Kelsie's Home

Kelsie is home! We picked her up at the church at 11:30 this morning - headed straight to Wal-Mart to get her pictures developed. While we waited the hour, we ate at Mimi's (Kelsie's choice) and came home for Kelsie's explanation of pictures and stories of her week. We also surprised her with a new comforter on her bed in her room - she has been wanting to get rid of Strawberry Shortcake. We didn't paint or anything but the new bedding was a start. After all that, we laid down for a much needed nap. Here are some of K's pics of the week....glad she's home and it sounded like she had a great time - she said the week went by really fast and she couldn't believe today was her last day. Thankfully, she missed us though - not sure who she missed more, us or Bogey. There is no rhyme or reason to the order of these pics.....

Kelsie's bed - top bunk.

2nd grade group - silly faces.

She looks well rested doesn't she - must be day 2.

Kelsie's CIT - Stacy Harvick. Kelsie just loves her although I think she had to pull rank at night to get her and Brynn to go to sleep!!

Christa Fannin - what is she up to?

Jordan - Kelsie's bunk mate underneath - Morgan was under Brynn.

Kelsie made sure we knew these were "staged" pictures and that they were not really fighting. This was Thursday night - they dress up on Thursday night.

Kelsie and Brynn "fighting" - cute.

Kelsie, Morgan and Christa.

The 2nd graders doing their act at the talent show. They did a cute song that Stacy taught them.

The assembly place.

Kelsie on her bed.

Brynn on her bed.

The room.

Kelsie Off to Camp

Well, Kelsie is now at GA Camp in Glen Rose at the Riverbend Retreat Center - they left this afternoon. She was really excited as we were packing (and labeling) everything on Monday and then this morning but as it got closer for them to load on the bus she started looking a little apprehensive. Some of her little girlfriends went last year and it helped that she knew her CIT (Counselor in Training - basically a youth helping the counselors). We stayed until the bus drove away and once Kelsie got on the bus she was pointing and telling us that they had a TV right in front of where they were sitting. So, off they go.

Then we got this phone call from a sweet lady in our church to go and visit this lady named Virginia who was at the hospital with her husband. Long story short - we ended up visiting with her for 3 hours in the hospital's family room. She is a Godly woman with so much faith and I will tell you more in a future post about her story. Anyway, after that visit we went to eat at Uncle Julio's and then off to Home Depot - are we that boring? When we got home, Bogey looked out in the garage a couple of times for Kelsie - it was cute! Well, we sent Kelsie to camp with 2 disposable cameras so we are hoping to get some good pics from her and I will post them later in the weekend - we pick her up Saturday morning. Here are some pics from today, have a good week!

Kelsie and Brynn in the gym waiting to get on the bus.

Brynn, Kelsie and Christa

Kelsie getting Brynn back for giving her bunny ears in the last pictures.

Kelsie, Brynn and their CIT Stacy Harvick coloring while they wait for the luggage to be loaded so they can get on the bus.

Here they go - getting on the bus.

Burger's Lake

Our church has an annual outing to a place called Burger's Lake in Fort Worth. It is a really cool little spring fed lake with diving boards (those are rare at swimming pools anymore), a swing trapeze and a huge slide. It has plenty of shallow swimming and spots of grass and beach to sit around the lake. Also, the park is full of big trees, picnic areas and sand volleyball. The church provides the hamburgers and hotdogs (thanks to the men who volunteer to cook LOTS of meat) and a group of us got together to bring different things to share. We started out with a big boom of thunder and were afraid that our swimming would be cut short but the storms stayed away and we had a few times that it sprinkled a little bit and the breeze was nice. The kids all had a good time - Kelsie was wiped out when we got home and went to the shower and was in bed by 8:30. It was a good day! Here are some pics of the day - mostly taken from quite a distance, I was paranoid about taking my camera too far into the water. More to come as Kelsie leaves for GA Camp on Tuesday afternoon.

View of Burger's Lake from our little beach area.

Brynn, Morgan and Kelsie on the little diving platform in the middle.

Kelsie going down the big slide. She loved it!

