Virginia Beach!

Alan has been in Virginia Beach for 4 months for Navy Reserves-- we got to go out there for two weeks to visit him and had a GREAT time! We stayed on the beach-- turns out that most people don't vacation in September (something about kids and school:) so, we had the beach and the pool practically to ourselves. The hotel staff were great and had all sorts of special treatment for the kids. We could see the dolphins right outside our window at least 3 times a day-- sadly never got a good picture of the dolphins, (not because I didn't take 100 or so pictures trying!!)

More UAE

The old traditions side by side with the new traditions of a fast paced modern world was mesmerizing. We watched the "bread man" hand make flat bread over a hot oven in the middle of a summer day, went to the fabric store and off to the tailor where we ordered up custom-made clothes and traveled into Dubai-- a most modern and fascinating city.

UAE

Alan and I traveled from Paris to Abu Dhabi and Dubai-- Brad and Terri Cook were our amazing hosts through our exploration of this amazing part of the world. We were transported and fascinated by our experience.

Terri took us on a sunrise trip to visit the camel tracks. It was unlike anything we had seen...ever! Alan became "one" with the camels and was right in the middle of it all!

Paris

Alan and I went to Paris on our way to Abu Dhabi, the trip was terrific from beginning to end! Within the first hour, we were sitting on the plane, holding hands, headphones on, watching two different movies-- 6 hours of free movies-- you know life is too busy when sitting still watching movies is the perfect day:)

We spent 3 days in Paris and did a lot of sight seeing, going for runs, buying strawberries at the market... We stayed in a great little boutique hotel and basked in the beauty and history of that gerat city!

tulips

Ah the tulips! We may live all year in the rain, but the tulips give us such a payoff, it is worth hanging around!! I LOVE taking pictures of my kids wandering through the tulips!!

Crazy Fish Story!

Seth is obsessed with fishing right now-- sadly, his dad is gone and, even though I did take him down to the river to fish a few times, apparently, there's more to this whole deal than having a fishing pole. Suffice it to say that "casting" is actually harder than it looks!!

So grandpa was kind enough to take Seth-- Grandpa got Seth's line in and went to bait his own hook-- just as soon as Seth's line hit the water, Seth started yelling "I caught a fish"! Grandpa assured Seth that it was just the weight hitting the water, Seth insisted that he caught a fish...and started reeling it in-- yep, a four lb salmon on the end of that hook--

Jordan and Parker

Jordan and Parker are great little friends. They can play for hours together and rarely have a fight (Parker basically has learned to smooth Jordan's ruffled feathers-- he doesn't have to give in to her always, he just has learned how to deal with her...I am signing myself up for Parker's next class on dealing with Jordan:)

They decided to paint yesterday and "needed" to use acrylic for their project, so, we got out the paper and protected everything...beautiful art was the result!

Peach fettish!

I bought 4 boxes of peaches so that I could freeze them (I canned last year and was so proud of myself for putting in the effort and then, the kids don't really like canned peaches...)and, cut up one box to freeze, gave away 1/2 a box and ATE 1 1/2 boxes myself!! I ate 13 peaches yesterday!! I should offer myself to science so that can study the effects of a peach overdose.

I just love these peaches!

Kailey's Baptism

At long last, Kailey got baptized!!
Kailey turned 8 on July 10th, but Alan left July 5th for a 3-month military training. We were not sure when he would be able to come home and baptize her. Kailey was baptized August 8th (29 LONG days past her birthday) Alan came home for the weekend (49 hours to be precise) so that he could baptize Kailey girl!

Seth and Jordan worked up a primary song for the occasion-- Seth accompanied Jordan on the piano and Jordan sang a solo-- so sweet.

We were touched by Kailey's sweetness as she attentively listened to each speaker and smiled her way through her baptism. She talked to us afterward and told us that she had a "happy feeling in her heart". What a sweet and breathtaking opportunity to watch our little girl be baptized!

Kailey

He built him an ark-y ark-y

I read once that it took Noah 120 years to build he ark , that's more than 10% of his life!. We have a record that God gave the instruction initially. God spent three verses providing Noah the specifics of the task ahead of him. We do not have a record of a "due date" or a timeline wherein God told Noah how long the building would last, how long the flood would last. Genesis chapter 6 is dedicated to the story of building and filling the ark. In verse 22 Noah's faithful response is outlined:

"Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he". God commanded, Noah responded.



We don't have record of Noah going back to the Lord several times with an "are you sure this is what you wanted God" kind of prayer. There is no record of "can't I just build a two-story ark?" or "Why Gopher wood?". The only record that we have is that God spoke and Noah followed the council of God, believing in God throughout the process. I am in the middle of building my own kind of "ark" for myself and my family-- place to be safe from the evils of the world and from the continual storms of life. I go to God for direction and He always guides me. I spend a lot of time asking God questions like "Are you sure____?", "Did you say it HAD to be ____ or could it just be _____?"



Oh that I were as patient and faithful as Noah. I know that I have prayed and received the peace that I requested on several matters, the peace that I received was from God. I knew that at the time when peace overcame my fears in a faithful moment. And yet, I tend to let my fear replace my peace when the promised answer or process takes longer than I had allotted in my own time frames.

Ellen show "I love Jesus, but I drink a little"

This clip is so funny! Well worth a few minutes!

"The Sun Will Come Out, Tomorrow!"

The kids were asked to sing "Tomorrow" at our church party tonight. We learned it this week and got to practice with "real microphone" today. Jordan acted out the song in an interpretive dance instead of singing it when we were practicing, and Seth was eating the microphone and singing at ear drum breaking volumes so, I had no idea how it would go tonight. In the end, they did great!