next part of the trip

we left the currier's on wednesday at about 1:00. perfect time for travelling, right? WRONG. the seven hour trip too nine and a half! wowzers. anyways...the boys were great, as usual and we got to mel's at about 10:00pm. we slept sooo good!!
we had a great morning of just relaxing the next day,


and then planned to leave at about 12. we ended up leaving a little later, and mel and chad were leaving to come to nh for easter anyways.

long story short, we ended up meeting at subway in connecticut - it was so fun! and a great stop. the boys got to stretch and throw the football around for a little while.



and we enjoyed a good meal

don't let his look deceive you. he just loves being with his in-laws! :)
we made it home in pretty good time.

the next day we all went into boston and had an awesome time together. it was a great weekend.



and of course...any place


is a good place

for football!

the rest of virginia

the last day we were in virginia, we went to a place called maymont
it was beautiful and the weather was perfect




and this picture just makes me smile every time i see it.

i know, i know...he needed a haircut. it is one of my pet-peeves when parents let their boys hair hang all up in their eyes!!

this picture makes me happy. because even though there is almost a 4-year age difference between these 2 boys...

i love that i can trust them when they are together. i am not at all worried about what cam might be saying to aj, i just love that. i love the friendship they have. aj has always loved cameron so much, and i hope that their relationship continues for years to come.

then i took a picture of all the kiddies...


here is my sister and her happy big family




and here is our happy little family

little break from the vacation for my thoughts...

for those of you who know me the best, you know that i always have something to say. i could ramble on and on at any given moment. i am passionate about a lot of things, and i enjoy talking about those things.
today, i am sitting outside of The Porch enjoying the gorgeous weather, and just praying for the people of this area as they drive by. i have been thinking about how many people are in bondage and don't even realize it.

i heard a knock on the door the other day. it was 2 men in suits. guess who?? haha..it actually honestly made me laugh. i thought. for REAL??? this is the house behind the BAPTIST church!! what part of BAPTIST do you not understand?!?
i have never had a conversation about spiritual things with a jehovah's witness, and here was my chance. i was searching everywhere in my brain for memories of the advice that john yates from fbi (seriously. if your church doesn't offer this, you need to) had given about what they believe. i started right out with john 1:1. how hard could this be. The Word was with God and the Word WAS GOD. not "A god". ok. he didn't really go anywhere with that one. so i mentioned something about Jesus being God. ohhh yaaaa...when i saw his reaction, i realized this was one point we slightly disagreed on! so i continued. Jesus is God.
is not.
is too.
is not.
is too.
just kidding. we didn't do that last part. :)

he tried to explain to me that this was not humanly possible. for example, he said, i am a father, and i have a son. it is not possible for us to be the same person. i said. um. a lot of things about God aren't humanly possible, that's what makes him GOD.
he said. "so you're trying to tell me that you can't understand things about God?"

i said "ABSOLUTELY". God says in the book of Isaiah "your ways are not my ways, neither are your thoughts my thoughts".

he said. "that was Isaiah talking"

i said. "um. No. it wasn't. i JUST read it. (i really actually did, at least within the last 90 days, because we just finished reading through the Bible in 90 days!)

i said "there's a lot of things that don't make human sense. i mean, does Jesus being born of a virgin make human sense?"

get this. HE SAID YES! ok. that conversation is for a different time, buddy!

he said "well, have you looked into the hebrew language? i mean. if you study this out, December 25th couldn't even have been the day Jesus was born"

WHAT????

i did remember john yates saying...they will try to get you sidetracked, but stick to the gospel.

so...i watched the guy he was with, who i assume was being trained. and i started thinking. ok, my goal is just going to be to quote scripture and put some doubt in this guys mind. God's Word won't return void, right?

so i did. i quoted john 3:16. i quoted ephesians 2:8. i said that i had actually walked this very road myself handing out Bibles. the REAL Bible. not a man-made one. but it was NOT so that i could get into heaven. it is by grace through faith ALONE that i was assured of my eternity.

the guy talking was clearly flustered, so i just stopped him. he asked if he could give me some information.
i told him i didn't want his literature in my house. (adam told me later i should have taken it all to throw it away. oh well)

i was shaking so bad! i don't even know why, but it was such a great experience. it made me see even more the importance of being ready always to give an answer. for me AND for my boys.

i spent a lot of the morning with aj and ry going over their awana verses.
as aj was quoting john 10:30, he said - ooohhhh...that would be a good one.

i said, for what?

he said for those jehovah's witnesses! oh ya!! "I and my Father are one". doesn't get more clear than that!

i honestly teared up. i thought, here is my 8-year-old using the Bible to stand firm in his faith.

for those moms out there who are raising your little ones to love God. make sure they love their Bible. make sure they KNOW their Bible! also, i think it is so important to know the basics of what other religions believe. i do not want to come across as ignorant. i want to learn about their beliefs, so i can know how to reach them.

i don't know if anything i said will make this man start thinking differently. but i can pray for his heart. i can pray for the people i drive by, and the people i know are unsaved. so can you.

together, we can make a difference.

getting sad...

it's actually kind of sad posting things about my visits with my brother and sisters. it just reminds me more and more of how much i miss them. it's weird, because i think that part of me just always thought that we would live near each other, ya know? now that we are all living far apart, well. it just stinks.

anyways...monday was a rainy day in virginia.

we started the day with school. i had brought the boys work, and they seemed to enjoy a little different way of school!




so bri, erika and me all went shopping. it was really fun. bri got an easter dress, and me and erika got some new clothes too :) then we all went to the ymca and the kids and adam played some basketball then got to go swimming for a while. they had so much fun!






alright, i may be getting days messed up. i really can't remember.
i will just leave you with this.


can you even STAND it???

next day in virginy

sunday morning we got up and had a nice breakfast




and then got to go to church with the curriers. it was great to be able to go to church and just ENJOY it!! we didn't have to be running around, working on the power point, getting ready to teach sunday school, adjusting the mics or anything! we had a really great time and enjoyed the day.

next stop...virginia

after visiting my brother and his wife, we left on saturday morning to go to virginia and stay with my older sister.

we got stuck in some traffic. we are not fans of I-95!!!!

anyways, the kids were thrilled to finally get there and see their cousins! we got settled a bit and then all went to the park. it was FREEZING! but the everyone had a great time.





leah is such a little peach, you just NEED to take pictures of her all the time!! she has big blue eyes, and is so tiny! she is such a doll

our vacation

we decided to go and visit my brother and his wife in pennsylvania. then we thought, why don't we just keep going to virginia and see my sister? then on the way back stop at my other sister's. so...that is how our vacation began.



we packed the car (including the boys bikes) and started out thursday morning at around 10. we did hit a little bit of traffic on the way to philly, but nothing too terribly bad. we were in good moods, and had no need to rush. my brother doesn't get home from work until 10:30, so we took our time getting there.



we stopped at subway and let the boys eat outside. adam stayed in the car...he thought it looked like rain :)

the next day was FREEEEZING but my brother is a really good sport, and took us into the city anyways. bobbi had to work at 1, so she couldn't come with us. i'm sure she wasn't too upset!! haha.
we got to see the liberty bell

(portfolio babbyyy!!)

and then we went to the terminal and ate. and ate.





we had a lot of fun and i was so thankful that my brother was driving in the city...people are crazy, i tell you!!

ronnie spoiled my boys rotten, like he always does. he is so generous, and always wanting to get them whatever they want.

i have always been really close with my brother. it about broke my heart when he moved to philly 4 years ago! hopefully him and bobbi and my new niece will move a little closer some day...hint hint. (free babysitting ANYTIME bobbi!!!)