Our Anniversary Trip

Russ and I traveled to Hawaii for our Anniversary this year. Well, okay - we went to the Luau at Disney's Polynesian Resort. But, hey! We felt like we were there!
I spent 3 years in Hawaii when I was growing up. Actually, I was 10 - like Jarod. This Luau brought back so many memories for me. It was such a perfect time in my childhood. Before my parents divorced and everything in my world seemed perfect. I was kind of taken back by the flood of memories - all good ones. Especially of my mom. She loved Hawaii!

Isn't he cute?

This one's cuter! (I mean the guy on the left!!!)

I was amazed to find a Plumeria tree in the gardens! Marc and I used to pick these fresh flowers and help mom make leis when family would come to visit us. They are the most fragrant flowers! Mom tried and tried to get one to grow here in Florida. It never would take. Leave it to Disney to make it work!

Traditional Polynesian dances! I was taking a little Hula before we moved to Florida. Couldn't do it now if I tried!

This guy was amazing!

And, of course, we can't leave out Mickey!!!!

We also traveled to Africa and went on Safari! How awesome is that?

Not only did we go on Safari, but we traveled to many other parts of the world today! Even had lunch in France! Not too bad for only being gone 2 nights! You would think we would be exhausted - but actually - we are very rested and I guess, ready to get back into our routine. It's so nice to get away and focus on each other. We love our kids but boy - is it nice to be able to talk to each other without being interrupted or worrying about someone else's schedule for a few days. Sometimes you just have to be selfish. I think it makes us better parents in the long run. Besides our marriage vow came long before the kids and God honors our obedience in putting each other first. What a wonderfully fun weekend we had!

Thanks to Sasha and Nana, Papa and Ray for helping out with the kids while we were gone. And thanks to Marc & Sam for taking care of the 5 foot Water Moccasin (snake) in our yard on Friday night! The firemen were here and everything! But it is dead and we are safe! Ugh!!!! I'm kind of glad we missed that excitement!

Celebrating 12 Years

This Sunday, September 27th - Russ and I will celebrate our 12th Anniversary. How time has flown! I was reflecting over our years together and have been amazed at all that God has brought us through.

Two weeks after Jarod was born, we celebrated our 2nd anniversary. On our 5th anniversary, we were living with my mom, while I cared for her during her battle with Lou Gherrig's Disease (ALS). Russell had stepped away from full time church ministry and we were learning how to trust God as we raised support with Campus Crusade. By the time we had been married 7 years, God had led us away from Campus and back to church ministry. I was pregnant with our Anne girl and Russ was working for Brandon Pest Control just trying to make ends meet while we waited for God to place us in our next ministry opportunity. When we celebrated our 9th anniversary, Russ was teaching Jr. High and we were finally in our first home. God had moved mountains that year to give us our own place and Russ was pastoring our tiny church family at Pathway. For our 10th anniversary, we splurged and took a cruise to the Bahamas! We decided then that we would get away by ourselves every year. Here we sit at 12 years. Russ is the Pastor at Ocean Park, I am his secretary and both Anne and Jarod are now in school. We've seen a lot of ups and downs. We've experienced great pain and even greater joy. We have agreed and we have disagreed. We have laughed and we have cried. We may not have always been loving towards each other - but we have always loved. Deeply.

The day this photo was taken was one of the happiest of my life. I didn't think I could love Russell any more than I did that day. Boy was I wrong! As we have walked through the last 12 years of our lives together, the Lord has continued to be faithful in growing us and making us into the people we are meant to be. It hasn't always been easy and we don't always grow at the same time, but somehow we always wind up on the same page.

When I was single, I asked the Lord to show me clearly who my husband was going to be so that when tough times came along, I could rest in the fact that God had put us together. That everything in our lives was planned and allowed by Him and I could rely on Him to get us through it. He answered that prayer and more. He always does, "Exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or imagine." (Eph. 3:20)

I wanted to share our Wedding Song. It's been going through my head today. We chose this song for the last verse (in bold).

Til the End of Time
Steve Green
The day we've waited for
a time when dreams stand still.
We make a solemn vow,
I hear you say you will.
You'll leave all others for the one you choose to take,
as you unveil your heart,
the promise that I make.

I will have you and I will hold you until the end of time.
And through the changes, life rearranges I will have you and
I will hold you until the end of time.

And as the day unfolds into a memory, I'll
cherish you alone, your love has captured me.
The One who joined our hearts will hold us through the
years, and in our darkest night, His promise calms our fears.

I will have you and I will hold you until the end of time.
And through the changes, life rearranges I will have you and
I will hold you until the end of time.

As I have watched Russell become who the Lord has created him to be, I am thankful and I am humbled to be his wife. He is a wonderful father, a faithful husband, and a strong spiritual leader for our family. He loves God more than anything and strives to serve Him with all his heart, soul and mind. Even with all of that, He is my best friend. He is the one who's opinion matters most apart from the Lord. I am thankful for the past 12 years and I look forward, "Til the End of Time"

Jarod's Disney Birthday

We love to go to Disney for the kid's birthdays. What am I saying? I don't need a reason to go to Disney! We just love to go. This past weekend we went to celebrate Jarod's 10th birthday. I thought I would share some photos. I came home with over 150 and I promise - I've narrowed it down!!!!
They just began what is called "The Pirate League" at Magic Kingdom. You can go and get done up like a pirate. We surprised Jarod and took him first thing Friday morning. Here he is getting sworn in as an official pirate and being given his new pirate name. "Bart Raidrage"

Next he got to pick out what kind of pirate he wanted to be.

