Easter Celebration

 

After a wonderful Easter morning the sun was finally shining, and we filled the table with friends! This is the second year we have invited our U of O friends to eat with us. We don't always know who is coming, and so it's fun to see who arrives by the time the prayer is said.  It took some prep time, but it's all worth it when these hungry college kids praise my food and clean their plates!

 

We are so thankful for the opportunity to have lunch with students from Mexico, Venezuela, Honduras...Arkansas, and the neighborhood! Fernando is our Host Student and he's becoming pretty comfortable harassing the girls, especially with Ryan unable to be at home. He even stepped in the kids pic! He has two younger sisters at home in Mexico, so understands our family dynamics well. Erin got some Spanish tips from the girls, Sheridan loves to play games with the guys, and we all enjoyed celebrating our HOPE in Jesus.

 

 

 

 

 

The REVEAL

It was time for a new look in Sheridan's room and we decided yesterday would be the right time to re-do! She got a new bedding set and we picked paint to make it all come together. We also found some lavender paint and updated her bulletin board and monogram letters. It's been a fun weekend project and now we all want to be in her room! 

 

 

 

Six Frozen Flags

 

We spent Saturday at Six Flags! What a fun treat for us to get to spend the time at a great roller coaster park with 68 of our closest friends! I'm sure we would've had an even better time if it had been even a few degrees warmer. The whole week had been sunny and windy, but not cool. Saturday it was 40-50 and breezy cold. At one point in line for a ride, we could see our breath!  We laughed all the way through it, but were really excited to get to the warm vehicles for the ride home.

 



SWEET 16

Today we celebrated E's 16th with some special cupcakes and a little singing at home. We know she began celebrating her birthdays at Mission Arlington when she was 3, and we've sung to her there many years since. It's a blessing to have a daughter who doesn't mind that we're out of town every year on her big day. I think next year her choir is going on a trip to Florida during spring break...it will be different for sure. I love watching this delightful girl grow into a beautiful young...lady no matter where we celebrate!

On a Mission

 

One of our favorite weeks of the year: Spring Break at Mission Arlington. Ryan came from Fayetteville, brought his sweet friend Katelyn, and we were all there! Eating sandwiches in the parking lot every day for lunch, playing in parking lots after dinners out, working in inner city apartment complexes, filling thousands of Easter eggs for their egg hunt, sleeping on air mattresses in a 10 x 10 room with 8 other people, community showers...and blessings that you couldn't experience any other way. I'm thankful this is something we do. I was very sick the two days before we left and didn't know if I could make it through the week. I slept almost all the way there and I was perfectly healthy the entire trip. SO thankful! 

 

 

 

God is Good

Four weeks before prom, right before we left for Spring Break, on a day when I was sick and feeling pressure to find the perfect dresss...God worked ahead of us. Do I think He cares about the details of our life? Yes.
Not only did we find the perfect dress, but we got a $50 "coupon" code for the dress from the lady who checked us out. It was a modern day miracle and we are so thankful all was taken care of with very little drama and stress. The reveal is April 6th.

Summer Baseball

 

Sometime during my event last week I got a message from Ryan asking me to call him when I could because he had exciting news. Turns out he is going to the Dominican Republic this summer to play baseball with Athletes in Action, which is an arm of Campus Crusade for Christ. He's been active with a couple Christian organizations on campus this semester and CRU offered this opportunity he couldn't pass up. I was a little melancholy realizing he's probably not going to be home this summer. I'ts a great opportunity for him and he's no stranger to mission work or baseball!