Hitting The Beach!

On Wednesday, we hit the beach! The weather was wonderful and the sun was shining. We got out early that morning and enjoyed the day hanging out. We rented one of those cabanas and just relaxed all day. It wasn't too hot...or cool so we really enjoyed walking on the beach and collecting shells.
Here are the girls. Yes, I LOVE my hats. There is nothing better to me on the beach (or in Africa) than a great hat. Mine didn't make it very well in the travel, but I absolutely love it. In Africa they made fun constantly of my hats...but it makes for fewer wrinkles...I hope!
Jay and his girls dig to find sand fleas and shells. They found out some and it made for a fun afternoon of caring for sand fleas and little "shell guys" that bury themselves in the sand. My girls LOVE animals and caring for them.
Though the water was cold, it didn't keep the girls from playing in the waves!
Anli made many trips to the water trying to make a mote for her sand castle. She was determined!

Virginia wrote me a big heart saying "I love you". It was so sweet that I had to keep it...even when the water washed it away.

The girls wanted to be buried in the sand, so they got to work. They dug a large trench that they could both sit side by side in.

This was the finished project! Anli was a turtle and Virginia was a mermaid. They are sooo cute together. They stayed in this for about 15 minutes just laughing and giggling together. Since Anli's shell was large...it was funny to watch her try to wriggle out!

That night we headed over to Planet Hollywood for our favorite Deep Fried Lasagna! It was really fun and wonderful food. But, we were too stuffed for dessert...

So we headed to Broadway at the Beach. It is a wonderful place with fun shops, great restaurants, and a great Nostalgic Pavilion where they have old rides and funnel cakes. It was great to walk around in the great weather.

There were lots of fun things to do and shops to look at. We sampled fudge and played on the dinos.

We also stopped to feed the fish! The girls loved to see the little ducks and fish swarm the food we bought to give them.

A trip to Broadway at the Beach wouldn't be complete without a stop at Ben and Jerry's Ice cream place. We took the girls here over 5 years ago when we came here as a family for the first time.

Anli and I got my favorite Ben and Jerry's flavor...Phish Food! It's the BEST!!! Do you see the scrapes all over Anli's nose and lip? She dove down in the lazy river to catch her daddy and scrapped the bottom! She was a trooper and never skipped a beat! She's amazingly tough.

We went back to the hotel and got ready to hit the indoor pool again! We never stopped all week...but I'll share more about that tomorrow!

We're back!

We have been in Myrtle Beach for the past week and had a wonderful time together! The hotel was the most wonderful place we could have imagined staying...and the weather was incredible! It was great to get away for the week and just enjoy some time as a family. It was a wild week full of LOTS of swimming, sun, good food, and fun.

We stayed at an amazing resort called the Dunes Village Resort. It is known for the largest indoor water park in Myrtle Beach. It has amazing adult sized water slides (2), lazy rivers, indoor pools, dunking booths, and more than I can name...but you'll see the photos!

On our way to the beach...we saw this amazing rainbow in the sky. You can't tell from the photo but it was a double bow. It was a wonderful surprise to see such a neat thing!

We drove up Tuesday after I taught Bible study, and got to the hotel around 7:30pm. We checked in and found that we had been put in a PENTHOUSE! That was a surprise to us...considering we only paid $79/night. It was an ocean front room with a balcony with beautiful views. We had a full kitchen where we could prepare our breakfasts and lunches every day. We went out every night, but ate at the room during the day.

We put our bags down and headed straight to our hotel's water park. The hotel has two buildings...each with their own water park in them....and you can go in between the two hotels as often as you like to the water parks. So, it was double fun!

That night we stayed at our side of the hotel since it was late. It was so much fun! We all played in the water until about 10pm and then headed up to bed. That was only the beginning of a jam packed week of swimming, beach, sun and fun for us! It wasn't a restful week...but it was FUN!

This is the huge dunking bucket in our hotel that would fill up and tip over to spray water ALL over the place! The girls met friends that they played with all week...and new ones every day too. Here is a photo of the girls they spent a lot of time with during the week. They are loving this dunking booth!

