Father's Day

All together for Father's Day!  Ahhh..

We all enjoyed being together for Father's day.  We celebrated at mama and daddy's house.  Papa  came over from "the old folks home" and Aunt Jean came all the way from Tennessee to celebrate!

 Mama made a delicious meal, as usual!  I love having a mother that gets so much joy cooking and decorating for her family!  It truly is one of her greatest joys!  

 We had to get Bailey in one of the pictures, too!  He is mama's "baby dog" and is spoiled like crazy!

 All the dad's received gifts, of course.  Another post will follow with pictures from Ray C.'s father's day present - a trip to a local Independent League baseball game with the family!

 My dad is not a silly person and may not be very happy about me posting this picture, but it is too cute to not include!  

 We love our daddy!

Aunt Jean's Visit

We were so excited that Aunt Jean came to visit for Father's day!  

 The kids have really enjoyed getting to know her better over the last year. 

 While she was here, we took her to one of Chase's baseball games.  She was a little shocked at how serious our 6 year old team is, but we had fun!

 "Diamonds are a girl's best friend!"

Thoughtfulness

Thomas may be a man of few words, but he is definitely thoughtful!  On several occasions, he has crafted a special "ring" for me in the produce section of the grocery store.  And I have been thrilled to wear my bag-tie ring as a reminder of what a precious child God has given me!

Enjoying Texas

On our way to pick up Thomas and Mary Frances from summer camp, we decided to visit Sam Houston's statue and stay at a state park overnight!

 Chase was excited to see the huge statue which is about 54 feet tall!  

 Not sure Sam Houston would approve, but Chase thought it would be funny to pick his nose!

 We had a gator for a neighbor at our campsite.  He staked us out for a while and then left after we didn't feed him!  It's scary to think that people really feed them without realizing the ramifications for the rest of us!  Yikes!

Another Tournament, Another Trophy

Chase's team earned their trophies last weekend!  It was either rainy or HOT for every game! 

They won all 5 games they played!

 The trophies have taken over Chase's room!  It's time for a new plan!

Hairy Egg Yolks?

Chase just told me..."I don't like the yellow part of the egg because when I eat it, I can taste the hair from the baby chicken."

Frontier Camp

I really left my kids at camp yesterday!!  

 They were so excited to get there and for me to leave!

 Both of the kids had people they know in their cabins.  So, that made me feel a little better about leaving them, but I still didn't sleep very well.  Every time I woke up, I was thinking about (and then praying for) them.

 They had to face their fears as soon as we arrived because they were concerned about swimming in the lake, but they were required to take a swim test.  After much coaxing, they finally jumped in.

                                               

 I know they are going to have a blast and that I prepared them the best I can.  So, all I can do this week is pray for their safety, a fun time, and that they will grow in their relationship with God!

Missions Minded

The Sky is the limit this week

 The kids are learning to trust God...no matter what during VBS this week! We have somewhere around 800 kids in VBS at Foundry this week.  It has been so much fun to see them all over the place.

The most exciting part for me has been watching them serve God at the Hope Centers, within our groups, and at home as they have been raising money for our Mission Project in Haiti...Jacob's Well.  

As of today, the kids had raised over $3000 for the project!  Mary Frances had a lemonade stand with the help of one of our 8th graders, Sydney!

Chase wanted to wash cars, but because we are in a drought, we decided to clean windshields instead.

They have both had a wonderful time raising the money and being generous!  Thanks be to God!

Ground Breaking

Today, we broke ground at our property on Fry Road!  Foundry UMC will be in Bridgeland SOON!

 Only 10 days shy of our arrival in Texas for this very purpose...

 What an exciting moment for so many of us who have prayed for this day and the days to come...

 the people of Foundry...

 our District Superintendent, Rev. Morris Mathis, gave the sermon at our service this morning and then led us as we asked God to bless this place...

 the first official breaking of the ground!!!!

 look at all those kids!  (Yes, that is my daughter right out there in front!)

God called us all!

My Mom...

I received this from Mary Frances recently:

Translation:

My mom is the best mommy one can possibly have.  She gives me kisses, milkshakes.  She gives me a good school to go to.  She is always teaching us how to be a good person.  My mom provides everything I need.  Like clothes, food, love, and home, and my friends.  My mom lets me have friends for play dates and sleepovers and birthday parties.  My mom is the best mom in the world.  If she was not my mom I would not be happy at all.  I love her.  She is my favorite mom!

Ahh....these are the little things that keep my going!  I love knowing that she really gets what love is! I love my babies!

Car Wash Fiasco

So, I went through the car wash yesterday....

 I didn't realize that I took some of it with me until I made my next stop at PetSmart (which required me to go very slowly past about 10 stores in the Target shopping center)!

Not only was I surprised to find this, but I couldn't pull it off! So, I had to continue driving with it.  I am certain I will show up on EpicFail or twitter because I saw lots of people laughing, pointing, and even taking pictures!

I laughed out loud for 20 minutes as I enjoyed people gawking as much as I was mortified!  Oh well...at least my car was clean, right!?!

Funny Kids

The kids were demonstrating their break-dancing abilities this morning when Mary Frances exclaimed that she could do "the worm". So, when she got down and tried it out, we were all surprised, but only Thomas could find the words to describe what we were all thinking. With a confused look he said, "that looks more like a freaked-out mermaid". I couldn't come up with a more perfect description, and I laughed hysterically for several minutes!