Florida Vacation

In June, we traveled to Florida to spend a week at the parks and the beach. We have some great friends - Chip and Heather Whitehead and their son, Carter, who graciously invited us to share their timeshare with them.

We decided to drive - I know, crazy for a family who has free airine travel. We stopped along the way to see James' grandmother in Arkansas and his sister and her family in Alabama.

We started our fun in the sun in Orlando at Sea World - which was a walk across the parking lot from our hotel. Very nice.

Here is the whole gang at Sea World.

There was so much to see and made a full day of it. We even did the backstage tour and got to see lots of animals that are not necessarily "on display" all the time. This little penguin was one that we got to pet.

The animals were amazing and just another reminder of the creativity of our great God.



Here we are ready to tackle Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure!

Universal Studios is set up like street scenes and many of them are from popular movies. For you Back to the Future fans - this is the Delorian used in the movies. The boys have just seen these movies recently, so this was a highlight for sure.

Islands of Adventure has lots of different areas, but I think the favorite was the comic strip area. The boys got to see and get pictures with SpiderMan, Wolverine, Captain America, Storm and others. What a thrill! There was also a new area this year, Harry Potter. Even though we are not really Harry Potter fans, this area is amazingly well done and we got to have a "sneak peak" at the area, since it wasn't scheduled to open for another week.


After our time in Orlando, we travelled to the east coast of Florida to Vero Beach. We did not have any plans for these days, so we just hung out at the beach all day. This is the view from our room! Amazing, huh?

We did not know it before we got there, but Vero Beach is one of the largest nesting grounds for Sea Turtles in the world. There were several spotted during the day when we were swimming, but there were also lots of sea turtle nests up and down the beach.

M on the beach.

G on the beach.

A vacation momento.

Me and my hunny!

Family pics on the beach.

Children's Camp at CrossTimbers

I got to go with both boys to Children's Camp at CrossTimbers right after school was out this year. This was the first time I had been to CrossTimbers and we had a BLAST! The Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma has really done a great job of gearing this camp to kids and keeping them busy!

I stayed in a cabin with girls that had just finished 3rd grade. What an experience! They were great girls, but there was drama - what else would you expect.

The girls in my cabin!

The kids got to experience a lot of things that most kids don't get to do on a regular basis. The mornings were camp activities and they got to do something different each morning - target sports (slingshots, frisbee golf, and shotguns) water sports (canoeing, tubing, and fishing), and ropes course (rock wall climbing, low ropes, zip line, and leap of faith pole). Each afternoon was focused on a mission lesson. They learned about native american missions, African missions, and personal missions. In the evenings, they had chapel led by the Camp pastor for that week (our Camp pastor was our very own Glenn Barber!).

G at Target sports.

One of our favorite "youth" was one of the staffers at CrossTimbers this year. It was great to see and spend a little bit of time with Amanda.

G and M with some of their friends!

M tried the Leap of Faith pole. Basically, you are harnessed in with safety gear, you climb a VERY tall pole and try to stand on it, then you jump to try and get a bandana hanging a ways from you. When you jump, your lines are held up by your friends on the ground - they keep you from falling! M got to the top, but slipped as he tried to stand up. So proud of him for trying! I would not even be able to get to the top!

One night during chapel, M came to me with a tooth missing. It had fallen out right in the middle of chapel. We finally had a top tooth gone!

G really wanted to do the zip line - so off he went! Again, not something his mother would attempt, as it involves climbing to the top of something tall!

Chapel each evening was in the outdoor ampitheater. This was the view of the sunset we had as chapel began each night. What a beautiful picture the Lord gave us!

This is our group from FBC Moore! What a fun time we had!

New Life Ranch

I had the privelege of going with CHA's 5th Grade class to New Life Ranch for Creation Nation. New Life Ranch is located east of Tulsa, OK and is really only about 15 minutes from Arkansas. As we were preparing for this trip, I was talking to my mother-in-law about it. Come to find out, New Life Ranch is where my in-laws met while they were in college - at a BSU retreat. How cool is that!?!

This is the chapel at New Life Ranch.

