A Day in the Life of Amy McKissick

Many of you know one of my dearest friends, Amy (Crittenden) McKissick. She and I have been best friends since the 6th grade. She and her husband, Jeff are medical missionaries in Paraguay. They have recently finished language school in the capital city and moved out into the country along with their 5 children. Yes, FIVE! Don't ask me how she does it! We keep in touch by email and occasionally by phone. Although I miss being close to her I am extremely proud of the life she is living and how she is allowing God to use her. To tell you the truth, much of what she shares with me reminds me of growing up on the mission field in Kenya. I am jealous of the life lessons her children are learning about God’s world and how He can change lives.

Here are some powerful journal entries that she shared with me.

April 28, 2007

OUT VISITING

Pedro’s family of 7 lives in one 10x10 room which holds two twins beds and a small round table. The floor is dirt and the roof is thatched. A few clothes hang from a rope suspended from two corners. Inside is dark except for the light that shines through the cracks where the boards forming the four walls do not line up. All cooking is done outside over a fire. They have no running water, no well, and no outhouse.

On a beautiful Saturday morning my family went to visit Pedro and Sulma. We parked where the road ended and walked the rest of the way. We waved to the lady doing her laundry in the flowing stream. We passed shacks which look abandoned but there are people inside. Chickens, pigs, stray dogs and cats wander freely. As we reach Pedro and Sulma met us with smiles and terere. Two of their kids were playing a marble game in the dirt, the oldest girl was organizing her collection of bottle caps and yogurt containers, the two year old was hiding inside and the baby was being nursed by his mother.

Ginny immediately asks if she can take her shoes off. When I say no she observes, “None of them have shoes on.” And she is right. In fact, Pedro walked to our house later that day barefoot. I wonder if he owns any shoes. The kids that are dressed wear clothes that are dirty, thin with holes, and are either too small or too big. They have unwashed hands, unkept hair and rotting teeth. They look a lot different then my children.

I was very proud of my children today. Ryan jumped right in and began playing marbles with the kids. Ginny sat with the girls and Joshua went off exploring with another. I wanted my children to be reminded of how blessed they are and that there is more to life then toys and ice cream. Before today Ryan could not imagine a family so poor that they did not own a TV. My kids brought a small toy for each of the children: a deck of cards, hair ribbons, matchbox cars, a plastic Dora the Explorer toy, and a Noah’s Ark toy for the baby. We also brought crayons, coloring books and some outgrown clothes. They all seemed so thankful.

I had a nice visit with Sulma who is around my age. Even though I cannot communicate as I would like, she is patient with me. We discus how much delivering a baby hurts (even the 5th time around), how fussy teething babies can be, the kids homework, and the fruit trees. As we talk I begin to wonder how they faired these past few days when the weather turned cold. Did the planks holding the house together shake as the hard wind blew? Did rain enter through the cracks where the roof rests on the walls? Did they have enough blankets to stay warm at night and enough clothes to wear during the day? Did they feel like prisoners, trapped inside when it rained for days without letting up?

I wondered what would become of my family of seven if we were force to live like this. I feel both guilty and blessed. Guilty because I doubt I could survive living like that even for a night and blessed knowing that I won’t have to live like that even for a night. The only time we sleep seven to a room is on vacations. I look into a full closet and complain that I have nothing to wear. I have so much food in my pantry that it is hard to decide what to cook. God forgive me!

Ryan’s comment when we arrived back home was, “They were poor but they were happy”. YES! He got it! He decoded the heart of the gospel messages! So, dear children of mine, be thankful for the blessings the Lord has provided, but be ever generous. It is better to given then to receive. Don’t even think of yourself as better then others due to your education or position in the community. For it was the very poor that Jesus ministered to. And always remember that things do not breed happiness. Instead, store up treasures for yourself in heaven, not on earth.

