No more road trips till 2009!

This is a picture of my sister Cathryn's family, Rich and me with the kids and my dad and stepmom. We stopped in Tucson for a day on our way to Kingman, AZ for Thanksgiving.






And a picture of me and my sister, Cathryn.







I hadn't seen my sister since we went to Europe two years ago with my other sister, Theresa and our mom.

We decided to drive all the way through from Austin to Tucson (a LONG 14 hour drive)on Saturday (we were going to spend the night in New Mexico). That allowed us to spend all day Sunday at my mom's and not have to do any more driving until Monday when we headed out to Kingman. While at my mom's, we were able to have dinner with my sister's family and my dad and stepmom. It was GREAT to have everyone together for some rare pictures (my sister and I haven't seen my dad at the same time since I don't know how long!).

While in Kingman, we drove to Oatman, AZ on old Route 66. There we fed some wild donkeys in the street and watched an old west gun show. Then we headed off to Laughlin, NV to the mall to hit the Bath and Body Works outlet. :) The rest of the time we just kicked back and relaxed and Rich's parents home.

We are done with long road trips for 2008. The kids and I will be going to Corpus Christi in January with Michelle and Megan Williams to see Mandy. We also have another road trip planned to the Grand Canyon in May.



This is a picture of the kids with Rich's parents.

Packing

I think we are just about packed for our trip to Kingman, AZ. We leave in the morning and drive almost 10 hours to Las Cruces, NM. We got a hotel that will let us stay with the dogs. Then on Sunday, we drive for four hours to my mom's home in Tucson to see my sister Cathryn and her family, my mom, my dad and stepmom. Monday morning we will be back on the road again for about six hours to Kingman. We will start our journey home again on Saturday the 29th. We are all looking forward to the trip.

Field trips

We've been on two field trips already this week. Yesterday we went to the blood bank on a field trip with the kids' Forensic Science class. Now, the sight of blood does not bother me, but both kids were a bit wierded out by the whole thing. When we got to the lab where they separate the plasma from the red blood cells, we watched them squish the blood around in the plastic bags. I felt myself get very hot and felt like I was going to puke! I was so light headed and almost passed out. I couldn't believe it. I had to go to the bathroom during the field trip and wipe my face down with a cool rag! I guess I won't be donating blood any time soon.

Today I took the kids to the Apple Computer Store to make DVD's with pictures. I had set up this field trip and left with plenty of time to get there early. Traffic on the highway was awful and I got lost (this place is so new that it's not on my GPS yet). I was 15 minutes late for my own field trip. How embarrasing! Anyway, the kids had a blast and want to make more DVD's! They even got free tshirts out of the deal.

Finally, another update!

This picture was taken for AWANA crazy hair night. Hailey laughed all the way through dinner and forbade me from going out of the house looking like this. I went anyway and got many strange looks from the others who had merely spray painted their hair.

Austin had his 13th birthday last week and now we have a teenager in the house. Can't wait to see how that will turn out, although we are talking about Austin here (the sweet, compliant, soft hearted, repentant child). Although, when Hailey becomes a teenager, I suspect we'll be in for a real wild ride (since she's so much like me)!

We went camping a few weeks ago with the AWANA group (which meets at Grace Covenant Church)and had a great time. We are now checking out Grace Covenant Church again, since we serve there and are hanging out with the other believers there. Seem silly to attend a different church than where we serve and where we know other people. We haven't decided for sure yet where we will make our church home, though.

We are planning to drive to Kingman, AZ to spend Thanksgiving with Rich's parents. It will take us two days to get there. We leave on Saturday the 22nd and will come back on Sunday the 30th. Please pray for safety for us.

Recovered from Jet Lag and moving on

It's been almost a week now that we've been home and I can honestly say we've all finally recovered from jet lag. It took us all through Sunday or Monday to finally be over it.

We jumped back into life as soon as we returned. The kids had PE and I went to bible study on Thursday, followed by an exhausting trip to the grocery store to buy food.

We picked out a camper on Saturday, paid for it on Monday and will be picking it up this Saturday.

On Sunday, we went back to Central Baptist (I think we plan on making this our church home). We all tried out Sunday school classes for the first time and the kids came out excited and said they had fun. We had a "substitute teacher" as the regular teacher was gone, so next week we'll get a better idea if this class is for us. The music in the sanctuary during the service is still too loud for me, no matter where we sit, so I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll just have to wear earplugs.

It has cooled off here. Right now the temperature is 88 degrees and it will drop down to about 60 degrees at night. I am still loving the sun and warmth.

Rich has to go to Dallas next week from Wednesday through Friday, and then the week after that (Oct. 13-17) he is spending in San Antonio. My parents will be here that week for a visit.

