Date Night!

Some friends from church were having a birthday party as they were both turning 60.  They built a barn just for the occasion and invited our Journeygroup to celebrate.   It was a fun night out with friends!

Student Life Camp

Student Life Camp was in Wichita Falls this year.  It was HOT but so worth it.  We stayed on the Midwestern University campus.  This was Reagyn's first year as a youth camper.  She LOVED it.  We spent the mornings in worship and Bible Study.  Afternoons were dedicated to missions and then we were back in the evenings for worship again.

 Worship was AWESOME!  And the speakers spoke the Truth.  Pretty cool to worship with 350 other Christian students!

 My missions group went to an assisted living home.  The kids met some wonderful people while there.  They heard lots of stories of the past and soaked up every minute.  Karson and Grace became particularly fond of this couple below.  She had a stroke and couldn't speak.  She had to be there but her husband didn't.  He moved in with her because he couldn't stand to be apart.  An amazing love story for sure.

 Reagyn and Sadee met a couple of neat ladies who insisted they have candy and Diet Cokes every day for a snack! :)

 It was such a treat to get to share this experience with my kiddos.  Serving and worshiping the Lord together...doesn't get much better.

Softball - Love My #34

Softball season was a fun one.  Reagyn played catcher and loved it.  She understands the game and is VERY competitive.  Her team came in 2nd in their district and qualified for the State tournament in Dennison.  Nana and Mamme & DadDad met us to watch her play.  We didn't win but it sure was fun!  They have a good chance this next season too.  Looking forward to watching the Hico SWAT! :)

We got to swim, bowl and watch a movie while there!  And of course there was the eating out!!  What a treat. :)

Mission Trip - Alaska

After last year's mission trip to Belize, there was no doubt Karson was going on mission trip again.  He saved his Christmas and birthday money and thanks to the help from grandparents, he had enough money to go to Alaska!

 This group of 22 went to Solid Rock Bible Camp near Soldotna, Alaska.  The "wiser" bunch worked on remodeling staff housing and the students were camp counselors.  The camp was a 3 hour drive from Anchorage, so they saw lots of beautiful scenery.

I know what you're thinking...WOW!  Karson was so sweet to take pics and share them with his momma.  uuhhhmmm NO!   He didn't send a single on!  Lots of the moms that went took pics and sent them to me.  Thanks so much to each of them!!!

 One of the afternoon stations Karson worked was the rifle station.  He loved that.  The above pic was what they did on their time off.  Went to Chris and Andrea's room to use phones.  HA!!

 One night (only not in the dark since the sun doesn't go down til 1am) they had a counselor hunt.  The counselors hid from the campers.  If they got caught they were thrown in the freezing cold lake.  No Texans were caught!

 Probably the coolest thing that happened was that Karson and Hunter decided to be baptized.  What a proud moment as a parent.  He has given his life to the Lord and shown all those campers an awesome example.  Unfortunately we didn't witness it in person, but again those moms came thru.  I had pics and videos from every angle!!  They said they cried for me too!!

 

So thankful for the men and women on this trip with Karson.  All were super encouraging and had so many nice things to say when they came back.  The men and several boys spoke before the baptisms with verses and words of encouragement.  So special...and I have the video thanks to those mommas!!!

So proud of this kid.  His example to serve others and now to follow Christ is amazing.  So blessed to call him mine!!

Girls Week!

Karson was gone for 8 days for mission trip so we had a girls week.  Along with workouts each morning and softball practice in the evenings, we helped with VBS.  Reagyn and her friend Brooke helped in my group.  We had 1-2 graders...so much fun!  The girls loved helping during the Bible lesson, recreation games, dancing and singing to the music and crafts!!

At the end of the week we went to Splash Kingdom in Weatherford.  First we had a yummy lunch at Raisin' Canes.  Delish!

They played til they were tired and sun burned...perfect day!!  We enjoyed our Karson-less week but sure missed him!

Drive In Movie

We met the Graves family for an evening at the drive-in movie in Granbury.  Karson brought Cam and Reagyn hung with Presley.  So fun!  We saw Cars 3.  Beautiful summer night with friends!

Colorado Trip

We left Monday morning from Nana's and headed to Pagosa Springs, Colorado.  Nine hours later (after stopping for lunch) we made it to our cabin.  It was located on the San Juan river.  The river was RIGHT out the back door!  Loved the smell of the woods and the sound of the river.  Perfect spot to be!! 

We stayed in a rustic 2 story cabin.  The kids loved the upstairs loft.  There were 2 bedrooms upstairs and a master down stairs.  It had a nice little kitchen, dining room and living room also down stairs.  No A/C so we kept the windows open with fans.  It got into the 80s during the day and 40s-50s at night.  

On Tuesday we drove up to Wolf Creek Pass.  There was still LOTS of snow there.  The kids loved playing in it.  

We stopped at a scenic lookout point and climbed onto some rocks for this amazing pics!  We had a picnic up there too.

We then climbed up to Treasure Falls.  So pretty!!

Boo was the only one brave enough to climb to the Misty Deck.  The mist was very cold and wet!  (I got this pick standing behind a tree.  HA!)

When we weren't out and about, there was plenty of things to do at the cabin.  There was a hot tub that Nana and the kids enjoyed.

We played games too!

Wednesday we drove to Durango and looked around a bit.  From there we rode a bus to Silverton.  Here's the only pic we got there.  It was raining the entire time.  We ate lunch and had some ice cream while in town.  

Then we caught the train back to Durango.   Luckily we booked an enclosed narration car.  A lady dressed in 1800s clothes told us stories about her family and the area.  Very interesting.

The sights were absolutely breathtaking.  The train ride was rather long and slow but we all enjoyed it.

Probably the highlight of the week for the kids was the water rafting!  They had so much fun.  Lanny was not too excited about squeezing into the wet suit...we decided we looked like dorks but there were 20 of us dressed exactly alike so we weren't the only ones.

 Before we got in we listened to a bit more training.

 Then we were off!  Two older ladies took the front, Karson and Lanny in the middle while Boo and I were in the back.  We stayed in these positions for most of the float.  There were several class 3 rapids the first 1/3 of the trip.  The middle was calm and more of a float.  We went right by our cabin and Nana got a cool video of us. :)  The last 1/3 went thru Pagosa Springs and the man-made rapids park.  The kids got to move up to the front for the last bit.  So FUN!   

Here is the after pic...tired but still smiling.  The kids LOVED it and Lanny and I enjoyed it as well.  Definitely a do again if given the chance!

The next morning we headed out for the 13 hour drive home.  Lanny was going a little too fast in New Mexico.  Oops...

We did have an excellent lunch in Clovis...our fav!!  

We had an awesome week full of beautiful sights, fun activities and great family time.  So glad Nana helped us on this amazing trip!  Memories were made for sure.  Awesome Christmas gift!!