Jeff was asked to make a house call to visit Na Satulina. Her shack is situated on the edge of town. Nothing but high grass can be seen for miles. She lives in a shack like the one I described above. Her grandson lives with her and provides for her. Rumor has it that he spends what little he makes from picking manioc root or shelling beans on alcohol. We brought with us a gift of rice, oil, noodles and a bucket of water (she too has no well) which she was very thankful.

Na Satulina is about 60 years old and for six months now had not been able to use her left arm and left leg. We listened intently as she described how difficult life is for her now. Since she cannot walk, she scoots along the dirt floor. When it rains she gets wet and muddy as she scoots to the uncovered outhouse. All day long she sits on the ground watching and waiting. Her only entertainment comes from the chickens pecking for food. She can barely lift herself onto her bed each night. She explained that all she wanted to do was be able to work again. If only she could just be able to collect eggs or peel manioc root. There is a spark in her eyes and feistiness in her voice that leads me to believe that once she was very active.

As Jeff did an exam, she laughed as some of the strange things he asked her to do (follow his finger, stick out her tongue, and squeeze his hand). When he asked to look in her mouth, she had to spit out the honeycomb she was sucking on. I think I saw 6 teeth in her mouth. The lady had never been to a doctor in her life! Jeff diagnosed her having a stroke and told her that she will never have the use to her right side again. I felt badly for her. I know she was desperately seeking a cure from the new doctor in town. Because she mentioned that she cries a lot and is unable to sleep, Jeff also diagnosed her with depression.

Sulma and Pedro and Na Satulina weigh heavily on my mind. This next week the small group of believers will build another room for Pedro and Sulma. Maybe in the future we can help dig a well and outhouse. Jeff and Tony have been brainstorming about a walker/crutch idea to help Na Satulina become more independent. The path to the outhouse as well as area around her house will have to be leveled so such a thing to work.

May 3, 2007

What do you get when you add this all together?

39.6 lbs of dog and cat food
30 gallons of milk
30 cups of butter
15 lbs of cheese
11 lbs of brown sugar
22 lbs of white sugar
22 lbs of flour
11 lbs of powdered sugar
15 boxes of cereal
4 loaves of bread
7 lbs of laundry soap
2 gallons of dish soap
28 rolls of toilet paper
13 lbs of tomato paste
70 trash sacks
33 lbs of meat and chicken
90 diapers
5 boxes of wet wipes
10 lbs of fruit and vegetables
4 shopping carts
400 dollars

You get me shopping in Villarica this weekend. I had not been grocery shopping in almost 6 weeks. I was really proud of us for making it that long. But towards the end we were running real low on food, no meat, no cheese, no butter....and the list went on. It is always embarrassing when you buy a lot at once. People stare and you begin to feel like a filthy rich American. Part of me wanted to wear a sign that read, “I only shop every 6 weeks, I live in the campana where we cannot get most of this stuff and I have seven in my family!”....maybe next time.

BUGS, MOVIE STARS, AND HEAVEN

I never thought I would have a daughter who enjoyed bugs. Avery has been discovering bugs lately, and I am not sure how to respond to this new side of her. These days she has asked me several times, "Do you know what my favorite bugs are? Ladybugs and butterflies." About two weeks ago she started finding ladybugs outside in our yard. She would play with them for a long period of time until they got lost (or escaped her clutches). She would be sad and look for them for a while until she got distracted by something else. When we went to a park about a week and a half ago she found a ladybug and insisted on bringing it home. She carried it safely home to our house. It was nap time, so she got the bright idea to put it on one of our house plants. She said it needed to take a nap too. Surprisingly that ladybug stayed there for 2 hours while Avery napped. Guess what she named it? Sarah! That is the name she gives almost everything. I am not sure why. We have some Sarah's at church. Anyways she had fun playing with the ladybug for a couple of more hours before it got lost in our carpet. For days after that she did not give up hope on finding Sarah. A couple of days later she found another one in our yard. She lost it after playing with it for some time. Later at the dinner table she said, "Oh, I got some food in my hair. I looked closer and it was the ladybug! She was so excited! She was almost done with dinner so I let her finish her food while it crawled on her arms or legs. Then it, again, got lost. She was a little sad, but went off to play in her room. As I was cleaning up the table I accidentally smashed it on the dish rag thinking it was just a mere crumb. OOPS! I didn't tell Avery. How does a mother tell her daughter she is a killer?

