Mission trip to Greece part 2

Our view from our meeting room

Sitting at one of the restaurants

Outdoor fruit stand

Octopus hanging out at one of the markets

My swollen left foot.

Standing in the Aegean Sea

Me standing on top of Mars Hill where Paul would have stood to preach.

Our group standing on Mars Hill overlooking Athens

The modern city of Athens

The Acropolis with the Parthenon on top.

Me sitting near the acropolis

The Parthenon

Me in front of the Parthenon

Roslyn, me and Chelli with Parthenon behind us.

Us again

The temple of Athena

Me and my monkey puppet, Spice, speaking to the children.

The kids liked Spice

Us with our group of kids

Me with the ruins of Corinth in the background.

The ancient ruins of Corinth

Me again with the ruins of Corinth in the background.

Me standing where Paul would have stood to preach in Corinth.

The group from Faith Baptist who put on the retreat standing on the Lechian Road in Corinth.

Let's hear it for Air Conditioning!!!

Yep, that was the inside air temp a little over an hour ago...and that was after the new unit had been running for about 30 minutes. It has taken a day and a half to get it in but this Bryant 3 1/2 ton unit is working like a charm. I am very grateful that God allowed the weather to stay cooler until the installers could get this unit in and running. It is a shame that we are so spoiled to the cooler air conditions. But as one of my teachers said, "I am not ashamed to say, I need refrigeration. " I am looking forward to sleeping in the cool tonight, although with the windows open and the cool nights we have had, I have not been uncomfortable. But with the forecast of humidity coming back by tomorrow and with that the temps will rise...it is good that they are getting this finished up today! As and added bonus they also say that we should run more efficiently too. AND, on top of that....we are supposed to get a $1500 tax credit for upgrading to a more energy efficient system! So, I say again,

LET'S HEAR IT FOR AIR CONDITIONING!!!!

JUST LOOK AT THAT BAD BOY!

Enjoy the moments....

With school starting my thoughts go back to how quickly this summer has passed and also how quickly time in general passes us by. I suppose Dr. Dobson was having these same thoughts because his newsletter for the month addressed just that thought. I have just read it from front to back, (something I do not always do but did this time) and found a few things I thought were very timely and appropriate for those of you young mothers that read my blog.
So, if you will indulge me, I would like to quote Dr. James Dobson...a man who has had an enormous impact on my life through his videos and books. He writes:

"Addressing myself now to mothers and fathers of young children. I urge you to keep this eternal perspective in view as you race through the days of your lives. Don't permit yourself to become discouraged with the responsibilities of parenting. Yes, it is an exhausting and difficult assignment, and there are times when you will feel like throwing in the towel. But I beg you to stay the course! Get on your knees before the Lord and ask for His strength and wisdom. Finish the job to which He has called you! There is no more important task in living, and you will understand that assignment more clearly when you stand where Shirley and I are today. In the blink of an eye, you will be hugging your children good-bye and returning home to an empty house. That is the way the system works."

And then this was a prayer Dr. Dobson's father prayed for their family after they had been together for a short visit:


"And Lord, we want to thank You for the fellowship and love that we feel for each other today. This has been such a special time for us with Jim and Shirley and their children. But, Heavenly Father, we are keenly aware that the joy that is ours today is a temporal pleasure. Our lives will not always be this stable and secure. Change is inevitable, and it will come to us, too. We will accept it when it comes, of course, but we give You praise for the happiness and warmth that has been ours these past few days. We have had more than our share of good things, and we thank You for Your love. Amen."


Dr. Dobson writes that shortly thereafter they hugged and said good-bye then boarded the plane for home. A week later, his father suddenly grabbed his chest and told his mother to call the paramedics. He died on December 4th of that year. His mother has also gone to be with the Lord now. His last statement in this section of his newsletter grabs me. He said, "How quickly it all unraveled."


I guess that is what has also grabbed my heart today...how quickly our lives can unravel...one minute everything is fun and you are enjoying wonderful times together. Then in a blink of an eye or in the space of a heart beat...all that can change. We should all be living with Dr. Dobson's father's philosophy in mind..."Thanking God for what we have...which we cannot keep." As Dr. Dobson says, "We all need to capture that concept."


So, my charge to you who read this is...Enjoy the moments, for too soon they are gone!

First Day of 2nd Grade for Camryn!

This post is a little late...a week and a day to be exact, but I have been very busy with getting things going at school. So better late than never I say.

Well, it is very hard to believe that my granddaughter is in 2nd Grade! It seems that she was just a baby yesterday. Now she is so grown up and such a big girl with lots of personality and sass! I feel very fortunate that I get to see her everyday at school. It makes my day when she comes slipping into my office to give me a hug when she is on her way to the restroom. I definitely do not take that privilege for granted.

Here are a few pictures of her on the first day of her second grade year:

I don't know why this is showing up as underscored, but it is!
Here she is as Andrea pulls up to drop her off. No more need for Momma to walk her in. *sigh*

Walking up to the front door and obviously feeling so cute and sassy with her new hair cut.

Pausing for Nanna to take a picture

Hanging her bag up (she is behind the little boy in white)

That is her desk in the foreground with all the supplies piled on top.

