Crazy Busy Weekend Fun

PHEW!!  That's all I have to say now that May is over.  The beginning of the month brought two big cleaning days for me before our house went on the market.  (It's still there in case you want to buy it.)  Then we realized that if there was anything we wanted to be waiting for us in Haiti when we arrive then we needed to have it packed and ready to ship by May 28.  We had kind of thought we had until sometime in July but such was not the case.  So I looked at my calendar and saw that I had approximately 6 days total from that point where I could shop, organize, and pack.  Seeing as how doing all of that with three small children is next to impossible, I hired some babysitters.  We got what I would say is a bare minimum and I told Danny we may just be livin on love and that's about it for the first couple months but we'll survive.  The rest of what we want to ship should go at the end of August so we will hopefully get it within the first five or six weeks of moving.

Anyway.  The reason I only had a few days to do all that is because our weekends were maxed out!  Mother's Day weekend we headed south to Sweet Home Alabama for a wedding.  Soon after we made our official commitment to Haiti we talked about taking a weekend getaway with the two of us.  But we decided it was just too much so instead we tacked on an extra day to the Alabama weekend and took a day trip in Louisville.  We had so much fun!!

We got in late and left early from our Air BnB.  We started with a brisk walk on a pedestrian bridge that crossed the Ohio river.

Then we headed to Churchill Downs for a tour and visited the Kentucky Derby museum.  Neither one of us really knew much about the derby but it was pretty interesting anyway!

They had some fun exhibits and I rented Secretariat from the library for us to watch tomorrow night:)

We had lunch at Panchito's which was the real deal for tacos and then went to Mega Caverns where we did the zipline tour.  If you're too lazy to go to the link, it's a six zipline course in a huge cave.  Lots of fun, a little scary for wimpy me, but definitely worth it!  No phones or cameras or any such thing allowed though so no pictures to show for it:(  But I looked pretty stunning in my helmet and harness.

Then it was on to Athens!  With a memorable Waffle House stop for supper thrown in there.  Let's just say the women's bathroom was unfit to use and the men's bathroom was NOT vacant as it said it was.  We got to our hotel with plenty of time to relax a little after such a packed day.  

The next morning we met up with Aaron and Cassie and Mark and Bekah and all their kids.  We just hung out at a park before going out for a good ole southern BBQ lunch.  I loved getting all caught up!

Since we didn't have kids to put down for naps we headed to the town square for my favorite ice cream in town and walked around downtown awhile.

Then it was off to the wedding where there was pretty much a huge reunion of so many people and I just loved it so much.  There were a couple people I had wanted to talk to but didn't and I could have gone for one more round of BBQ, but other than that the weekend was pretty much perfect:)

Sunday night we drove to my parents where the kids were staying.  Monday and Tuesday we had some training with ACCFS.  We didn't leave until Tuesday at 5:00 so it was a late night getting home.

Wednesday and Thursday were filled with laundry and reorganizing and getting ready for the next big adventure!  Well, maybe not big adventure, but another full weekend!  We headed to a campground on Friday afternoon with several other couples.  Our style of camping is cabins but one of the couples with us did a tent so kudos to them!

They had face painting on Saturday which has been one of Summer's dreams ever since she found out what it was.  It was pretty minimal painting but it was satisfactory for her!

Even Tucker got in on the action:)

The weather was a lot warmer and a lot less rainy than we anticipated so the kids were able to play on the beach awhile.

Let the good times roll!

That week we had a full week at home but it was filled with more packing and my mom coming out for a few days for Summer's birthday.  Which I may or may not get around to posting about.  I'm so behind on here!  But then Saturday morning we got up and headed north to Pokagon State Park with Danny's family.  We had a great time staying at Potawatomi Inn.  

At one point some of the kids went and painted in the art room.  While I was there with Summer I decided I wanted to paint something too so it was Grandpa to the rescue to hold Tucker and help Summer:)  She first picked out a ceramic unicorn but I had visions of it being dropped and shattered so I somehow convinced her to do a paper mache "treasure box".  She loves it!

More playing in the sand and getting dirty...

And the Lincoln logs in the lobby!

We came home Monday and this week has been somewhat restful compared to the last few.  It won't stay that way because we still have plenty to do but it's been good to slow down a little bit.  And aside from watching Secretariat and making banana bars for church lunch, this weekend is also looking to be slow.  We'll take it!  It was good to go but it's good to be done too.

And I'm not going back to proofread this at all so Honey if you find lots of mistakes I'm sorry! :)

Big Changes Ahead

It's been a journey.  One step at a time.  But one step at a time eventually gets you to your destination.  Poetic, right?? :)  But really, we have been on a journey almost a year now.  Well, really, ever since we've been married I suppose is when it all started.  But purposeful steps toward a specific destination started last June.  Where to?  To Haiti.  After getting married, we never really felt like what we were doing was really "it".  We didn't know if there would be a small, simple change or a big one, but we really felt like change was coming.  Over the years there were several different things that came up that we talked about, but nothing was ever right for one reason or another.  So we just kept praying "God, where do you want us?".  You know what wasn't really on our radar?  Haiti.  We figured if we ever did foreign missions it would be Mexico because we both had really prayed about going there when we were single, we both like Mexico, and, well, we both speak some Spanish.  But that would just be too easy and make too much sense, wouldn't it?  

