San Antonio

We took one final end of summer trip to San Antonio with Grandma Susie and Pops.  This was a fun trip because the girls have never been to San Antonio.  It was a rough trip because Olivia was busy cutting teeth and fighting an ear infection.  All in all though it was lots of fun and we left San Antonio with three tired girls, two worn out grandparents and two exhausted parents.  

Having fun on the River Walk boat tour.

Mosiac art on the River Walk

Tall Building on the River Walk

Sunday Morning Walk on the River Walk

Girls standing in front of the Alamo.  

The line to take your picture RIGHT in front of the Alamo was super long.  It was hot, really hot.  August in San Antonio hot.  So we decided to take a picture of the Alamo from afar.

The girls were not so thrilled.  Did I mention it was hot?

Evie striking a pose...on the River Walk.

Next we went to the San Antonio Childrens' Museum.

The girls really liked the Imagination Space Room

And a little bit of water play.

Then it was off to the Hyatt, were we stayed the remainder of the trip.  

We had a playground right outside of our room, which was perfect for the girls.

We enjoyed the green water slide, which was a great size for the girls.  Not too big, but not boring at all.

Mavery really enjoyed the kiddie pool because she didn't have to wear her floatie.  Olivia enjoyed it also.  

We did some arts and crafts in the mornings.

Evie really had fun learning the FlowRider.  It's an uphill force of water that simulates a wave so you can surf.  She did really good for one of the smaller participants.

Playing in the sand volley ball pit.

Riding bicycles

Olivia had a pretty rough time on vacation at night.  She pretty much kept mommy and daddy up all night... each night... each night of vacation.  The last morning, I finally just strapped her in the stroller at 6am and we walked and explored the property for an hour while everyone else slept.  It was a fun time.  

Checking out the rocking chairs on the porch.

Swing time!

Let's play!

Breakfast with the gang.

Then we worked on our golf swing. 

After about two golf balls, Evie is convinced she is a golf pro.  

My one golf swing. 

I am convinced that I am NOT a golf pro!

Sleepy babies on the way home.

10 Months Old - Olivia

Sweet baby Olivia is 10 months old. She celebrated her 10th month with a virus and ear infection...while we were on vacation in San Antonio. Poor baby. 

Olivia is crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything. She does well with her push walker but she isn't standing on her own yet. She likes to eat applesauce and baby food from the pouches. She is saying "uh-oh" and the older sisters think it's hilarious. 

Olivia does not sleep through the night. We continue to work on it though. 

Summer travel to Waco

After the last day of summer school, mommy and the girls took a road trip to Waco.

Evie at splash day with her buddy, Addi.

Mavery with her class at their Luau performance.  

She loves singing Pearly Shells!

All loaded up and ready to ride!

The first 4 hours of the ride were not too bad.  The last two hours were tough.  Olivia was tired of her car seat and Mavery got car sick.  Not fun at all when it's 102 outside.  But we made it! It only took us about 6 1/2 hours and 72 repeats of hearing Shake It Off.

On Saturday we went to visit Aunt Sandy and Uncle Ron at The Other Place.

Playing with Gabby and Gizmo, the goats.

Finding eggs in the chicken coop.

Playing on the dirt pile!

We got to visit with Uncle Edwin and Aunt Erline!

We all enjoyed hot dogs and home made ice cream on the porch.

and the girls climbed the hay bail.

We headed back to Mawmaw and Pawpaw's house for an afternoon of rest.

Playing with George the cat.

Mavery being Mawmaw's helper in the kitchen.

Fryin' up some fish!

And more homemade ice cream to go along with it!

Miss Olivia doing some exploring

Trying to get a picture of all 3 girls in the rocking chairs...

And then the drive home...

French Fries at DQ in DeLeon, TX

Playing on the floor at McDonalds in Sweetwater.  Nice...

We had a great time and we survived our first road trip with three kids.  Yay!  Hopefully, each time will get easier until we are professional road-trippers!

Moldova Mission Trip

This summer I was had a great opportunity to join our church in a mission trip to the country of Moldova.  CrossRoads has been working with two specific areas of the country by providing building supplies for their church building and funds to purchase land.

The journey begins... headed out of Dallas on a 777... getting it loaded up to hop over the pond.  Flew to London to sightsee for a couple of days before heading to Moldova.  

Dallas direct to London... first stop, Stonehenge.  Took a four hour bus ride because traffic was so bad and it was pouring down rain the whole time.  Took three pictures and left. 

Stopped at St. Paul's cathedral... no photography allowed inside the cathedral :)

London Bridge has indeed not fallen down. 

Fun street in London. 

Stopped in Vienna, Austria on the way to Moldova - fields were all so pretty and in all directions.  

Chisinau is the capital city of Moldova and founded in 1436.  Formerly part of the Soviet Union there remains heavy Russian influence.  

The predominant religion in the country is Russian Orthodox.  The churches are beautifully constructed and plentiful throughout.   

A new Russian Orthodox church being constructed.  The inside of these churches have no seating, no place for a service, no opportunity for fellowship and no Bibles.  They have priests, icons, pictures, saint cards and lots of boxes to pay your penance.  

The priests refer to Christians as repenters (as a derogatory term) which is ironic because Scripture clearly states we are to repent.  

Dean is the missionary we have partnered with.  On the map behind are the areas they have national missionaries doing work.  The green triangle at the top of the map is an area there has been no evangelical witness for over 500 year.  

A large way to open doors in the villages is with food packages.  

Here is the church in Panasesti we were able to work with for the week.  The pastor, Petru, is in the blue shirt behind me.  

Pastor Petru's garden filled with peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions.  

Doing foundation work around the perimeter of the church.  Kenny is supervising over on the left.  

The guys working on the roof were at the very edge and not tied off to anything.  No OSHA regulations in this country.  

Petru is a pastor and a plumber.  

Large piles of dirt had been piled up in the foreground when we arrived and this shot was taken before we left.  

Larissa prepared lunch for us each day - she is Petru's wife.  

Ice cream is sold in a chub... and tastes good.  

Lozova is another village CrossRoads has been able to support.  

Restaurant and Museum we ate at our last night that serves traditional Moldovan food.  

Gig'em Bears!

Moldova produces large amounts of wine and there are many vineyards throughout.  

They also love their mayo!  Each shelf has different flavors and varieties.    

Group shot in the Munich, Germany airport on our way back to London.  

The Golden Cross pub was our last meal in London.  Went with Fish and Chips to end it like the locals would.