Watch Out Texas!

We had a full, fun 7-day trip to Texas courtesy of some $98 Southwest tickets. Seriously, I'm now a huge fan of Southwest, and would highly recommend them for their pricing, free bag checking and customer service. This trip was long overdue to visit with family and some friends. The last time we went Frazier was 6 months old and much easier to contain. Here's our fabulous trip in pictures.

Bright-eyed for our 6:05am flight out of Reagan. 

First stop in Dallas was a tour at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Yes, we love the Cowboys. That's what happens when you marry into a family from Texas plus it's American's team. 

Seriously, why are we here Dad? 

That TV is 7 stories tall and cost about 40 million dollars. Those numbers are not typos. 

Panoramic view of this 1 billion dollar stadium. 

The stadium was really over the top and quite beautiful. We saw many seats and sections we'll never get to sit in ($$$$), but it was still neat to see. 

The locker room of the famous Cowboys cheerleaders.

Leila was not nearly as excited as I was to pick up a pair of pom poms. It had been a good 15 years since I'd donned the cheerleader attire.

The Cowboys locker room. 

I loved the football light in this room. 

I think we look a little sleepy, but we still had a good time.

We ended the tour with a chance to play on the field. 

Beautiful kiddos.

Next stop was still in Dallas to see an old friend who was in our wedding many years back. We enjoyed a lovely visit with Ron and Jenn in their amazing home. 

The kids loved their movie room, enjoyed playing with their son, Brett, and we all slept very soundly that night after a full day of travel. 

After waking up and saying our goodbyes, we hit the road and headed to Austin. We went to the tallest spot in Austin to see the Colorado River.

Mount Bonnell was the name of the highest peak that gave us great views.

We were blessed with beautiful warm weather and sunshine while in Austin that day. 

Our darling beauties. 

Our reason for going to Austin - Anne! Anne and I worked at Ragged Mountain in Charlottesville together and were running partners all through college. She is one of my dearest friends, and we always are refreshed and full of thanks after being together. I just love her.

Anne took us around Lady Bird Lake in Austin where the kids were able to run and play. We enjoyed dinner with her and her new husband that evening, and she and I enjoyed a coffee date alone the next morning. We were supposed to run, but it was pouring rain, and we are just not that hard core anymore!

After our night in Austin, we met up with family that drove in from San Antonio and Temple. We enjoyed time at a kids museum (The Thinkery) and a restaurant with Aunt Teri, her grandkids and Geoff's cousin, Toni and her family. 

The kids loved The Thinkery.

Aunt Teri and Geoff - they are usually laughing and cracking jokes when they are together.

It was a real blessing to be with family and introduce them to Leila.

And finally our last and longest stop was in Bullard, Texas to see Melissa (Geoff's oldest sister) and family. They recently moved into a golf community, so the kids felt right at home tooling around on the golf cart with their cousins Jace and Makenzie.

Off they go!

American Ninja Leila?!

Here's Geoff taking his turn on the Ninja Warrior course at a local trampoline place. (He could have really been good at this!)

Fun cousin time.

Aunt Meesa (Melissa) giving Leila a quick golfing lesson after Sunday church. 

Snuggle time on the couch. 

We went to a really neat tiger sanctuary. I had never been to a place like this and loved every second. 

These are an amazing species of God's creation. Wow.

Kenz was on crutches at this point in the trip, so she's getting a ride from her Uncle Geoff.

I loved this lion. He gave us a roaring show while there and had all the lady lions talking back. It was SO cool.

Our sweet artist, Mary-Michael. This was at a local restaurant, and she's drawing Jesus and her with her Bible. Fills my heart.

Final stop before returning home was to see the largest model train exhibit in the country at the Dallas Children's Hospital. It was such a neat way to end the trip. 

We feel so blessed to have seen many people we love and don't get to see as often as we'd like. The kids traveled great, we had fun, we relaxed and definitely made some great memories. We are grateful for all our hosts and those that took time to be with us while we were there. Texas, we'll be back!