One day, almost a year ago, I was reading an email from Harvest Call about the Child Sponsorship program and I just had this fleeting thought of what if we would go to Haiti?  I was quick to dismiss it because obviously that's not what was in store for us!  Well.  Just a few weeks later I was reading my trusty Silver Lining when I saw a non medical need advertised by Hospital Lumiere that seemed like it could be a good fit for us.  I brought it up to Danny but he didn't seem too phased by it.  But then a few weeks after that, the need came through another Harvest Call email and he came home saying it really might be worth looking into.  We prayed about it, but both of us pretty much felt peaceful about getting more information right away.  It just felt different than everything else we had talked and prayed about the past 4 1/2 years.

So that's where the one step at a time comes in.  That's just what we did.  The whole way through we prayed that God would close the doors if he didn't want us to go.  But the doors kept swinging open and we remained so peaceful through it all.  Well, except for right after Tucker was born.  My post partum hormones kicked into high gear and for about a month I couldn't even think about it without crying.  So we put everything on hold until I settled down a little and soon enough I was ready to move forward again.

We knew we couldn't make a final decision without visiting the hospital.  We had both been to Haiti a couple of times but not to the hospital.  So this past January, Danny and I took Tucker and went down for a week.

We were able to see how most aspects of life operate down there for the missionaries.  From housing to church to grocery shopping.  Plus we had a lot of time to talk to the people who are down there now, firing all sorts of questions at them.  Some that might have been uncomfortable to talk about, but important things that are good to know when considering a move.

Once we got back we didn't even talk about it for almost a week.  Just processed in our own heads until one day we realized that both of us were thinking we were ready to keep going with the process.  We were officially approved in March and made our commitment public soon after!

I'll answer some FAQs in a little bit, but first here's just a few pictures from our trip.

We were able to visit the Redemption Campus that was founded by Danny's brother Zach.  I had never been there, and it had been a few years since Danny last visited so that was a neat afternoon for us.

There is a humanitarian organization based out of Port au Prince that I cannot remember the name of that offers Life Flight services.  While we were there, there was a little baby that needed more than what Hospital Lumiere could provide and was transferred to a hospital in PAP.  We got to watch the helicopter land and see this tiny sweet baby get taken care of.  Kind of a unique experience for us!

Well, it's no taco from the streets of Mexico, but we did enjoy the Haitian food.  Sure hope our kids do too!

Quite possibly my favorite picture of the whole week:  Tucker vs. the city market.  He really wasn't as mad as he looks.  Maybe just a little confused.  But he was a big hit with all the Haitian ladies selling their goods!

Now for the questions.

When are you moving?

We don't have a date set, but we are planning on early to mid August.

What will you be doing?

Well????  We don't even know for sure.  There is actually another family that is moving down in July who had initially applied for the same position we did.  We do know there are a lot of different needs to be filled and we maybe have an idea of what we'll be doing.  One of those things where if you ask me in person I am glad to share but I don't feel quite comfortable saying it in such a public place!

How are you feeling?

Overall we are excited.  We definitely have our days when we wonder what in the world are we thinking?!?!?!  And it just sounds easier to scrap the whole thing.  But to do so would be all wrong on several different levels!  But really though, we are excited.  Maybe mostly because we are finally not wondering where God is going to send us.  Nervous too, because we know there will be hard things and we don't know what they are or how we will respond.  But we have continued to remain peaceful and know that God is in it.

How long will you be there?

We have committed to four years for now.  We know it might end up being longer and we know that in the small chance we would have something happen where we felt we could not stay, that would be okay too.  So for now, four(ish) years.

There's more, I'm sure, but those are some of the most common ones.  We really don't mind talking about it though so feel free to ask us!  And we do appreciate prayers!

So?  That's our life right now.  If you're still reading, thanks for hanging in there!

Florida, How Do We Love Thee?

 Every year on the way to Fort Myers, we pass right by Sarasota and Siesta Key Beach.  I have a lot of memories there from when I was single and it's pretty sentimental to me.  I mean, I loved it so much that once upon a time my old roommate and I had job interviews lined up and were planning to move there until God very clearly closed that door.  It's a good thing too, looking back, even though we were pretty sad about it at the time.  But I digress.

So finally this time around when we made really good time, we took a couple hours to stop by Siesta Key.  It was really fun for me to see it again and drive around Sarasota again, even if it was only for a really short time!

