LA Dream Center Mission Trip

August 11-21, I spent 10 days on a mission trip in inner-city Los Angeles.  I experienced many beautiful things and loved the time I spent serving and playing with my team.  God's goodness was evident, even in the darkest places I went, and it was such a blessing to see how much more power His light is than any darkness we may have faced.

My favorite experience on the mission trip was loading, unloading, sorting and handing out groceries.  It was fun physical labor with a great sense of accomplishment to see the huge pallets of food dwindle down to nothing.  As we handed out food, we met some precious people who needed some help feeding their families.

There were many other ministries we took part in, and I felt that each was important and each challenged me in a different way.  But the thing that was hardest, by far, on this Mama was leaving her babies at home for ten days.  I felt every second inch by as we were separated, and even though they were happy and well loved, I could not wait to be back home with my favorite people on earth.

While I was gone, Jordan single-parented and worked full-time for half of the trip.  With help from friends and family, the girls were happy and only exhibited some signs of missing Mommy.  The second half of the trip, Jordan flew out to join me in LA and the girls stayed with Nana and DD.  They went to Moody Gardens and got many much-needed hugs.  They each wrote me a letter and mailed it to me from Galveston.  Here's what they said:

Avery's:
"Mommy, today we are going to Galveston!  We will go to the pyramids and see the penguins.  And maybe go to Palm Springs.  And we will definitely go to the beach!"

Kate's:
"Mommy, While you were gone we painted.  I missed you."

Reese's:
"Dear Mommy,
I love you Momma.  Go swimming at beach today.  I saw waves pushing us and moving us.  I stay at hotel with D.  At beach I just wash off myself.  I see seagulls.  They just eated some bread sandwiches.  They say eeeeee, not eeeee but honk honk.  We saw fishes.  I saw penguins.  I think about this bed and I going to sleep.  Just kidding!  It was a good day.  See some more penguins."

The trip would not have been possible without my amazing husband and parents, who took on the task of mothering with enthusiasm and patience.  Love you guys - thank you!

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My Horse Birthday Party

(Written by Avery)

My favorite animal is a horse and I love sleepovers so I had a horse sleepover birthday.

The first fun thing was eating hot dogs. Then we all went to the barn & I got to ride in Nana and DD's car.

At the barn I enjoyed riding Dream with my friends. We each had a turn alone and then we rode two at a time. There was a donkey at the barn and he was loud!

Then we came back home and beat a piñata and then we had cake. My cake was a big ole horse head.

Then we watched Horse Land (my favorite tv show). When it was time to sleep we were crazy. We stayed awake for hours and hours. Everybody decided they wanted to sleep with me... but we didn't sleep.

It was a really fun birthday!

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Summer Changes

These girls.  This summer.  So much growing and changing.  Becoming and being.  So much love.

This summer, Reese went from a non-swimmer to a little fish... or more specifically, a mermaid.  She has grown in her vocabulary and carries on full conversations, usually telling people exactly how they are to engage with her in play.  She still slips into bed between mom and dad most nights, and she still finds joy in everything... but she's growing.  And learning.  And she's pretty sure she can keep up with her two big sisters.  She's usually right, too.

This summer, Kate Beth has gotten so tall.  And so good at expressing her feelings, even when she feels overshadowed.  I look at her, and I can believe she's about to go to Kindergarten: she's become such a big, beautiful, five-and-a-half year old.  She's ready, and she's going to charm her new friends and her teacher.  But also, wow!  What has happened to the time?  Did I really experience 5 1/2 years of growth?  It seems like yesterday when that tiny child was struggling to find her voice.  But yes.  Yes, she has grown, and yes, I have watched the beauty develop and unfold.  From delicate, shy and tender, she has blossomed into strength and beauty, although still so tender-hearted and caring.  This summer, she's lost her first teeth.  And she is so, so talented at the things she tries: dance and gymnastics.  Swimming, with strokes.  And recently, she learned to ride her bike without training wheels.  She needed a few reminders from her Daddy about her own strength and ability, but before long, she was off.  Within days of learning to ride on her own, she accompanied her family on a 5 mile round trip bike ride to get snow cones.  She held her own and is now fully confident that she can be a bike rider when the school year starts.  A summer of growth and preparation for this blossoming beauty.

Avery has spent the summer losing teeth... much like her younger sister.  However, her teeth have fallen out in succession.  She's taken to writing the tooth fairy letters and making requests, like: "Can you leave some pixie dust so I can fly?" and "Please take a selfie!"  Apparently, her tooth fairy has a pet lightning bug, wears a blue dress, and only needs a tiny pinch of pixie dust to fly - although she left some behind, it just wasn't enough for a big person to use to fly.  Avery's imagination is one of my favorite aspects of her, and it's always been fun to watch what she comes up with next.  This summer, she's also spent a fair amount of time nurturing others.  She has such a compassionate spirit, and it has been fun to watch her mature and begin to see other people's feelings and needs.  She's about to be a third grader, which will include switching teachers for the first time.

