Upcoming Stuff

I am very excited that I have decided to overcome my chicken...bwack bwack...ways and get back to blogging.

After reading back on previous posts I realize how much it helps me stay on track and keeps me on my toes. Of course even on my toes I don't reach much more than 5 feet, but still.

So...things coming up in my life. AKA, plates to spin...

Trip with my Sister

Oh yes, I have waited and anticipated this fun event and Sunday it begins.

I call it, "Sleep/eat/float/shop/movies/chill/sistertimeathon!"

Are you ready for some football?

Logan (10) is playing his first year of football. Yikes. He's fired up though, and I'm fired up for him! 4 months of our life goes to football. Its a good thing I love that boy.

Home School

Year #4 of homeschooling begins August 23rd. We joined a new group. We got some new curriculum. We're doing some things different. We got rid of the school room.

Good grief...what am I thinking?!

Mom & Me Baking

If you don't know about it, you will. Lana and I really want to start back up in September.

Stay tuned.

Group Publishing

I have recently been hired as an independent worker for Group Publishing.

I'm called a "Group Ambassador". You may call me Madam Ambassador.

No really, I'm not kidding. Call me that...in your head...now out loud...right now.

I will get the exciting opportunity to go into churches and do trainings on different church curriculum. Really excited to get this going!

Now, if we could just get some fallish temperatures in here I would be a whole lot more motivated to do all of the above.

Flying Out

It's always comforting to click on your home page and see headlines of a plane crashing 2 days before you are too fly. Especially when its the same airline...and the plane, although not leaving from the same place, was heading to the same place you will be having a layover at.

I figure my odds now are much better though. How often do you hear of multiple days of plane crashes? None. Right? RIght?? RIGht??? RIGHt???? RIGHT?????

I hate flying. Ever since my flight back from Africa and the smelly African man put his long legs, and bare feet up under my seat and his nasty feet where touching my leg...yep, that pretty much sealed my disdain for flying.

But fly I must. And prayers I would appreciate. Adam (my brother) and I will be flying out to PA Saturday to visit my grandparents. My Mom just returned from there and my Grandpas health is deteriorating. So we all felt it would be good for Adam and I to go ahead and go. I don't want the last time I saw him to be the last time I saw him. Know what I mean?

The whole logistical aspect of this has been just a joy. Sarcasm sarcasm sarcasm.
Who knew that a flight could go from $225 to $475 in less than 24 hours.
And furthermore, who knew that flying out of a smaller airport could get you a ticket for $186?
Crazy conspiracy I tell ya!

I am ever grateful for wonderful friends who pull through in a crunch to help out extra hours with my kids.
I'm glad that my husband will be with them Sunday-Tuesday. It will be good "Mr.Mom-Teacher-House Manager" time for him! ;)
Really its just a relief to know that for 3 days at least they don't have to be passed around like hot potatoes.
Logan I know will be fine...Lana, well she's a little attached to her Mama.

So anyways, if you think of me, I would love your prayers.
I will be driving 5 hours to my parents tomorrow afternoon, then my brother and I will leave at 4:30 AM Saturday to get to the airport. Yes folks, that would be ME, ADAM, and 4:30 AM!!!
If you know us at all, you know this is NOT a good combo!

But please do pray that our time with our Grandpa would be sweet and that we can minister to him and my Nana in a way that would bring them closer to the Lord.

I will be ~Big Gulp~ without technology for 4 days. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.
At least I can still text! So text me, YO!



~To God be the Glory Great Things HE has done~

Still Going

Arrived in Robbinsville last night after being in Charlotte for 4 days.
It's been a tiring couple of days, but its been good.
Today as I sat in an all day board meeting I enjoyed the view of the beautiful changing fall leaves mountainside. It is so gorgeous up here right now.

I am tired tonight. It's been a long couple of days.
The kids and I are enjoying snuggling in and watching "The Munsters".
I think I hear chocolate cake calling me right now.
"Missy, I need you...I've been sitting here all day being neglected...you wanna piece of me?"

