4TH OF JULY, A VISIT TO THE ZOO, A BIRTHDAY, AND COUSINS

We had a great 4th of July! We had a parade at church for all our children. They decorated their bikes, cars, strollers, and golf carts in red, white, and blue. We decided to decorate the girl's Barbie car. Avery loved driving in the parade around the church and got several laughs. If any of you have this car you know it doesn't have breaks. When you take your foot of the gas petal it just screeches to a stop. So anytime Avery needed to slow down during the parade she came to a screeching halt, causing many people to chuckle and question her driving abilities. Neither of the girls have whiplash. I suppose their bodies are used to it. After the parade we headed inside the church for a delicious meal together, followed by Bible class. After Bible class we went to the Pryor's house to shoot off fireworks. When we first got there Avery was terrified of them. She kept saying she wanted to go home. Kathy Pryor was kind enough to take Avery, Abby, and their friend Grace in her house so they could play and feel safe. To tell you the truth, I was a little nervous sitting only 35 yards or so from where they were shooting them, but I did survive.

Avery in her 4th of July dress. Thanks again, Nana!

The girls preparing to start the parade in their decorated car.

Some of their pals getting excited about the parade.

The Sunday after the 4th of July we left for another week of camp. This time we took our middle schoolers to Camp Cornerstone on the campus of Oklahoma Christian. Wes was especially busy this week as he is one of two directors for this camp that had about 320 campers this year. I enjoyed going to classes, worship and other activities with our teens, thanks to some child care provided for the youth minister's children. The girls joined me for some of the afternoon activities with our teens. I got to lead a devo under the stars outside for all the girls at camp one night. I have done this before, but I still got a little nervous. It does help that it is dark outside, so I don't feel all their eyes on me. Is that weird?

The girls enjoyed being with the other minister's children and we even went on an outing to the Oklahoma City Zoo with some friends of ours, Heather (Teague) McCulley and her son Caleb. The girls had a ball seeing all the animals, riding the train, and playing on the playground. The weather was great. It was overcast and cool most of the time we were there which made it even more pleasant.

Avery wanted to get a picture on almost every statue at the zoo.

"ALL ABOARD! CHOO CHOO!" Abby said this many times.

Swinging at the playground.
We finally had to tell them we were really at the zoo to see the animals.


Caleb was such a good sport about getting on all the statues with Avery.

We watched these two playful grizzly bears for a long time.

This bear was napping right next to the glass allowing us a close view.

After we got from camp we celebrated my Dad's birthday with Aaron, Janet, and Mylen. We went to a catfish and sea food restaurant in town that Dad picked out and then we hung out at our house and ate some yummy cake that Janet made since we had just gotten back from camp. Avery was a little confused about why we weren't having a party for Grandpa. She just assumes everyone has a party on their birthday. It sure has been nice having Dad here in town close to us.

We adore being with our cousin Mylen!
(He looks so much like Aaron, doesn't he?)

We told them to make a silly face. I think Avery wins the prize!

God's Amazing Creation!

Last week the girls had VBS where the theme was God's Creation. Each day they learned new things about the days of creation. Every day they got to pet different animals that people brought up to our church. They saw and felt a miniature horse, donkey, pig, goat, kitten, puppy, turtles, and a gold fish. Okay, so they didn't pet the gold fish. I was a helper in the 5 year old class. We had an active group of 10 5 year olds. They sure kept us on our toes.

On Saturday Grandpa (my dad) joined us for a trip to the Dallas World Aquarium where saw even more of God's beautiful creation. I highly recommend taking your children there. The girls were in awe of all the different animals. Avery cracked me up with her protectiveness of Abby. If Abby got too close to the animals, or too close to the edge she would grab her and say, "Mom you need to hold her, she is getting too close!" What a sweet big sis! It was funny to see them with a look of concern when a big fish or a scary looking animal got close to them even though it was on the other side of the glass.

A couple of funny things happened during church on Sunday. At the end of a prayer Abby yelled, "AMEN!" Of course, everyone turned around and smiled. It was hilarious! I am just glad she was paying attention enough to realize when to say the "amen". Later, Abby accidentally bit her tongue. She stuck out her tongue and whispered, "Kiss it Mommy! Kiss it! I hurt tongue." I tried to dodge her tongue coming straight at my face, and aimed a kiss at her chin which just made me get slobber all over my nose. Lately, she has been saying, "Kiss it!" anytime she hurts herself no matter how big or small the boo boo.