New Year's at the Farm

Community - that was our heart this year when we were preparing for our 8th annual New Year's Eve party. And community it was! With 90 people and more than half of those were kids, we had quite a gathering at our little farm. Geoff encouraged everyone there as we circled up to pray before mealtime to meet at least 1 new person and share 1 thing that God had done for them in 2016. Everywhere we turned there was conversation and connection. And isn't that the heartbeat of God? Relationship. Not rules, not religion, not ritual - those things aren't bad, but they aren't the main thing. He just wants relationship - with us and for us to have it with each other. We were so excited to have some newer neighbors from down the road come join us, family, old and new friends from church and from my MUMS group and some other faithful ones we don't see as often as we'd like. 

We feel so richly blessed. It was humbling to have so many friends gather, and we pray the time gave honor to God and all He has done for us. His faithfulness is amazing and I'm reminded of that when I reflect and remember what He has done. From provision to heart change to uniting families and healing in 2016 - wow!

And despite the cold temperatures, most of the bigger kids stayed outside and zoomed around on the golf cart and 4-wheelers. Miraculously, no one sustained any injuries. Seriously, y'all, this was nothing short of a miracle. A good portion of these kids had never driven anything faster than a peddle bike, and we gave them free range over a large motorized vehicle (with helmets, of course). Whose idea was that?!

And I'd be remiss to not thank my very dear friend, Emily, who manned the kitchen and allowed me to be hostess. Her servant heart is such a gift. 

These are a smattering of pictures I grabbed from some others because I was not even thinking about a camera. Here's to 2017!

Happy Birthday Lovely Lady

Dearest Leila,

Wow, you have grown so much in this last year. Your words, your knowledge, your mind and your body (eek, training bra, I was not ready for you).

You are an incredibly brave young lady. You have entered into a new world and new family and continue to embrace where the Lord has placed you. Your Wednesday night Missionettes teacher told me just this week, "Leila is amazing and so obviously comfortable. Y'all have provided her a wonderfully stable loving home. She's learning to relax and trust and love and make friends and help her family and those things are IMPORTANT." She's exactly right, and as most parents will say, that outside perspective of what's going well is vital.

You have made so many gains in your reading and math these last six months. We are so proud of you. While writing is your least favorite subject, you are enjoying reading more and math is definitely your favorite. Numbers are universal! We are reading through science and history books and learning as we live. We have enjoyed being a part of a homeschool group, and many days I believe homeschool is shaping me more than you. We have had some growing pains and tests in patience, and I'm daily reminded why my coffee with Jesus in the wee hours is my lifeline. Thank you, honey, for helping to sculpt me and weed out the ugly stuff. You kids have a way of doing that!

You are a lover or rice and all things spicy. Cajun seasoning or Old Bay or a spice mixture straight from Niger douses your food as often as possible. Sometimes you are a bit heavy handed and end up sweating and running for a water refill. You are still our pickiest child saying "That's not my favorite" more than I'd like. You reluctantly eat it and after a few times you sometimes end up liking something. You've learned and used your pout face the most at meal time. Once you're doing your own cooking, baby girl, you can eat rice and spice everyday, but for now, you get what Momma makes.

Here are some things you love: your heated blanket, sitting by the fire, listening to Bethel Kids Worship and learning all the dances from their music videos, sleeping, riding the 4 wheeler and driving the golf cart, taking long baths, playing with your American Girl, coloring. Some things you don't link: chores, being hurried, talking with me about puberty, body parts and sex, reading in the car (you get carsick) and being corrected. Man, being corrected is hard! Between hormones and mood swings and just adjusting, we can have some rocky moments.

But right now you are sitting in the back of the car singing and smiling. You are a thoughtful, beautiful young lady, sweet Leila. What a blessing it is to have you as a daughter. Thank you for choosing love, for choosing to be a part of our family life and not isolate yourself. Thank you for being a protective big sister and choosing to let them invade your space (even though you're sometimes reluctant). You jump right into so many experiences with joy and excitement. I love that about you. I love your heart for your friends back in Niger and that you want to keep praying for and helping them. Never forget where you came from and be open to the fact that God may lead you back there to serve and help the least of these. Keep focused on school and growing in your faith so you are ready. They are your people and we are your people. I pray that this fact of being a part of 2 very different cultures will be a blessing and not a burden as you continue to grow and understand the hardships in our world. God is going to use you. I just know it.

We love you forever and for always,

Momma

Here are some pictures from your 11th year!