Ok...I better go pay attention to the chocolate.

Arrived

Just to let you all know we are in Charlotte.
Not without incident of course, but we are here nonetheless.
I have a story to rival some of Kim's traveling stories.
Would you like to hear it? Hear it goes.

You know that I had the stomach bug.
Monday morning I decided to leave anyways as my window of opportunity would leave me if I wanted to fit in Charlotte, and get over to my parents, and get home in time to vote next week.
So we left at 9:00am Monday morning, me still with a very queezy upset stomach, but the kids seeming OK.

About 6 hours down the road, at our 4th stop, we where in the bathroom at a peach stand in Gaffney, S.C. I had my cell phone and my keys in my jacket pocket, went potty, and then went to flush. When I turned around my cell phone and my keys fell right into the toilet. YEP! Plop plop fizz fizz! Joy of Joys. I had to stick my hand into the unflushed toilet to retrieve my phone and keys. Obviously needed them. Of course there where no paper towels, so I had to wipe them off with toilet paper, and then went to the car and used wipes and hand sanitizer all over them. I then did opted to not use my phone until I had some lysol in hand.

Well, an hour later I arrived at my Aunt and Uncles house.
~Tiny background info...My uncle, my dads brother is 12 years younger than my dad, and only 10 years older than me. Therefore there kids, my cousins, are younger (13, 10, 7) ~
OK, so I get to there house and begin asking Irene for some Lysol. We had been there around 15 minutes and she was looking for some, when Lana comes to me very calmly and politely and says "Mom, I just threw up in the bathroom".
Yeah, sure enough, I brought the stomach bug to unsuspecting friends and relatives. Nice aren't I? Don't you wish YOU where my friend?
Well, for the next 3 hours Lana threw up and sat in my lap. Dean and Irene (Aunt and Uncle) where extremely gracious to us, for which I am very thankful. Also SERIOUSLY hoping none of their boys get sick.
After spreading the germs over there, we came over to my friend Stace's house, to spread some more germs. Stace is the natural remedy guru, and had Lana (and me) drink this nasty stuff called "activated charcoal", which Lana threw up all over a rug of theres that we will try to wash, but will most likely throw away.

Ah, the joys of being my friend!!!
Today (Tuesday) morning, we have all woke up feeling OK. Lana is eating toast, and I am about to eat toast, and so far (knock on lots o wood) Logan is OK.

So, anybody else need a visit from the Lowery's????

Highlights

Yes we are back.
Yes it was awesome.

Yes I am having a hard time getting back into reality again.

There is something about the beach that is so refreshing, relaxing, mesmorizing, peaceful, thoughtful, fun, and makes you forget there is a real world waiting when you return.

There are many highlights and fun stories, but I am going to outline the trip by each person of the family.

Lets start with LanaLou.
I told Stacy on the way home last night that there are so many things that I would have missed out on over the past 6 years if she wouldn't have been here to point them out.

This weekend was no exception. Lana's constant chatter does at times get to the point where you tune it out, but usually it is filled with amusing comments.

Lana stepped foot onto the beach and immedietly saw the smallest of shells, the sparkle in the sand, the sun shining on the water and immensly enjoyed every second of the beach. She just naturally finds beauty and contentment in everything she sees and does.

The only thing that she didn't like was the salt water. Everytime the water got in her mouth she would run to her towel and lick it. I'm sure that helped! It was very funny.

When we went to Gulf World Marine Park, Lana got to be in the Sea Lion show. If you knew Lana even a year ago, you know that this is a BIG deal. She used to be afraid of every thing, and now she stood in front of a 400 pound sea lion. It was so cute. I only took video, so no picture, but the trainers had her do things for the sea lion to imitate and then at the end she got to shake hands with it. It was very cool! Later in the day she had her picture made with a dolphin while she held on to its fins. Also very very cool!

