a friend from our Lego Group took 3 super excited boys to the "Legopalooza" event at Morehead Planetarium on March 16th. They loved looking at all of the awesome displays. 

"What's this Daddy?" The boys didn't know anything about Ghostbusters! 

Jarrod got some great panoramic shots.

Jarrod was drooling over the vintage Legos and the super organized display cases!

The ski village was awesome...lots of cool details.

Check out these adorable Lego fans!!

Fear

Recently, Joseph has been experiencing a lot of fear and anxiety at bedtime. It's not just "trying to get out of going to bed." It is real fear. I remember experiencing this as a child...I was very fearful and worried about EVERYTHING! I don't want Joseph to let fear control him...it is so hard as a parent to handle these types of situations...especially when you are tired and just want to go to sleep!

His current fear is of someone breaking into our house. I can't tell him that will never happen. I've explained to him that the dogs would go crazy if someone tried to break in and that would wake up Daddy. He replied, "So, what could Daddy do about it? He doesn't even know how to fight." (I had to giggle a little when he said that!) Jarrod has tried to explain to him that if our family were in danger, he would do everything in his power to protect us. Joseph then started worrying that the bad guy might have a gun and shoot Daddy.

These are real fears...these things could happen...we live in a world where evil is real...bad guys are real...

I've just been praying with him every night and teaching him how to pray. Here are some Bible verses that we've used when praying:

Psalm 27:1

The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid?

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

Isaiah 41:10

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:13

For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.