A Dream Come True....

It has always been a dream of mine to visit the White House. I always felt that it would be such an honor to visit the place where so many different Presidents have lived and worked for our country. Well, tonight that dream came true. Thanks to a very nice friend, we were able to go on a tour of the Eisenhower building and the West Wing of the White House which is not exclusively available to the public like the other tour of the East Wing. I couldn't really believe that I was actually there for a little while until I saw the Oval Office and stood in awe of the fact the this is where our President works and makes so many important decisions everyday for our country. I felt truly blessed to be there and it was neat to see all the things you get to see on television news but up close and personal. I only have a few pictures because of course certain areas are off limits to photographs but anyways it was a great evening.

AWANAs Fall Festival

Last night, our AWANAs club had a Fall Festival Theme with a regular club night but with special games for game time with candy for prizes. Can't forget the candy!! They also asked all of the kids to dress up in biblical character. We decided to have Christian dress as Moses, and Aaron as his brother, Aaron. They looked so cute although they were annoyed by the beards after a while and they came off. Pastor Ben decided to goof off and use it for his new hairstyle(picture above.) Anyways, it was a fun night for all of the kids and Christian and Aaron won the prize for best costumes.

Finally....A New Post!!!

Well, I know it's been a while but here is what has been happening along with a bunch of pictures. In Sept. the boys and I went on a vacation to see family and Disney World. We left on the 17th and headed to Williamsburg, Virginia for a homeschool field trip. We spent the night with Joe's brother and his family and then got up the next morning and drove 7 hours to Joe's mom's in South Carolina. The next day we drove the rest of the way to Orlando to get to the Shades of Green Resort which is the military resort on Disney property. The first night we got there it was actually my birthday and we had friends from Virginia that were there at the same time so we had planned to meet them for dinner at Planet Hollywood. We had a really good dinner and then went down to the Lego Store in Downtown Disney and did a little shopping. The next morning the boys were scheduled to go on a Disney Pirate Adventure. They went out on a boat for a couple of hours searching for clues along the way to find the hidden treasure. They had a really great time and I had fun just having some peace and quiet. That afternoon my sister, Cyndi and my niece, Samantha came up to meet us so that they could go with us to Magic Kingdom the next day. We were able to go into the park early too because we were staying at one of the resorts. It was nice because we were able to ride a lot of rides before we had to go to our Character Breakfast at the Ohana Restaurant at the Polynesian Resort with Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch. Then we went back to Magic Kingdom and finished up on some rides, went back to the hotel and went swimming for a little bit and had a nice dinner. The next morning we got up and drove down to my sister's house and met my parents and brother in law at SuperPlay USA where my dad, Neil, the boys, and Sam stayed and played for the afternoon. We spent the next few day with my parents, we went to Playmobil Land, and I was able to visit my Grandmother. Then we started home and stopped at Joe's moms house again and spent another day with her. We went to Swan Lake and had a picnic lunch and the boys played at the playground. Then we finally made it home. All in all it was a good vacation but of course, it is nice to come back home. Since then, we have tried to get back into a normal routine of school and appointments that seem to happen almost everyday sometimes. Joe is doing well were he is at just extremely busy at work. We are just very thankful that he is safe at the moment. Anyways, enjoy the pics!!!

"I'VE BEEN HAD!!!!!"

On Sunday night after church I was under the impression that my friend Nicole and I were going to go to Kohl's to look for a picture frame for a cross stitch that Nicole had done and to look for shoes. Afterwards, we were going to eat at Panera Bread. Well, we left church and we were both starving so we decided to go to Panera first but it was almost 8 p.m. so I kept asking Nicole if she wanted to go to Kohl's first because I thought it would be closed by the time we got done eating. Nicole insisted we go eat and that Kohl's was opened until 9 or 10 pm. which was plenty of time. Well, we get to Kingstowne where Panera Bread is and we park the truck. As I am walking through the front, I noticed that had changed some of the tables around and then I noticed all of my friends from church sitting around this table with a birthday cake. I turned to Nicole and was like, "What have you all done!" Needless to say, I was very surprised that my wonderful sisters in the Lord had planned this special birthday surprise for me and it was a very encouraging time. Thanks to all of you for being so willing to plan this for me and for the love that you constantly show me. I am very humbled by it and Praise God for all of you.

Samantha & David's Wedding

On Saturday, we had the priviledge of attending our friend Samantha's wedding where Christian was the ring bearer. He had been looking forward to it all week as well as Aaron who was given the task of having all of the guests sign the guest book. Both of the boys did a great job and received many complements on their behavior and how handsome they looked. It made me a very proud mom! We had a great time together. I hope you enjoy all of the pictures.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTIAN!!!

First, let me say thank you to all of you for praying for Joe. He arrived safely at his destination early Wednesday morning and has begun get the lay of the land already. The boys and I were able to talk with him last night and it was such a blessing for all of us.

Christian celebrated his 9th birthday on Tuesday and it is hard for me to believe that he is already that old. It seems like just yesterday he was this little itty bitty baby. We had a great day which began with me finding the boys nestled together in the bed because that is how they wanted to celebrate Christian's birthday together. Then, we met our good friends Debbie and Caleb for lunch at Chicken Out. Next, it was finally seeing Shrek the Third after only seeing the first two movies in the series over the last two weeks. Finally, after the movie we took the boys to Friendly's for ice cream(seeing as how it was 100 degrees here)!!! I hadn't been to Friendly's since I was a kid in Rochester, New York. The waiters and waitresses came and sang Happy Birthday to Christian and Aaron was so embarrased that he hid under the table until they were finished(if you look closely at the picture above you can see him under the table). As usual it was yummy for the tummy and the baby was doing flips in my belly afterwards to prove it. Today, we went to the Becker's house to play with our friends Adam and Will. All the boys enjoyed being knights with swords, having some fun in the swimming pool, and eating NERDS ropes and Ring Pops which left for some interesting teeth and tongue colors. Needless to say, it has been a pretty good week considering we had to say goodbye to Daddy for a bit.

Prayer Request

I would like to ask everyone to pray for traveling mercies and safety for Joe as he leaving this evening for his deployment. He has already left here and is on his way to the airport since they have to be there so many hours ahead of time. We covet all of your prayers during this time of separation and thank you all for your support.