Whew! Haven't blogged in quite awhile! Life got busy...and time just flies by. Anyhow, lots going on and God is good all of time!!! :)

School started this week for Rachel and Josiah and they have been so excited each morning to see their schoolmates they missed during summer break. Looking forward to another good year :)

Field trips

More than likely you all know that I love field trips! So of course I went with Rachel and Josiah :) Josiah's class had fun as Sis. Mize's farm and Rachel's class enjoyed the Wildlife World Zoo. I enjoyed both and the wonderful fellowship with other apostolic mommy's (you know who you are and it means the world to me to have kindred spirits firmly planted in solid doctrine).

Here's a photo drop:

Buddies :)

Go fish!

Refueling station :)

Isn't this fun?!

Of course, life would be dull if it wasn't for crazy friends:

And then there's good ol' GCA spirit days: 

Favorite animal :)

 Robert's been working on woodwork at Bro & Sis Lacour's new house in Prescott...can't say we're much help when we tag along :) The kids love to run around the forest playing with sticks and such. They're especially ecstatic when their friends Gabe, Joel, and Lacey are there to help with implementing "fun"!

God is good all of the time!

Glasses?

These little people are so excited about the need for eyeglasses. It was hilarious to see them jump for joy when they walked out of the eye doctor's office with a prescription in hand!

Rachel's 8th bday party!

For Rachel's 8th birthday party she wanted an art theme and what fun it was to plan! The party turned out very fun and relaxing. As you all probably have noticed, Rachel is a very stereo-typical gal. She loves to bake, sew, take care of dolls (babies), clean house, play the piano, and paint scenes of the ocean, mountains, and houses. Whenever we ask what she wants to be when she grows up, she always responds with "a wife and mommy". So, you can only imagine her excitement when she opened a gift and found her very own sewing machine (the Vela family made her day!)! Then when she opened a baking set (Grandma & Grandpa Lee come through again), dolls, art supplies, and a beautiful new dress from her friend Kayla, she was so happy :)

Sharing pictures :)

Update and photo drop :-)

Another school year is off to a good start :-) Josiah started kindergarten today and Rachel started 2nd grade! They were both very excited and up early so that they could play before the bell rang. I'm hoping that will be a trend this school year! Prayer and devotion was sweet this morning and I can't wait to see what happens in chapel services this year. Josiah keeps saying that he's going to get the Holy Ghost...I think he's feeling left out since big sister has it now, which is okay as long as it motivates him to keep seeking it ;-)
God is so good ALL of the time and I'm thankful that His mercy and love is constant!

Is it fall yet?

God is so good! I have a lot of pictures to post, just need to get around to updating. Rachel started first grade and is excited about all she's learning. Josiah started K-4 and absolutely loves it! The private school we enrolled him in uses Abeka curriculum and has combo classes so he'll definitely be acclimated for K-5 at GCA next year. His teacher is constantly telling me that he is such a well spoken and well mannered child... I think he's remembered to be on his best behavior! Even more humorous is the fact that Robert is getting used to me rambling on and on as soon as he gets home from work! He's so patient with me :-)

Also, I wanted to say thank you a million times to those who have kept us in your prayers. The words of encouragement and "love" notes have meant so much, I cannot even begin to describe what a blessing it is to know that the Lord uses His people in a way that gives Him glory. It never ceases to amaze me the way that God cares about everything, big or small!

Next time I post I will be sure to upload pics of the kiddos!

Yes sir!

Robert and I have not taken time away without the kids in a long time (4 years to be exact) and so when we were invited to a friends Air Force graduation in San Antonio, TX, we decided it would be fun to go and be with friends that we've known for many years and catch up on old times. Our friend David is 30 years old, married (to Brianna), and has two little boys, but decided to join the military as a career starter in law enforcement. Our wedding anniversary falls right during Easter outreach and so we don't usually do anything for our anniversary and so we though this could also be a long overdue anniversary trip. Little did we know it would be a adventure :-)

We had decided to drive, since we've never driven that direction, but assumed that mapquest couldn't be right, there was no way it would really take us 14 hours and 47 minutes to get there! YEAH RIGHT! About 5 hours into the drive I came down sick...let's just say we had to keep stopping like every 5-10 minutes. It ended up taking us 13 hours. We arrived in San Antonio at 5:30 am on Thursday...do the math, yes, we drove Wednesday-Thursday. We needed to be at the base by 6am to go through security for the airman's run at 8. I was soooo sick though and so I called my friend, Brianna, and told her to go on without us. We took about a 1.5 hour nap and then got up and got ready for the graduation. Brianna came and picked us up so that we could all be in the same vehicle on base. Needless to say, the military is a lot of "hurry up and wait" so that's what we did. Here are some pics of the graduation:

Thursday, our friend David only had base liberty, so we spent the rest of the day on base shopping, eating, and just hanging out...all the while I did not feel well but was determined to have a good time! The weather was chilly and windy, but sunny at least.

FRIDAY-
Okay, here is where I should have pictures, but I couldn't take any because my hands were numb from the cold! We arrived at base for the parade around 6 am and were greeted with icy blasts of wind. The sunshine had disappeared! The previous evening, Robert had went and bought a coat (yes, he didn't have one!) but we didn't even think to purchase gloves, scarves, hats, etc. So there we sat, with a blanket wrapped around Brianna and I (you become very close friends when freezing to death), when the sky started spitting ice at us! Robert put up the umbrella to try and block the wind, which worked, but it didn't warm up, the temperature just kept dropping. I cannot describe the feeling, all I know is that I couldn't feel my face, hands, or feet. So, finally Robert and I ran to the car to warm it up while Brianna went to tap-out David so that he could leave base.

Robert and I had fun anyhow, after going and purchasing items that would keep us warm! We had lunch at a yummy italian restaurant, took a very long nap, then got up and headed to the RiverWalk. By evening it was just drizzling. Although the boats weren't running on the river, it was still very pretty and we enjoyed a tex-mex dinner at Rio Rio along the river. Then we shopped at the little touristy stores

We ended up buying a cowboy hat for Josiah and a cowgirl hat for Rachel, before heading back to the hotel. 

Saturday was pretty uneventful, yet so fun! We met up with our friends and went to a army surplus store, then headed to Fogo de Chao's for lunch. Fogo's ended up being closed for lunch on Saturdays, so we opted for Tony Roma's nearby. It was raining, so we sat in Tony Roma's for so many hours just talking, laughing, and catching up. When it was evening, we realized that David needed to get back to base in time for his curfew. It was so nice to have uninterrupted conversation! I am so thankful that God has blessed us with friends at home, and away, who love Him! No matter where we are, we always find that the Lord has been so good! 

We can't imagine life any other way than living for Him, and it's wonderful to have friends who feel the same!