Where did the summer go

Thanks Mrs. Spice for your concern of my absence! I am still alive and we did make it back from FL.
So- you thought it was going to be a great blog. We had an excellent time in FL and were sad to come home. Literally all of us(but Trav) crying like blubbering idiots when we left. My mom dropped us at the air port which also began the domino of crying starting with April and ended with my mom. Sorry Mom! She and I were trying not to tear up but failed.
Anyway- I have not pictures on this post because I'm not using my own computer... we have been completely out of commission lately... in too many ways to explain. I request that you continue to check back regularly for the fabulous surprise that I may actually have posted again!! School starts again Monday for the kids and Wyatt goes all day...waahhh! What will I do without my little buddy half of the day? Maybe it will give me more time to blog?!
Don't hold your breathe.

Those were the day- NO- THESE are the days!

As I mull pictures I've taken, I realize that I am sometimes so caught up in capturing the moment so I can cherish it later that I forget to get myself in to the action. I find myself behind the camera instead of in the pictures with the kids. Don't get me wrong, I love pictures and I love looking back at my little gifts from above.
When my kids were babies, I heard so often "enjoy them while you can, they grow up so quickly". I did not know how true that would be... so much so that I do find myself looking at pictures and feeling as though I don't remember them at a particular age. As I spend more time with the kids, I realize how much fun they are and how much more I enjoy them. I find myself dreading the bickering that will be done or the clean up afterwards less and less. So- I am challenging myself to be submersed IN the fun rather than just stand by and watch and wait for it to become a memory. I will continue to take pictures but hopefully I'll be in a lot of more of them also. I want my kids to remember that I played with them and had fun with them rather than them just remembering me as the one who took pictures of it and then stomped on their fun and ended it.

How can I resist fun with these two?!

We have made the venture to the beach twice since we've been here. My mom and dad live about an hour and a half from the beach, so it's a planned experience.

We have a small trek to the beach and Mamaw, April, and Wyatt showed the way... as though they had been there before!

Wy heads straight for the beach to start looking for seashells to sell by the seashore(sorry couldn't resist that one).

Then, while searching for shells and sand dollars(which, by the way, literally cover the ocean floor in the shallow waters), my mom spots this cute little critter in our plastic bag. Yep- look close, it's a tiny octopus. Isn't it cute? A little, bitty crab also made it in there and made it all the way home without us noticing... but I didn't get a picture of him. Then at the end of lunch each day, we somehow attract this crowd...

Wyatt and April can tell you how it happens. Imagine this many, about 2 more times. They like food. The kids would throw some food up in the air and they would sometimes fly up and catch it in the air. There were so many, they would knock in to each other. There was one other attempt at a beach day but were turned around by a storm. By the time we got home, the area had been swallowed by black clouds.
Something like this.

(For those of you in AZ, this is called rain... it makes things wet)

Hope you all enjoy yourselves this summer and remember to have fun! You'll never forget it and neither will your family.

Oh my little Wyatt

I am sorry that I am such a fair weathered blogger, if that makes sense. I want so much to have the time to blog this long, beautifully meaningful, and witty post but am learning that it's just not going to happen for me.

So with advice and reassurance from fun Kristi recently, I am posting a short little funny that my Wyatt said this morning at breakfast.

As several of you know, we're in FL visiting my parents for close to a month. This morning April pinched the top of her finger in a closet door. We were talking about it at breakfast with Gramma and Gramma proceeded to tell April and Wyatt about a story when her younger twin brothers were little. Within a couple of days of each other they each cut off the top of a finger and had to have it sewn on. One finger tip she had to retrieve from the door jam of the car so the doctor could reattach. I thought it was ironic that twins had that happen within a couple of days of each other. She proceeds with another story about them and when one hit his head on something and had to have stitches above his eyebrow. And again, ironically, a couple of days later the other brother was running and somehow rammed a popsicle stick in above his eyebrow and had to have stitches. I was thinking how hard it must have hit or how fast he must have been running. Whatever the circumstance. Then my little Wyatt says... are you ready...

he says-wow he must have really had a brain freeze!

Okay- I hope you are laughing as hard as my mom and I were. I hope it's not one of those had to be there stories.

Anyway- we're having fun in FL. We were headed to the beach but got turned around by some nasty storm clouds and it's been raining off and on all day.

I'll try to keep up! Thanks for not writing me off completely, if you have not already!

Thanks Kristi

Trying AGAIN!

Woo Hoo!! It's working!
Wow, where do I begin?

Mexico Missions, anyone?

We went to Empalme, Sonora, Mexico. It is a small town outside of Guaymas, which is down on the coast. We went not really knowing what we would be helping with. We went with no expectations either. We ended up helping them clean up a retreat area that they have. It is a retreat area unlike any we could ever imagine. They actually camp when they retreat. They were getting ready to use it during Holy week, just before Easter. The whole church would use it at this time and have a wonderful time of fellowship, worship, prayer...We help them clear weeds, poor a concrete footer for a wall that would go up at a later time, mostly tidy-ing up the place.

Wild life was even involved!

Yes- we were able to take the kids and we would do it again in a second.I love the fact that we all experienced our first missions trip together. It was amazing to know, that at that point in our lives, as Don Boyd put it, we were smack dab in the middle of God's will. I am grateful for the experience and am very humbled by the thought of God using me this way.