Putt Putt with Lana is a painful experience. She doesnt putt as much as she guides the ball. We only got to play 7 holes because of rain, but I assure you it was a Loooong seven holes, but was also a lot of fun!

Last night on the way home she saw dolphins in the clouds! It is so much fun to be around Lana because she just enjoys everything. These are some picture that capture her this weekend.

Moving on to Logan. He is a strange mix of boyishly fun and old manishly intense. He worries too much about whats coming next so has a hard time living in the moment, unlike his free spirited sister.

Logans first impression was that the beach was beautiful, it was big, and it was annoying. Every wave that knocked him down he took personally. He also thought that he could conquer the ocean and really has no fear of it. The first evening everytime a wave would hit him, his swim suit would come down, which was hilarious!

He had a great time in the ocean though and really enjoyed going out into with his Daddy.

Another thing he enjoyed was drawning. The first night's sunset he sat there and drew it and said he was going to do that every night. It was neat to see the beauty of everything effect him in a way that he wanted to caputure by drawing.

My favorite time with him was one night he and I sat out on the balcony around midnight and just chatted and looked at the ocean. We had a great talk and I just felt like I could die right then a very happy lady.

Logan also stayed up really late every night learning how to play Chess with our friend Ken.

Since I know nothing about chess I couldnt tell you how he did. I do know that he liked it and it was really cool of Ken to do that with him.

He also had a great experience at Gulf world. He was asked to be a part of the Dolphin show. I'm telling you, my kids could not have had a better experience! We thought he was just going down to the tank with some other volunteers to do some imitation stuff, and then all of a sudden we see him on the other side, on the platform with the trainers! At one point the trainer was telling him she needed him to go to the bottom of the 15 foot tank to get her whistle. Wrong fearless kid to say that too. She told him to get a running start AND HE DID! She had to stop him from jumping in. It was so funny. Then he got to hold a fish in his mouth and hold it over the tank for a dolphin to get...which it didn't...and then do some other things with the dolphins. It was an amazing experience for him. He got his picture made shaking a dolphins fins too.

Logan is all boy and has a huge appetite too. It is starting to cost a lot more to feed this kid. One night he had steak and the next night he discovered crab legs...by the plateful!!!

Logan is fun to be around because he is so thoughtful about things and with him, the world around you has so many adventures and possibilities and he makes you think about things.

These are some of my favorite pics of him.

Moving on to my dear husband. He is the one that needed a vacation most of all. He works way to hard and lots of long hours, so this trip was really important for him.

It was amazing the first day to see the stress melt off of him. If you have a husband that is frequently stressed by there job, then you know what I mean when I say that it was nice to have my husband back.

The drive down we just chatted and sang and enjoyed being together. Then while we where there, it was so great to see him playing in the water with the kids and really being a kid himself. Because of his Chrones and the many side effects of it, he can't really run around or do crazy stuff...but he could play in the ocean, and it was so refreshing to see him do that.

He bought some floats and took him and Logan out to a sand bar to jump the waves.

He showed Lana how to stand still and dig your feet into the sand and let the water come up around you.

He took me para sailing! He was so brave and tough about it and I was scared out of my mind.

You know Stacy has an artsy flare about him as well and he took some amazing sunset and night time pictures.

He went to bed around 10 every night and got up at 7 and enjoyed quiet time to himself on the balcony, reading and enjoying the ocean.

I just can't tell you enough how refreshing it was to see him be refreshed. He was worry free, and he rested, and he played. All things that he doesnt normally do. It really really really did my heart good to have him like that for a few days.

The thing I love about Stacy is that he lives and enjoys the moment. The whole weekend I knew that he was enjoying himself because he made it known, and you could see it written all over his face. I love that about him.

These are some of my favorite pictures either of him or that he took.

Plus just look at how handsome he is!

