2010 starts with an amazing trip for Matt

Matt is on his way to Haiti, they have a long couple of days trip ahead of them but the final destination is Dessalines Haiti where they will be doing restoration to a medical complex that Central Baptist supports. I plan to blog each night to let him know how we are doing here at home and any of you know what I hear from him about his trip so far.

Today pray for safe travel as they go from Austin to the Dominican Republic (Santiago). It's a long day full of hours of waiting in multiple airports. Pray for patience and that the team bonds and enjoys each other company. Also pray for time alone with God for each of the men as they head to a place of darkness.

See you later tonight with hopefully something productive to report.

2009... a year we will never forget.

A year in review:
Ethan turned 9, the last of the single digit years and Serah turned 7.
The kids and I finished out one year at the Academy and then we headed back home to homeschooling.
We took trips to;
Alabama to spend time with Grand Tacon and Ladye,
Carlsbad Caverns New Mexico with two great families... we had so much fun we're thinking of making it an annual event,
Surfside beach to enjoy a fabulous week with the Cook/Waters clan,
And traveled through 8 states on a round trip Thanksgiving vacation that totally blessed us (we spent a week most of the time in North Carolina with the Guys).
We've been on a journey of discovery of what God has planned for our family spiritually and what church will look like for us.
We found out we were expecting another child and lost it to heaven in 4 days.
We've experienced some of the highest of highs and lowest of lows of our lives this year but our God has carried us through and hopefully we've learned some things along the way.
We've been blessed by the joy of traveling through this life with friends and family that are as real with us as we are with them. We know God is on his throne and has our family in his hands.

The year the kids ruled Christmas

We let the kids decorate the tree themselves this year... hope you enjoy the masterpiece they created!

Rainforests, Bama Fans and Smoke in the Mountains

So we headed out from Dallas at 6 on Saturday morning with the intent to drive to Chattanooga Tennessee at a nice enjoyable pace. Along the way we saw tall pine trees, rain, the Mighty Mississippi, rain, Bienville National Forest (Serah's Rainforest) and yet more rain. Things were going great till we crossed into Alabama and hit Tuscaloosa, silly us planned a trip on a Bama ball game Saturday, I now have Matt's full support in rooting against Alabama in any sports event. What should have taken us 30 minutes took 1 1/2 hours. After fighting through the crazy traffic we continued on the Chattanooga, arriving at our hotel at 9pm EST and realized our kids still hadn't eaten. We checked in and I got the kids in the showers while Matt ran next door and picked us up Wendy's, was so not the sit down dinner we had planned.

The next day dawned, bright and clear... oh no, wait that was just in my head... it was nice and drizzly, but still we had a hope for a better day. We headed over to have breakfast with Matt's cousin and his family. What a delicious start to the day. After that we loaded back up in the car and headed towards the mountains. We decided to try our luck again with a more relaxed trip and took the scenic route instead of the interstate. Even though we started the day with rain all around us we trusted God to clear the skies enough for us to see His beauty around us.

The glory of God is amazing, we took a route that took us through the Smoky Mountains and up part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Matt was such an awesome husband and stopped often for me to take so many pictures. I can't wait to get them developed.

We arrived to joy and excitement at the Guy's house at around 8:30 EST and have had a wonderful time since then. Since I don't want to waste too much time of my vacation on the computer I'll save all the fun stories till later.

First day of school in cold weather

It was in the mid to upper 40's this morning and we had left the windows open so the house was quite cold when we got up, needless to say we are doing school in warm cozy's today. Enjoy the view and praying you are blessed with His presence today.

The blessing of a Godly Daddy

We have been through a lot these past couple of months, ups and downs, highs and lows. I don't think we could have made it through without the example of Matt. He has guided us through it all with love, compassion and strenght.

This Sunday was one of those special days for us. We have been spending some time as a family just learning what God has planned for us. We decided it was going to be one of our home days and so Matt sat down with the concordance and an idea of what God wanted him to share with us. He found a scripture and had Ethan read it, then we had a wonderful discussion with the kids about kindness and forgivness. The peacefulness of that day was much needed and I thank God for this chance we've been given.

We are so blessed to have the example he gives us of love, strength and compassion, just like our Heavenly Daddy.

just a normal school day

Even Princesses have to do their schoolwork!

Prince Charming has been known to

make an appearance or two.