Laurie

Rome, Dubrovnik and Venice

Pictures from Florence and Rome

Paris pictures

Back from Europe

We are back from Europe and the thought of writing all that we saw overwhelms me! We spent 3 days in Paris, where it was beautiful and breathtaking. Austin was so tired that he didn't eat much for 3 days. Then we took a train to Florence, Italy where it was raining. We feasted on Gelato (ice cream) and went to the Academia to see the original sculputure of David created by Michaelangelo. That was amazing! To get out of the rain the next day, we took the train to Rome and explored the Roman Forum, the Colosseum and Roman Gelato. It was just as good as in Florence. We were not able to see the Sistine Chapel because it was closed (being Sunday). We also saw the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. Then back on the train back to Florence for the night. The next morning we boarded another train for Venice to catch our cruise ship for the Greek Islands. We visited Bari (Italy), Olympia, Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes (Greece), and Dubrovnik (Croatia), then back to Venice. The total cruise time was seven days. We ate so much food it was unreal (ice cream and pizza twice daily). The Italian women all wear bikinis and the men all wear speedos out by the pool regardless of their body style (some should be a little more modest in my opinion). Also, most of them smoke, so we are glad to be back in the clean air of America. We are also thrilled to be back in a country where everyone around us speaks the same language. We got tired of listening to everyone around us speaking another language, whether it be Spanish, French, Italian or German. The last two days we spent wandering around in Venice exploring and eating more Gelato. What a charming city! There were so many stores selling items made of Venetian glass and Carnivale masks. The Venetian people have such talent! The canals are beautiful and different than anything else we had seen in any other city. We returned home late Wednesday night exhausted, with tired legs and feet and vowing not to eat pasta for a long time.

I will post some pictures later, but will spare you all 716 that we took. I'll have to pick and choose the best ones!

Off on vacation

We leave in the morning for 16 days in Europe. We spent the weekend packing and getting the house ready. I actually cleaned the bathrooms today (my very least favorite thing to do). I have to take the kids to their first Forensic Science class in about an hour, then we get to go to TGI Friday's for dinner. Austin and I discovered the ribs there last week and can't get enough of them!

The kids are finally excited about the trip. They are planning on collecting trinkets in each place we visit.

I may or may not be able to get to a computer while we're gone, so you might just have to wait until we return to hear all about our trip.

Farwell,
Laurie

We checked out another church on Sunday and decided definately it WAS NOT for us. Too traditional and it smelled funny. So we still like Central but are leaving ourselves open.

Mandy was here with three of her kids all weekend and I didn't realize how much I had missed her! We'll definately be seeing them at Thanksgiving, we just don't know if it will be here in Austin or down in Corpus Christi.

I had my first day of bible study last Thursday and am loving being back in the Word. We are studying the Sermon on the Mount for 10 weeks. I will miss two weeks of study during our vacation, so I am trying to get ahead. It's a LOT of work...

Hailey and I start AWANA tonight. I think we are both a bit nervous being in a new place with a bit of a different format.

We leave to go to Europe next Tuesday for 16 days, so I am feeling a bit of pressure to get things done around here and start getting things together for the trip. We are going to Paris, Florence and Venice, Italy and taking a seven day cruise around the Greek islands. The kids need a little more encouragement for the trip (they don't think it's going to be any fun). I've just gotten the pantry and fridge restocked after the move and now we are working on eating up what's in the fridge before the trip! Crazy... I can't guarantee I'll be blogging while we are gone. You may have to wait until I get home to hear all about it.

Laurie

Large Texas creatures

Tonight we found a large spider near the front door and a large jackrabbit over the back fence. We left the jackrabbit alone, but the spider had a run in with the fly swatter. Too bad...

Rich the pirate

Rich was the pirate for the Summer Hummer drama this year, although most of you already know that. He did a great job and had had a great time.

Pictures

Some of you have been asking for pictures. The only current pictures I have from Texas are of the dogs, so I posted some of my favorites from the last two months. It took me about two hours to figure out how to do it, so enjoy them.

We found a huge insect in the pool yesterday. Not sure what it was. It was about three inches long and looked like a cockroach. So far the pool has also claimed a cicada (which I mailed to Sue for examination) and a praying mantis that had been bleached by the chlorine. Very interesting insects and very large indeed.

Love to all,
Laurie

July/August pictures

Aug 25 update

So here I am on my birthday (last week) sitting in my birthday chair in the back yard drinking a coffee that Sue Drinkard bought me. Life is good! Oh, and I've got my faithful black dog by my side.

Last Monday night I went to a meeting to join a local homeschool group. I have met many of the moms throughout the week via email and phone, so I feel like I'm getting more plugged in. I am going to a movie night tomorrow night with some of the mom's tomorrow night and then to a pool for swimming on Friday.

AWANA registration is this Wednesday night, and Rich and Austin start AWANA on Thursday night with the Jr. High group. I start my bible study Thursday morning. I am looking forward to getting back in God's Word.