As for me...I just thouroughly enjoyed being with my husband and kids and being with our friends Ken and Gwendy.
It was such a great time to reconnect and interact.
The best part was just watching them enjoy themselves. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.
It was such a Spiritual renewal as well...just sitting and watching and listening.
God is so obvious in His creation and I do not cease to be amazed by not only what He has done, but what He does daily in my life.
I am beyond words thankful that we had this little getaway retreat. It really was needed on so many levels.

And if you are still reading, then you are a true friend!!!!

We're Baaack...

Details to follow...

We arrived...but barely

Sunday was a lovely day for travel.
The sun was shining and the conversation was flowing.
I've you've ever driven across US 74 going through the Ocoee River in TN, then you know that it is a curvy road, with some strategically placed guard rails, and other places with no guard rails, only the trees to protect you from the flowing, rocky river. Oh, and make sure you have a full tank of gas, because there is no place to stop, and only a small handful of pull offs for those that run out.
So it was while we where going across this road, listening to the "Passion" CD, talking about the Titanic, and enjoying our drive through the beautiful mountainside, that it happened. My nightmare that I have dreaded for 10 years of driving this way to get to NC. All of a sudden while going through a curve my power steering stopped, all my dash lights came on, and I suddenly had no acceleration. What? My gas tank is half full and there has been no warning of this! God definitely had his hand on us as one of the very few turn offs was just to my left and thankfully no other cars where coming around the curve. Cars where behind me and thankfully nobody hit us as we turned into the cut off.
Like good little car owners, Jeanny and I got out of the car and opened the hood...looking for what? We're a car full of woman and children stuck on the side of the road with the hood open because obviously the answer is going to just pop out at us.
Oh, something else you should know about my scenario of breaking down going across the Ocoee, is that there is NO cell service. HMMM...we live in the 21st century and yet there are still places in this earth that you can't get cell service and where my car decided to die is one of them.

Well, I will save you all the gorrie details of the 2 plus hours that we sat on the side of the road with the children, and the heat, and the need to go potty, and the mosquito's. The awful blood sucking mosquito's. Suffice it to say, it was a long 2 hours.
But it also was amazing the way God works. See Saturday it was determined that Jeanny and Mary would ride up with me. I have At&T cell service. Mary has Verizon. As providence would have it that even though there were no bars on Mary's phone, we where able to call out. We called my Dad to come get us (we where still 2 hours from my parents house), and we called AT&T's roadside assistance, with a Verizon phone! When I get back to civilization me and AT&T are having a talk! Well after mind boggling conversations with the dispatch office, and a visit from our friendly State Park patrol guy (who by the way made balloon animals on the side of the road for my kids!) my Dad finally arrived to rescue us and my already loaded down van. So we transferred all the stuff, drove up the road for better cell service, got the tow truck finalized, went back to my van, left the keys in my floor and my van on the side of the road, and headed back up the road.
Finally around 11:30 est, we arrived. My poor poor van is now sitting at the Toyota dealership in Cleveland TN, with a busted water pump, timing belt, and some other stuff that I don't know about it. All I know about is the bottom line, and it doesn't look pretty!

But the important thing is that we arrived and that God protected us from what could have been an incredibly horrible situation.
I am so thankful that Mary and Jeanny where with me. They were so great at occupying the kids while I tried to handle us getting out of there in one piece. Trust me, without them, not only would I have not had some working cell service, but I would have had a mental brake down doing it on my own. It is great to see the way God worked out the last minute arrangements for them to come with me on Sunday.

Today we have spent recovering, grocery shopping, itching our mosquito bites, and fixing boo-boos. Jeanny cut her toe down at the Creek and Logan stepped on a Bumble Bee.
So now as we settle down for the night with a bowl of Ice Cream, I am happy to be here and really looking forward to getting things ready for VBS tomorrow.
My Mom just said it would be a miracle if I get these kids to sing.
I figure we've already had a few miracles this weekend, getting the kids to sing is a challenge that I readily accept!

On the Road Again...

I just can't wait to get on the road again...
Who sang that song?
I think they wrote it just for me!
I have gypsie in my blood.
I like to be on the move.
I like to travel.
I like to take weekend excursions.

