Does Anybody Look Good in Pale Khaki?

Just one question...who picked the color of these shirts? The ladies on our trip have a suggestion...next year let's go with red. Okay, really any color but this one!!

It Didn't Take Long to Figure Out...

Here comes lunch!!
Waiting for a turn in the line.
The Amazing "S." talking to D.
J3 is glad to be out of the bus!

I don't know about you, but I had no idea that I could go on a mission trip and get spoiled!! Yes, that is right - spoiled rotten as a matter of fact! Can you imagine a week where you don't have to put a moments thought into one meal, one snack or one dirty dish! No, it didn't take me long to figure out that God had been at work in every single solitary detail of this trip!! Everyone who was there had a purpose and an important part in what God was going to do! Truly, beyond just being spoiled, S. and R.'s service gave the rest of us so much more time to put our focus in a different area and was such a vital part of our mission trip being a success! Their servants heart was an incredible example to us all!

The trip to Jasper County was going to take about 3 1/2 to 4 hours, so it was decided that we would stop at a rest area along the way and have lunch. Well, after we stopped and S.and R. showed up with their trailer and coolers, it truly didn't take me long to figure out that we were going to be eating good all week long! S. and R. are a married couple who came along on the trip to prepare our food, so that we could spend our time doing other things. And boy was it good food. Everything we had was delicious and well thought out. For example, at our stop along the way, they had several choices of sandwiches with smaller sizes for the kids. They had every condiment you would need and a platter of really good tomatoes, lettuce and onion. They had chips, drinks and homemade cookies for dessert. Nothing was left undone or even half way done! And it was like that all week!! AW said it best.."I had no idea I could go on a mission trip and gain 5 pounds from eating so good!" And then to top it off, they handled most of the clean up too!! We did divide the kids into clean up teams to wipe down tables and help with clean up, but for the most part everything was taken care of!

4 Down, Only 678 to Go

I think that my family would agree that the highlight of our summer was our family mission trip. We were on a team of 22 that went to Jasper County, SC.

I have to admit that from the time that we committed to going until the time that we left, I could think of 1000 reasons why we shouldn't go. I wasn't against it, I was just a little overwhelmed and a lot unsure. We were so busy with other things, I found myself at times dreading the thought of even having to get ready to go.

But,now...I wouldn't trade that week for anything. It was amazing! God is so good and so big and He is just waiting for us to step out of our comfort zone and trust Him to use us for something good.

The "debriefing" pack we got from the mission office at our church said if anyone asks about your trip, give them a brief answer and maybe share a story of something that happened. But don't overwhelm them with all the details and a ton of pictures that won't really mean a whole lot to them...but guess what! This is my blog and I am just dying to share many of the stories of what God did and show the 682 incredible pictures that we have from our trip (that number is no joke!!). Okay, maybe I won't post all the pictures, but there are some you just have to see! So, now let's just start at the beginning...

Getting ready to go! We went to the 9am service at our church before we left. Our team leader giving us some initial instructions.

"A" has a B-day

In keeping with my theme of the events of the summer, I can't forget to mention that our own "A" celebrated birthday number eleven! I think that she had a wonderful day...lunch at the deli with the family, dinner at Outback and then back to the house for little celebration of cake (from Strossners - YUM!) and ice cream. Her grandparents had arranged to be in town for a swim meet and her birthday which just added so much to the day! For her birthday party, she wanted to take some friends to see the new American Girl movie. The movie was great and we had the movie theater all to ourselves (wish I could say I arranged for a private showing, but truly it was just luck!). A special treat for me was that both my sisters were able to hang out with us for the day...something that doesn't happen often enough and a couple of my friends, who are mom's of A's friends joined us for the movie! It was just a great birthday all the way around!

Hard to believe that my sweet girl is now 11! What a wonderful young woman she is turning out to be! I just love her so much!

Brag, Brag, Brag

Okay, I don't know if this is wrong or not, but I just can't help myself! I just have to brag on my kids. Now I can do this because I truly take no credit for the good in them...all the glory for what is good goes to God. J2 and I just get to be a part of their story!

So this all has to do with swim team...

I am so incredible proud of how well both A and J3 did this season! They worked so hard and had such a wonderful attitude. They both cut a lot of time in every single event that they swam this summer and both made it to the post season swim meets. There was even an email from one of their coaches complimenting A and J3 for be such hard working children... truly I am appreciative of the coaches for constantly bringing out the best in my kids!

Anyways, back to the bragging thing...if you are still with me. We missed the swim banquet, but received a text message from KLee's husband, who was at the banquet, telling us that A received the 100% Award for her age group and J3 receieved the MVP for his.

How amazingly gracious God was to allow them to receive recognition for a good season (there were many kids who worked hard and had great attitudes!) His kindness always amazes me!! I am thankful that as we parent these precious kids, we have a loving and merciful Savior who blesses us far beyond what we deserve!!

Way to go A and J3...you two are awesome!! I am so proud of your heart, your attitude and your actions! You are both a joy!

Swim Team

Once again, our summer has been filled with many many many many hours at the pool. By the way, I am not complaining. How lucky we are to have a wonderful pool to go to and an incredible swim team to be a part of!! This was the first year that both A and J3 could be on the big team together. Practices were twice a day and swim meets took up one evening a week, but the benefit that we gained from doing it this year far out weighed the sacrifice of time that we made.

Although we really missed the wonderful friends that decided not to do swim team this summer, we were truly blessed in so many ways through swim team. The coaches this year did such a great job with the kids. They taught A and J3 so much about swimming, but also made it fun for them and encouraged them in many ways. We will always remember the chants and cheers,the smiles and laughter and of course, the reminders of "two hands".

Then there were the extra curricular activies, which were abundant and quite fun. We did everything from painting pottery to baseball games to tubing down a river (and more!)

Of course, another highlight of swim team is the time to get to sit and visit with other moms as we watch the practices. It was really nice to get to spend time with some special friends as we would sit and watch our kids (who were working really hard, by the way!)

My Summer Vacation

Well, it has been so long since I have posted anything that I actually forgot my password! We have been blessed with an amazing summer filled with a lot of wonderful moments...so if you are still checking in with "the pilgrims" you will definitely have some new reading material and pics to look at as I catch up on our family's summer vacation!