Come on down to the Lighthouse!

We got home Saturday night from our week long trip to The Lighthouse Family Retreat (a seaside retreat for children with cancer and their families). We had a wonderful experience there and came home feeling just as blessed as the families we went there to serve. I was exhausted when we got home, it definitely was not a "vacation". I didn't really know what to expect and it was hard work but seeing all those kids and families smiling and having fun together was a great thing. I knew that this was going to be good for the kids to have a week where it's totally "not about them", what I didn't realize is how good that would be for me as well! I'm telling you when I was spending all my efforts on serving others it made me realize real fast how spoiled I am and how much I take for granted. Walker and Michael did a great job putting others first as well, they knew that this trip was totally about making these families have a fun and relaxing time. They helped out a lot and learned about having to wait and let others go first. They crashed hard every night, we were up by 7am and didn't go to bed 'til around 10:30 or 11pm every day! They have already said that they want to go back next year. We went with some people in our small group and it was neat to be able to experience this together. We were also incredibly blessed by all of the other volunteers that we were able to meet, we have a lot of new friends!

The retreat family that we were paired with, The Gorgievski's (Paul, Raenna, Lake, Paulyna & Cooper), is an amazing family. We felt like we had known them for years. They drove down all the way from Indianapolis to come. Their sweet little boy Cooper, who is only 3, has leukemia and praise God, they got a call while at the retreat that he cancer free!!! Listening to their story and seeing the relief they now have was very emotional. Fortunately, they have leaned on Christ through all of this and He has held them up and made them stronger. Cooper had been in and out of the hospital for the past 7 months. You should have seen how excited he was to be playing on the beach and in the pool, all you could do was smile the whole time watching him. We will be praying for them as he continues to have to be checked monthly.

I'm sure I could go on for a long time about how great this experience was for all of us and all the different ways we were touched. I will say that if anyone has ever wanted to do some sort of family mission trip (service project) then do it!! It is absolutely worth it! This will be the first of many for our family! I know that I came home a better person having spent a week serving at the Lighthouse! Our God is an awesome God!

First Harley Ride & More!

On Friday my Dad came over to meet Storm. Before he left he gave the boys their first ride on a Harley! He took them each around the neighborhood (that's as far as Mommy would allow)! They thought they were super cool!

Check these out....are they the biggest Sunflowers ever or what!?! We decided not to do a garden this year but these came up from seeds that were dropped last year. Michael is pretty convinced that he planted them b/c in the spring he did plant something but I think it was a bean! Anyway, I haven't told him that he didn't b/c he is so excited about them!

My hydrangeas didn't bloom at all last year so I was super excited when I saw this ginormous bloom! Okay, so I've only seen two blooms so far but that's better than last year!We are heading to Florida tomorrow morning to volunteer at Lighthouse Family Retreat which is a retreat for children with cancer and their families. It is a wonderful organization and we are very excited about being able to go and serve others. Even the boys are able to join us and they are very excited as well. I can't wait to tell you all about it when we get home!

Garage Sale - All4Jesus!

This past Saturday John & I helped with a garage sale that we held for All4Jesus Foundation. This ministry was started by some very good friends of ours, Jared & Cindy Martin, after they had gone on mission trips to Africa. They felt God leading them to do something more and here they are about to break ground on an orphanage in Swaziland, Africa! John & I are serving on the board for the ministry and feel very blessed and humbled to be able to be involved in this way. God has already done some amazing things to pave the way for more kids to be blessed with a home. I have always thought that it would be really neat to be involved with something like this from the beginning and it is really cool watching Him work. Walker and Michael are really loving watching this process as well and their little hearts are being molded and shaped in such wonderful ways. They pray for the orphanage and the kids to have homes and they love to go to the website and buy things with their own money for the orphanage out of the gift catalog. When we started getting ready for the garage sale they immediately said that they wanted to make stuff to sell so we had a table set up for them to sell the brownies, rice crispy treats and lemonade we made. The sale was a great success, we made $1177 with every bit going straight to the orphanage! It was a long HOT day but so worth it! If you haven't before, check out the website and the story behind the orphanage.

Camp All American!

The boys spent last week at camp. This was the only thing they were signed up for this summer and they loved it! They went to Camp All American and I was very impressed with everything. I was pretty nervous about how they would do b/c Walker went to a camp last year and liked parts of it but did not like the fact that it was all day (9-3). Of course he had only been going to preschool 3 days a week (half day) so that was all he was used to. He had a real hard time adjusting to such a busy day and cried when I dropped him off and when I picked him up. When I asked him if he wanted to do camp this year he quickly said "NO". I thought that I had ruined that forever. A couple of weeks into the summer he decided he wanted to give it a shot but only if he could go to Camp All American when his friend Cole was going. I asked Michael if he wanted to go too and he immediately said yes. Michael was in the same boat this year that Walker was last year in the way that he is only used to going to school 3days, half day and camp was from 9-4. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well Michael adjusted, he was tired at the end of the day but he loved it! Walker was nervous on the way the first day but by the time I picked him up he was all smiles and on Friday he cried because he was so sad that camp was over, which explains why he is so teary in the picture! They can't wait until next summer to go again!

I was so excited b/c I was going to have an entire week to myself.........then came the puppy! I feel like I have a baby all over again. Actually she has done great (she loves the Spiderman chair) and I was able to get some things done. I was busy last week trying to get some stuff done for a garage sale we had on Saturday which will be the subject of my next post.