I was just telling my friend Jeri, how nice my husband is to let me travel on my own.
We discovered long ago with his crazy jobs that if I was to ever get away or if my parents were ever going to see their grandchildren, then I would have to travel...alone.

I've had some memorable little escapades.
Like the time that I drove to Atlanta around the 4th of July.
Lana was born on June 5th via c-section, and Logan had turned 2 June 26th.
I drove to Atlanta to pick up my sister, Laura, and 6 month old Sarah.
We then drove in my non-air conditioned car up to NC to visist Mom & Dad.
YES...you read correctly...July in the south...cramped car with 3 car seats, 2 being infants, one being barely a month old, and NO air.
We got one of those little fans that you plug into the cigarette lighter to try to cool the babies in the back. It made no difference...The Sarahdactyle as we called her because of her amazing loud scream, screamed half the time anyways. Logan whined and complained and Lana cried her pitiful newborn cry.
It was crazy and we wanted to die by the time we got there, but looking back today I would do it again in a heart beat.

That following January was my Mom's 50th Birthday and we had planned a suprise party.
So I loaded up 2 1/2 year old Logan and 7 month old Lana and we drove. It snowed on the way there. Then it snowed a lot more while we where there. Then I couldn't drive the car back to my parents because it had snowed so much.
Then...the stomach bug invaded the house and picked us all off one by one.
Poor little baby Lana got it the morning we where leaving.
So I put her car seat in the front ( a big no-no!) so I could check on her and drove home, recovering from the vomits, with a 2 year old having diarhea and an infant throwing up!
That one, I wouldn't do again!

2 Christmas's ago the kids and I drove up to NC the day after Christmas to have round 2 with my family.
On the way home I got a flat tire. So I pulled over...but I pulled over to far and then was also stuck in the mud.
I called a wrecker service (thank goodness I have road side assistance with my Cingular account!) They came out...I had to open the back of the van so they could get to the spare tire...A 500 pack of Legos fell out of the back of the van all over the side of the road!
Yes, that was a joy to pick up in the middle of winter on the side of the interstate with a strange wrecker man and my two young children!

So you may ask...why do I continue to travel and subject myself to the obvious torture that sometimes ensues...
Because I HAVE to!
When I was a kid my Mom would pack up the 3 of us kids and we would drive to Pennsylvania.
And that was back in the day of no cell phones!
We always had adventures then too...there was always poop or vomit or toilet paper hanging out of Moms pants as she would come out of the bathroom!
Those are some of my fondest memories...not just the trip, but the travel to our destination.
I'm glad I can do the same for my kids.
I'm thankful that my husband lets us leave the safety of our home and travel out into the wild blue yonder in the name of creating memories.

One time when we turned onto the gravel rode that my parents live on Logan said...
"Mom, can you role down the windows, I've been waiting to listen to my favorite sound."
"What sound is that?", I asked.
"The sound of our car driving over Marmi & Pappy's rocks!"

And that is why I will continue to subject myself to the drama of traveling by myself with kids!

Traveling makes me tired!

I think I am getting old. After two seperate trips in the course of less than two weeks, I am wiped out! I have also been fighting a bug that makes me have fever and feel sick to my stomach. I think God is trying to tell me to stay put for a while. OK, I will!

We did have a very nice trip to NC. It was wonderful to see my Grandfather.
I will post a picture and blog more about him later.

We stayed a night with my Uncle Dean and his family. He is only 10 years older than me. My cousins are 12, 10, and almost 7. It's a different dynamic. Poor Logan couldn't figure it out and finally just said..."So is Jackson my grandchild?"
They are only months apart! So we had a good time staying with them. My other aunts came over and we ate and talked and I felt like one of the adults and not just the niece. That was nice.