Virginia enjoys some water falls. It was like a rainforest!

Anli goes through a little car wash kind of tunnel. It shoots out water from all angles with dunking buckets tipping over all along the openings in the tunnel. All the water was heated (except the water slides...brrrr) so it was really wonderful to play in the warm water and not be freezing!

This was the silly sub that was full of water spouts and shooters all over the place! It was really fun to play in...and get soaked!

Here is one of the 3 pools at our side of the hotel. This one was very popular since it had the basketball goal. We played lots of basketball games while we were there! Virginia was really good and wanted to be "shooting" all the time. Sorry this is dark...but it was close to 10pm at the time. If you look to the upper right of the photo you see these large plastic chess and checker sets. They were so much fun! My girls love to play checkers...and the fact you can do it in your swim suit is even better. Daddy and Virginia pop out of the silly sub to say a quick hello! That smile says it all!Anli prepares for the dunking bucket! It was a challenge to try to figure out when it would tip over.I didn't actually mean to take this photo in b/w but it's one of my favorites! Just look at the expression on the girl's face behind Virginia...priceless! It was the most fun place to stay...I highly recommend it for families with kids who can swim...because it is one fun thing after another.

This was just our FIRST two hours here at the hotel. This is just our SIDE of the hotel...wait until you see the other side...amazing!

I'll update all week on our days there because it's way too much for one blog. God is overwhelmingly good to us. We have had bumps and hard times just like everyone else, but we are constantly in jaw dropping awe of how much He gives to us. To be able to spend such a special week with my family is bringing me to tears right now...I can't thank God enough for this family He has given me and the closeness that we enjoy. We are closer now than I could have ever imagined...because of those bumps!

Spring Fling and headed to the beach!

This weekend we had a blast! We started off Friday with a picnic at Kidstock with just the family and we then headed to Sonic for a sweet dessert and crashed in the bed after so much exercise at the park. All of us spent time swinging, climbing (Jay raced Virginia to the top of this HUGE tower), basketball, and enjoying the wonderful weather! Anli met 5 new friends and they hung out together the whole time...ah, it begins.

Saturday morning we got up and headed over to our church for Caleb's first baseball game! They are so cute and Noonday has their own league so they just play against each other. There are TONS of kids that play for Noonday's league. We were excited because not only was Caleb on this team, Anli's best friend Ravenn and her brother River were on the team as well. It was a blast and they all played so well...too cute!Right after the game we just walked across the parking lot to the Spring Fling held by Noonday's Academy. It was their fundraising event that was a BLAST! They had inflatables, games, face painting and lots of things to buy!

Here Virginia enjoys the giant soccer game...she scored a goal! Well, it's really just taking shots at the goal...but she loved it!
Lilly, Anli, and Virginia Grace had a "bus" race...aren't they the cutest?

Here the girls go on the candy walk. They all got some goodies just for participating!

Virginia and Lilly made some sand art necklaces. Virginia made 5 of them...who knows what we'll do with all of those! The artist at work... She even made a pretty cross for me!
Anli gets her face painted..she got an apple on one cheek and a cherry on the other!


Anli works on her sand art skills too!

It was a great weekend for sure! We are headed to the beach tomorrow! I will try to post some while I am there, but no promises. The girls are almost more excited about this trip than Disney...go figure! I think it's just because this one is here and Disney is a few more months away. We are looking forward to a wonderful time and some great memories.

Desert Flower Ministries Makeover!

ICN Ventures has been working so hard on my new website for the ministry, and it is up and running! It looks amazing and will have more features added soon, but it is just awesome! I can say that because Brett, Austin, and Jay did EVERYTHING! I just wrote the text and they designed the logo, backgrounds, tabs, and made it all so user friendly. What a difference!