The transformation begins!

Being sworn in with the official Pirate Oath.

The finished product - scars, black eyes and all!

He looks pretty rough - and I think he needs to shave!

More pirate lessons

Now - this is CannonBall Nick. He kept Anne company while we were waiting for Jarod to be transformed. They became fast friends. Later that day when we met the Princesses, Anne told Belle, "Today, I fell in love with a Pirate." UGH!!!! We are in so much trouble!!!!

The next part of the Pirate Transformation was sword lessons from Captain Jack Sparrow himself! How cool is that?

Jarod was chosen for lessons - He was so excited!

He caught on rather quickly.

And was quite proud of himself!

Anne got to meet TinkerBell for the first time! She was very excited! So was Mommy! I would have loved to meet TinkerBell when I was little! She was my favorite!

Of course, we had to go see Mickey! Some people measure their kid's height by notches on a wall. I can literally watch my kids grow by our photos with Mickey. I just loved this one of Jarod.

Family shot!

Jarod in the drivers seat! The reality is that it really isn't that far away. Yikes!

Ariel is Anne's favorite Princess. This was her first time meeting her.

Family photo with Lightning McQueen and Mater.

Had to finish with this one - it was just way too cute!

Jarod turns 10!

Yesterday was Jarod's 10th birthday! Aaahhh! Where does time go? We had a small get together with family on Monday afternoon and I thought I would share a few photos.

Every year Jarod challenges me with some crazy cake idea that I have to figure out. It's only taken 10 years, but he finally went easy on me this time. Actually, this is totally his design. In case you are wondering, it's a huge LEGO piece. Jarod loves LEGOs and spends a lot of time designing and building.

This is a project he and Russ worked on recently for a contest in the LEGO Club magazine.

He was quite proud of his creation.

Of course, Baby Chloe made her first visit to our house for the party. I just have to add a photo of her.....

We leave tomorrow for Jarod's Birthday trip to Disney! We'll spend 3 days in Orlando. We have some friends that have allowed us to use their Vacation Condo on Disney property. How cool is that? God is just so good! We are looking forward to getting away for a few days and just playing. I'm off to finish laundry and do some packing. Until next time - with Disney pics!!!

And God Just Laughs......

This is Russell's truck. It's a 1989 Toyota. He's had it for 3 years and I have only ridden in it once. I call it his "beater" and I avoid it at all costs. Russell has dubbed me the "van snob" as I LOVE my Honda Odyssey. I get nervous when Jarod rides in this thing with him as it doesn't have air bags or any kind of safety equipment other than a seat belt. I had not allowed Anne in it at all. Last week, Marcia convinced me to let Anne ride in it with Russ to Pre-K (in her car seat, of course!) so I could run another errand on this side of town. I stood at the window watching them drive off - fervently praying. Letting go is sooooo hard.

I tell you all of this to begin my story so that you will understand how God has a sense of humor. And no matter how snobby we are - He will eventually align circumstances in such a way that we are humbled and are ultimately put in a situation where we no longer have control and have to trust only Him.

I was making one of my daily trips from the beach today (on the way to a hair appointment) when, while going 75 mph on the interstate, blew the back passenger tire on my van. Fortunately, I was able to ease it off to the side of the road and wait until Russell came to rescue Anne and me. It was quite scary at first as I felt very vulnerable just sitting on the side of the road with dozens of cars flying past. God completely protected us and allowed it to be an easy situation.

Russell came, changed the tire and followed me to the Goodyear shop. We decided to go ahead and have all 4 tires replaced as we only had a few months worth of wear left on them and I put about 100 miles on my car a day right now driving back and forth. Russell offered to stay at the tire shop, but I would have to drive his truck home - with Anne in her car seat next to me. I just looked at him. I decided that that really was most logical as Jarod still needed to do his homework, I had to cook dinner, etc. - to keep our family on our schedule for the evening routine. It was time to bite the bullet and drive his truck.

As he strapped Anne's car seat in, I slid into the drivers seat and immediately thought about my Grandpa Mickle. He always had old cars around he was working on. One of my favorites was a 1973 Volkswagon Karmanghia. When I was 16, he gave me that car and I drove it back and forth to work and to school and I loved it!!!! It was a stick shift like this truck - and it didn't have power steering either.

As I pulled out into traffic and shifted gears, I began to feel a little spunky! This was fun! Anne could reach all the buttons on the radio with her feet and began playing with the volume. She thought she was funny. We crept home in the rain and I could only pray that the Lord would protect us as we crossed the St. Johns River. We arrived home safely. My left leg was tired from the clutch, but I actually had a great time.

Like I said, God truly has a sense of humor.