We then went and stayed with my lifelong best friend, Stace' and her family.
We have a great time with them.
Logan and Ethan stayed outside and played all day no matter the temperature. They loved building a fire. I guess boys are like that.
Also my son is brilliant and was swinging himself on a rope swing while trying to cut the rope with a knife. I don't know were he gets his genious from!

Lana and Erin love tea parties and they had alot of fun doing that and making scones with Stacey. Erin is 2 years older than Lana and does a great job doing fun stuff with her. Lana loves her!

Stacey is by the way one of the greatest homemakers of all time. She is very organized and structured. I always come away from her home with a new resolve to keep up with things better. I also come away with new recipes as she is a very good cook!



I don't have a picture of David, but he is a fun young teenager. He and my Stacy had a good time going to the mall and playing piano. He is a great kid and a good example of how a teenage boy should act.

The best part of our time with Chuck and Stacey was just the fellowship. We sat up on New Years Eve and talked about all sorts of theology. I think that we are all in the same book but on slightly different pages, so it was encouraging to have rational discussions and leave with insights to think on and study. It truly felt like "Iron sharpening iron" in many ways over the week.
It's one of God's truest blessings to give us lifelong friends that know you pretty much inside out, know were you've come from, travel with you when things are rocky, sharpen you when you need sharpening, and laugh at you when your funny (or not!) It's a comfortable and comforting friendship that I wouldn't trade for anything. I'm thankful that our families are growing in friendship as well.

So we are home now. My in-laws came in today. They are all watching a movie and I am sitting by myself blogging. Like I said, traveling makes me tired.
But not too tired to blog!

Ding Ding Ding...Round 2

Tomorrow morning we leave for round 2 of Holiday travel.

I must first point out that I have turned into an old woman, or someone from a different ethnic group. Please notice to your left the 2007 Chrysler 300. Fully equipped with all the hoopdyness you can handle, enough head room to hold the big old lady hair when you leave the beauty parlor, enough "class" to drive down the road with one arm out the window while the other rest comfortably on the stearing wheel looking as cool as you can be. Enough stereo to bounce the car next to us out of their lane. I think I need to go hang some dice or Mardi Gras beads from the rear view mirror!

To my friend Stacey, please don't be scared when we pull up...it's not the mob coming to get you...it's just us...the Bhamsters! Yo!

Oh my...we have quite the rental car. See its like this...our van is sad. We can't open the back of it. The check engine light is on. The check engine light blinks, and the car sputters when you go up a hill. We are getting horrible gas mileage. We have to put the 93 octane in it, just to upgrade to semi horrible gas mileage.

So hubby suggested to save headaches (which always happen when we travel at the holidays) lets rent a car. He works next to Enterprise (there...I have given them their plug!) so we get a good deal and it's all smooth sailing.

We were supposed to get a small car. He wanted to upgrade for $3 a day to a mid size...they were out of those, so for no extra charge they upgraded us to Hooopdy status!

Boy, I hope this doesn't come back to bite us later when we are mistaken for Tony Soprano, Kanye West, or Elizabeth Taylor!