Our family was at Target soon after that and they had a bug home for about $4. I knew that Avery didn't really need anymore toys, but I asked her if she would like to use some of her piggy bank money for the bug home, so she could have a real home for her ladybugs. She thought that was a great idea. I figured, now is a good time to start teaching her the concept of money and saving- maybe?

The thing is now she can't find any ladybugs, she finds all kinds of rollypollies that she puts in there, but no ladybugs. Poor girl.

She doesn't like spiders and has even been known to smash a few with her shoe. Yay! Wes and I are not fond of spiders at all so we figure we can train her to kill them for us. Is that so wrong? She needs to start pulling her weight around here. Ha!

Last weekend we went to cheer Wes on as he played softball on our church team. I sprayed the girls and I with mosquito repellent. Abby and I STILL got bit terribly. The bites quickly turned into huge whelps! Avery and Wes remained untouched. For days after that Abby had huge red marks on her legs despite the ointment I put on them. I was glad she didn't seem to scratch them much. She was too busy playing for that nonsense! Sorry Abby, I am sorry you inherited yummy blood from your mommy. The mosquitos have always loved me, which is probably why I got malaria FIVE times while growing up in Kenya.

Okay now for the movie stars bit... A lady at church asked if the girls could be in a video she was putting together for a Reba McEntire benefit. Reba has donated a lot of money to our hospital here in town and is in a parade we have almost every year on Memorial Day. Well, this year they wanted to put together a video to show the many facilities she has helped provide funds for. One of these buildings is the Reba Ranch House which was built for families with critically ill patients hospitalized in Texoma Medical Center. There is a playroom in it, and she wanted to record the girls playing in it. They did wonderfully! You don't have to teach them how to play! The played with dishes at a table and then Avery picked up a teddy bear and hugged it and rocked it on her lap in a rocking chair. I was proud of my movie stars, but I don't wish the movie star life on them. :) I was just tickled that they were asked to be the stars of this show... okay the stars of that segment of the show.

And now for a little piece of Heaven. The other day at the lunch table Avery randomly exclaimed, "It won't be too sad to die, because you get to go to Heaven. We will get to see Grandma there and that will be fun." After I picked my jaw off the floor and agreed with her about how nice Heaven will be she added, "Oh, and our dog that died when I was a baby will be there too." I was elated that she was thinking "Heavenly thoughts" and was excited about our hope in Heaven. She surprises us all the time with her random thoughts.

Family Vacation to San Antonio

We had a fabulous vacation to San Antonio last week! The girls did great in the car! We only had to stop once each way for a meal and bathroom break. Wes and Abby napped on the way there. Avery “rested” which means she tried for about an hour, but could not get to sleep. Ha! I think she was too excited. They both napped on the way home. All I can say is, “Thank goodness for DVD players!”

We arrived first at Jenny and Brett Perkin’s house and visited for a while before we all headed to Momak’s to meet up with the Jones family and Kevin Thompson and his son. We had a good time catching up and watching our kiddos play on the playground. Sarah also gave me lots of helpful hints on how to work our camera.

The next day we went to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Safari. I have been on some real safaris before in Kenya and I hope to go again sometime with the girls and Wes. This was a great first safari experience for the girls. We drove around and saw many animals such as giraffes, rhinos, zebras, ostriches, gazelles, llamas, and many types of deer. The girls absolutely loved it! Wes had Avery in his lap helping him drive while I held Abby. The speed limit is only 5mph so we felt perfectly safe. They give you food to feed the animals, so of course, the girls got a kick out of throwing the food out of the window. Abby enjoyed doing this even when there were no animals close up. Thankfully she did not try the food herself, although I felt sure she would. Abby would say, “Hi” and “Bye” to all the animals while cutely waving her chubby fingers. Avery liked to call the deer “Bambi”. I think Avery enjoyed helping Wes drive about as much as seeing the animals.

