Road Trip part 2

Topeka, Kansas

After leaving St. Louis, we headed to Topeka. We have two supporting churches in Topeka, and family (Matt's great-aunt and uncle). We spent 3 days there and had a lot of fun. Going to Shirley and Jerry's house is always like visiting grandparents for me (which I especially appreciate as all my grandparents have passed away.)

Our first day we went to a local water park. It was a great combination of pools, slides and fun for all ages.

I think the lazy river was a favorite for the kids. Even aunt Shirley joined in the fun!

Nathan was the only kid who was brave enough to try a bigger slide. But Matt and I had fun on the curvy yellow slide!

After a day at the water park we got together with the missions team from Northland for a bbq dinner. It was a great time of reconnecting and catching up with those neat people.

Road Trip part 1

Texas to Missouri

When we left Texas on June 7 we headed to Missouri. We got to visit with friends in PNG who we went thru POC with back in 2003. Then it was on to St. Louis to see a good friend from high school and her family. We stayed two nights and had a blast playing and hanging out and eating some really yummy bbq!


The kids had a blast playing in the fountains in downtown St. Louis.

On the road again........

These last 2-ish weeks have been a whirlwind. We've been driving, visiting friends, driving, doing fun stuff, driving, driving, driving. We've gotten to spend time with dear friends and family. The kids have been spoiled with fun adventures. And Matt and I never want to see a McDonald's again! But it's going to be great to be out of the car for a while... 18 whole days in California before beginning the long trek back to PNG.

As soon as we're settled in CA I have a million stories and pictures I want to get up. But for now, some of the highlights are:

*fun day at the farm in Topeka
*playing Puerto Rico with dear friends whom we haven't seen in 8 years
*tornado sirens in Iowa
*the pool house in Iowa
*hotel with an indoor waterslide
*hanging with good friends in St. Louis
*Waterpark in Topeka
*reconnecting with friends whom we haven't seen in years... oh, it's so hard to have to say goodbye to them again for who-knows-how-many years. =(

Random side note: For years, I thought it would be hard to live away from the ocean. I love the beach, and water. But now I could easily live in Iowa, or even better, Colorado. They are just beautiful places. I wish we had more time on furlough. I would love to stay and camp for a week here in the Rockies. Sigh. Next furlough we've got to get some serious camping in. Yellowstone for sure! =)

Fort Worth Zoo (May 19)

Last Wednesday we went to the Fort Worth zoo. We had been wanting to go, but life was so busy with Matt taking classes and getting ready for Comps that we put it off. But once Comps were over, we were ready to go!

Some of the wildlife.......

The crocodile in the window to the tank next to where we ate our lunch. It was fun to see such a big animal swimming around so close to us!

Of course, we had to ride the train!

The Taylor Crocodile Wrestlers.....

and Komodo Dragon tamer


Feeding the birds and having them land on the seed sticks was probably the biggest hit!

After a long day at the zoo, the kids came home and immediately crashed on the couch with books.

Of course, Julianne was not content to relax after a fun day outside. She immediately went and started pulling things out of bathroom drawers and making a mess.

Randomness

Here's a synopsis of the last couple of weeks:

Pillbugs! The kids are fascinated with Pillbugs (or roly polys). They spend endless hours collecting them and making homes for them. Julianne has discovered them as well and LOVES to play with them. Luckily for her, she discovered that they are in abundance in the crack under our back screen door. Ahhh, kids and bugs!

I've got you!

Bugs!!!

Cuteness (no bugs in this one!)

Who says Polly Pocket is just for girls???

Swim Lessons!

Today is the last day of swim lessons for the kids. They've really improved in the time they've been going. Granted, neither Justin nor Nathan are swimming laps, but both are not afraid of the water anymore. Justin will get in and hang onto the side, and Nathan will run all over (he's not swimming per say, but doesn't panic when his face gets wet anymore). So all in all a successful time. I only wish we had longer for them to be able to learn more. I guess I'll just work with them when I can.

Ahhhh.... =)

Sisters on our family walk the evening that Matt finished Comps

Texas Fun: Joe Pool Lake

I've been very bad at getting any blogging done recently. So now I'm going to attempt to catch up a bit, amid a crying baby, fussy boys (who just had shots), cookie baking for the swimming lesson-end party, and homeschooling. Hmm... wonder why there hasn't been much blogging lately?

Anyway, I'll start with the trip to Joe Pool Lake with the McEvoy's a couple weekends ago.

All the kids!

We had a lot of fun at Joe Pool Lake. The kids went fishing (no one caught anything though) and it was great because Kaitlyn and Nathan had been talking about going fishing for forever, but neither Matt nor I have any interest in fishing, so we weren't planning on ever taking them. But the McEvoy boys love it and were kind enough to share their poles. =)

We took a picnic lunch, and after fishing went for a swim. It was a nice, relaxing day. Too bad Matt was so busy with studying for Comps and couldn't be there with us.

Thankful

As I was reflecting on this weekend, I was thinking of the many things that happened, and all that I have to be thankful for. There are lots:

I'm thankful for our incredible church in Arlington.

I'm thankful for Melissa, who encouraged me to go on the Ladies' retreat, and that the church paid my way.

I'm thankful for the group of women at GCC, that even though I don't know many of them really well, I totally felt at home with them all at the retreat.

I'm thankful for a baby who loves people and was very good, despite being the only toddler at the retreat.

I'm thankful for Leighann, whose talks were both convicting and inspiring, and I'm so glad she shared with us.

I'm thankful for a great husband, who took good care of the other kids while I was away.

I'm thankful that Julianne actually stayed in the nursery today (for the first time in weeks) so that I could listen to an entire sermon.

I'm thankful for a pastor who is great at teaching from God's word, and does it in an honest, clear and humorous way!

I'm thankful for our time back in the US, that even though it is flying by way too fast, we are able to enjoy things like stopping by McDonald's for lunch, so I don't have to cook, and the kids can play.