A Week in the Outer Banks

We spent the last week in North Swan Beach, North Carolina. We didn't realize that the house we rented was actually down the beach 7 miles in soft sand, but thankfully we had our 4Runner which is 4WD. Needless to say it was an adventure getting down to the house but once we got there it was so awesome. The house was so nice and the view was great. We were about 500 yards from the beach and we were able to listen to the sound of the waves as we went to sleep at night. The part of the beach that we were in the Outer Banks is also home to the Wild Horse Sanctuary. At first, I was a little sceptical that we would even see any. Well, as we were on the beach last Monday, they all of sudden just started walking out from where the house were. Then the next morning, I woke up early because of a certain dog I know(GRACIE) who was ferociously growling at something outside. Well, it was the horses and they were about 100 feet from the house just grazing on the grasses. As I sat there taking pictures of them they just kept getting closer and closer until they were in the back yard and then they went under the house. The houses there are all on stilts. I was so amazed by the horses and that they were not even bothered by any of the people around them. Joe's mom came up from South Carolina for a few days to enjoy with us and while she was there we went to the Currituck Lighthouse and the Wright Brothers Monument. We had a very relaxing time and Aaron and Christian enjoyed the beach, making sand castles, helping Dad fly the kite, and the hot tub at the house the most. We had many beautiful days at the beach decided that we will have to do it again next year after Joe gets back from his deployment.

A Special Opportunity

Yesterday, we had a special opportunity to speak at Georgetown University Hospital at their annual Memorial Service for all of the babies that died in the NICU over the last year. It was a very nice service and Joe did a great job, although at times rather difficult, at presenting a message on God's Sovereignty over Issac's death. We pray that the Lord used his words to be a blessing to the other family members at the memorial. We met another family whose daughter also had a congenital diaphragmatic hernia and were able to witness to them about God being in control of Issac's life and death from the beginning. We can't really believe that it has been six months since Issac's death but God is being faithful to us and continuing to provide His wonderful comfort to us. His grace is so AMAZING!!

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream

Today we had the opportunity to go out to Fairfax and get free ice cream cones from the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Shop. We went with our friends Debbie and Caleb and we had a great time. You could get in line as many times as you wanted. Needless to say we all had our fill of Cherry Garcia, Strawberry Cheesecake, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Triple Caramel Chunk, and Mango Mango Sorbet. The boys ended up with 3 cones a piece but Caleb won the contest with a total of 8 ice cream cones. It was a great day and we all had fun with it. It will definitely be marked on the calender for next year. Hopefully it will be a lot warmer then too.

A Testimony of God's Amazing Grace....

As we get ready for the celebration of Resurrection Day, I wanted to express my gratitude to my God for sending Jesus Christ to die for my sins on a rugged cross so that I may one day spend eternity with Him. What a glorious thought that is for me especially to see my Lord Jesus and then my son, Isaac, and my other child that the Lord brought home to be with him the year before last. I find it very humbling that sometimes when we feel that our faith is gone that the Lord is ever so faithful. When I wasn't expecting to be used by the Lord, He used me to lead a very close friend of mine and someone I had been praying for a long time, to accept Christ as Savior in her life. I was overwhelmed by God's grace and I am in awe of His great love each day. I wrote this poem shortly after Issac died and to me it is appropriate for this Easter celebration.

There is a Light so bright yet we do not see it.
It is there in the midst of the darkness;
What keeps you from it; Your sin, Your suffering, Your pain;
Though you think you cannot see it, the Light is there.
What will you do with the Light; Seek It, Touch It, Run to It;
If you do the Light will surely shine upon you.
There will be no more darkness, only the Light.
Take It, Hold It, Love It!
There is a Light so bright and now you see;
That Light came for you and for me.

The Light is Jesus Christ and to remember that He came to die for your sin and for mine. He took the punishment for us all! Please take time to reflect on this wonderful gift that Christ gave to us and accept it as your own. God loves you!
I praise God for what He has done in our lives over these last few months and how His faithfulness is always there. Our God is a Great God and I pray that each one of you will testify of that in your lives as well. We hope and pray you have a great Resurrection Day on Sunday!!! All our love to you!!

A Week in Review...

Some of you knew that Joe had been at ANCOC(Advanced Non-Commissioned Officers Course; for those of you not familiar with Army Acronyms)for the last 6 weeks and last Thursday, I was able to fly to St. Louis for his graduation on Friday. Joe's brother and sister-in-law were kind enough to come and watch Christian and Aaron for us so that I was able to go. After Joe's graduation on Friday, we started our long drive back to home. We had a great two days of driving and the weather was beautiful except for the gusty winds that plagued the east coast for most of last week and into the beginning of this week. On Monday, the boys and I went to Williamsburg, Virginia for Home Educators Week and we had a great time with the other families from our church. The boys,of course, enjoyed the Gunsmith Shop the best. They also help to learn how the tables were set for dinner and then went to the kitchen to help prepare parts of the afternoon dinner meal. The liked playing sticks and hoops too, although it is harder than it looks.

The rest of this week was spent getting back into regular school work and getting ready for Joe's birthday yesterday. He is not real big on birthday's so we kept it low key and just had a Strawberry Cake. Aaron had made Joe a little floam strawberry cake with candles and gave it to him for his birthday and then Joe requested the real thing. LOL!! We also were able to go out to dinner thanks to the youth at our church putting on Parent Date Night..thanks kids!!! We had a very good week and it is very nice to have Joe back from school.

A New Adventure.....Ice Skating!

On Monday, the boys and I were invited to go ice skating down at a rink in Pentagon City. This was definitely an adventure. The last time we went skating was in Germany with our friends the Dawson's and the boys were very little so it was easier for them because they could balance a lot easier being shorther then than now. At first, they were both a little apprehensive but a little bit later, Aaron shouted, "Mom, ice skating is awesome!!!!" It was a beautiful day too. We have had so many really cold days that we weren't sure how warm it would be but it was just perfect for skating. Now, the boys keep begging me to take them skating again. So, I guess we found our new adventure to be a great success!

Gracie's Playdate

Hi Everyone. I know it's been a few weeks since I posted anything on here but we really haven't been doing anything special except working on homeschooling. Today, I made a playdate for Gracie. Her mom, Joy came to play with her. We are blessed that we are close friends with Joy's mom and dad. They had a great time together and it got pretty loud a few times but all in all they played very well together. Gracie is still very submissive to her mom so it's funny to watch them try to figure that out even though Joy was in Gracie's territory today. We had fun watching them play in the backyard too especially since Joy doesn't really get to do that since her backyard is not fenced in. Since it was so cold we didn't let them play out there long. By the way, Gracie is wearing her winter sweater. Anyways, that was the excitement for today. :) Blessings to you all.