One of the activities the kids do is water exploration. They have nets and they wade in the water to find the little creatures that live there. At the end of their time, they evaluate how healthy the water is and also talk about the many unique creatures God has made for us to enjoy.

They also spent time fishing and learning how to make fire. The scenery here was breathtaking!

This is one of my favorite pictures.




The kids have a devotional time each morning. They find a quiet place outside to study God' word.

While they wait for dinner, the kids really got into carpet ball. Really just a long table with pool balls. They tried to knock each others balls off the table.

One of the free time activities was rock wall climbing. They could also kayak or canoe. The outside time was limited, since we got a lot of rain while we were there. They also spent hours playing keyhole tag and dodgeball.

CHA's Fifth Grade class - 2010

Spring 2010

Wow! So much has happened since I last posted - and again, I am not very good at this, but I am trying.

After much prayer, on April 30, James accepted a job at Headquarters with Southwest Airlines. That means we are moving. We have been in Oklahoma 8 years and with family. This is going to be a hard one, but we know that God is in control and we are trusting Him with all the details.

Very soon after that (the day after Mother's Day), a HUGE hailstorm hit our house. James had had knee surgery that day. The boys were with James' parents, so he and I sat in our room, listening to the tornado sirens go off and the hail pound our house. We had never heard or seen anything like and honestly I hope we never do again. Here are some pictures of the damage (that is the neighbor's car, not ours).

The hail was the size of grapefruits and went straight through the decking of our roof.

Life goes on and we put our house on the market to sell - with a new roof for the new owners.

Thanks to Mom, I was able to go with Garrett on the 5th Grade trip to New Life Ranch for Creation Nation. Mom stayed and helped James and took care of Mason. We had a great time on the trip with great friends, learning how God is even in the little things.

We wrapped up the school year and said goodbye to great friends and Christian Heritage Academy. We have been blessed by the teachers, staff, and friends at CHA. They have left a lasting impression in our lives and on our hearts.

Not good at this...

I am not very good at keeping up with my blog posts.

I have really good intentions, really I do.

They just don't get done in a timely manner.

I even have higher expectations for those blogs that I read on a consistent basis - I almost get upset when there is not a new post in a while. I need to be better.

I am so glad that God forgives me when I don't communicate with Him in a while. I know He must greive when I am distant, or a I don't "post" a prayer in a while. I am, after all, still a sinner, but I am saved by grace and when I come to Him, no matter if it has been an hour, a day, a week, or a month, He welcomes me back with open arms and rejoices! Have you been in contact with God recently? Go to Him and let Him hold you and rejoice over you!

Boy - that certainly didn't go how I thought it would when I sat down to catch up. Where did that come from? Thank you God for lessons you teach me everyday!

Here is the update I sat down to write.

We spent the holidays in Texas. What a wonderful time with family. M got to shoot his first buck while we were at the ranch. Talk about excited!!!!!

We came home to a little bit of snow on the ground - Oklahoma had record snowfall on Christmas Eve - and cold temps. At the end of January, we got another winter storm, with ice and snow. The kids had a great few days off school and playing in the snow.

We had the privelege of going on a couple of short trips. In February, we went with 2 other couples, the Burts and Bradleys, to Beavers Bend, OK. We rented a cabin, if you want to call it that, for the weekend. The cabin was fabulous. Fireplace, hot tub, beautiful kitchen, and off the beaten path.

For Spring Break, we went camping in the Arbuckle mountains in Oklahoma. We had a couple of beautiful days full of hiking and bike riding. On Friday night, another Oklahoma winter storm blew in and we woke up Saturday morning to sleet and snow. We decided then to pack it in a day early and we came home. Who knew that a winter storm would disrupt our spring break?

We have certainly enjoyed spring this year, after a long and cold winter (at least for OK). Easter was amazing and we were blessed to celebrate our Risen Lord and Saviour with our precious church family.

Last week, I took both boys to get their eyes checked for the first time. M was fine, but we discovered that G needed glasses. (I kind of suspected this, since he had been having lots of headaches.) He looks very handsome indeed.

Okay, once again I am going to pledge to do better about posting in the future. I sure would love to hear from you!