Wes and I are going out on the town tonight for a date. We plan on going to dinner and then to the movies to see License to Wed - which looks pretty funny. Can't wait!

Here are some pictures from our trip to the Dallas World Aquarium.

Our family in front of the huge aquarium.

Grandpa and Abby checking out the jungle.

The girls and I by the flamingos.

Avery holding on to Abby because she was getting "too close".

Avery finally giving her some freedom.
In case you were wondering, that is silly putty on Abby's shirt.

A VERY SPECIAL GIFT

One of our dear friends, Jeff Duncum is a wonderful artist! He drew this picture of Abby for Wes as part of his birthday present. Isn't he talented! It is amazing! Abby, of course, loved it. She kept saying, "That's me! That's me!" over and over again when she saw it.

Jeff, you are truly talented, and we thank you for such a precious piece of art!

Sarah Jones actually took the picture that Jeff used back in April at Sea World.
Thanks again Sarah!

Okay, I just had to add this adorable picture of Avery that Sarah took as well.

WES IS 30!

Well, Wes is officially 30 years old as of June 15. I know I am a little late in posting this, but we did have a week of camp, followed by our VBS after his birthday, so that is a good excuse.

I turned 30 back in January and ever since then Wes has been giving me a hard time saying that there is a generation gap between us and that he just can't understand me. He can't say that anymore. He promises he is going to start eating healthier since he is older. He even passed by the Double Stuff Oreos at the store without grabbing two packages. For those of you who don't know, oreos are his staple food in the late evenings. How he still keeps his figure is simply NOT FAIR!

For his birthday we had a group of friends from college as well as family over to our casa for some backyard bar-b-que. Some of the guys played Crockett and darts. The kids had fun playing on the swing set. We ladies had fun catching up on each other's lives. Avery and Abby entertained us later in the evening with their dancing. We had a great time! Thanks to all who came to help make Wes' day special!

I am incredibly blessed to be married to Wes. It is still hard to believe that we have been married for 8 years and have two kids!

I love you Bookie!

Getting ready to blow out the candles with the help of Avery.

Birthday Boy with brother, Blake

Justin, Jenny, Jamie, and Steven

Our entertainment - Abby. Look at those curls!



Avery's dance routine is just a blur!

Summer Has Begun!

Yes, it is definitely here! For youth minister families, Summer = BUSY, BUSY, BUSY and FUN, FUN, FUN! It is not that I don't like summer, it is just the busiest time of the year for us. We have two weeks of camps and one mission trip to Mexico. And those are just the big trips. That is not counting all the activities around here or other short trips.

Thankfully, Wes has two interns this summer who have already been a big help - Matt Porter and Lauren Cox. Lauren stayed with us for the first week. She was a joy to have around, and it was nice to get to know her right away. Avery couldn't get enough of her. Every time she was gone, Avery would say, "Where is Lauren? I thought she was going to spend the night with us. When is she coming back?" Matt Porter actually graduated from our youth group three years ago, so it has been neat to see him all grown up as a spiritual leader for our teens. Abby calls him "MaP", no matter how many times we tell her it is "MaTT". I know we confused her by telling her to call him "Mappo" one time, which is a nickname. He is part of an awesome Christian/Acoustic/Rock band, The Matt Porter Band. Check it out. He writes many of their songs. We actually had a fun little concert at church this evening on the lawn. Lauren also plays the guitar really well. Avery was a little confused tonight as to why Lauren was not playing with Matt.

Two weeks ago we celebrated a joyous occasion as Wes married Karla and Blake. Karla graduated from our youth group four years ago. She is such a sweetie and it is hard to believe she is married! They met at ACU. She is going to be a teacher and Blake will be a Youth Minister. Sound familiar? (Just like Wes and I) I remember her telling me when she was in high school that she wanted to marry a youth minister too. I told her to start praying, which is exactly what I prayed for in high school. We are excited that they are going to be at a church about an hour drive away, so hopefully we will get to do lots with them. Their rehearsal dinner and wedding were precious and brought tears to my eyes. On a side note Wes is actually preaching at his third wedding this weekend, so he has become quite the wedding pro.

We hired one of our teens to babysit for the rehearsal dinner. It was so cute - when we got home I immediately checked on Avery who was still awake. Her first words were, "How did it go, Mom?" So grown up!

