Pumpkin Carving

Ever since the boys were little, we have done pumpkin carving each October. This is one of our favorite activities and the boys always ask about it!

This year, since we were still living in a hotel, we had some good friends invite us over to their house to do the carving. They had never carved a pumpkin with their kids, so it was great fun to see it all from a "newbies" perspective. It was also fun to be around little ones again!

The pumpkins!

What is in there?!?

Is it supposed to look like that?

The daddys are working hard to get all of those pumpkins done!

G with his pumpkin opened up!

M with his pumpkins innards!

G with his finished product!

M with his finished product!

Drew with his finished pumpkin!

Sweet baby Evan with his pumpkin!

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.

Praying for Friends

Friends,
If you don't already know, we have several friends who have adopted and are going to adopt from Eastern Europe. One of those is our music minister and family - the Malones. They have 2 children with Down Syndrome that they have already adopted that grew their family to 7 kids. They currently have 3 children with Downs. They are all precious and we love each one of them!
They have (this week) committed to adopting another angel - Ruslana (soon to be known as Ellianna - not sure of the spelling). There is a time crunch for them right now, but God will provide as He leads. In order for this sweet girl to be kept in the baby home and not moved to a mental institution, they must have all of their paperwork submitted (and funds raised) by February 1st. Humanly, this seems impossible, but with God all things are possible.
I am writing to ask you to pray for them. Pray that God will provide exactly what is needed for every step of the journey. Pray for all of the details here and abroad to be worked out. Let God work in your life as well. You can follow the Malone's journey at www.themalonefamily.us.
We love each one of you and wish you a very Merry Christmas this year!

Fun with "old" Friends

When James and I met, we were part of an incredible youth group. We were both Air Force "brats", so having somewhere to belong was really a unique experience. Both of our fathers ended up stationed around the St. Louis area and our families resided in O'Fallon, IL. If you have never lived in a small town in the midwest, you are missing a treat.

We ended up at First Baptist Church, O'Fallon, IL. James had been there for 2 years and I was just a part of the group for my senior year (having 3 high schools and moving between your junior and senior year does not kill you!). The youth group at this church was VERY active and accepted me and my sister right away - practically dragging us to every activity. We got there in the summer, and there seemed to be something going on every night. It could have been extrememly overwhelming, but God used it in a powerful way to draw me closer to Him.

For many years, several of us that were in the youth group together, began to talk about having a reunion. Just a time to get together and catch up. This last year, James and I took the bull by the horns and dove in to get it done. So, after lots of help and some hard work, several weekends ago we had a reunion. What a blessing to our lives this was. We got to see friends we had not been in touch with in years. One of the highlights was seeing all of our kids playing together as if they were long time friends!!!!

Our schedule for the weekend went something like this - Friday was family day - each kind of made their own plans and several families did activities together. We ended up at the City Museum in St Louis and then the boys went up in the arch. We went with Sheila and her family and Chip and his family. What a blast!



Friday evening, many ladies of the church provided dinner for us and we had a casual gathering at the church. Tim L. brought up the tractor and gave the kids tractor rides around the church property.



Saturday, a great couple from the church offered their home and pool to us to have a pool party. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and swam for 4 hours. The "show" came with several of the dads, James included, decided to join the kids and show off on the diving board. Chants of belly-flop, belly-flop could be heard for blocks followed by splashing and cheers!



Saturday evening was the "adults only" dinner with childcare provided by the church (thanks FBC for all you did for us). We spent 2 1/2 hours sharing the impact the youth group had on our lives and what God is doing in our lives now. What a powerful evening it was! I really believe God ordained this time. We had people who have continued to serve faithfully to those who had fallen away from church attendance. But I believe both were impacted in a life changing way and were reminded how important it is to be in God's Word and to be in fellowship with other believers. I give God all the praise and glory for the work He did that weekend. We continue to hear stories about how families were changed! Thank you God!



Sunday we attended church together and had "leftovers" and pizza for lunch. What a blessing to be together for this great time of worship. Sunday evening, about a dozen of us had the opportunity to share with the current youth group about our experiences. We had a great time worshipping with them and answering their questions. It was great to see so many youth interested in what God has done and will do. Again, thank you to FBC for providing us with that opportunity. We ended the weekend eating at Red Robin with a big group of friends.





I cannot think of the weekend without giving God the glory and credit for making a difference in our lives. These truly are friends that will be forever friends, because we have a God that bonds us for eternity.