A Very Merry Christmas

Blogging again

Well, I am blogging again. I have realized that I have to have an outlet for all these cute things that happen in my family. And I want to be able to share them with my family and close friends but not EVERYONE on the internet.
For instance here is something funny from today. While watching John and Kate Plus 8...My children figured out we needed to have four more children to catch up to them. I asked where we would put them. Elijah said one could sleep with him and one could sleep on the mattress that is currently under his bed. Layton rolled her eyes and Cheney said, " A hotel."
That's my girl!!!!

Elfed

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Praising God

After yesterday's post, I just want you do know I am praising God for His grace and love. I am so thankful for His provision. 3 months of samples of meds that help stabilize the craziness in my body. Praise God.

I had such a sweet time with my girls this morning. Hubbie took the Dynamo to the office with him. While the baby napped, the girls and I put away last nights load of dishes and started today's load. We folded towels and put away a mountain of clothes that had accumulated in their room from our trip and the never ending weather changes here in Florida. I believe it was 80 here today. It was freezing here around Halloween and today it is near 80???
Anyway, we are striving to incorporate the kids into our daily chores. Yes they are 7, 5, and 3 but they are a part of this family and should help. So this morning we talked about how we can have a good attitude while doing anything...even folding laundry every day and doing dishes EVERY DAY...emphasis there because I am the one that needs to remember this and I hope to teach it to my girls BEFORE it is burden like it is for me. We read 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Encouraged by a recent blog from A Holy Experience I was inspired to think about all these things that we do as mother's...things that won't make a difference in eternity but somehow I am supposed to do them for the GLORY of the LORD!!! So my 7-year old and I talked about how to do that today. How to fold clothes with a good attitude or even praying. We talked about how we could pray and thank God that we had the clothes (most of them given to us as hand-me-downs or as gifts) or pray for the people that had given them to us or we could pray for the people that would be wearing them. It was such a sweet time. I hope my daughter will catch this vision in life before she is 36. It will serve her well!!!

I ran across this quote today...
The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea ~isak dinesen
on a blog entitled, One thing
Not even sure how I got to her blog...you know...surfing through the lists of blogs on the blogs of friends that I read regularly.
That quote spoke to me.

I love going to the beach and feeling the salty breeze blow away my fears, my heartaches, my pains. I like how I feel when I have worked around my house and say in my high little girl voice (the one I only use when I am completely satisfied with life) "I really like my house when it is clean." The exertion of that sweat can take me from the frustrations I have with my quaint and quirky 93 year old home to a place of adoration and contentment.
Today...though...I found healing in the tears. Just crying....crying out my frustrations...sobbing out my inadequacies...letting the loneliness run out...letting the fears fade as the tears dried up on my shirt. So today I began my day agitated with a headache...frustrated with my faults and failures...but I wept...I bawled, really if the truth be known. And now as day comes to end...I feel cleansed. In my eyes...if you know me well...I think you can still see the effects of those tears. But I feel purified. Rather than drowning in my frustrations, I let them seep out down my cheeks. It helped that my mom caught me in this act. She was here today to cook the meal for the Christmas celebration we were having with our Board of Directors tonight. I wasn't feeling much like celebrating. I had even contemplated trying to figure out how to leave the house while they were all here. But I was able to poor out the frustrations...the fears...the failures and reach for higher ground. I am so thankful she listened without judging...offered encouragement and even the suggestion of getting some counseling to help me process through all I am feeling and thinking. There is some physiological thing behind it along with lies from Satan and my own disobedience... Behind this wave that over takes me at times...that creates a melt down within me. There is much to be considered...more discussions to be had with the doctor and hubbie to figure out what meds we can afford...more structure in my life...most importantly time with God retraining my mind to think God's truth about me and not the world's lies. It is not something that will be conquered tomorrow or by next week. But for the moment I have felt healing and cleansing through the tears. And I feel the wave of tears coming on again..not as a release of pain this time but in a wave of thankfulness and contentment in the cleansing.