They also had a petting zoo there with lots of goats. The girls were not shy at all about going up to them and petting them. A couple of them were very pregnant and Avery enjoyed feeling their tummies to see if they could feel the baby goats kick. They will be good pet owners some day… way down the road when they can take some of the responsibility for caring for them.

The next two days we spent at Sea World. We hit all the animal shows and Avery rode her first roller coaster with me. When we got off, she said, “I LIKED THAT! I will have to tell Nana about that!” We had to ride that ride twice. Wes rode a ride with both of the girls that goes around and around high in the air. I get dizzy easily from going in circles, so I just took pictures. Avery told us she wants to ride the big roller coasters when she gets older!

On our second day at Sea World Sarah, Greg, Griffin, and Brooks joined us. Wes was feeling a little yucky from being sick the night before. He was such a trooper walking around with us despite how he felt. (I won’t share the yucky details. He is all better now and none of us have been sick since then.) Anyways we had a fun time with the Jones family. Griffin and Brooks are such cuties and full of personality, but “Sorry Greg, we won’t trade one of our girls for your boys.”

On a side note, our first trip with Greg and Sarah was back in college when the four of us were dating and we went to Greg’s home in Dallas for the weekend. Who would have known that many years later we would be together again at Sea World WITH OUR KIDS!

We stayed in a suite in a hotel near Sea World. Every day we were there the girls took nice long late naps (worn out from each day’s activities). Since we had a suite Wes and I could stay up and read, get online, or watch TV. The hotel also had an indoor pool and hot tub which we thoroughly enjoyed. Avery and Abby are getting braver and braver about swimming on their own. Abby is a little too daring. She could care less about going under water. She does not get scared. She just comes back up smiling and choking up water.

Thanks again Dad for helping make this trip possible!

Avery and Griffin getting to know each other.


Avery kept posing for Sarah. I guess she knew Sarah was a
professional photographer while mom and dad don't
usually know what they are doing with their camera.

Sarah, Brooks, Greg, Kevin and Preston hangin' out.

Our sweet friends Jenny and Brett with Ethan. Zack is hiding.

Avery, Abby, and Griffin dancing on the picnic table. What are we teaching them?

Avery looking out our sunroof, just like a real Safari!

Check out the teeth on that thing. Abby and I were not brave enough to open the window much more or to let the zebra eat out of our hands. Or, maybe we just wanted to obey the rule which stated that you should throw the food on the ground for the animals, not let them eat out of your hands. Abby and I simply threw the food into the zebra's open mouth.

Wes and Avery breaking the rules. I can't believe a zebra's head has been in our car! You should have seen the disgusting spit all over Wes' hand after this. Thankfully we had wipes and Purell!

Avery driving already?

Mom, can we get a pet goat?

Well, Hello Mr. Llama!

Abby's turn out the sunroof.

The greedy ostrich pecking out the food bag.

Sorry buddy, no more food for you!

The whole gang watching the Shamu show.

Avery climbing up the net. Next thing you know, she will be ready for Wilderness Trek!

Whooo-Hooo! Here we go!

Around and around they go!

Brooks taking a break at Sea World to eat his sandwich.

The Girls

Okay, I found a picture on my computer of the three of us (Alexis, Lauren, and I) from over a year ago. I still want to dig up some good ones from when we were teenagers.

Girl's Weekend

On Thursday I went to Alexis' house in Euless to have a girl's weekend along with Lauren and her newborn Cole. I have been friends with Lauren since middle school and friends with Alexis since High School. We try to get together 3-4 times a year. Alexis and I talked Lauren into scrapbooking, so we usually spend many hours doing that. We had a great time catching up on each other's lives, watching some favorite TV shows and movies, eating out, shopping, and of course, scrapbooking.

