KY Vacation Part 1

We left for KY on June 8th and returned to CO on June 23rd to this:

 If you haven't heard, we are having multiple fires around the Colorado Springs area.

We are safe where we are, but many of our friends have been evacuated from their homes.

 Please  pray for this whole situation.  It is not good.  Our air is filled with smoke this morning and many structures are in danger.  We have 3 kids who have breathing issues already.  They are staying inside today.  It is not worth the risk.

This is my favorite place in KY, my parents' porch.  I love to sit out here in the mornings with a cup of coffee and my Bible.  Many good times are had on this porch.  Lots of memories.

 It is the kids' favorite place to eat at Papa's and Grammy's house

 Right after we arrived, Laila came running into Papa and Grammy's house announcing to my mom and me:  "Good News!!  I got a new bike!"  She rode miles on that thing over the 2 weeks we were there.

My parents have the perfect driveway for bike riding.

Papa and Grammy really scored at some yard sales.  First the bike, then Transformers for Sam and Isaiah.

 When I was looking through our pics, I found about 20 pics of our truck.  That is not something I would take a picture of.  Rick, obviously, feels differently.  "Smooth Ride" did well on its first trip across the country.  Even though the back is smaller than our old truck, we were able to fit everything in without a car top carrier.  That is a first.  Rick is an amazing truck packer!

 Posing for Daddy

 My parents have AMAZING neighbors.  They always so willingly share their stuff with us when we visit.  Not to mention the kids love hanging out together.  Seeing them is one of the highlights for our kids on our KY trips.  Unfortunately, they were gone on vacation for most of our time there.  They still let us use their trampoline and pool.  The kids got a couple of days together and did some night swimming, Rock Band playing, and trampoline jumping.

  I promise, none of these pictures are photoshopped.  Rick got some really good shots!  Thanks, Barbour Family for sharing with us!

 Splits in the air

 Karate Kid

 This is probably my favorite

 Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

 Yippee!

 Upside down Sam

 I love the heat and humidity of the South.  My kids are NOT used to it.  They spent lots of time cooling off in the pool.

Abby made her own float with pool noodles

 Isaiah was very scared at first

 Laila looks way happier here than she was most of the time.  

She loves to swim, but hates not being able to touch the bottom.

 After a couple of tries, we couldn't get this kid out of the pool.

More to come....

For Your Enjoyment

I have a bajillion posts to write to catch up from the events of the last 2 weeks.

Really, there is so much to share.

For now, since it is Laila's bday, I will share this video of her singing, "I Am a Promise."

On Vaca

I am still alive.

Actually, very alive.

I just spent the last 5 days at the beach with my hubby celebrating my 40th bday.  Of course, I will share more later.

Before that and now, we are in KY visiting family.

We have welcomed both a niece, Briley Brooke 8 lbs. 5oz. and a nephew, Seth Richard 12lbs. 1oz.(yes, you read that right) while we have been here.  Briley is home and doing well, and Seth has had a rough start, but is improving and hopefully coming home sometime over the next couple of days.

I had a great 40th bday on the actual day surrounded by my family.

I was able to catch up with a friend from high school over lunch.

It has been a good time.

Living life in every way possible.

Hail, No!!

These pics are of Abby's garden just a few days ago, thriving and growing. 

Pumpkins, strawberries, lavender, zucchini, cilantro, and red bell pepper

 We are excited to see the carrots we planted poking through the ground.

 The cucumber seeds are growing in nicely, too!

She also has tomato plants.

 Yesterday, this happened for an hour straight.

We are talking flooding and mega hail coming down non-stop!

 At first, Lauren and Abby thought it would be fun to see what it feels like to have the marble-sized hail hitting them.  Then it became bouncy ball sized and came down harder and faster.  

 Then, we remembered the garden.  Oh, no!  

They went straight to work. 

 As they were working, I could hear them saying, "Ouch, Ouch, Ouch."  

 This is what they rigged up.  The umbrella to cover the tomato plants.

A garbage bag and blanket to cover the rest.  

Sam grabbed this piece of hail.  

This was one of the smaller pieces.  It got much bigger after this pic.

 These pics were taken today.

 Our poor little leaves have been tattered and torn.

 Will they survive?  That is yet to be determined.  

Hopefully we caught it in time and will have some veggies before summer is over.

Speaking of veggies.  We did cut off our first stems of cilantro to make guacamole this week.

The happy farmer with her crop!!

The huge blessing in all of this is that our basement didn't flood.  We have been having issues with that since we moved into the house.  Rick was able to tackle that project last summer and get things fixed.  Last night was the true test.  The basement was safe and dry!  

Did my title make you laugh?  I couldn't stop laughing as I typed it! : )

This week...

...we spent our Saturday "Living the Mission" with our church by doing yard work for 2 single moms.  That was fun!!

...Rick and I got to pray alongside our Life Group for some members who are moving into their first home very soon.

...the kids have been in VBS.  That means a break for mom!!  Coffee date with a friend where I got a free frap for waiting in line so long.  Chick-fil-a date with another friend where I got a free sweet tea!

...I bought a new swimsuit.  I am still recovering from the trauma of that.

...I found 2 pairs of jeans at Goodwill for a total of $8.00.  Yay!

...we are getting ready for a trip to KY.  It feels weird to not be getting ready for a trip to Africa as well.  October, I am telling myself, October.

...both Lauren and Sam have had playdates with friends.

...I registered Laila for preschool.  Yes, I will have 2 1/2 hours to myself on Monday-Thursday during the next school year.  That sounds absolutely luxurious!!