Mandy and three of her kids are going to be here this weekend. Bethany has a soccer tournament here all weekend, so we will be busy!

Austin and Hailey have been playing with the 12 year old boy down the street all weekend. His name is Jordan. I'm glad they have someone to play with for now. He goes back to school tomorrow. We are starting Math this week, but will not begin the rest of school until we get back from our trip to Europe. We leave on Sept. 9 and return Sept. 24.

I'll try to remember to blog more often. I know some of you check daily and so I will give you more to read. :)

Saturday we went to Schlitterbahn, a fantastic water park about 1 1/2 hours from here and played all day (the people in Rich's Dupont office got us all tickets as a going away gift). On Sunday, we went to another church and checked it out. This one was much more upbeat and charismatic. Three people came up to us and introduced themselves (very friendly). Sunday night we went to see the famous Austin bats fly out from the Congress Ave. bridge (picture attached). Apparently, there are 1 1/2 million bats that fly out each night for food. It was a multi sensory experience (we could hear their wings, see hordes of them flying out and could smell them - smelled like cat urine). They were hard to see because it was so dark, but if you stood in the right spot you could see the flood coming out from underneath the bridge.

Last night, I went to sign up to be a member of a homeschool group in Round Rock and was amazed at all the activities that this group does. There are many science classes, sewing classes, keepers of the faith/home clubs, lego animation and robotics classes and PE classes to mention a few. I am encouraged.

Tomorrow Rich travels to Dallas to meet with the other half of his team and I have to go to AWANA leader training. My calendar is starting to fill in (not so many blank boxes anymore).

To update on a previous post, we moved some things around in the garage and I can finally put my van inside! The temperature outside today is 73 with 100% humidity (ick). I think I'll be staying in today. What I don't get is how there can be that much humidity and it's not even raining outside. Weird.

Monday update

We checked out a church on Sunday that was quite large. They have the AWANA program through High School, so this will be our AWANA church for sure. Still haven't decided if this will be our home church or if we are still looking as it is 20 minutes from the house.

I spent this morning driving all over this land trying to get my car registered and my driver's license and couldn't finish the task because I need signatures from Rich and he's out of town until Wednesday. Guess it will have to wait.

Austin met the 12 year old boy down the street named Jordan. He seems like a nice kid. We never see anyone outside. I think they all work and have little kids (according to the older neighbor who lives two houses down). Everyone goes to church around here. Kind of odd to have ALL your neighbors talking about their churches.

Here are my closest friends (Julie is missing) who kept me grounded while coordinating camp and a crazy move to Texas.

I love you all dearly...

Here I am unloading the car from our LONG trip and trying to figure out where to put everything!

Day 3 in Texas, First day of sanity

We have finally arrived! We've been here since Wednesday afternoon and have been busy finishing up the unpacking. We managed to get the garage half way done enough to park the van in it to discover that the van is too long to park in the space we have!

On our drive down from Olympia to Austin, which took 4 days, we crossed the 45th parallel (the halfway point between the North Pole and the Equator) and the Continental Divide (the midpoint between the northern part of the continent and the southern part of the continent). We drove through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. We saw two coyotes and one prairie dog run across the road in front of us and countless roadkill along the side of the road.

We stopped at Arches National Park in Utah and were all in awe at the beauty (including the two exhausted kids). We also stopped in Fort Sumner, New Mexico at the gravesite of Billy the Kid and the end of the Trail of Tears (do some history research to discover what that was if you don't know).

We will be exploring a new church tomorrow. The kids are not looking forward to that.

The family is on the way

Well, here I am in Texas. Still not accustom to the heat. it has been in the low 100's since I got here. I heard from Laurie this morning and she was near the Oregon/Idaho border. it will be really nice when she gets here...and the kids too! oh, and the dogs!

I have been working like a mad man to get as much unpacked before she gets here. I almost have the entire downstairs done and then I will do the bonus room. ugh. maybe I won't. this house doesn't have the usable space the other one did...even though this one is a little bigger. The garage is a nightmare. the packers did a terrible job packing, so we get to make a complaint. maybe this will be how we make our millions!! okay, you can stop pinching me now.

I will keep you updated when she calls.

Rich

Friday 8/1

Hello - In 24 hours I will be leaving the building. The dogs are really excited to be moving to Texas so they can catch scorpions with their bare teeth and eat them for a midday snack. Rich killed a scorpion that snuck into the kitchen. The movers have arrived and presently are unloading. The TV is unloaded already much to Rich's pleasure. Although the cable doesnt come until tomorrow afternoon. Rich should also have the computer set up tomorrow.

The kids and I will be arriving in Austin next Wednesday at 5pm. I will update my blog then and tell you all about our roadtrip.

Goodbye Olympia, it's been great.
love ya soooo much, I just want to kiss you. Laurie