Our first try at peach jelly!

Okay so my kids might just have the coolest grandparents in the world! And they are blessed with four fantastic grand-parents. My mom likes to do fun things with her grand-kids. This past week end she took the kids to pick peaches at a local peach orchard. Justin made a peach cobbler from scratch and it was wonderful! He loves to be in the kitchen and has gotten really good at cooking. That's right! He's good looking and he cooks! Sorry ladies he's already taken. Ha! There were still lots of peaches left, so Linda, (my MIL who is a great cook! Wonder where justin got it from!) came over and we started the process for peach jelly. When Justin came home he helped me to finish it all up and we took pictures all along the way...

We started out blanching all the peaches. The kids were able to help with this step because the peaches had gone from boiling hot water to ice water and this made the skin slide right off. Once you get the skin off and pit out you just cut up the inside of the peach, place it into a bowl, and stir it all up.

Once it got to this stage I had to get the kids out of the kitchen because EVERYTHING is piping hot!!!


This is the end product. Haven't tasted it yet, but it sure does look good!

Please pray for the people of Niamey!

Another trip around the way. God is putting everything in place to return again. There is so much planning that goes into a trip like this. It's amazing to come home after a trip and look back to see how powerful God is, how sovereign He is. He loves the Fulani people of Niamey Niger West Africa and He is calling them to Himself. Please, join us in prayer as we continue to work out details for a trip in November. Pray that the Lord will rise up workers, that He will go before us, that He will continue to work in the hearts of the Fulani people even when we are not there, and last that He will fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit as we take these steps of obedience. All of this for HIS glory!

How did I not put these cute things in my bag!!

Mynastics

When Maddy was little she would say, "Mommy aw you gonna take me to mynastics?" Well, she has gone back to gymnastics this year and she loves it. It seems to be her thing. She is already doing back walk overs by herself and back handsprings almost by herself. She takes with one of her bff's and they have so much fun flipping like little monkeys.

Last stop Disney!

We were so blessed to be able to take the kids to Disney this year. God seemed to keep giving us help along the way. We stayed in my parent's time share which was 4 minutes from Disney. We have seen the way some kids live around the world and I couldn't help but feel a little guilty for being able to do this, but God just kept dropping blessings to make it all work. We are so thankful!

The only signature we got was old faithful Donald Duck. The lines to get signatures were very long. If your kids care to get signatures I would suggest a meal with the characters.

Cinderella so pretty!

Maddy in front of the castle.

This is Mom and Dad, my sister and her family, a friend, and my family in front of the castle. We cracked up because there was a family from another country who saw someone taking our picture and they took some too. HA! I wonder who they will say we are. Maybe they thought we were famous. :)

More pictures of Disney to come...

Second stop Clear Water Beach

We were having too much fun to worry about the camera until the sun started coming down and then I remembered. We rushed to get the camera out of the car and got a few shots before it got too dark. If you are ever in this area be sure to stop by this beach. We were so tempted to go to Daytona but someone highly recommended Clear Water and we went there instead. The name of the beach describes what the beach looks like. White sand and clear water.

Nickelodeon Hotel

Our first stop on vacation was at the Nickelodeon Hotel. The kids loved this hotel! Along with lots of poolside activities they also have 3D movies, a spa for little girls, game shows that you can sit in on at night, and much more. We went to a few of the shows and had a blast every time. There was music and dancing and one of our kids was chosen to be a part of a game on stage. This was a blast!

We had breakfast with the characters on our last morning at the hotel. All of our favorites is Dora The Explorer, maybe because people say Maddy looks like her, or maybe because she is Mexican like us and we might be related. HA!

The hotel has two huge swimming pools. One of the pools has a big bucket that drops green slime every few hours. Slime time is played up really well with loud music and dancing. If you are my age you remember the days of slime on Nick. There are also lots of games and activities to do all around the pool.

I love Patrick!!

I don't know who this guys is, I guess we have never watched him. But, he was impressed with Reagan's mohonk!

Like Father Like Son

Justin came home on a mission. We have been out of town for over a week and while we were gone our grass grew like a jungle. So, when he got home from work today he put on some old jeans and a t-shirt and headed out to tackle our yard. Reagan came running in the room asking if I could fix his sister's ipod to play for him and then he ran out putting his sunglasses in place. When I walked out a little later this is what I found...

When Justin walked in I started singing the words to this song and they go:
"Lord, I want to be just like You
'Cause he wants to be just like me
I want to be a holy example
For his innocent eyes to see
Help me be a living Bible, Lord
That my little boy can read
I want to be just like You
'Cause he wants to be like me"

Where we meet...

I am an early morning riser. From the moment I open my eyes I can almost hear birds chirping and praise music blaring in my head. I usually get up at around 5:30am to spend some time with God before I start the day. In every house we have lived in I adapt a spot that becomes my place in the house where we meet every morning. Or I should say most mornings ;) This is my place in this house.
I don't know if it is because I am getting older or because I really needed a good whack on the head, but God has really been on me this year. I feel like this year has been a long one and through various things that are happening in our lives God has shown me how very much I need His grace and mercy in my life. I have learned bitter sweet lessons that have made me want to crawl out of my skin and morph into someone else who is holier than me. But, the lessons have also been so eye opening to the fact that my God is a loving Father and He is a current that can't be stopped. Praise the Lord, HE is always in control, even if we don't feel like He is! He is always strong when we are weak. He sees the entire picture and lovingly guides us into paths of righteousness for HIS name sake. It is such a blessing and honor to be HIS! Can I get an AMEN!!

Azalea trails

We went for a walk one day after dinner in the azalea trails. The azalea's were in bloom at the time and we got some great pictures...

The look on her face is priceless!!

On day 5 Justin made this cake from scratch, even the icing. At first glance it looked like a wedding cake. In fact a few of the teachers wondered why there was a wedding cake in the fridge. However, when you cut into it it was layered in rainbow colors. He had to bake each layer separate. Not only was it a beautiful cake, but it taste really good too! My hubby is a great daddy. He loves his girl. He was right, it does remind me of her!

More from the birthday...

For some reason this blog will not let me put more than 5 pics at a time, so I have broken up the pictures into a few posts.


On day three we made rainbow jello. This was a little tricky because we had to make and set each layer separate. We made it over the course of three days.

On day four we made fruit cups out of grapes, blueberries, kiwi, pineapple, oranges, and strawberries.

Happy 9th Birthday Sweet Girl!!

I can't believe it but she turned 9!! We provided the snack for her class for the week. About a month before her birthday her dad was looking on the internet and he came across a cake that he said reminded him of her. He said he wanted make it for her when her big day came. With the cake in mind we decided to go for the rainbow theme for the snacks.


On day one we made cake pops. They are so easy to make and are out of this world delicious!! These were made with red velvet cake and cream cheese icing. YUM!


On day two we dipped pretzels in white chocolate and swirled them in rainbow sprinkles.

Lemonade for sale!

These kids got bored one day and decided to make a lemonade stand. They were so cute. We moms just sat back and took pictures. People continued to come even after the stand was taken down.
We love our neighbors! They really are the best. My little man was sitting at the dinner table the other day, obviously thinking hard on something. Then he said, "I hope we live here forever so we can always live by them." It was so sweet.