I have heard so many times that children are resilient. I know this to be true, for sure, now.
The night we arrived, we were greeted by people from the Cristo Vive Church, that had lined both sides of the path into the courtyard at the church. To say it was overwhelming is not quite the right description. Imagine yourself in a foreign country where you cannot understand a word of their language... are you imagining? Now you find yourself completely encompassed by people of a culture unlike yours...you are not use to their customs and sure as heck don't know where you are or what is about to become of you! Now realize how you're feeling and remember that I'm sharing an experience involving children.

*I think we were all a little taken back by the welcome.

We made it through the welcome line into the courtyard where there were even more people and a long buffet table. Long story, even longer...April and I were sitting eating our better than outstanding,authentic food, prepared by some of the most loving hands I've met... she turns to me, close to tears, and says "Mommy, I'm not so sure about this. I don't have a good feeling about this." She was so uncomfortable with what had transpired up til then(remember we had just arrived not more than 20-30 minutes earlier) that she was ready to go home. She was uncomfortable because she couldn't understand what they were saying and didn't know anyone. So there I was presented with an opportunity to either:

A- play it off and tell her she's fine

OR

B- validate her feelings of discomfort and take advantage of the opportunity God has given me.

I told her I also felt a little uncomfortable but shared with her that this is a time to pray for God's peace on our lives and His protection for our trip. After dinner, we were matched with our host families and we got to stay with the Pastor and his family. Pastor Ulysses, his wife Veronica, and kids Isreal, Nohemi, Paloma.

(Paloma and I. She was fascinated with the concept of the digital camera)

We went from that the night we arrived(sat.) to Sunday morning April going to Sunday school. She went with Nohemi(sounds a little like Noami), who is only about a year older than April. I've seen God work in my life and at that moment, had the privilege of seeing Him work in my child's life. What a precious gift that I did not realize until I am typing it now. Thank you, God, for your goodness in my life. Not only was I in the middle of God's will but I also saw first hand answered prayer. I had experienced a peace that I have heard other describe. It was a wonderful feeling as a mother to have a peace like no other. I don't know that I have ever trusted "strangers" with my children like I did that week. It was amazing.

Here are a few other pictures of our life changing trip. I want to share them all but I think I took close to 300. Thank goodness for digital cameras. Can you imagine the rolls of film?

When I came across these little girls, they were cracking up because this little dog was biting at their pants. Then they would drag it around while it was tugging at their pants. I wish I could have captured their laughs in a bottle. Such innocent joy! They were playing near the "park"(I use that term loosely) where we invited neighbors to some VBS-like activities.

Here are only some of the kids that came for the fun.

Parting is such sweet sorrow!

Here begins the aftermath of our trip.

A lot of this on the way home.

I have to stop now otherwise I truly could show you each of my picture and comment about every single one. If God speaks to you about missions, LISTEN! He will make it happen!

I'm trying!!

Out of fear of losing my faithful viewers and out of sheer desperation I am posting a teaser!
Stayed tuned... I've been trying to add pictures to a new post but it's not working tonight. Hopefully I can get it working!
Have a great weekend everyone!

Random-ness

Not random things about me... just random pictures.


This one is for Candi! :-)
I made this for one of the other moms in April's Brownie troop. Not the greatest picture of it but you get the idea.

So a couple of you know that I've been bugging Travis to let me get a puppy. I kept saying to him that it's either a baby or a puppy. I don't think that really scared him much. But as you can see in the pictures... he must love me because he let me get a puppy.

Her name is Mitzi. And she's super sassy!

Aawwwww!

April wishes sometimes that Mitzi had long hair to put bows. She had to improvise with her ear. Here are their "matching" hair bows.

Dot is learning to love her and put up with her.

I know this is a pathetic excuse for a blog post... but my life has been somehow crazy lately. I promise the next one will be better. I have plenty of pictures from our somewhat last minute missions trip to Mexico. And I'm sure I will have plenty because we're taking another last minute trip to CO for spring break. So- I hope yall will be waiting with baited breath! HA HA!(yeah right)

Mi Vida Loca

Mi vida loca...woo-hoo!

That's all I can say when my husband looks like this... but we have fun! I wouldn't trade a minute of it. I feel so humbled by God's blessings in my life. I was just telling April and Wyatt today that it is so powerful to think that as much as I love the two of them, God loves them and me even more. Something I still can't comprehend and probably never will. I just know that I have to try and remember that when I find myself wondering too much what other people think of me and if they care. As much as I love my family and friends, there's only 1 that truely matters. I continue to pray that I may live my life so that it is pleasing to God.

So- here's a few others for fun and pictures from when Trav's brother, Ryan, was here the first of Feb...to help with the "backyard project".

A beauty queen showed up after the sodding was done.
Wyatt had great fun doing "guy" stuff with Uncle Ryan.

The beauty queen stayed for pictures with fans!

Even Dot was happy about the new grass... somewhere

soft to relax after baking herself in the sun.

This is Wyatt after the ibuprofen for all

the shots he got the day before.

The kids couldn't resist the sprinklers! Ahhh! There's

nothing like a run through the sprinklers in your undies!

"This would be a lot more fun if this were a real beach"

One of my sisters got these masks and they came with flippers but you can't fit both kids and the full sets in the tub at the same time.

Can you follow up a picture like this one?

It had been too long since we had seen Ryan and our weekend with him went way too fast. We were blessed with a great time! We missed you Melissa!