Back in The Big D

We arrived safely back in Texas on Tuesday night...a week ago now. It took me a few days to get my bearings and get back into the routine of life at home. I had no idea a two week trip would throw me off so much. I think it was a combination of the traveling, being sick, and finally getting to see my family after a year and a half!

This will be a random post (as if they all aren't random).

I entered our kids in the Chick-fil-A photo contest associated with Cow Appreciation Day. Please, please vote for our photo. Go one step further and email some friends and ask them to vote for us too, please. We need lots and lots of votes to win. Win? Yep...we win goodies if we're a finalist photo and even more goodies if we're the top photo. Stuff like free food and a savings bond. Click the link here and enter your info. You have to submit a name and email address then confirm when you get an email. It's simple, quick, and would be much appreciated.

On another note, my mom is leaving this evening after being here for a month. We've enjoyed our time with her very much. The kids love when Nana reads to them or plays something silly. The other night we had a nice water fight in the back yard with buckets, water guns, and the hose.
The last of this random post...embarrassing pictures. I got my hair cut. I've been growing it for a while--say for 2 years maybe. I kept cutting it to try and keep some sort of style as it was growing. Now that it's finally longer, I can't do anything with it. I've discovered I don't like wearing it up much and it's so hot. It takes forever to dry and straighten and still doesn't look that good when it's done. So, I went shorter. I'm only posting this because I found it incredibly helpful to find some blogs with before/after shots when I was searching for styles. So, I thought (though the pictures are not very good), it would be fun to post before/after shots here too. She cut it shorter than what I was aiming for, but it will grow. I imagine I'll like the length in another month or so. And, I really didn't want the layers around my face, but they'll grow too. Overall, it's got more shape and I think I'll like it. What do you think?

^ Before

^ AfterThe picture I took with me.
(Overall, her hair is longer, so my stylist cut it too short.
But, my stylist also cut layers on the side of my face
and I don't like that. Next time...we'll just keep the sides longer.
Plus, I need to figure out how to style it. I just did it yesterday.)

Fun with Family

Some random pictures of our trip...

Megan with her sister, Margaret

Jenna and Allie, Megan's niece, look at a photo book

Allie has the most beautiful blue eyes

Charlotte (Megan's niece) stops momentarily for a sweet (and very rare) pose

Nana/Grammy (Megan's mom) poses with her grandbabies

Rylee and Jenna with their Aunt Mar-Mar

Jenna, Asa, and Rylee with Grandma Oakley (their great grandma)

dressed up as cows for CFA's Cow Appreciation Day

We enjoyed some time at the beach on Friday. The kids loved the sand and waves.

A stomach virus has been giving us some grief the last few days. It looks like we're on the mend, but we would appreciate prayers for good health as we wrap up our time in NC. We will head back to Texas on Monday.

We will be sharing at Calvary Chapel Jacksonville tomorrow and would appreciate prayers for our time there, as well.

Visiting the Southern States

Our long drives to visit family have gone well thus far. We arrived safely to Alabama to visit Ron and enjoyed spending time with him. The kids just love Uncle Ron to pieces.

We had a full day of driving from Alabama to North Carolina on Friday. It just happened to be Chick-fil-A's Cow Appreciation Day, as well. CFA gives away a free entree to anyone wearing cow apparel or accessories and a free meal to anyone dressed head to toe in cow. So, Mom, the kids and I all dressed as cows. I made little faces for us to wear and we added spots to our clothing. We enjoyed a free breakfast in Opelika, Alabama and a free lunch in Augusta, Georgia.

We've been enjoying our time in North Carolina. The kids have had a blast playing with their cousins, Allie and Charlotte. They also got to see my cousin's children for a short bit on Tuesday. We've been swimming, jumping on a trampoline, and riding the golf cart.

I can't seem to make the pictures work, so this short post has the following (from the top): visiting Heather & her boys in Wilmington, Asa & Jenna jumping off the diving board at Uncle Bobby & Aunt Linda's, Rylee twirling as she jumps off the board, and Asa with Ron.

We appreciate your continued prayers that our trip is safe (accidents can happen even when you aren't driving long days!), that we can raise additional support, and that we will just enjoy this time together with our family!