...I am praying for a family who is approaching the one year mark with their adopted kids home and are needing God to work in their family.

...I am praying for several other families who are in various stages of the adoption process.

...Cody is doing his dog walking job each day.

...we are watching the seeds that were planted in Abby's garden poke through the ground and grow.  We ate cilantro from the garden on Monday!!

...we had a fun time last night chatting into the wee hours with a friend who is home for a visit.

...I am enjoying the summer weather.  Did I mention how much I love my air conditioners?

...Rick's vacation begins the minute he leaves work today!!!!  Ba-bam!

...I am less than one week away from turning 40 years old!!  That is a whole other level of trauma.  My hubby is taking me to the beach for a few days to recover!!

...I realize I use a lot of exclamation points in my blog posts!!

...I am not cooking again until after vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Swaziland or Bust

I am excited to announce that Beyond Survival will be hosting its first official trip to Swaziland this October.  We are officially a non-profit organization and have been in the process of getting the foundation laid in order to continue doing work in this beautiful country.  Very soon we will be unveiling our new website and sharing how you can be involved.  For now, a team trip is in the works for October 5-15.  This trip will be open to anyone whether you live in Colorado Springs or not.  The approximate cost will be $3,600(we will know more once flights are secured).   More details will be shared as we finalize them.  If you have been before, or have considered going, this just may be the trip for you.  Let me know if you are interested so we can get the information to you as it develops.  This truly is a life changing opportunity to go and minister(actually you will be ministered to more than you can even imagine).  We have seen so many people's lives impacted throughout the last 5 years as we go and God uses the trip to change the course of their lives.  Others, have fallen in love with this small country in Africa and will never be the same.  If you want to be a part of this trip, start fundraising and saving up now!!

We would ask for your prayers as we begin the planning for this trip.

1.  Pray for God to bring those that He wants to go on this trip.

2.  Pray for the details to fall in place, especially good deals on flights/travel.

3.  Pray for the work that will be done.  We are currently defining the details of this trip and need God's direction.

4.  Rick will be leading the trip.  I would love to go and it is Abby's turn to go as well.  This girl is so ready to go to Africa, and we would love to take her this year.  Pray that the details would fall into place for that to work out(finances, childcare for our other children, etc.)

I will keep you posted as developments occur!!

I will leave you with a few pics from last year's trip.  I had tears in my eyes and felt such a tug in my heart as I looked through pics.  I can't tell you how this country has changed my life and stolen my heart!!

My favorite memory from last year's trip:

Praying over the children at the carepoint 

 Love, love, love how this little guy is holding onto Cody's pocket

 This is how we saw Lauren the whole time, surrounded by children

 Lovin' on the kiddos

Now, don't you want to go??

First Week of Summer

Our first week of summer had been filled with activity.  It started last Saturday with Abby's piano recital.  She did beautifully, as always.  I have never once had to make this girl practice piano.  She loves it and is completely motivated.

 That is her teacher in the picture with her.  I just love that woman.  She is such an example of living life to the fullest.  Not only has she overcome some pretty devastating circumstances in her life, but she is vibrant and active despite some health issues.  She has an amazing flower/herb/vegetable garden in her back yard.  I am not just talking a couple of raised beds.  I am talking beautiful flowers, arches, fountains,and pathways everywhere.  I didn't even know you could grow all of this stuff in CO.  Because of Abby's passion for gardening and her teacher's expertise, we volunteered Abby's time to help out with gardening chores.  Her teacher was so excited and not only wants her help, but is paying her for her work!  This is a perfect situation, not only does she get to learn from an amazing woman, she also gets to earn some money for her summer!!

We were blessed with an amazing gift on Sunday.  We were given this 4-wheeler as a hand-me-down from some dear friends.  I cannot even tell you how much excitement this has added to our house.  We have never had a battery operated vehicle.  This one is so cool because it is big enough for the bigger kids, too!

 Sam loves it so much he wanted me to take his picture kissing and hugging it!

 Each morning I call the kids together to do this devotional together.  They "love"(not really) hearing me sing the old hymn that says, "Jesus is calling, tenderly calling"each morning when it is time to gather for the start of our day.  I love having something to bring our day into focus!  I really love the adult version of this book, too.  It totally challenges me and ministers to my heart.

 Here is our summer list that we created.

On the left:  Fun Things To Do

On the Right:  Acts of Service

 I am looking forward to marking things off our list and making the summer about more than just our fun, but also serving others!

We did some butcher paper drawing on the patio.  They love this, and I love that it occupies them.  We are going to use that butcher paper for lots of different activities this summer.

 Isaiah insisted I get a picture of his "Big Whale" he drew.

 Do you remember me mentioning Isaiah's job of folding towels.  The boys is a great towel folder, but for some reason, he thinks he needs to make a different pile for each towel he has folded.  He was so proud of his work.

 My bedroom floor was covered in random towel piles.

I guess we need to work on that!

Speaking of jobs, I have 3 kids around here willing to work really hard this summer.  Cody is currently doing dog walking, but also likes to do yard work and car washing.  Lauren is a great babysitter, and she and Abby are both great house cleaners.  If you need help, just let us know.  They would love the opportunity to earn some extra spending money and the experience that comes with a job.

The kids have been having late bedtimes now that school is out.  I found Sam like this on his floor one night this week.  He just couldn't make it to his bed. 

Late bedtimes, means later mornings.  That is probably my favorite thing about summer.  I am loving sleeping in.  Summer is my favorite time of year!!