My friend Amy...

Well, it is 12:45 A.M. and I am watching the USA network in tears cause one of my best friends Amy Begley just made the olympic team in the 10,000 meters. It was amazing cause she fought like I have never seen anyone race before. She had to be in the top three women, but she also had to meet an olympic standard A time which was under 31:45 and she ran 31:43. She is now 30 years old and we were roommate our freshman year at AR and have ran many miles together. We've always kept up with each other and were in each others weddings. She has an awesome husband who has followed her all across the country supporting her. I love her family and I cannot imagine her mom and dad right now in the stadium. Anyways, I am sure there will be a youtube video soon of her race/last couple of minutes that I will post soon. You could probably watch her race tomorrow night as well on NBC I think it is at 8:00. It was just so amazing to watch it live and see her running her victory lap with the American flag. Cheer her on in Beijing!

The beach and teeth....

Well, I'm just checking in for a few minutes. I've been at Myrtle Beach for the past few days with my parents and the girls. Mike is at Camp Barnabas with the students. We had a great time in Myrtle. I will post pictures soon. The girls did so well and had so much fun. Ellie was not ready to come home and Anna seems to be changing daily. She loves the water and any sort of adventure so the beach and a water park were definetly a blast for her. Ellie loved the beach as well which is so funny cause this time last year she hated it and would throw a fit if sand got on her feet. Myrtle is definetly a great place for kids so if you are ever looking for a great beach destination with your family I recommend it! Tomorrow morning I am getting 3 wisdom teeth removed (fun fun)....The dentist said I am in the middle of how bad they are and that the recovery should be pretty normal. I went tonight to the pharmacy to pick up all my medicine. They don't knock you out anymore, but they do give you a medicine to make you really drowsy and then some nitrous oxide. I am just ready to get it over with as I have been wanting to do it for a few years, but the timing was always bad. We either had horrible dental insurance or I was pregnant etc... I'm going to my mom's dentist that I 've seen a few times. They are great and it will be nice to have help with the kids. Mike is doing awesome and loving camp. I miss him and can't wait to see him in a week. The girls have been talking about "daaaee" as Anna says all the time. He was so jealous when he found out we got to go to dinner in Calabash, NC which has some of his favorite seafood. Anyways, I'll update you again when I am awake and able to function!

Summer Time....

It seems like our summer is flying by and has been so busy I've hardly had time to get reorganized between trips. Actually, two suitcases are still in our garage somewhat unpacked. We've been to Colorado and a quick trip to Lawrence to visit Mike's family and for a wedding. We had a great time visiting mimi and granddaddy. The girls really enjoyed getting to spend extended time with them. Ellie loves all the little treasures in their house and neat books that Mike used to read. We celebrated Mike's birthday a little early with them and went to Longhorn Steakhouse which was on the East Coast as well. We got to see some of our really good friends in Kansas City and enjoy our time at Bode's wedding. He and Mike work together at Watermark. We got home and it seems like it is almost time to leave again. Mike leaves for Camp Barnabas on Monday for 8 days and I leave Friday to go to my parents house for 12 days. I have to stay a little longer cause we are going on vacation for a few days in Myrtle Beach and then I'm getting my wisdom teeth out next Thursday (yuck). I'm not looking forward to it, but my dentist there is great and I haven't found anyone in Dallas. I'm so excited about going to Myrtle. We went there so many times when we lived in Raleigh and always loved it. Mike is really excited about taking the high school students to Camp Barnabas. It is just like Kanakuk, but is for disabled children. Our students will be helping them one on one throughout the week.

Ellie has been in swimming lessons the past two weeks. It is another post in itself. HA! We've worked through lots of fear issues and giving our struggles over to God. Today, we just played in the water instead of forcing her to go under etc... She did much better without forcing her and I actually saw a little smile on her face. She normally is screaming when we pull into the parking lot and saying "I scared of water, Go Home". We have one more day since I will miss on Friday. We'll see maybe she will love it tomorrow?! Anna is changing everyday. She is enjoying feeding herself and climbing on everything! I hope you all have a great rest of the week!

The Best Daddy.....

I am so blessed today to have two examples in my life as incredible father's. Mike is such an awesome daddy to our girls. He is so selfless and has so much fun with them. He has an abundance of energy that amazes me as he plays with the girls and gives me so many breaks. He loves to teach them about Jesus and read to them every night. He is always creative in what we do as a family and our family album is already full of so many amazing experiences. We just flew home today from Kansas as we were at a wedding and visited Lawrence. The picture shows a great picture of how Mike is selfless. Many dad's would be overwhelmed by traveling with two toddlers, but Mike just goes with the flow and helps me so much. He pushes our double stroller like a pro and it has two car seats attached to it! We often times have a pack n play, suitcases, etc... He serves me so well and our girls are so blessed! I tell him often that how he helps with the kids is amazing and I don't really care if he helps me clean etc.... Almost, every Friday or Saturday morning he gives me the morning off and he takes the girls to do something fun. I love the way Ellie and Anna light up when he comes to the door at the end of the day. I am so proud of him as a daddy and as a husband. He challenges me and is the rock behind our family! I love you, Mike!
I also want to tell my dad how thankful I am for him as a father. My dad and I have always been very close. We are a lot alike and enjoy so many of the same things. I know that my dad prays for us daily and that is what is most important to me. He has always sacrificially loved us and given us so much. He was always there for me as a child/young adult. He has seen me shoot thousands of baskets and run hundreds of miles. Ellie and Anna are so blessed to have a papa like you!

Estes Park....

Well, I finally got our pictures up from Estes Park. We loved family camp and I hope we always have the opportunity to go in the future. We formed such great relationships with our church family in a much smaller setting. There were about 300 of us who journeyed by car or plane to Estes. I am so glad that we went by plane as I cannot imagine driving home with the girls after a week of camp. Mike and I hung out with the students every morning in Bible study and Mike went back at night for all kind of different activities. Our hallway was so much fun and full of kids! There were 36 kids under seven years old on our hallway of 10 rooms. Ellie loved playing with the big kids and letting them take care of her. Every night we got to go to the evening program. We had awesome worship and then a share time. All the children over 3 years old then came in for a fun night of skits and games with their parents. The only bummer part of the week was that I got really sick the first two days and ended up in the E.R. to get an iv and nausea medicine. I was so sick and could not have recovered without some meds. I had a really bad virus and ended up dehydrated. I am so thankful for Mike who balanced me, kids, and his job so well! I was so well taken care of by so many and really got to enjoy the rest of the week. The YMCA in Estes Park is an awesome place for big groups. We could give any of you details if your church or family would be interested. Our church goes every other year and has it booked for many years to come. We are now recovering and getting used to the summer heat of Texas. It was so fun to see snow and experience cold weather for a week!
What the kids did instead of taking a nap each day!
We all went sledding on our free day. There was still lots of snow!
Student Ministry Crew in the park
All the "little" ones who wimped out during sledding!
We went sledding at the continental divide!
Ellie and her good friend Emily Jane
We saw lots of Elk and other animals
Family picture in Rocky Mtn. National Park
Where are Ellie's shoes?
I think I will always love this picture

Colorado Round One....

We went to CO a few days early to see our friends Trevor and Cassie. We had a great time and loved seeing our kids play together. They are all almost the same age and could easily pass for twins. I love the picture of Ellie and Elllis. They are so funny together and we had a great night in Boulder together! I have many more pictures from our time in Estes Park at family camp. I am way to tired to even think about it tonight. We got home this afternoon and I am so thankful for the opportunity to get to know so many more families from Watermark. We learned so much while we were there and God showed us so much about His grace and love!