Last Sunday we had our annual Senior Night Out, which is where Wes and I take the Seniors on a special trip. We taken our Seniors to Beavers Bend, Six Flags, Medieval Times, just to name a few. This year we played Laser Tag, Whirly Ball, ate at the Magic Time Machine, and then went to the Main Event to play all sorts of arcade games. Guess who had the highest score in Laser Tag out of our whole group? Yup - Me! I know you are probably surprised, but it is true. I beat a bunch of tough guys, including my husband. Yes, I am pretty proud of myself! The second time we played another church group joined us. Guess who came in second place? Yup - Me! I really haven't played Laser Tag that much in my life, but I have discovered I really like it. Apparently I am really good at killing people (not sure that is a good thing). Not to worry, scrapbooking is still my favorite hobby. Next we played Whirly Ball which is a combination of basketball, lacrosse, and bumper cars. This game was a first for all of us. If you have never played you should definitely get out there and try it. One of our Senior girls told her Mom that I was good at everything that night, but I really wasn't nearly as impressive at Whirly Ball as I was with Laser Tag. I have 4 big bruises to show for that game. The smallest one is a good 2 inches wide. The sacrifices I make for those teens, I tell you! I just took a picture of the worse bruise which has gotten a lot lighter (and I don't like the way my legs look) so I am not sure if I will post it. We had a great time with everyone and it is hard to believe that this group of Seniors were entering the 5th grade when we first moved here. Yes, we are getting old! It is so hard to see our Seniors leave each year! That's one of the hard parts of this job, for sure.

The last couple of days I have been preparing for our middle school and high school girls small group. Lauren, our intern and I will be teaching them this summer every Sunday night. I am excited! I always love teaching our girls! This summer we are using a curriculum called His Girl which should be great. Lauren had a good idea to have them keep a journal/scrapbook as we go through the class. Each week we will add something to it. We have many girls who like to scrapbook and journal so hopefully this will be a good learning tool.

Okay, I know this is a long post, but I am just trying to catch you up on things.

The girls are doing pretty good. We have had more fights around here which has led me to pray more and more for peace between the girls. I know they are acting perfectly normal, but I just want them to be best of friends. Is that too much to ask?

Good news - Abby has been a better eater these last few days. The last five months or so she has been a really picky eater, which was not normal for her. When she was younger, she would try anything and eat just about anything. The closer she got to two, that began to change. I know that is normal, but I didn't like it. I began to find any way possible to sneak the foods she wouldn't eat into the foods she enjoyed. For example I would cut up different kinds of fruit and stick it in yogurt. Or I would put broccoli or carrots in Ramen noodle soup which became a favorite of the girls for a good long while. I often put pureed carrots, sweet potatoes, or bananas in Abby's peanut butter sandwiches. You would think she wouldn't like it, but she ate it all up. I have also been known to puree carrots and sweet potatoes to put in her spaghetti sauce. Most recently I have made V8-Fusion popsicles with pureed carrots. Both girls loved these! Ha! I buy the Tropical Orange flavor of V8-Fusion. It is 100% juice and has a full serving of vegetables and a full serving of fruits. Each serving has 100% Vitamin C, 80% Vitamin A, and 10% of Vitamin E. It contains juice from sweet potatoes, carrots, yellow tomatoes, squash grapes, oranges, and pineapples, and no added sugar. This is about the only juice I regularly buy for the girls, anymore. I know you are probably thinking, "GROSS!", but my girls love it so do some of my friend's children. The majority of the time, these sneaky food tactics work. What can I say, I really care about the health of my kids. Thankfully, Avery is a pretty good eater. When she doesn't want to eat something she will eat it anyways to get something she does want to eat. (We will say something like, "You can have more macaroni and cheese when you finish your green beans.) This phrasing hasn't worked extremely well with Abby. But, these last few days have given me hope that she will become a better eater.

One last note, Sarah Jones, who went with us to Sea World posted some pictures from our trip on her blog recently. She is a wonderful photographer! Check out the cute pictures at Our Family.

Our lovely game of Whirly Ball!



Just one of the bruises from the game. It was march darker and uglier before.



Yes, that is Superman (our waiter at The Magic Time Machine)
carrying Taylor, one of our crazy teens.



The Matt Porter Band jammin' on our church lawn!



Avery and her "BFF" (best friend forever) Grace at the concert. Avery just learned this term off a new shirt from Nana. She has called many of her friends this. Ha!



The girls when they were on friendly terms.
That Ariel shirt cracks me up!



The girls being best of buds - back in the day.

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.