Hilarious!!

I heard a whole bunch of squawking coming from the playroom that just got more and more insistent, so I went to check it out. This is how I found Kai, stuck in the blocks bin. Poor boy, I made him stay there as I ran for the camera, cell phone camera, and Flip. He was fussing the whole time and I just couldn't stop laughing. Pretty creative seat though, huh?!:)

Chick Fil' A Cow Appreciation Day

In honor of Eliana's favorite restaurant we put on our cow gear and headed to CFA for some free lunch. I was considered partially dressed like a cow, so I just got a free chicken sandwich. Eliana got an entire kids meal, not to mention the free ice cream she got for smiling for a picture that one of the employee's took of us... which got posted on their facebook page.:) I know this may sound funny, but if you have been to Danville you will understand. Chick Fil' A is one of the best places to eat in town. The restaurant is clean, everything on the menu is not deep fried, and the service is always friendly. Hooray for CFA! (By the way, this pic is obviously NOT the one that Eliana smiled for to get free ice cream.)

Shhh... don't tell Jon :)

Kai was walking all over the house with one of Eliana's purses hung around his neck. He just thought that he was the coolest thing too. Too cute and too funny to not post. Jon didn't even want me to take a picture of him... but somehow with a big sister, I am sure that this is not the last time that Kai will be doing something on the "girly" side.:)

Quick trip to OH

On our way home from PA, we made a slight detour to OH to surprise my Mom with a visit for the 4th of July. I had arranged all of the details with my oldest sister, Amanda, so that we could completely catch my Mom by surprise. We ended up meeting them at Cheesecake Factory. They were already seated and we walked up to my Mom, who had her back to us, and I asked her if she minded if we sat with her. I wish that I could have captured the look on her face on camera. It was PRICELESS! She was so shocked and just stared at us for a while, I think she may have been trying to convince herself that we were real.:) It was so fun! We had dinner and then I called one of my other sisters, who we had also not told, and told her that we would be joining her the next day on the family trip to the waterpark in Cincinnati. Fun times! Eliana had a blast playing with her cousins at the waterpark and in G-ma and G-pa's backyard. I had made all of the kids tie-dye t's for the 4th so it was fun to see them all dressed up in those. We had a great trip, even though it was for such a short time. I will never forget the look on my Mom's face when she saw us.:)

2010 Family Vacation

This year for our family vacation we loaded up the van and drove up to Manns Choice, PA for a week at the OCF retreat center, White Sulphur Springs. We had been invited to attend a family camp called Anchor Points. When we got our invitation we really felt like God was telling us that this was something that we needed to do for several reasons. We have been praying and seeking His guidance in our lives for our future. We both feel like He is leading us on to someplace/something else, possibly the chaplaincy or some other ministry related thing. This invitation literally came out of nowhere... it is based on references that OCF receives from other people within OCF. We have our suspicions of who that was, but why us? We aren't military anymore... haven't been in an OCF group in years since we had to leave our precious Hawaii group. So after praying about it, we just followed the invitation and made plans to use our vacation time in that way. We drove to the camp not knowing what to expect and feeling a little out of place. Jon said it best when he said, "We arrived at the camp and felt very out of place the first couple of days, but by the end of the week, we felt as if we had come home." So true! It was such a blessing to be around military families again. There is just something so unique and comforting about that community, as many of you know.:) We got to sit under great teachers, interact with other believers, and spend some much needed family time together, not to mention how much fun our kids had, especially Eliana! We still really don't know for sure why we were chosen to be there, but we were extremely blessed by our time there and will cherish the memories forever. Here are just a couple pictures from our time there. We had two different theme night dinners, International and Cowboy. Jon and I are dressed in Afghani clothing that he bought while he was on IA, and then the kids are in Chinese outfits that Jon got them on his trip there in May. Eliana absolutely loved playing in the creek looking for crawdads... I have never seen my child so dirty in her entire life.:)