Great fun in Missourri

We spent two nights in Missourri at my grandfather's house on our 10 day trip. He cooked fresh from the chiken coop eggs and fresh bacon (seriously, he bought it where they come in pigs and go out bacon) for breakfast and made fresh homemade peanut brittle in the afternoon, per John's request! MMMMM!!! He had a blackberry cobbler, a pumpkin pie, chocolate chip cookies, and pineapple surprise cake all made when we got there. My mom gets it honestly people!!!!! My Grandpa is a great cook! Oh and homemade soup on the stove when we got there. It was so nice to sit by the fire and eat that first night. And it doesn't get any better than his homemade jellies - gooseberry, blackberry, and cinnamon apple butter. Needless to say I ate extremely well. It was fun to eat green beans and baked potatoes that were fruits of his garden early this year. I brought home a sweet potatoe from his garden so we can try and grow it here in the spring.

We didn't have enough gloves. Great Grandma Joanne saved the day.

Great Grandpa making peanut brittle. John can hardly wait for it to cool.

It was in the 20's the first morning. The kids all got bundled up and rolled down the hill in his back yard. I guess it created warmth? They got rides on his four wheeler and he pulled me, Spunky and Dimples in a wagon behind his tractor. We got to see the chickens...the only animals he still has on his farm. We went to my Uncle's to bottle feed his one month old calves. On our way there, Spunky had requested to hold the baby cow in her lap while feeding it. She had not counted on it being so much bigger than she was. The kids fed chickens at Uncle Buddy's farm and carried in fresh brown eggs.


Uncle Buddy and Dimples....Real farmers wear overalls! (and, apparently, red hats!! hee,hee!)

Somewhere in her mittens Spunky is holding an egg.

Be careful you might get seasick watching Dynamo feed the calf. I was trying to hold the baby and my little digital camera. The only thing missing is that not so fresh cow smell! John was only in the barn the length of this video and quickly escaped!

U....C.....F!!!!!! Go Knights!

The family on the UCF campus before the game today

OK... so Hubbie has been to every...YES, every UCF Football game this season, except 2...one in Tulsa, Oklahoma and one in Virginia this year. Yes, John and I went to one in Boston and the entire family when to one in Memphis, Tennessee last week (pictures from that when I update you on the trip where we visited 4 states in 10 days and covered just over 2800 miles according to the tripometer). He even went to the one in El Paso...he had a speaking engagement in New Mexico that weekend a few hours away. How convenient!

My husband graduated from UCF and the boy is extremely LOYAL!!! Brands, schools, you name it, he has a loyalty to one. Nike, Oakley, Ping, Duncan Hines...Seriously!
By the way...UCF stands for University of Central Florida. And UCF has not played so well this year for various reasons I would rather not go into right now but that does not take away from the fact that our family is devoted!!!

The kids spelling out the cheer...U...C....F !!!

OK...it was my idea to use my eye liner to decorate their faces.
Dimples didn't want to be left out!! Spunky however only wanted UCF written on her hand.

Training up

I think of those 5 kernels of corn. Was that really all those pilgrims had? And they really thanked God for it. I am amazed. I am in awe...I am utterly ashamed.
At first I think, "My children are so ungrateful." And then I realize I am only seeing a version of myself in them. I have trained them this way...not UP unto the Lord but down into themselves.
I must change myself if I am to see change in them. I must be thankful for HIM and express that HE is all we need. I must seek HIM every moment to do this. Because in and of myself I am utterly selfish.

Thanksgiving is a holiday!

I remember the first time we went to Walmart after Halloween and the Christmas decorations were already up. My children seemed personally offended for Thanksgiving. They said, "Mom, they forgot Thanksgiving." I know that Thanksgiving isn't like Christmas or Easter with Biblicial significance. But if we didn't have a reason to celebrate Thanksgiving maybe we wouldn't be allowed to celebrate Christmas or Easter in our country. Sometimes this day is just a day to get together, eat a lot and watch football. It is just the sign that Christmas is on its way.