Friday night as we were headed to dinner Lauren's dad happened to call from Abilene to see if we knew of the bad weather coming our way. We had no idea how severe the weather was. We simply thought it was going to rain. We immediately changed our dinner plans and decided to pick up some food and head to Alexis' house. As we were waiting for our food a single piece of hail randomly landed in the parking lot. It wasn't even raining although the weather sirens had begun blaring loudly! We were extremely scared at this point. As we approached Alexis' house golf ball size hail began to fall. We had to run inside quickly so we wouldn't get pounded by the hail. We all made it in safely, even baby Cole. The hail storm only lasted about 10-15 minutes and then it was bright outside again. It left behind lovely dents in our cars. :( I guess that is why you have car insurance.

I was thankful for the time spent with my friends. They are such a blessing in my life! I am also thankful of my dear sweet husband who agrees to keep the girls so that I can have these refreshing girl weekends.

I don't have any pictures to show for this weekend. We were too busy talking and having fun. I will have dig up some old pictures of us from our teenage years. Ha!

Easter Happenings

Okay, so I am just a little late posting our Easter happenings, but I have some good reasons why. Every year LTC (Leadership Training for Christ) lands on Easter weekend making Easter an extra busy time of year. We traveled with our youth to Dallas, Friday through Saturday for LTC. They all did a wonderful job! We are so proud of them! They won lots of golds. It always brings joy to my heart to see our teens striving to be leaders. I was in charge of two scrapbook teams and they both got golds with all excellent marks on the judges sheets. My girls did great and we had a blast creating them!

We dyed eggs with the girls before our trip to LTC. They also enjoyed using the markers to draw on them. We did have a few egg casualties, but I am pretty sure that is to be expected when you have a two year old and four year old decorating. We stripped them down so they would not get dye on their clothes.

Here are some pictures from Avery's preschool Easter Egg Hunt.

On Easter it was freezing outside. I even had to cover my newly planted flowers outside so the freezing temperatures and possible snow would not harm them. I even offered up prayers on their behalf. They did survive, and the predicted snow never came.

The girls looked cute in their Easter dresses (which were sleeveless sun dresses) with sweaters and tights on. I am sorry to say, I didn't take any pictures. I will have to dress them up later and snap some. That is what happens when you are exhausted from a trip. You just don't think straight.

Later that afternoon, after all of us got a much needed nap we went up to church for the Easter Egg Hunt. Thankfully, they moved it indoors. The girls found lots of candy and treats that will last a good while!

SPLISH, SPLASH!

I got some cute pictures of the girls the other day in the bath together. They love bath time! I have to admit, it will be nice when they can bathe themselves without my help.






I have been messing with our new camera some more trying to figure it out. We still get so many blurry pictures which can be frustrating! We need to get a professional to help us out. I did learn some more things as read through the directions AGAIN the other night. Here are a few random pictures.

Yes, she is in a costume!

Making music together with harmonicas!

This, That, and the Other

I know I have not written in a while so there is a lot to tell. Avery and Abby had their wellness check-ups a week or so ago. They are both doing great! Abby is just above average on height and weight. Avery is just above average on height and in the 25th percentile with her weight, which explains why so many clothes are very loose around her waist. (Must be nice!) The doctor noticed that Abby's right leg is curved in a little. She said this was fairly common and it usually will just straighten out with more walking and running. She told us not to worry about it and she would check it again next year. I felt bad that I hadn't even noticed it before. Abby had to get one shot for which she did not even cry. This is the second time she has not cried after getting a shot. She just gave the nurse the meanest glare I have ever seen. Avery had to get 3 shots! OUCH! She was tough for the first one and then cried with the last two. Poor girl!

I have been so thankful for the girl's health! They have been extremely healthy children all their lives. Avery has only had one ear infection and puked only once. Abby hasn't ever thrown up and has never had an ear infection. The girls average about 2 colds a year and that is about it. I constantly thank God for giving them such good health. It is a HUGE blessing!