Weekend Getaway

So last Friday the kids and went to my parents house in the mountains of NC. It is a beautiful place to visit. They live back in the woods and it is very peaceful. So peaceful as a matter of fact, that I almost always get sick while I am there. I guess I just feel so at peace, that my body says, well lets just be sick! Actually this time I was already sick when I went up there and it just got worse. It was the dreaded bladder infection! By Monday, when Mom and I left to take the kids over to the Pigeon Forge TN area for a couple days worth of field trips, I was really miserable. I'm quite sure that I was not alot of fun or of much use. Don't you hate when you sooo look forward to a fun outing and then get to it and it's just not all you want it to be? Thats how I felt. I think my kids still had fun though. We went to Wonder Works on Tuesday, whcih the kids enjoyed. ( I think...again I was miserable!) It was all very hands on and learning stuff. I would like to go back again when I am "normal"!
But on Monday we went to Cades Cove. We love Cades Cove. If you've never been, I highly reccomend it. I wish I could live there. It's so tranquill. We had a picnic in a field, and the kids got to run around and be kids. I also learned something new (and a bit disturbing!) about my mother while we were there. She is (gulp) a stalker! OK...we pull up to a parking lot in Cades Cove. She says, "Lets just sit here for a minute and have a drink." Ok, fine with me, I'm in a crappy mood and feel like my bladder will fall out at any second. Why not just sit. We sit, I drink my Mountain Dew. The kids have a snack, Mom is drinking her water, when suddently I hear this statment..."I don't see how those kids are related. They don't look anything alike."
WHAT?????? Oh my gosh. The poor unsespecting family that is picnicing in front of our car. Do they know they are being watched? Do they know that a crazy mountain woman is sitting in her automobile evaluating there every move? And I do mean every move. Suddenly, I am sucked into this world of "the family", and I start interjecting my own opinions. Good grief, what is happening to me. It must be the pain in my bladder. It has caused me to lose all propriety. I mean, sure it's fun to watch people, but to sit and say from whom they get there big snoz from, or that they have nice legs. This has gone too far! Maybe they suspected that they were under scrutiny, for it wasn't long before they got up to leave. Which of course was the source of more of our peeping.
With "the family" now gone, we had nothing to do but get out of the car and actually do what your supposed to do at Cades Cove. Learn about nature and old times.
How lucky for us that "the family" was doing the same thing. I was able to pose my self as if taking a picture and snapped a little pic of "the family" as they walked by. I'm sure they were not fooled. I'm pretty sure I heard comments like, "what the heck is that stupid girl doing, can she not aim her camera. What kind of freeky family are they?" I'm sure that we are not the only ones that watch people. They could have actually had their eyes on us the whole time. So what are people seeing when they watch me? That day nothing good, just a crabby old mother. Oh well, better luck next time!

Pictures from my Africa Trip

This is some of the pictures from my trip to Africa to visit my sister this summer. Hope you enjoy!

New Orleans

This slide show is from our fateful trip to New Orleans in July. It was one week before I was supposed to leave for Africa and I still had not recieved my passport.(that I had applied for in March!) So we loaded up and drove to our "Nearest State Department" to get one that day. I had never been to N.O. and have been told you either love it or hate it. Well I loved it. Of course I didn't love all of it. But its such a different enviroment. The kids really liked it to. It was a super quick trip...we were only gone for 24 hours total. But seeing how that was the first time we have been away together as a family in3 years, we loved all 24 hours! Even the part when our Air C0ndition broke in the van in July in the deep south, and the part when we finally get to our hotel all hot and sweaty from no air in the car, to our air not working in our room. But other than that...we loved it. And if you've never tried Beignets...come on over, I bought a box of the mix and I'll whip some up for you!

Africa

Let me tell you a little bit about my trip to Africa. First of all it was amazing! Being able to see my sister and sweet nieces again was awesome. I had as far as the wildlife goes, one of the best experiences you can have in Africa. I pretty much saw it all. And some of it up close and personal! Not everybody gets to chase Giraffes and Zebras on a 4 wheeler, or stare down an elephant until your so scared you want to pee in your pants! I mean that stuff was pretty cool. The People was the greatest part though. The Masai people were great. The kids are adorable, and will break your heart. The first time I went out into the village I cried my eyes out. My heart broke for the conditions they live in. The flies on their faces, the sores on their bodies, the dung huts they live it, the smell. But these kids seem content. They don't know any different. Thats why Laura and Travis and the other missionaries are there. To show them the Love of God, teach them in the ways of the Lord, and help them carve out a better life for themselves and generations to come. Only through the saving blood of the Lord Jesus Christ do any of us have hope, and only through us actually going out and sharing with others about that saving blood and amazing grace, will others experience eternal life with Him. I was proud to be in the Masai Mara and to go out with my sister and see the work and the people that God has carved out for them. It was great to go and have mental images, something more real to pray for. Actual names and faces. It really was eye opening and I hope to go back again.