Family Camp!

Now we're caught up to summer time, and this year's big vacation was to Family Camp with several of our church friends. We had a blast getting to know some new friends, and experiencing a few days "off the grid" -- WITH NO CELL SERVICE.

The kids enjoyed playing in the river, and floating in the tubes (Joel called them swim rings).

We saw all sorts of animals there, from butterflies, to bats...

and horses to lemurs.

Every night before dinner, a fire truck came around to give the kids a ride.

And, after a full day of hiking,

swinging,

and climbing...

...sometimes you just need a nap, and you'll take it wherever you can get it.

Spring Flashback 4: Disney On Ice

Disney On Ice was in town in March, which made it a perfect birthday outing for Joel and a couple friends. It was also near Graeme's birthday -- he's my co-worker's son, and just 2 weeks older than Joel.

It was so neat to see these little folks experience a big show like this! For ours, it was their second event, but the rest of the crew were first-timers. Even still, every one of them had this fantastic look of amazement on their little faces when the show first began, the ice was lit up, and their favorite Disney characters came out to play.

Spring Flashback 3: Spring break

For spring break, we took a day trip down to Dinosaur Valley State Park. It was such a fun time, and we took cousin Nikki with us too. We had a picnic lunch, tromped in dinosaur footprints, and made a few muddy footprints of our own...

Before we left, the kids did their best T-rex impressions by the huge T-rex statue

Spring Flashback 2: Allison's Birthday

It was a birthday luau for Allison's party. Due to a rain out, the splashing part of the party couldn't happen, but with a few quick improvisations, and a little help from some mom friends, the girls all had a great time. An inflatable swimming pool in the living room floor (no water, of course!), a rousing game of "pin the coconut on the palm tree," a make-shift "beach" in the floor, some temporary tattoos and a round of limbo...and buckets of candy instead of a pinata. And, of course, everyone still wore their swim suits!

Spring Flashback 1: Joel's Birthday

It's been a while since I've put pictures up, so here are a few "catch up" posts. Let's start with Joel's birthday. First up, is Birthday morning -- in his new, blinking Star Wars shirt, showing off his combo ball-pitcher/T-stand. At his Star Wars themed party, we had 20 or so kiddos, their parents, and a very big, kid-eating jump house in our back yard, and one small pinata, shaped like a jedi training thingy (I know, it's a shame for the wife of a bona fide geek to be so woefully inadequate with Star Wars facts and terms...)

Joel was lucky enough to be the one who busted the pinata. I love the shot with all the little onlookers, waiting with bated breath for the candy to fall.

Here's a small crew, before the party, hanging out on the bounce house.
We're very grateful for the bounce house that came at the last minute. The party was originally planned at a local jump house party center -- but they went out of business 2 days before the party! We were a little worried about having so many people and kids in the house, but everything worked out fine, with just a bit of craziness....

Esther - Session 4

I've been involved in Beth Moore's Esther study with a group of women this summer and, man, is this a good study! Beth was on fire in the Session 4 video. Very convicting. One thing she said right at the outset was very convicting -- "We can protect ourselves right out of our calling."
Oh how that brought to mind the many, many times I've been faced with decisions and chose the "safe" or less troublesome route. I hate to think of what I have missed, and what wonderful experience of God's glory I could have had, if only I'd put myself out there a little bit.

I'm not just saying that by way of throwing myself a pity party. The fact is that God has a plan, and he'll carry it out with or without my joyful participation. But, wouldn't I rather be with him, rather than out there on my own, flailing around? Like Mordecai told Esther in chapter 4 of the book: (my paraphrase) God can deliver the Jews with or without you, but maybe you're the Queen right now, so that you can play a role in their deliverance. Essentially, he's saying "Step up, girlfriend! You're either in, or you're out."

So, if I ask myself if I'm "in" or "out" I do, undeniably, whole-heartedly choose "in." And that means taking steps toward in-ness (yep, made that one up) no matter the cost.
The cost for Esther was potential death. How lucky am I that the cost to me is nothing more than a little time, maybe a little money, maybe some energy. Seems a small price to pay to be "in" with the working-out of God's plan.

Who knows but that for such a time as this, I was meant to be in such a place as this?