Since Abby was about 9 months or so she has been taking a pacifier just at nap time and at bedtime. We often tried to give it to her during church to keep her quiet, but she unfortunately wouldn't usually take it. A week and a half ago we decided to totally wean her from her pacifier since most doctors say you should at age 2. I dreaded doing this because she did seem to love to sleep with it. She has been so easy to put down to sleep since very early on. We simply would give her pacifier and blankie and she would lay down and immediately go to sleep. It was wonderful! Anyways, the day I decided to take it away I talked with her about it several times throughout the day. I would tell her that she was getting to be such a big girl and didn't need her pacifier anymore. I would ask her, "Does Avery use a pacifier? Does Mommy use a pacifier? Does Daddy use a pacifier?" She would reply, "No" to all of these. After a while she would even say it all herself. She would ask herself the questions and answer herself. It was adorable! That night I didn't give her her pacifier and laid her down with her blankie and a stuffed animal I had been putting her down with to hopefully take the place of the pacifier. I closed the door fully expecting a long night of lots of tears. She didn't utter a sound, not even a peep! Wes and I were shocked, to say the least! She didn't ever ask for her pacifier or fuss about it again! Needless to say, this was an extreme answer to prayers. Do I think it is silly to pray about pacifiers? NOT AT ALL!

The weather has been gorgeous here and we have been taking advantage of it by playing outside with the girls. I have been doing some work in my flower beds and Avery even helped me pull weeds. I wonder how long she will get enjoyment from that. I even took the girls to the park for a picnic the other day. I loaded their battery powered Barbie car too, because there is a great paved path that I thought would be fun for the girls to drive on. I didn't take my camera, but it was a hoot watching Avery drive her and Abby all around. She is definitely not ready for her license. She kept looking off in different directions and before she knew it, she would be off the road. Abby often climbs out while Avery is still driving. She falls and gets right back up. She is very tough!

On Sunday, Wes and I started teaching Avery's Bible class for the Spring quarter. It was a lot of fun. I was a little nervous since I had only taught cradle roll, 4th graders, and the youth group. I did observe the other teacher the week before to get an idea of how to do it. Anyways, they were so cute. They would say the most hilarious things. The lesson was on Jesus calming the storm and at one point we were discussing how big and scary the waves probably were. I asked them if they would be scared. They all replied, "YES" except for one little boy who said, "I wouldn't be scared. I would just go surfing!" This same little boy kept getting Wes' attention by saying, "Hey Man!" Wes finally told him to call him "Wes".

I have enjoyed doing some more scrapbooking lately. For those of you who scrapbook, have you heard of or seen the Wish Blade? This new machine is amazing! My friend told me about it and I saw it on HSN as I was flipping through the channels the other night. Basically it can cut any letter or shape you have on your computer. So you could automatically have any of your fonts or shapes that you already have on your computer cut out. You don't have to purchase certain fonts. You can just use what you already have, make it any size you want, even "weld" the letters together and the Wish Blade will cut it for you. No more buying stickers or QuicKutz fonts. I immediately tried to think of things I own that I could sell on EBay. I think I will have to wait and ask for it for Christmas! :(

Today Wes and I took cupcakes to Avery's preschool class to celebrate her birthday, which is Sunday. It is hard to believe she will be 4! Time is flying too fast!

Here is a funny story about the girls... The other night, Wes asked Abby to please take her bowl of grapes back to the kitchen to eat. She didn't respond at first. (Shocking for a two year old - I know.) He told her again and Avery said, "Daddy, that's just the way she rolls!" She cracks us up!

I had to include this hilarious picture of Wes who still keeps me laughing even after all these years. Okay, I will admit it. Sometimes his humor annoys me, but for the most part I am glad he has a great ability to make people laugh.


If you watch The Office, you get why this is so funny. If you don't watch the office, well, you need to start!

I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings.

MySpace

Wes talked me into getting a myspace. It is a great way to keep up with the teens.