Thanksgiving was always a great day for eating in my family's home, with all the old favorites, Turkey and dressing, giblet gravy, sweet potatoe casserole (either with brown sugar and pineapple or with brown sugar and marshmallows), mashed potatoes, home made rolls, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, creamed corn, and sometimes even Great Grand-maam's chicken and dumplings. Can you cram any more carbs into one meal...oh well, there are the pies and cakes and mmmmmm....I am getting hungry!

But my Mom always had us do some kind of Thankful activity. You know those ones where it starts out a bit awkward and quiet. Some years she would pass out 5 kernels of corn to each person and we had to say one thing we were thankful for with each kernal. I think one year we passed around a ceramic turkey and had to say something we were thankful for while we held it. Everyone was tempted to just say something easy like family, food, you know the drill. But we almost always ended the round of thanksgiving in sweet happy tears, squeezing hands of those near us. It was always so sweet! And what a prayer of Thanksgiving would follow!

This Thanksgiving, I was reminded of why the first Thanksgiving took place. The kids and I read a book, The First Thanksgiving, while riding from Tennesee to North Carolina. It talked about how the Pilgrims left England because the King had mandated that everyone become a part of the church of England. They escaped to Holland and eventually left for America in September on the Mayflower. They left with over 100 men along with their wives and children. At some point while they were staying on the boat in the winter because it had been too cold to get their homes built in the New World, they were rationed 5 kernels of corn a day. Did you read that right? FIVE KERNELS OF CORN a day. My mom was totally on to something. Hee, hee! The book talked about how even though things were so rough they still sang praises of thanksgiving to the Lord daily and had a weekly day of thanksgiving EVERY Thursday. By the time spring was in full swing the entire group had dwindled down to 47 people!!! I think it said 17 of those were children. And when the Mayflower headed back to England...NONE of those pilgrims even requested to go back. They stayed in this country enduring deaths of family and friends and harsh weather to have religious freedom. Wow!!! Praise God, Squanto taught them how to hunt and gather and grow their own food. Praise God that they took it upon themselves to seek a land and create a government that would support religious freedoms. I think I am going to start a new tradition when I host thanksgiving in my home and pass out 5 kernels of corn.

Blogging

I guess I have sort of fallen off the blogosphere. There just doesn't seem to be time for it lately. BUT my hubbie has taken up blogging. You can check his crazy random thoughts at www.johnrevans.com/blog.
So if you want to laugh or keep up with us you might have to start checking out his blog. I am hoping to get some pics up here at least once a week but other than that I am just not motivated anymore. Besides who needs two bloggers in the same family?

Fall Festivals

What I want to be when I grow up!

We are reading "The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White and Sam, 11 year old boy in the story often ends his day by journaling and asking himself a question to answer while he tries to go to sleep. Today as we read Sam asked himself what he wanted to be when he grew up.

So my kids answered too.
Lady answered - A farmer, a cook and an artist. We decided she and her husband could live on a farm, she could be a great cook for her family and paint beautiful pictures of her life. (and she doesn't even read Ann Voscamp's blog...only Ann takes pictures instead of paints them- hee,hee!) I would be so excited for her to lead this life one day!

Dynamo said he wanted to be a player of all sports. A dream come true for his Daddy I'm sure. It would be exciting to see a Tim Tebow-like quality in our son. A homeschooled Strong Believer sharing his faith through his God-given physical abilities. I will pray this prayer for my son.

Spunky wants to be a princess, a friendly dragon and a candy shopper. She said that she wants to sell candy in her shop. I can see Spunky dressed in a princess outfit standing behind a candy counter one day. Not sure where the idea for a dragon came from. Which is totally funny because I read a whole chapter silently to myself last night in one of the books from the Chronicles of Narnia about a boy turning into a dragon.

Hubbie's dreams of what he wants to be are coming to fruition. Once upon a time before he knew the Lord and felt the call on his life he wanted his name to be up in lights...a famous actor. Now he travels and speaks God's truth into the lives of students and young people. God has recently given him the vision to do it on a larger scale. To be a part of something like the WinterJam tours...to create and speak at the event. It will be exciting to see how God develops this dream.

