I am Blessed and We are Busy

I am such a blessed mother. I have 4 great kids. Not that they don't ever frustrate me or make me upset. They aren't perfect, BUT they are great!

English is out on her own and makes me very proud. My heart hurts for her right now. Her boyfriend is in Iraq, and she misses him a lot. I haven't ever experienced this with her before...having a boyfriend that she loves so much. Makes me sad that she is so far away and I can't hug her and try to make her feel better. She is hanging in there and will be hosting Ronnie and Veronica next week during Spring Break. Maybe they can take her mind off of things for a few days.

Veronica also makes me very proud. She will be getting baptized here in a few weeks. She was baptized when she was 8, but says that she did it just because some other friends and family members were being baptized. I think it is pretty neat that she wants to go before our big church and be baptized as a sign of her faith. This time there isn't any urging from friends and family. :)

Hunter also makes me very proud. He will also be getting baptized in a few weeks. He was also able to share the message of salvation during a youth group night. I wasn't there, but people told me he did a good job. This coming weekend he will be playing worship in the main sanctuary with the rest of the youth group worship team.

Cole...also makes me very proud. Heis doing so good in Awana memorizing his scriptures. He has also finally found some great friends that he has been able to hang out with. As much of a stinker Cole can be he can also be equally as sweet. Sometimes all he wants to do is hang out on the couch reading a book while one of us sits nearby. He will reach out and touch our hand just to make sure that we are still there.

Now I will share with you the business our family is getting ready to enter into.

March 27-April 5 - Spring break for all three kids
March 31st-April 6- Ronnie and Veronica will be in Northern California visiting English
April 1-5 - Ebby has off of work from BOTH jobs!! Whoo-hooo
June 15-22 - Hunter will be on his Mission Trip to Cleveland
June's third week - Ronnie will be in Southern California and possibly Ebby, too
July 8-22 - Ronnie will be on his Mission Trip to Cambodia (2 weeks)
July 8-22 - Hunter and Cole will be in North Myrtle Beach, SC (2 weeks)
July 8-28 - Veronica will be in North Myrtle Beach, SC (3 weeks)
July 8 -22 - Ebby will be by herself in Rochester, MN (2 weeks alone. How will I manage?)

That is a lot of traveling! Thankfully we have been very blessed with airline tickets for all of these trips...with the exception of Hunter's mission trip. He is doing fundraising for that one. I am excited that each of the kids get to take a vacation this year.

We also have a visitor at our house...Flat Jeremiah. He is a friend of Flat Stanley. He is from Southern California. I will post some pictures soon of Flat Jeremiah's adventures with the Ray Family.