What.....

What I've been praying about: A missions trip to Belize. When we were in the Grand Canyon I had many hours alone in the car with no radio, no cellphone nobody to talk to...just quiet. It had been on my heart previous to the trip to the Grand Canyon to go to Belize. To go serve. I wanted to make sure I wasn't just antsy or bored with life. That I wasn't being impulsive or careless and just wanting to go on an adventure. So I prayed that if this was from God and He wanted me to go that he would confirm what was going on in my heart and place a missions trip to Belize in the church bulletin the first Sunday we were back in town. You guessed it, that is exactly what was at the very top of our church bulletin the very first Sunday we were back. Ephesians 3:20 talks about God being able to do far more than we ask or even are able to think to ask...doesn't that just blow your mind when you really sit and think about it? I am super excited to be taking the steps to go to Belize in October. If you think about it could you be praying over me as well?

What I've been growing: Tomatoes. I don't like tomatoes but I do like homemade salsa and pasta sauce.

What Ryanne has been up to: Crafts, and art and bubbles always! She started taking art classes every week at our house and so I will have to post some of her drawings soon.

What we've been doing outside: We had this empty boring space outside our bedroom sliding door. We used to joke about putting a jacuzzi out there so we could sneak out at night when the the kids were asleep ha! Instead we bought hammock, hung some wind chimes in the tree and planted some jasmine along the wall. Then I remembered we had some huge concrete slabs in the back of our property just sitting there so we hauled them around and the kids and I painted them a shimmery green. Ta-da! I nice little sanctuary to rest in the shade on a hot summers day. I can't wait until the jasmine starts to climb and cover the wall.

What I've been reading: I started this book after my friend Lisa told me about it. I read a few pages every morning after I am done doing my quiet time. It is so great! The author really challenges you throughout the book to step back and decide what does it mean to be a Christian. Mostly just things we take for granted as believers. If Jesus has called us to follow Him what does that look like in a physical sense and are we willing to be fishers of men? A superficial approach to Christianity always results in a spectator mentality in the church.-David Platt    Everyone who follows Jesus biblically will fish for men globally.-David Platt      Spreading the gospel is the natural overflow, not of a religion we adhere to called Christianity, but of a relationship we have with Christ.-David Platt  I also love this book because he always references everything with scripture. This is not his opinion but instead what Jesus is commanding us to do as followers. I promise if you pick this book up you will be challenged in your faith. I love that!

What Morgan has been doing: Our crazy dance child is in the middle of rehearsing for the Sleeping Beauty ballet and also an all over show where she will dance with her hip-hop, tap, lyrical, and jazz classes. She found out yesterday she got a trio spot on the competitive dance team for next year. She's pretty excited.

May Moments...

Mother's Day weekend we headed down to Long Beach and ate at a spot we love; Tequila Jacks'....

We walked around.....

Found a crazy hat store.....

The weather could not have been nicer.

We got photo bombed by *gasp* a teenager!

Found a place that made fudge AND then dipped it in chocolate.....

Got dizzy on the carousal.....

The water was even warm so we played at the beach for a while and Ryanne hunted for crabs.....

So blessed to have these girls in my life. They make me want to be at my best with the Lord. To encourage them in their walks, to be faithful. Teaching them to love others and have mercy. God is good in ALL things! Oh and a side note; if you see me around town doing a random happy dance or two, we are almost done with school!! Yahoo!!

Happy Mother's Day.....

Being a mom is never ever boring.....

and if you find yourself bored you instantly become suspicious....

of what might be going on in the other room.

Being a mom does not ensure all of your days will be good....

But you are guaranteed a few laughs and some smiles each day....

Some days they will rip your heart out because it is swelling with so much joy and love for them....

But there might be a few days where they just rip your heart out and that's OK too.

If you're to busy with "doing life" to stop and smell the roses.....

kids will bring you the flowers they picked and then ask you to count the lady bugs on the flowers...

In the blink of an eye my oldest is so tall I can't see over her head anymore and our youngest is off and running trying new things without me. In the blink of an eye. Happy Mother's day to you all and be blessed with your kiddos this weekend whatever age. And thank you to my mom for always believing in me and being my greatest cheerleader.....you are one patient woman ha!!

Final Grand Canyon Tour Day.....

The final day the kids were to ride did not go as expected but then life never does right? We woke up to this....

Which quickly turned into this......

And it basically snowed sideways all day.....

The kids of course are kids and so even after a little disappointment in not being able to ride today, they played in the snow and then we loaded them all up and took them to the movies to see Heaven is For Real. We walked around the new REI store out here and also found a coffee shop with couches and a fire place that made AMAZING hot chocolate and coffee. So in the end we had a great time. We felt everyone covering us in prayer. Nobody got hurt, the riders were safe and protected on the highways and we all learned one very important thing......in the whole big picture we are just a tiny little speck. Only for a short season do we get to be here impacting people for Christ; so get out there, see Gods creation, meet some fascinating people who have their own stories to tell and love on them along the way. We even  met a man who was from the Philippines who was on a four year bike tour around the world. Crazy right! The kids thought he was so cool ha! 

Thank you again for all your prayers and financial support to give Ryanne and her team the opportunity to experience something so rare and so amazing. They are a great group of kids who just love seeing their surroundings from a bicycle. Blessings!

Day Five.....

This day was so sunny and warm, now mind you we still had wind so bad our faces are chapped and feel like leather but hey you can't have everything.

The ride on Thursday took us through Indian ruins and all kinds of really cool landscaping that was changed by a volcano eruption.....

No T.V, no internet, no cell service, no video games....just kids riding and pushing themselves to be their personal best all the while never leaving any one rider behind was a blessing to watch.

The faster riders would wait at the top of the hard hills and wait for every last rider cheering them on as they climbed to the top...

Whats a 300 mile ride if you can't stop and enjoy all of Gods creation and also the Indian ruins that stand to this day...

Getting ready to descend down into the valley.....

Look closely at Ryanne's hair.....she is standing over a natural blow hole......the air coming out was so cold. It was a really cool thing to see.

Dan & Cameron climbing to the top....they climbed I think roughly 3,000 ft.

At the end of the day a storm rolled in and with it came freezing temperatures and snow. We piled into a hotel room and called it a day. The kids are super bummed not to get to ride today the last day. We are hunkered down waiting out the storm to see what the day holds. 

Day Four......

This day would be one of our favorites.......the kids rode the South rim of the canyon and Ryanne also completed a 60 mile ride....mostly climbing hills that had no end in sight. This was her record ride.

The sun came out, the winds calmed a bit and we had this view the entire day. Happy faces again!!

This day was also filled with fun stops along the way.....

Ryanne's support crew....Nathan is the best! He was always smiling and loved cheering all the big kids on.

The kids got to look at a model of the canyon and see where they had ridden from that day.....

We climbed to the top of this tower and got a birds eye view of the canyon....

That's looking down from the top of the tower with the Colorado river below...

This has been one of those adventures we will talk about for many years to come. It has not been without it's bumps in the rode but what good story doesn't have that right? We have had vehicles with flat tires, lost keys, lost wallets, minor dents in motor homes, hurricane winds that have sent us running for cover and now snow but it's all good. We have stuck together and found joy in even the hard stuff.

And we have a group of kids who can say they saw part of our amazing country all by bicycle. How many people can say that?

John and Sandy prepared all the meals and that was no easy task for 30 people some who were so hungry from riding they could eat a horse when they got into camp.

Part of the support crew. Nathan, Chloe and the smallest supporter is Alena.