The girls are posing in the shallow. What you may not see is that Mr. Joel (Morgan's dad) is putting wet sand on their heads. That started a semi-war that ended with 3 dads hoisting girls on their shoulders for "chicken." It was cute -they had a great time.

Morgan laughing at the fist full of sand on her head.

The Hellman's (otherwise known as Brynn's mom and dad)

Angel and Brenda. Look at their cute little picnic table.

This was the only nuisance - bees. There were quite a few around sugary drinks. These 2 bees landed in this bottle of orange soda and were forced to drown in there b/c a deck of cards was on top to keep them from flying out.

The girls "playing outside" and "finding something to do" while the adults were eating and visiting in the shade at dinner time. They were dying to go back down to the water but we wanted to finish first so we kept telling them to find something to do outside - in this beautiful wide open space. This is what they came up with - building a fire. Luckily, no fire but they were busy gathering sticks and making a wood pile. It was just a short time until we went back to the water - a very fun day.

July 4th Weekend

Hope you had a good 4th of July holiday. We have had a relaxing weekend - mostly full of rain but still good. Wayne worked on Monday and Tuesday but took off the rest of the week and we have enjoyed being together. Here are some pics from the 4th.

Kelsie and Bogey waiting for our neighborhood parade to start. They thought about being in it but decided at the last minute just to watch. Our house was on the parade route so we got a front row seat in our driveway.

Here is the parade starting down our street. The fire truck was a BIG hit!

The cute part of this "float" was that the sign said "Almighty" - like the movie Evan Almighty. Very cute!

Another cute float.

Rob and Wayne grilling up steaks, hamburgers and hotdogs for everyone. Too much pressure? There were quite a few of us to feed. They had to take over the duties since Jimmy G was in Florida. Thanks Liz for keeping the Bedford party going this year!

Lots of Swimming! Thankfully the rain cleared out and they kids got to swim most of the afternoon/evening. They had a great time and the temps were great for us to sit outside and visit with everyone. What a great day!

The Brockster!

Tori and Jasmine!

The Morris Fam waiting on the fireworks to start.

The Watsons

Kelsie and Wayne waiting on the fireworks! At night we walked down the street for the Bedford fireworks show at Bedford Boys Ranch. We actually sat down in a parking lot and the fireworks were right over our heads. We had a wonderful view - even though the kids thought it was too loud.

Kelsie and her new friend Abigail. Abigail didn't like the loud fireworks and wanted to sit with Kelsie to watch them. How cute - Kelsie is a kid magnet.

A few fireworks shots - not too bad!

On Friday it rained all day and so we decided to drive over the Stonebriar Mall and do some shopping and eat at the Cheesecake Factory. We didn't make it to Sam Moon unfortunately but my wallet is probably happy. Anyway, when we got home there was a full rainbow that you could see from the front of our house. It was beautiful so I had to take some pics, even though you have to really look to see it! God is good - it reminded me how blessed we are to have His hand on our lives, in the great times with health, loving friends and family and fruitful ministry as well as in the bad - when things are "going right." He promises to guide our steps and hold us in His hands through it all! (Psalm 37:23-24)

The panoramic view of the rainbow....look closely!

Drowning?

Well, we aren't literally drowning but it has been raining EVERY DAY!! The gloomy skies and inability to go to the pool is starting to get old. On the positive side, our water bill is really low especially compared to last year when we were in a drought. We are hoping it will clear out on Wednesday for us to swim and watch some fireworks but with an 80% chance of rain for the 4th, it's unlikely. We will still have a good time cooking out with friends and hanging out.

All the kids and adults got home safely from Green Bay on Saturday. All flights arrived on time except the last one and they were 2 hours delayed but got home safe and sound. They had their home concert last night and it was really good - everyone was tired but pumped about the people that accepted Christ and the stories they had to tell. They also were able to reach their fundraising goal for Young Community. Wayne worked today and will finish up tomorrow so he can be off with us until Sunday. We are planning to be with friends on the 4th and just hang out over the rest of the weekend. Hope you have a good 4th of July with time off from work and time spent with friends and family.