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Jackson Hole

I tried to type a concise retelling of our awesome trip to Jackson Hole, but there was so much to say and my retelling kept going... and going... and going.  At dinner last night, the girls were still talking about their memories from the trip, so I collected their comments about Jackson Hole:

Reese's Comments (Sunday through Thursday):

For Nana's birthday, we all went to Jackin' Hole.
Daddy went early and hiked the mountains with Uncle Trey.  He saw a poke-e-pine.
Then we went on an oh-pwane to try to see him.  But the oh-pwane took so long when we was almost there.  (Mom Note: We stopped off in Denver for a layover but ended up on a plane that was delayed four hours and cancelled before it was uncancelled and got us there.  The kids did great and had better attitudes than I did most of the time.  At one point, we'd be waiting on the plane 3 hours and Kyle jumped up in his seat, yelling happily, "We're on an airplane!!"  They kept us smiling.)

On Thursday, we ride the gon-ah-la and we saw some animals like that, when we was on the gon-ah-la.  At the end of the ride, all of us on mountain!  We hiked on mountain.

Kate's Comments: (Thursday afternoon through Saturday morning)

Then we ate cake because it was Nana's birthday.
Then we rode on the top of a horse carriage.  The driver told us about the horses who were named Blueberry and Bluebell.

On Friday we went on snow ski lifts and rided down a mountain with scooters.  Reese says she was flying, but I went slow.  DD was my partner.

In the afternoon we hiked to Taggart Lake.  I was
out in the front a lot and then we tried to catch minnows in the water.  Me and Avery saw a moose before Mommy did because we were in front and it ran in front of Avery!

Then we all saw a moose eating with her baby.

We saw buffaloes from far away and then we rode a boat across Jenny Lake.  I think the boat was Kyle's favorite part.

Avery's Comments (Saturday afternoon and Sunday):

After that we got to ride horses.  I got to ride on a horse named Vegas and Daddy got to ride on a Clydesdale.  We went to the middle of the mountain and it felt really high.  The base of the mountain looked like it was in the distance we were so high. Then we swam... that was fun.

We flew home on Sunday.  It was better than the flight getting to Jackson because we didn't drop and because we didn't have to be delayed!

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A Frozen Birthday

She turned three, and she loves Frozen.

So, Frozen it was.  

With a two-story ice castle...

And a visit from the Frozen Sisters themselves...

With lots of special party guests...

And a very special, sweet, Frozen birthday princess.

All of our girls naturally gravitated towards princesses for their third birthday parties and Reese was no exception.  We had no complaints; we loved celebrating a magical girl in a magical way!

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Ebiz Family Retreat 2014

You might think the best part of an EBIZ family retreat at Great Wolf Lodge is the water slides.  Or you might think it's the swimming pool that is shallow enough for a toddler to stand up in.  Or you might suspect that it's about meeting all of Daddy's coworkers and their families.  All of that is wonderful...

...But for Kate, it was the unusual animatronic show entitled "There's Nothing to be Scared Of" that plays 4+ times a day.  Five minutes long, starring two animatronic people and many animatronic forest creatures, the show was truly enthralling for a five year old.  No matter what you are doing, at each possible opportunity, it is so important to drop everything and run to the show.  It's just that good.

...And for Avery, it was MagiQuest.  With wands doned with new toppers and a little confidence from familiarity with the game, Avery was on a mission to become Master Magi.  All over the hotel, there were figures, paintings, and chests of gold that lit up at the point of a wand.  Lots of them said silly things and the book that was down the hall from our room became a fast favorite.

...And for Reese, the craft room was the place to be.  Kate colored a pillow case, Avery chose sand art, and Reese picked a piggy bank shaped like a cupcake to decorate.  The first craft time was SO good that when it was time to pick the very last activity of our stay, it was no question.  Swimming is fun and water parks are exciting, but the craft room was hands-down the top choice for Reese and Amelia.

There is so, so much to love at Great Wolf Lodge.  The water park and EBIZ friends kept us busy for hours at a time, and then there was even more to love when water play was done for a while.  Great Wolf Lodge 2014... truly a magical experience!

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Summer Shenanigans

"Nana, you know that lotion you bought us?  We're running low. Maybe you can buy us some more...?"

And later, saying prayers: "...thank you that we got to have fun ice skating in our bathroom with the lotion, even though we got in trouble & had to scrub toilets... It was still so much fun!"

Summer gives plenty of time for cooking up bright ideas, like lotion-skating, concocting potions in the backyard with kitchen ingredients, adding handfuls of glitter to playdough, & just generally being a kid.

Here's to summer shenanigans!

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