1st Visit with Grandma!

Grandma came over and met her new granddaughter yesterday! She thought she was adorable and they had a good time playing together!

July 4th Celebration!

So for our July 4th weekend we went back up to Wilmington to hang out with GG. This is the 3rd year that we have spent the 4th up there. We drove up on Wednesday night and got there around midnight. The boys were out like lights and to my surprise transferred into bed without waking up. They were so excited to wake up Thursday morning at GG's! That was the first time we had done any night traveling and it worked out pretty good.

We spent about 6 hours at the beach on Thursday morning. The difference in Michael's swimming since the last time we were there was amazing! He had swim lessons and now he is so confident and it was so fun to see him out there on the boogie board by himself, he was very proud! Walker and Michael got really good at riding the waves on the boards. John and I even got in on the action ourselves! I told a friend of mine recently about how nice and big the beach is up there, that's why there's a picture of nothing but beach!

After the beach we got cleaned up and went up to Lake Waccamaw to see GG's friend Deb who had just rescued 5 puppies. She found them wandering the streets near a rental property of hers and couldn't find anyone to claim them so she took them home with her. She took them to the vet, they all had fleas and worms so she had them treated and got their first shots. GG and I thought it would be fun to take the boys to see them. They were adorable!! The vet said they are a mix between a Lab and a Plott Hound. We did some research and found out the plott hound is North Carolina's state dog. Of course the boys immediately started asking if we could take one of the dogs home with us.....we said we'd have to think about it. I have always thought the boys should get a dog one day but John has been pretty adamant about that day being far away so it was very easy for me to encourage the boys a little!

On Friday we hit the beach again in the morning and then went home and got cleaned up for dinner and fireworks! GG lives in walking distance to downtown and the Cape Fear River where they do a great fireworks show every year off the USS North Carolina. The show was great and I tell you it is so nice to be able to walk back to her house right past all the poor people who are stuck in grid lock traffic for who knows how long!!!

We decided to take a break from the beach on Saturday and went to the Cape Fear Serpentarium downtown instead. It was really neat, they had a bunch of neat snakes, lizards, alligators, etc. We also went to a park and to get ice cream. It was nice doing something different than the beach for a change. We started packing up after dinner since we were heading home early Sunday morning.

Sunday morning we left GG's at around 7:15am and made a stop at Lake Waccamaw again, guess why........yep, we got a puppy! I have to say that I was very nervous. Like I said before I was all "gung ho" for a dog when I knew John wasn't going to go for it but when he was the one who wanted to get her I wasn't sure that it was the right timing. I am already in love with her! We got the runt of the litter, she is only about 4 lbs. and just adorable. The vet said the puppies would probably range in the 30-50 lb range and we feel pretty sure that she'll be on the small end of that (that is of course unless we have the real life Clifford)! Anyway, our trip home was really long but we all made it and I'm so glad that we brought Storm home with us! We named her Storm b/c when we read about the plott hound they were called the ninja's of the dog world and known to be fearless when tracking big game like bear. The boys are totally into Power Rangers and one of the series is called Ninja Storm and there is also a girl superhero named Storm on the X-Men. I personally liked the name Fearless but I got outvoted......Storm is cool too! I will say that I feel like I have a baby in the house again but she has already been really good about the crate training and she hasn't even woken us up at night (of course she will tonight since I said that)!!

Craft Time!

The boys love to do crafts, Michael especially. John had the idea that they should color some sand to make sand art with. This past Tuesday the boys and I took our food colors and headed to the sand box! We had fun making all the different colors. The sand was a little damp after we mixed them up so we let them sit overnight to dry out. On Wednesday morning we got some jars and sat out back so they could make their creations. I think that they turned out beautifully and they really had fun!!!

Mosquito Boots!

When we were in the mountains a couple of weeks ago Michael made an invention that I thought was pretty smart for him to think of all on his own. We were hanging out one evening on the back deck of the cabin and the mosquitos were out. Michael went inside and got some napkins and tape and proceeded to make himself some "mosquito boots" so that the mosquitos couldn't bite his feet and for protecting his feet from splinters! He then helped his cousin Kaydee make some for herself, which was super cute! Michael is sharing his Daddy's love of inventing already!

Beautiful Flowers!

This past Saturday one of my best friends' mom passed away. My friend Penny's mom Jane had been sick for a while and it was her family's prayer that God would either heal her or take her home so that she wouldn't have to struggle anymore. God was faithful and took her home. The funeral was very nice and it was really neat that there was more of a sense of peace than of sadness. Penny and her family are doing really well, thanks to the hope that they have in Christ that they will be together with her in heaven one day. I don't know how people handle the loss of loved ones without having Him in their lives.

On to the pretty flowers.....

The funeral home brought all of the beautiful flowers that people had sent to the service. As they were putting them out Penny and her sisters started picking flowers out of the arrangements to take home and enjoy. They told me and my friend's, Shelly and Stacia, to take some too b/c that's what Jane would want. Of course we were all hestitant, it didn't seem right but I know Jane and could definitely hear her saying "please, take those home and enjoy them". So, here they are and every time I look at them I find myself smiling and thinking of Jane!

Junior Joker Michael!

Today was Michael's turn to have his joke aired on the radio, take a listen! It was so cute to hear him and he thought it was really neat....now we have two radio stars in the family!! :)