Back in God's Country

We ended our cross country trek in our southern home-state of North Carolina.  (We have lots of home states).  After a day of travel through rain we were blessed to have the sky clear up just as we got into NC.  After driving for the day we ended our trip at our second home church, Emmanuel Baptist.  Where we were members and served the Lord during Bible College.   

We were invited to go to the youth service.  I had a hard time not crying.  It is so great to see the teens doing well and serving the Lord.  The best part was knowing that there are now a lot of public school kids, whom we prayed for the Lord to bring to the church during our time at Emmanuel. 

Brandon playing four square.

Upstairs for the preaching service!  Wow, this brings back great memories!   Brandon and Kaitlin will be able to attend the mid-winter retreat.  They are, to say the least, very excited about being able to be a part of Emmanuel's youth group any chance they get.

It was really great to see everyone after the service.  We are looking forward to Sunday morning's service.

Coast to Coast...well almost!

For those who may be curious I thought I would quickly recap our furlough travels: we have traveled through/in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois,Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina since we arrived in the States a few weeks ago.

In February we will be in Charleston South Carolina and then we'll be able to claim the coast to coast status.  At any rate we did travel full circle.  On Monday night we ended up staying at a hotel by the Kansas City Airport and that is where we ended our travel back to the USA.

After having the opportunity to ride, at 70 mph, in a heated vehicle, across portions of the Oregon and Mormon trails I gained a new respect for my ancestors who traveled across the United States to make a new life in California.  We stopped at Fort Kearney for the kids to get an idea of Pioneer life.  It was closed.  So we drove around the outside.

Since we couldn't get in, and there was nothing to read, I'm not sure if this is the actual restored fort or a remake.  It looked neat though.

After stopping for the night in Kansas City we headed to my sisters house for a short but very sweet visit. 

My sister, Brenda, and the kids.

As you can see the kids were getting a little tired of taking pictures.  Before this we attempted about 40 shots of a family picture.  Then the shot above with Brenda and the kids.  During the family picture Brenda was trying to use the self timer but it was actually video.  We couldn't figure out why it wouldn't snap the shot.   I can hardly wait to see it.  LOL.  So for posterity sake of what we do to our kids with trying to get that "perfect" shot I have posted the above photo.

 

All the cousins, minus my nephew Travis who is in Navy A school in Florida.   The two in the upper right are my niece Chelsea and my nephew Garrett.  I was there when Garrett was born and declared I would NEVER have children.  HAHA!

We were having a discussion about me being taller.  I LOVE our faces!!!  

We do much better with our discussions now than when we were kids.  Haha.

Please keep praying for my sister to be able to get the treatments she needs, and if the Lord is willing, that He would heal her of Graves Disease.  

Following in Grandpa's Footsteps

Although I never met him, I grew up hearing about my Grandpa Kelly!  My memories are of a man who was a Navy lifer who died from a massive stroke just day before his retirement.  I have copies of old pictures of my grandpa in his uniform with his family - my grandma, dad and aunt. 

My oldest nephew, Travis, is following in Grandpa's footsteps.  And we are so very, very proud of him!  This afternoon my sister said goodbye to her oldest son and sent him off to boot camp with nothing but the clothes on his back and his wallet.  Please be in prayer for Travis while he adjusts to his new life.  Pray for my sister, Brenda, as she adjusts to life without Travis.