And after a very long time stuck in car seats, we finally made it to the bridge to get onto Estero Island.  Once we hit bridge traffic we let the kids out of their seats since it takes a good hour to cross!

Sunday afternoon, first round of ice cream and yummy juice sampling at Sun Harvest Citrus.

It's pert 'near impossible to get a good family picture! 

Monday morning our condo place offered free doughnuts.  My children were very happy to lick all the chocolate off of theirs and then be done:)

Tucker's first swim!  And only swim.  He didn't hate it but didn't love it and our baby float thing just wasn't quite small enough for him.  So we didn't mess with it after that.

Sooooo much fun to play on the beach!

Soooooooo much fun to dig and dig and dig and dig and...

A dream come true- slurping up a plateful of spaghetti and not even using silverware!

Hey look!  We got a decent one!  I sure do love this crew:)

There's a pretty sweet library close by and when we went there one morning Summer was loving this doll that was about as big as her!

We went for an evening swim one night but it was windy and cold outside of the water so we bundled Tucker all up and he was good to go!

One night Danny's parents came and watched our kids while we went on a short date.  A walk down to the pier and ice cream was just the break we needed from corralling three little kids day in and day out.

The alligator is a favorite with the kids!

So many babies!  

One day we took a tram ride.  Sawyer was in the height of his glory.  Smiles all around!

We found a cute little cove in the nature preserve we visited.  We stayed until we noticed ants starting to crawl all over us.

And one last sunset on the pier before we had to go.

Growing up we always took road trips, visiting lots of different places in one vacation.  I would love to do that once our kids are a little older, but I do have to say, there is something fun about returning to the same place year after year.  We do love FMB!

One Half Of A Year!

Our sweet and happy Tucker Joseph is a whole half a year old!  I think time goes faster and faster with each kid because it sure seems like I just had him a few weeks ago!

He is just the sweetest lil guy though.  He is super laid back and typically only cries when really necessary.  He smiles easily and loves to be talked to.  Even if he's across the room and I start reading a book or something to Summer and Sawyer, he perks right up and looks over and smiles.

He's not sitting up on his own yet, but he does great on his tummy.  If he's on the floor he'll spend most of his time on his tummy, pushing himself up to see what's all going on.  He's not a great sleeper but not terrible either.  Typically we have to stick his paci in anywhere between 1 and 3 times.  Up until he was three months old he didn't even like his paci and would go for 8 or 9 hours at night without making a peep.  Then one day he decided he liked it and now he's so dependent on it to go to sleep:(  I try to make him go 8 hours before I feed him but sometimes it's just not worth it and he only goes 7.

One of his favorite people ever is Summer.  She can make him laugh like none other.  It's pretty cute to watch them interact.  Sawyer really likes Tucker, but I'm not sure it's mutual.  Sawyer tries to play with Tucker like he is another two year old and that usually results in some tears.  First from Tucker because Sawyer sat on his head or something, and then from Sawyer for getting in trouble for sitting on Tucker's head.  All in good time, buddy, all in good time.

We sure do love our lil buddy!

A Farm Boy He Is Not

Ever year about this time my dad gets a fresh batch of baby turkeys.  And it's always a good day if we happen to be out there when a new flock comes in.  It makes me laugh though, the difference between Summer and Sawyer in the turkey house.

Sawyer just walks along, paying no attention to where he's going.  More than once I had to rescue a poor little bird that was suffocating under his boot.

He's way more interested in the gadgets and equipment than the turkeys themselves.

He has no interest at all in holding one, even if I'm right there with him.  It was a stretch to get him to touch it while I held it.

Meanwhile..... we have the turkey whisperer.

If she's awake in time (and she usually is), she goes out to help dad with the chores.  Mostly she'll just sit and play with them if they're still at this stage.  But she'll also help him carry any dead ones to the door!

She will gently hold them and dutifully tries to get them to eat and drink.

Polar opposites, they are!

Hotel Fun

This past weekend we had a great time with Danny's family at our winter hotel weekend.  We loaded up the van and the kids, drove for about a minute, and then unloaded the van and the kids!  We just stayed local this year, and we can see the hotel from our house:)  I made the mistake of telling Summer and showing her the hotel about five days before we actually went and that was all. we. talked. about.  For the whole week.  Or so it seemed.

Unfortunately, for the third year in a row, she came down with a nasty cold right before we left.  And all the pool chemicals don't help.  So she had fun during the day with her cousins but she went to bed about three hours before all the rest of them:(

This kid just had a grand ole time!  So good that he stayed awake until 11:00 at night.  Not for lack of trying though!  We took him to the room at maybe 9:30 and he played and rolled around in the bed while Danny took a nap:)

Sure is fun watching these girls grow up together!

And Tucker did great.  He hung out in his bumbo or on my lap all weekend.  He's such a good baby!

We were all pretty tired by the time we came home because, you know, all sleeping in the same room.  But it was worth it!