TWO BIGGIES...

Scripture reading in 2011 - they all have iphones except me!

Last night we had some special devotional time with our kids, and it was such a blessing to me.  Over the years we have done different kinds of things with our kids such as reading the Kids Daily Bible, devos, prayer time, but it's getting few and far between with them spreading their wings and getting ready to take off!  We have usually done a "night before school" prayer time and that's what we did.  In the next five days we'll be helping our daughter move back to college in Arkansas, our youngest will start 10th grade, and our son will move back to the dorms at a nearby college.  What are the things we are wanting to talk and pray with them about, without lecturing too much?  It's sometimes hard to make devotions applicable to each person in our family, but here's what we came up with:

THE TWO BIGGIES:  LOVE and CHOICES

LOVE:   (John 14:15, Romans 5:8, Romans 12:10)

We prayed that love for God would continue to grow in their hearts!  Loving the Lord will change us all - we will want to honor Him and others.  Obedience is an expression of that love, and worship and service become joyful opportunities.

CHOICES:  (Phil. 4:8, Gal. 6:7-8, Prov. 14:12)

A more tangible concept for all of us, we discussed choices again.  God has given us all the freedom of choice - we can accept Him or reject Him.  What are the results of good and bad choices?  We talked about physical, academic, and spiritual choices.

But the sweetest part of all is hearing them pray.  I asked each one to pray for their brother/sister.  It's interesting to hear their perspectives - a 21 year old praying for her 16 year old brother.  Their prayers have matured so much since they were little ones!

SWEET TIMES

P.S.  My son wanted to start off the prayer time with this scripture he read:  "Parents, don't be hard on your children,"  Eph. 6:4 CEV

POOR JANKY...

Janky has had an interesting summer with our son (the new driver).  In just a few weeks he has gotten an awesome sound system upgrade, been stopped by our friendly policeman with a reminder that there should only be 1 passenger in the car (not 5!) with our restricted license laws, and lost his back windshield while flying down Memorial road with all the windows open.  Yes, the windshield just popped out and shattered all over the road!  Thankfully Janky injured no one in the process...I'm hoping with school starting this week that a little order will return to this household and Janky will behave!

FOR MY QUILTER FRIENDS...

Just had to show you my DD's finished quilt!  She started this in May in her usual style - NO PATTERN - a collection of scraps, many from college friends who knew she liked to sew or did little sewing jobs for. She finished it in about 2 weeks because she wanted to take it with her to Colorado for the summer.  I neglected to get a picture then, but here it is now!  

SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY...

We went on a brief but wonderful little getaway with our kids!  And the reason I call it a sentimental journey is because we used to go to this place 4-5 times a year from 1984-2001. During that time my parents owned a mobile home near Lake Tenkiller and Fin & Feather Resort.  We boated a lot and were within walking distance of the wonderful buffet and other amenities of the resort.  It was really a fun time.  But, life (and death) happens, and the big "C" got my Dad and they sold the mobile home the year he passed away.  We inherited the boat, but it just wasn't the same going to Lake Arcadia near our house, and the kids were getting really busy with all their activities anyway. We sold it about 5 years ago.  We attempted to go back to Fin & Feather, and have some extended family vacations, but both times we had bad luck:  somebody broke an arm and the boat trailer tires were terrible.  Long story short:  we recently decided to get a cabin at Fin & Feather and rent a boat for a few days.  It was really a sweet time with our big kids after not going for so long.  We enjoyed the lake, wakeboarding, tubing, and jumping off big rocks.  We ate at the 33 foot resort buffet, Soda Steve's, B & J's, played two games of Disc golf, and played cards every night until late.  Oh yes - and we got HOT FUDGE NACHOS.  These are something new since we've been there!  Take a look at our wild and crazy time!

A familiar sight, they're just a little BIGGER!

I don't think this one had ever gotten up on the wake board before!

OOPS!  How did that one get in here?  My son is always catching pics of me at my best :)

This is definitely NOT something we did with them when they were little!  It was about a 30 foot jump, and I was the only sane one that did not do it (somebody's got to take pictures)!

We love the Indian at Fin & Feather's buffet line!  I don't know how many times we have taken this pic!

We are Frisbee golf fans!

This concoction may not look it, but it feeds 5 adults!  It's Hot Fudge Nachos at Fin & Feather's newest restaurant, Soda Steve's.  We loved it!

MY TREASURES...

           Children are a heritage from the LORD,
         offspring a reward from him...Psalm 127:3

So happy to have everybody at home for a little while!  My daughter requested good ole meatloaf and mashed potatoes for her welcome home dinner!

KILLING THREE BIRDS WITH ONE STONE...

I love efficiency. Which sometimes makes me feel guilty for not planning ahead or making mistakes or wasting valuable time. I assure you I am not a perfectionist anymore!
But efficiency happened this past weekend.  :)

We needed to retrieve the church Disaster Relief trailer from an Alabama congregation we had loaned it to back in April. So we planned to drive the church truck and get that in Nashville(they brought it up from AL). Then we heard about a friend moving to Nashville the same weekend, so we were able to load the church truck with her possessions and meet up with her at her new apartment there. Finally, we got to be at the wonderful wedding, all in the same weekend (previous post)!  Also, I managed (much to my husband's chagrin) to sneak in a little sightseeing.  We spent a few hours in downtown Franklin, Tennessee. A cute suburb of Nashville, I would highly recommend it for dining and shopping! Check it out:

Yes, I was wearing a little jacket - it was only 90 degrees there!

Neat old church downtown

Great tip from tripadvisor!  We ate lunch here and also bought loaves of Tomato-basil bread and Heavenly Hash brownies from the day old rack.

Yummy sampler platter from Merridee's - Chicken salad, Tuna salad, Pimento Cheese, served with frozen fruit salad and homemade raisin bread.  It was awesome!

This is a photo inside a really cool store, Philanthropy - Fashion with Compassion.  I understood that everything they sell comes from or benefits a Third World country.  Check out some of their products on their BLOG.

I would also recommend The Shoppes on Main, Bink's Outfitters, and F.M.Allen.

Of course, no road trip is complete without a DQ blizzard - Midnight Truffle!

SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT MY GOOD CAMERA...

for the most beautiful wedding venue ever! Of course, it wasn't in the Oklahoma sauna. It was in the lush green hills of Nashville, Tennessee. We have known the bride her whole life; in fact she was born about one month after our daughter!

It was outdoors with some panel windows from an old church as a backdrop.

I loved it. It was rustic and beautiful against the green space. Floral pieces in birdcages hung in them and huge white flower petals were on the grass.

Other fun stuff...near the entrance of the garden...

Real flowers in the birdcage centerpieces!

I couldn't resist taking this one of the bride's cousin during the reception!

If you look closely you'll see the wedding photographer on the ground...and it was sopping wet! There was a rainstorm 30 minutes before the wedding! Unfortunately the wedding programs were ruined but everything else was salvaged and the wedding just started a little late. (Moral of the story: ALWAYS have a PLAN B!)

Our dear friends - this old truck was a great place for a picture of our guys...

while us girls tried to ride the tandem!

A simple but elegant cake!

We had a great time supporting our friends as their daughter was married. And I had fun traveling and dressing up for it - you know I don't get out much!