I hope that you will stop by from time to time and see what God is doing in and through Desert Flower Ministries. I am so thrilled that we have already received invitations from New Mexico, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and even Canada! What a great ride we are on...and you are a part of it too as you check in and pray with us for women to thrive in this life instead of just surviving it!

www.desertflowerministries.com or www.desertflowerministries.org

Desert Flower Ministries will be partnering with American Bible Society, Compassion International, My Sister's Place in Atlanta, Gideon's, and our local church body to impact people around the world by the gift of the Word of God. This is the vision and passion of Desert Flower Ministries. We want to see women all across this world to THRIVE in this life through the power of God's Word, instead of simply surviving this life in our own strength.

Very soon, you will be able to subscribe to "Glory in the Morning" (Daily "bread" from the Word section of the blog) that will come to your own email address instead of having to come to this blog to read it...but I hope you still drop by this blog from time to time! Also, we will be making several speaking topics available in written form to read, share, or teach to your group of ladies. We will be adding a list of the partners in ministry that Desert Flower Ministries is supporting so everyone can see where portions of book sales and speaking money goes!

We are also working on launching a new women's Bible series called Foundation Bible Series for women. It will be a chapter by chapter journey through the book of Genesis. If you are interested in more information on this new series as we begin to get the news out...please comment here on the blog or on the website and we will get you some more information soon. We are thrilled about this new series and what God is already doing.

We are going through a very exciting time in this ministry. God is blessing more than we could imagine. Please keep us in your prayers. There are those who are on our prayer team that pray specifically for events, projects, and personal requests. If you would like to be on that team please contact us through the website. If you need prayer always feel free to contact us there also.

We are thrilled that you read this blog and we pray that Desert Flower Ministries can serve your ladies' group or Bible study group some day...we look forward to it! Have a blessed day today!

Wedding of the Lamb...and two precious angles!

Yesterday was an amazing day for our family! Anli and Virginia Grace were asked to be a part of a wedding symbolizing how we are the bride of Christ as the church. A lady in our church, Tammy, was in charge of transforming our sanctuary into the most beautiful wedding I have seen! She did an amazing job! The girls were "princesses" since their Father is the King of Kings!Anli and Virginia were beautiful flower girls! They wore tiaras to show that they are daughters of the King! Tammy even bought these gorgeous dresses for each of them with matching baskets. I tell you, this ceremony was absolutely gorgeous. We took time all week to talk to the girls about the symbolism of this ceremony. That it is a picture of how much Christ loves us and that we are in a real relationship with Him. And one day we will see our groom face to face! I can't wait!

Virginia and Anli were the flower girls that sprinkled the white rose petals on the ground to symbolize the purity of Christ.

Ravenn and Lexi were the flower girls who sprinkled the red rose petals to symbolize the blood of Christ. It was a gorgeous way to remind us of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ! Here are the girls together. Aren't they beautiful? They were amazing...since they had to do this in both serves and arrived at the church at 8am. They also sat through the both entire services since they had to come back up at the end of each service too. They did so very well!

Here they are...with the addition of the ring bearer...aren't they precious?

The girls play for a while in between services. They all had to stay in the pastor's reception room so that it would be a surprise for the congregation when they came down the aisle.

Here are the girls with the Bride's maids. The bouquets were so neat because they were white carnations with three red roses in them symbolizing the trinity. Tammy thought of everything!That afternoon, we went to Northside hospital to see Nicki and Steve. We really had a great time hanging out with them for a little while and hearing about the girls and getting to see them on video. Since Nicki is still pretty sore and recovering from 4 weeks without touching the floor and a c-section (cut both ways), we didn't go see the girls in the NICU because it is really an ordeal for Nicki to get to see the girls. She has only been to see them 4 times since they were born.

So, I couldn't stand leaving sweet Nicki in the room while we went to see HER babies! So, we watched them on the video. It is a way that Nicki can see the girls more often until she can get around a little better.

The girls are doing normal for 25 week old babies. They are both back on vents and Sarah Kate is a fighter! She wants to breathe OVER the vents...but that causes damage to her little lungs so they have sedated her so she will let the vent breathe for her. But, I love that fighting spirit...just wait until she's a teenager!