So what did I want to be? I don't remember having a specific job picked out as a kid. I know in college when I was taking elementary eduation classes I told all my professors I wasn't going to be a teacher but I was going to be a Children's director at a church. For some reason I thought I would have to go to seminary to find my husband and marry a minister. Too funny! I ended up not going to seminary, teaching 2nd grade and then computer and helping train teachers how to use technology in their teaching at a Christian elementary school. Then I said I wanted to be the next Deni Corbett. She was my boss and an amazing dreamer of new things. She sees the best in people and finds creative ways to make cool things happen. Pretty much I am married to one of those people. We probably don't need two in our family. I had written in my prayer journal that I wantd to walk alongside a man in ministry one day. I met John when he was a valet at a golf course with aspirations of becoming an actor. John didn't seem to fit that bill but I somehow knew he was the one for me. After I got my master's degree I got to be an adjunct professor for a while teaching a basic computer class with my alma mater, Palm Beach Atlantic University(Orlando site).
Now I am a wife to a youth evangelist, a homeschooling mom of 4 kids and a homemaker. So is this what I want to be...well, YES. But really it is not about what I am doing anymore. It is more about how I am doing it. As GOD's child...Am I doing it how I would like to be...not exactly. My goal now is to do it in such a way that my kids see the Victory that only God can give. To create a relationship with my husband that teenagers look at and say...I want to wait until God brings that special one along and give my self to him or her unselfishly.

Feeling better already!

Yippee!! We actually ended the day with ice cream. Our tummy woes seemed to have been short lived. And it motivated me to deep clean the floors and Lysol just about everything that doesn't move. If I was asked to donate blood right now, there would probably be a percentage of Lysol in it. Ha, ha! And who comes up with the names for those scents. My house definitely doesn't smell like a "Spring Waterfall!" But at least 99.9% of the germs should be dead!!!

BRATS

No not my kids...but Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast. Well at our house, it's bagels, applesauce. bananas and saltines. We did venture out to chicken noodle soup.

Well, if your a mom, you know we must be having tummy troubles. Yes, I am spraying, wiping, soaking, or mopping everything in Lysol or Bleach today. My kids are fussing about the food. They can't stand these limitations. I even had to coach Daddy on what he might try to eat at his lunch meeting today. If he wanted to risk it. Poor guy had to speak at a chapel service today. PRAISE God for fast healing for him!!

OK...we have gone back to concentrating on handwashing...and instigated a new regime. The normal Wash with soap while singing Happy Birthday twice, has been joined by drying with a paper towel, and then squirting hands with hand sanitizer afterwards. Yes, I know we might be creating SUPER "bugs" but I just need to feel like I am doing something to help get rid of this stuff.

We have had the sniffles off and on for weeks now. Keep blaming it on the weather...we are allergic people...grasses, trees, cats. So we stay on Claritin alot and even the baby had to start Zyrtec. His sinus drainage had gone into some kind of infection twice in his little lifetime. He's 10 1/2 months old. The Zyrtec does seem to help. But maybe it is more than that. 3 out of 6 of us have been on antibiotics because of the infections caused by it and then I think I am going to end up needing another round.

I guess after I get the cleaning done in the rest of the house I have to figure out what to do with the school room. I suppose I could Clorox wipe all the crayons, pencils, markers, glue sticks, scissors....UGH!!!

I even have the windows open to help bring in the fresh air and get any sickly air out. I guess I better make sure I give everyone Claritin. It's a catch 22 the whole fresh air thing...with allergies.

So today, I am killing trees...using lots of paper towels, toilet paper, and tissues. I am going to try to wash everyone's bedding. So busy day ahead. Lot's of TV watching for the kids. Oh...well!!!

I am Ingrid

These things are kind of funny...you answer two questions and then they tell you "WHO" you are. It is accurate in a lot of the things it says though...not sure about the warm part but I am in one of the those dark moods right now. And I don't ever think I have much "vision" because I am married to one of the most visionary people alive. Here's the results from this quiz.

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are an Ingrid!

You are an Ingrid -- "I am unique"

Ingrids have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me.
• * Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.
• * Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.
• * Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.
• * Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting!