Girls Week

Well, this week Wayne was gone to Green Bay, WI on a mission trip with YCAM (Youth Creative Arts Ministry). They took 118 people and have had a good week there doing mission work during the day and concerts at night in various places. They will all travel back today with flights coming in starting at 11 a.m. - 4 flights total. So, it was just us girls this week at home. We had a busy and fun week together. We didn't really have any chances to go to the pool b/c of all the rain we have had, but some hightlights of the week were:

Kelsie baked a strawberry cake mostly by herself (with just a little help) and we made spaghetti and homemade meatballs one night. We both like to cook so that was fun. We did some shopping a couple of different days. Kelsie went to Abigail's house for a little while to swim on Wednesday and then we went to "Movie Night" at church. Thursday night we went to see a High School production of "High School Musical" with some of Kelsie's girlfriends. Friday we went to see the new movie, Ratatouille - it was pretty cute. We have had a fun week being together but we are ready for Wayne to come home and we pick him up at the airport this afternoon. Here are some pics.....more soon about Wayne's trip.

Kelsie's finished strawberry cake....she even decorated it!
The K stands for Kelsie, the M stands for Mom. Cute!
A "Finding Nemo" picture that Kelsie colored for Dad's office when he gets back.
Lauren, Brynn and Kelsie at High School Musical. I don't have any more pictures b/c I was told after taking this one that there were no cameras allowed and that mine would be taken if I used it! YIKES!! Apparently, the school has contract with Disney for no outside pictures. Disney was there filming for a documentary they are doing, they have been filming from audition to performance. What a neat experience for those kids.

Pictures as Promised

Here are some pics as promised. Hope you are having a good summer. More to come......

Wayne turned 34 in early June. Here is his cookie cake -

this is a birthday tradition since he was 10 years old.

Wayne and Kelsie after we went to eat dinner for Wayne's birthday.

Cute little girl!!!

Look- the icing turns my tongue BLUE!!!!!
Morgan and Kelsie on the boat at PK lake.

We had a great day once we got past Hell's Gate with all the big boats that

made us hit some large waves.

Kelsie and Morgan at Hell's Gate - PK Lake.

The girls basically did this all day long. We did park the boat for a while at a sandy beach to swim and eat lunch. It was great weather and a day full of fun.

Kid Power Camp

This last week, our family participated in our church's Kid Power Camp (formerly VBS). Our church takes KPC to 5 different elementary schools in the area and makes it open to anyone. Our campus had approx 80 kids each night and I taught 2nd grade with a friend and we had 18-22 each night in our class. It was a very fun week with the theme of "Fear Factor" and as you can imagine made for some interesting snacks. Anyway, we had 2 kids accept Christ in our class and our kids praised God for these salvations. There were a few others that were curious but not ready yet. We will continue praying for these. On Friday night there was a rally and a splash night at our church and we learned that all the campuses combined had 71 salvations! What a great blessing from God that we have 71 new little brothers and sisters in Christ. Our prayer now is that we will be able to follow up with these kids for Disciple Camp in July and then Good News Clubs in the Fall on their school campus. Splash night was fun, there were lots of kids on campus. Unfortunately, my rechargeable batteries were dead and I didn't get pics.

Saturday night, 21 of us went to see "A Night at the Oscars" at Concerts in the Garden. We all pitched in for fajitas from On the Border. We had a good time and the kids had fun once it got a little darker and their glow toys were bright. The fireworks were good and the weather was a little muggy but pleasant. We surprisingly didn't have a problem with mosquitos but then again there was so much deet being sprayed, I don't think they dared! If you are a dad, I hope you had a good Father's Day. Wayne got two things - a pair of running shoes and the clicker for the day to watch the U.S. Open. It's his day. I do promise that I will post pics soon.....gotta charge the camera batteries......more soon.

Happy Birthday Wayne 34

Wayne's 34th Birthday was Thursday. We started the day by giving him some presents - clothes. He took the day off work and went to play golf with Kelsie. After I got off work, we went to the pool and then out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. Wayne had his traditional cookie cake after we got home. Wayne said he had a good day. Hope your summer is going well - we have been to the lake a few times now and the pool - it's finally been hot enough with no rain. I will post pictures later of birthday = we are going to PK tomorrow for the afternoon.....hope to take some pics....