Callie is a little sicker. She has a little hole in her heart that is allowing the oxygenated blood mix with the non oxygenated blood...not a good thing. They are asking that you pray for little Callie today. Her oxygen levels are low...but better today. She is the smallest and the more "relaxed" of the two. You can always check the Caringbridge site at the top right of the blog for the most up to date information.

It was so great to be with Nicki and Steve. Nicki goes home tomorrow, but the Sarah Kate and Callie will be at Northside until July at the very earliest. That will be hard since Nicki, Steve, and Campbell live in Rome...about an hour and a half away. Please pray for them as they find a new normal in this difficult situation.

Here is a picture of their tiny footprints, sunglasses (for light treatments...we laughed that they were little tanning bed glasses!), and diaper...which swallows them. You have no perspective on how small these items really are! But, the cards that BOTH their footprints are on is only about 5 inches long...and the diaper is about the size of my palm. They are smaller than my children's smallest baby doll! The girls can fit in your hand with their feet on our wrist!!!

They are so beautiful and they have the BEST parents in the world! God is shinning like a beacon in that family and His grace is overwhelming. It is a hard road, but He is our light for today.

The Hunt girls have arrived!

Here is the update from Linda Campbell, Nicki's mom. We got a call from her around 1:00pm and were asked to pray. Please keep them in your prayers as we wait to hear how "the girls" are doing. I am grateful that I was able to talk to Nicki last night and I pray that she is recovering well, even though I know she is an anxious little momma to know about her little girls!

We have two babies girls that arrived shortly after 1:00 pm. After an ultrasound this morning, the doctors decided that it would be better to take the babies in a controlled situation, rather than to wait and be thrown into an emergency situation later today. Nicki had C-section and is doing well and the babies are in the hands of the experts. Steve and Nicki got to kiss them before they were carried to the "best place in the world for a pre-term baby." Thanks you for the prayers, please keep them going. The doctors will be updating Nicki and Steve in a couple of hours and we will report more details. Love, The Grandparents

Thank you for all your prayers for this family. We hope to see them tonight or tomorrow sometime. As always you can check the Caringbridge site often to keep up with their journey. But, I wanted to share this news with you!

Happy Birthday Paula...and a few updates!

First, Happy Birthday Paula! She is on vacation, or maybe coming back, in Orlando this week for Spring Break...so she won't see this, but here's wishing her a great birthday today!

Update on my grandmother, Honey, who has been in the ICU for the past 3 weeks (this time). She is at her own home now with help around the clock. But, I was able to talk to her for the first time in...forever...and she sounded really good. I am named for her and we are VERY close. We are going to see her tomorrow and visit my family for a while. This is my grandmother and the 5 kids together! We all look very much alike...I'm like a carbon of my mom!
Update on Nicki: I was actually able to TALK to Nicki last night! YEEEHAAAW! It was great to hear her voice, but we were discussing a struggle our other very close friends are going through right now. She was about in tears because she had just found out...always thinking about the struggles of others (while she lays at a 30 degree angle all day every day!). She is doing much better.

They have moved her from the OR rooms to the floor full of women just like her. She told me that God has been so amazing and that she has been able to use this as a witnessing tool to all the doctors, nurses, food delivery, housekeeping, etc. She told me, "If it ends tomorrow, it has been a miracle." WOW! What a woman of God! She does have some infections and other things that give her some pain and are of concern, but overall she is doing much better!

Update on Parker: His tests came back that he has a disorder where his spinal chord is fused to this a part of his brain? I don't really know, but it has NOTHING to do with his head size. He is a stage one of this disorder and many people have it and never even know it. They do go see a pediatric neurosurgeon on the 28th so we should know more then. But, so far it seems that it is nothing to be overly concerned about at this time. Otherwise...he is just a cute, active, normal little boy!

Update on Wanda: We went to see and take dinner to Wanda after she had started her first chemo treatment last week. She is amazing! She has such strength in God and looks absolutely gorgeous! She is really giving God all the glory and just showing that when we are weak...He is strong. You can't help but see the glow of God in her face! It was great to see her!