What I Like About Being an Ingrid

• * my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level
• * my ability to establish warm connections with people
• * admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life
• * my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor
• * being unique and being seen as unique by others
• * having aesthetic sensibilities
• * being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me

What's Hard About Being an Ingrid

• * experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair
• * feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved
• * feeling guilty when I disappoint people
• * feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me
• * expecting too much from myself and life
• * fearing being abandoned
• * obsessing over resentments
• * longing for what I don't have

Ingrids as Children Often

• * have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original games
• * are very sensitive
• * feel that they don't fit in
• * believe they are missing something that other people have
• * attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.
• * become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
• * feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce)

Ingrids as Parents

• * help their children become who they really are
• * support their children's creativity and originality
• * are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings
• * are sometimes overly critical or overly protective
• * are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at

Books, Books, Books

I read The Shack a few weeks ago and I am working through the Chronicles of Narnia. I loved reading before kids and have really enjoyed getting back into some fiction. I suppose I needed a break from the self-help, how to raise your children books. I do need to read Love and Respect soon though. John is reading that now.
Lady's reading has improved so much and I think I can venture to say that she would admit that she likes it,too. She did write "I (heart) school" on a paper this week! Woohoo!


I guess you could say that lately we're devouring books...

...one way or another. Dimples has chosen another.

My Dad's family has a get together around my Papa's birthday each year. We got to go to the Morris family reunion this past weekend in Pensacola. A few years back my mom added to the fun by beginning what is now an annual tradition as well, Pumpkin carving! Last year, my immediate family didn't get to go because I had been told I would probably be on bed rest for the last few months of my pregnancy so we didn't risk the trip. My kids and I really miss this time when we can't go because it is usually the only time we get to see my Papa, Aunts and Uncles and Cousins each year. Needless to say we really enjoyed the time this year.

I only took a few pictures at my family reunion this past weekend. Then the kids got a hold of the camera. TOO FUNNY!

My brother and his dear sweet wife and all four of our kids.

Spunky-sized pumpkin!

Daddy helping care her pumpkin.
Spunky said her pumpkin was a princess.
She decorated it with markers. Lady carved a pumpkin ALL by herself!!! I am serious...scraped out the guts and used those cute little orange pumpkin carving tools!!! She was so proud and so was I!
Side one of Lady's- skinny mouth Second Side of Lady's - Boo mouthAunt Meredith comes from a family of serious pumpkin carvers. They cut out the bottom rather than the top. Uncle Matt and Aunt Meredith make a great team. Aunt Meredith and Uncle Matt's pumpkin is winking...
we nicknamed it Sarah Pumpkin in honor of Palin. Grandma helped Dynamo with his. Dynamo's pumpkin is the goblin on the left.

All the activity wore Dimples out before we even got back to the hotel. Grandma didn't mind.

Our kids...3 to a hotel bed - sideways.

OK...the kids took the rest of these pictures.
I like how this pic of MeMaw's goldfish turned out.
See the ripples in the water? Spunky is posing for the camera. Do you see modeling in her future?
However, today she told me she wants to be a Mommy who buys candy and is a doctor.
Lady loves posing too.
Papa Mack (my grandad) is 82 this week!
MeMaw (papa's wife) got surprised by the kids taking a picture, I think.
My Uncle...people really seem to cheese it up when the kids are behind the camera.My Aunts and someone's behind....the kids need some work on the composition of a photo. Hee,hee!

Pumpkins in twilight. Lady took this of the other kids and their pumpkins. Can I just say that uploading pictures on Facebook is soooo much easier than on Blogger...UGH! Hope someone looks at them!

Will I be HIS masterpiece?

If you will read Ann Voscamp's blog, Draw God , you will understand my ponderings today.



I hear my children from another room...bickering...arguing...impatient with one another. I know part of this is simply because they are children...sons of Adam...in flesh and selfishness born of that first choice made by Adam and Eve to disobey. But I also know that it is partly because of my impatience with them that they are impatient with one another. My example breeds more of the same.