Check it out...

http://www.myspace.com/scrapbookie

("Bookie" is what Wes and I call each other from time to time.)

Colorado...Here We Come!

On Thursday Wes and I flew to Denver where we met up with Paul and Audrey Crabtree, Jamie and Steven Schlegel, Scott Schlegel, and Justin Clem. Jenny joined us the next day. After spending a short time at the Crabtree's house we headed to the snowy mountains. Parts of the trip were a little scary because of the the thick snow, but we made it safely to the beautiful house near Beaver Creek. Wes' great aunt and uncle graciously let us stay in their 5 bedroom, 6 bathroom vacation home for three nights. Thank you Aunt Dianne and Uncle Chick for an awesome place to stay!

Friday and Saturday was spent skiing at Beaver Creek. On Friday we had tons of snow and wind blasts of 70 miles per hour. They closed several lifts due to the bad weather. There were times during skiing that the wind blew the snow so hard it felt like sand was pelting my face. Yes, it was quite painful and sometimes frightening. At one point Jamie and I were on the mountain resting in a restaurant and waiting out the hard wind. The plan was to wait for the others to make a run down the mountain without us, ride the lift back up and we would join them on the way back down. We were hoping the wind would die down, making it easier to see and more comfortable to ski. Unfortunately, during our rest we received a call from the guys saying the lift was closed due to the winds. We couldn't even ride the lift down. Jamie and I had to ski down by ourselves in the bad weather. I know we were both praying and God looked out for us. We made it down safely. At one spot the wind had just knocked over a tree across the path. Thanks Jamie for being there and helping me down. I would have been terrified if I had to go down by myself in that weather. The next day the weather was beautiful! Wes and enjoyed walking through the shops in Beaver Creek Village, and then I read while the others skied. I had enough skiing and enjoyed relaxing with a book.

Besides skiing and shopping, we enjoyed cooking some late breakfasts and our own pizza in a kitchen that fit all of us, eating at some wonderful restaurants, playing some fun games, loosing to Paul in poker, catching up on each other's lives, and laughing at all the guys who haven't changed since college. The house had an outside hot tub where we got relief for our soar muscles. It was amazing to sit out there, soak up the view of the snow capped mountains, the soothing hot water, while parts of our hair froze. We were entertained by a couple of the guys who decided to jump out of the hot tub into the freezing snow.

Well, I had an absolutely wonderful time with everyone. It is always good to catch up on each other's lives, reminisce about ACU days, and laugh, laugh, laugh. We definitely need to do it again sometime! Wes and I are so blessed to have such good friends.

The gang.

Let's go skiing!

Wes did a terrific job driving in these conditions!

One of the slopes.

The amazing house we stayed in. The snow in the yard came up to my knees!

All the girlies!

Digging our trench for our snow war.

Wes and I after some ski runs.

The guys doing their Sing Song faces! They could have done their shows for us, I am sure.

Relaxing in the hot tub!

Birthday Party

Avery and Abby had a Prince and Princess birthday party about a week ago. (Wes and I went on a couple's trip to Colorado four days after that, which is why I am just now posting this. More on that later.)

We had 13 of their friends over to our house to help us celebrate. The festivities included putting on body jewelry, decorating crowns, playing pin the crown on the princess, playing with wands and scepters, and pulling open a princess pinata. They also enjoyed eating a princess cupcake cake with ice cream. We had a full house, but the girls had a blast with all their buddies from church.

For the last two years we have had a combined birthday party for them which works out wonderfully. Their birthdays are close and they have many of the same friends, so it makes sense to combine the parties.






The whole gang!
It sure was tricky trying to get a decent group shot!












Avery and Abby fueling up before they blow out their candles.












What a treat!














Abby was the last one eating and she enjoyed every bite of her cupcake and ice cream.












Avery trying out her roller skating gear.

Towel Time!

These are a few pictures taken recently when the girls stayed at Nana and Paw Paw's house.