Summer '11

We are into the second week of the school year and summer is now a (hot) distant memory. We stayed pretty busy this summer. We took a couple of trips to the grandparents and our mission trip to Haiti. I thought I would share some of the highlights.

Every little guy needs a cape while riding their bike :)

Chic-Fil-A spirit day at the band hall. The cow passed out free ice cream to the students and of course, Matt did not want this picture taken.

We said goodbye to my Maw-maw this summer but on a bright note, we spent time with my brother and his wife.

Six Flags Arlington.

Six Flags with the Rettig girls!!

Keeping cool in the heat wave at my mom's house.

Fishing at grandma's. Not much luck in the Texas heat!!!

Shooting BB guns at VBS!

Archery at VBS.

We spent a lot of meals trying to talk to each other in Creole. Mwe remen Ayiti!

Richard teaching Matt to play "chest" :)

Meeting my sweet niece Cambry.

Overnight trip to Brenham to see our favorite girls.

Enough said!!

Boys' Tie-Dye party with two of Matt favorite buds. Of course, I only managed to get a picture of the moms doing the work. So much fun!! This would be a great birthday idea.

Tie-Dye cakes. I forgot to get an after picture with the frosting. Very cool!

All of the batter.

Family bowling night.

And our summer theme and obsession.

Legos!

Legos!

And more Legos! This was the last day of summer, a Lego explosion!!

And last, but not least, the HEAT and drought! Pray for rain, we are suppose to get some this weekend.

We had a great summer. I think our best since we moved almost 4 years ago. I hope you had an awesome one too!

13 Years

Thirteen years ago, I said "I do" to you, my best friend.

Thank you Lord for being the author of my life.

We have been through so much the past couple of years and by God's grace and mercy, we stood together and became stronger.

You held my hand me when I needed you most.

You make me laugh all the time and you know that is one of my favorite things about you.

Thank you for being an amazing provider and stepping out in faith so that I could stay home with Matt.

There were many times this week in Haiti when I would stand back and watch you. I was overwhelmed by what I saw; the compassion for others and eagerness to do what God asked.

Thank you for being the father, husband, and man of God you are.

I am blessed and honored to be called your wife

.

One More Day

We just left Matt with his grandparents for the week. That's always hard, but especially since we are going out of the country. Tomorrow is the day! This time tomorrow we will be back in Haiti and I am so excited. I can't wait to see and experience what God has planned and to be used by Him. Please keep us and our group in your prayers.

I have been recovering from a stomach virus this week and I am hoping that will be it for me and my immune system isn't too out of wack. Last year, I landed in the airplane bathroom and I am praying that doesn't happen again. Thankfully, Richard and Matt did not catch it; I have been very worried about them. Richard credits his awesome immune system to running. I had a few comments to make when he said that :)

We also learned a cool packing trick from a friend. They gave us a couple of clear industrial strength trash bags to put our clothes in. What makes it cool is you use a vacuum hose to suck the air out and you have a space saver bag for just pennies. We did this because last year our luggage was rained on and all of our stuff was soaked. I'm not sure it ever dried out.

Anyways, this post has been a bit random. If time and Internet access allows, I will try to post during the week.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

July 4th Fun

On July 4, we were all up by 6 a.m. because Richard was running in his first race! The "Beat the Heat Wave" 5 mile run. Rich was up before 5, I was up by 5:30 and Matt was the last. The above photo was taken around 6:45, that's why they look so droopy.

I have never been to a "real" race/running event. It's a fantastic people watching opportunity! I loved checking out the running "ensembles" and watching the hard core runners warm up. As my friend noted, there were a few older men who needed some larger shorts!

The kids passed the time by drawing posters for their dads and just chilling out.

The finish line and if you look closely, Richard is behind the guy in the blue shirt.

Go Richie!!!!! I was so proud of him. 5 miles in 50 minutes!

Matt was a little afraid to touch dad because he was dripping in sweat!

Once the runners crossed the finished line, they were treated to a smorgasbord of fruit, sausage, beer, water, Popsicles, and other treats. It was a great morning. Hopefully next year I will be running with him. (Also, Richard signed up to run the White Rock 1/2 marathon in Dallas in December! )

After the race we spent the afternoon swimming with our small group friends. We finally came home around 4 and pretty much crashed. I think we might of all been asleep by the time the local firework shows began.

Something New

I am testing a new app. If this works, I may actually blog more than once in a blue moon.


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from my iPhone

Curb Magic

Do you know about "curb magic"?

If you don't, let me introduce you. Curb magic is when you set your junk on the curb and someone mysteriously hauls it away in the dark of night. Or, even better, you haul someone elses junk back to your house as your new found treasure.

We LOVE the magic of the curb. We have disposed of old mowers, a gas grill, furniture, and other things this way. Sometimes, toys randomly appear on our curb too. Shh, don't tell Matt. We have also scored some pretty cool things like shelving, plastic pots, and lawn furniture. (The plastic pots and lawn furniture are still waiting on their fresh coats of paint, oops.)

A few weeks ago we hit the mother load.

For about a year, we have talked about getting me a bike, but neither of us wanted to spend the money. We've even looked in pawn shops and garages sales but did not have any luck. Finally, about two weeks ago, our patience paid off!

Behold, the Green Giant!

Someone in our neighborhood cleaned out their garage and this was on the top of their curb pile! The only thing that needed fixing were the tires; they were flat. Other than that, the bike was in excellent shape. Matt and Richard found it, and Matt was most excited that it had a water bottle.

I call it the Green Giant because one, it is green, and two, it is too big for me. But with my short legs, almost any adult bike is too big. However, I don't care. I can finally ride with my boys and it didn't cost us a penny! I love how God takes care of even the smallest details.

hey

I am at a loss. I haven't blogged in forever and so much has happened. I don't even know where to begin, so I'll keep it short.

• We are no longer sick-o's :)
• Matt never became a sick-o :) :)
• Rich surprised up with an overnight trip to Galveston awhile back.
• School is OUT!!
• My sweet Maw-maw passed last week.
• I spent the weekend with my mom and got to hang with my big brother and sis-in-law. Even though it was a sad occasion, I had a wonderful time.
• Still making cake pops and raising money to get back to Haiti.
• We leave for Haiti in a little over a month!!
• Did I ever mention that we bought new carpet!?!?
• It's rained two days in a row! Ok, maybe today it was just a 2 minute shower, but it was still rain.
• I am trying to figure out how to inexpensively entertain my child this summer. Any suggestions?