I pray that despite my inadequecies my children will surpasss me. Surpass me in their walks of faith. That somehow despite my faults they will express the fruits of the Spirit ealier and deeper than I have or perhaps ever will.



This means I will have to surrender more and more today. That I will have to commit to allowing God to change me. I struggle with this. For you see in so many areas of life I had been competent. Often leaving God out of it. I could do it on my own without having to disrupt the authorities in my life... parents, boss, teacher or even God. Weren't their others who needed their attention more than I? But here in my home...in my role as mother and wife...I can do nothing on my own. I am utterly incompetent in so many ways.



There is no longer room for the excuses I have given..."That is just my personality or temperment." "I don't have the resources. (space, fincances, time) " "It's just the way I have always been." "Don't I have any rights?"



No longer can I cling to these. I must lay ALL down. I must cling to HIM!!!



I feel in this moment EVERYTHING about me must change. But really it should be "LORD CHANGE ME in the way YOU see fit. The way I think, act, even LOVE, transform them all. "



For in this place that I am...I don't even see myself honestly... I don't know myself as HE does. He for some reason has allowed me to become who I am now today...and HE alone can recieve the Glory for who I shall become from this moment on.



Romans 12:2

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.



“I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”- Psalm 40:8

a moment of thanksgiving

these should be numbered but I just need to be thankful and maybe I'll come back and number these again sometime...

Thankful for a husband who loves me...who loved me earlier in our dating relationship than I loved him and he still loves me. It is not always an easy task to love me.

Thankful for dimples in cheeks and chins of little faces filled with smiles.

Thankful for music...it moves me...it is a language that speaks to my spirit. Thanks God for the ears to hear it and being so creative and allowing humans in on that creativity in so many ways.

Thankful for pockets of sun surrounded by dark clouds...it was so amazing today at the beach how the clouds surrounded us but the sun remained over us for a few hours.

Thankful for how vast the ocean is at I look at it from the sand...it is small compared to God...HOW AMAZING!

Thankful for how Little Lady noticed that the beach can be different everyday...the shape of the sand had changed today from yesterday. yet those big rocks were still there. You are our ROCK, LORD!!! Thank you for being our foundation and NEVER CHANGING!

Thankful for the wind...it cleanses my spirit. Blow, LORD, over me...through me...I want to soar freely on the wind like the birds did today at the coast...free from my selfish desires. Resting in YOU...relating to YOU...trusting YOU and not my own desires or motives or senses.

The Lake House!

This past week, Hubby had Wednesday and Sunday at the church where he is interim youth pastor. (He does 3 Wednesdays and one Sunday a month basically.) So rather than driving there and back both days, a family offered for us to stay in their lake house.

It was such a huge, amazing blessing.

We were there less than 2 hours when Spunky said, "I want to stay here forever!!!" and we hadn't even gone outside yet. I have to say fun was had by all!!!

Dimples had his first introduction to grass. He seemed to like it.

Spunky chillin' on the dock while the others jetski.

Daddy skiing!
Kids chillin'!
Our girls and our host's youngest daughter chatting.

Dimples likes the boat ride!!! The kids starting to tube...before it flipped...don't ask.

Watching the kids getting ready to tube. Daddy and Dynamo and Lady on the tube!
Dimples has almost had enough.

I think Spunky is completely done, wouldn't you say?
I have to say that coming back to our house was bitter sweet. You know how it is...you love home because it's home. But all the room, the outdoors, jetski's and boat rides. Hmmm, ya' miss those. I have to say my body is very sore today from the 60 mph jetski trip I took across the choppy lake. But man it was fun. What a way to get out any frustrations. Hubby played tennis and golf and went to the UCF game with some guys. The kids and I hung out at the lake house with some friends and just relaxed. I got treated to a night out at one of those paint-your-own- pottery places and free babysitting from some some really great teen girls.
It was a great "stay-cation." We didn't even have to leave our own state. There was no rain and it felt like fall...you know in the low 80's. Great for lake activities. Not hot and definitely not cold. I am so thankful for how this family blessed us this past week.
When we got home Sunday night, Spunky said..."But Mom, I said I wanted to stay there forever!!!" I think she meant it.