Here she is with papers for Mrs. Young

Sitting at her desk ready for a new year!

And finally, a picture of her and her teacher, Mrs. Young.

I believe this will be a great year for Camryn. Mrs. Young is an awesome teacher who will take her far in her elementary education!
Happy Second Grade to you, Camryn!

A YaYa Weekend!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Centerton, AR for a weekend with my YaYa's. You see, one of us (Christine) and her husband have moved to Centerton where Russell is working in the corporate offices of Walamart. We decided to go to their new house to celebrate all our summer birthdays. So, on Friday, Annette, Christine and I headed toward NW, AR while Norman and Russell waited on us to get there. It was so much fun to be "On the Road Again" as Willie would say. We have traveled on many occasions but have not gotten to do so in a while. We had a wonderful time of chatting and laughing on the way. We also enjoyed getting to visit with two other friends who live in that area, Lara and Lela. What a lively time we had at Panera Bread on Saturday where we met for lunch. We laughed and talked for about 2 1/2 hours! It was great to catch up on all that is going on in each of our lives.

Christine and Russell have a beautiful home. We loved getting to spend some extended time with them in their new location. They are wonderful hosts...the food was great and the time together was sweet. We hope to get to make many more trips to that part of our state to visit with them.

Here are a few pictures of our stay.

The YaYa's...Christine, Annette, and me.

Their cat, Fonzie, loves to sit on the back of the chair. I look like I have a fur collar.

This is little Kenzington, Russell's new kitten.

He is a Persian/Himalayan mix.

This is what we did a good bit of our time there...sit, talk, and watch movies....oh, and eat!

This is going to be a tough year for Christine and Russell...both their daughters will be entering college...Lindsey will begin at the University of AR in August..and Ashley will be a Freshman at UCA. Christine will be living in Little Rock while continuing to be the band director at Little Rock Christian for one more year and Russell will be living in Centerton and working at Walmart corporate offices. Although, they will be scattered in all directions and experiencing a new family dynamic this year, their connection to the YaYa's will remain the same.

The three of us have been through good times, bad times, happy times, sad times, depressing times and times of great joy....through them all we have formed a very strong bond. When any one of us has a need, the other two are always there to love, support, encourage and yes, sometimes to say the hard things. We are very grateful for the friendship God has given us...a cord of three is not easily broken.

Peaceful Innocense

We got to keep Camryn this past weekend while Andrea was out of town. I took these pictures of Cam on Sunday morning right before I woke her up to get ready for church. I did a little editing but it just helps to emphasize her pure innocence. When you look at her like this you just want to stop time so she will always be sweet and innocent. But that is not what God has planned for us or her. Seeing her asleep like this takes me back to when she was a baby which was not so long ago. These pictures scream to me, ENJOY THE MOMENTS because she is quickly growing up right before my eyes. I don't know what lies ahead for her, but I hope and pray she will always stay close to God; that she will grow up to be all He wants her to be and that she would always bring honor to Him with her life. I pray that the peaceful innocense shown in these pictures will always prevail in her life. Precious little angel face

Sweet dreams my little sunshine!

My New Favorite Kitchen Appliance

This is my new "favorite" kitchen appliance. It is called a Flavorwave. About a week or so ago Andrea came in telling me about this appliance that her boyfriend's mom has that she wanted. I got the scoop from Zac as to what it was and where he got it, because he also has one. He told me I could find them at http://www.thane.com/ . So, of course, I got online and checked it out. After reading all about it, I ordered me one. It is wonderful in that you can cook a whole meal in it at one time if you plan well. It will also cook things from a completely frozen state, thereby reducing the from the freezer to the table time, when you come in from work and have forgotten to leave something out to thaw that morning before you left for work. As it says from the instruction manual: "It improves on traditional convection ovens in the following ways:

1. The Flavorwave Oven Turbo bowl is made of glass, not metal, so that you can clearly see what you are cooking from all sides
2. The Flavorwave Oven Turbo combines a circular bowl with a fan mounted on the lid so that hot air currents move down over the food, around the bowl's sides, and then back up to the fan. This creates a tornado-like flow of constantly moving, super-heated air that cooks and browns food quickly and thoroughly.
3. The Flavorwave Oven Turbo uses cooking racks that allow you to cook two levels of food at once. In addition, when meat, poultry, or fish is cooked on the lower rack, fats and oils are blown away through the grating. You will cook lighter, more nutritious meals. "

This is what it looks like.
Here I am cooking a pork chop (from a frozen state) and a baked potato.

I sprayed the pork chop with "I Can't Believe it's Not Butter" then dipped it in crushed Ritz crackers then cooked it for 20 minutes.

It was browned on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside.
So far, I have cooked, chicken breast, steamed potatoes and carrots, Garlic Bread, pork chops and a baked potato in it.

I will most likely not use the Flavorwave for baking potatoes because it takes alittle longer. I will continue to use my microwave for that. But the meats are wonderful when cooked in this appliance. I am looking forward to trying many other things in it. Basically, anything you can cook in a conventional oven, you can cook in the Flavorwave, without heating up your kitchen and it is done in approximately half the time and all in one bowl! So less mess to clean up!

They are not paying me to say this or to plug their product. I just wanted my friends to know about it.