Monday drive....

Well, we made it safely to our next stop, Gallup, NM. We left at 4:30 am from east TX and arrived here (west NM) ~16 hrs later. Besides Aidan's bout with car-sickness (several times), we actually had a really nice trip. New Mexico is very beautiful!


This was the scene for 75% of the trip (everyone asleep but me).


This is what our car looked like before Hannah "repacked". This car was actually traveling on the interstate!!! CRAZY!

Ping-Pong Padawan

For those of you who are not up on your star-war lingo, a "padawan" is a person who is chosen to train under a Jedi Knight/Master. This weekend, I was chosen to train in the advanced art of ping-pong (aka table tennis), under the master Matthew Quick (my brother-in-law). We had a blast! I won like maybe 3-4 times out of ... uh like 30 matches or so. Not bad for a young padawan like myself. We also played "doubles" with Naomi and Anna. They have been training with the master for some time now so their skills are pretty sweet. I had a great time... thanks Table Tennis Master Matthew.

First leg sucessful

Well, we made the first leg of our trip to Long Beach, CA safely to Naomi and Matthew's {and Anna and Ava} home in Hallsville, TX. We arrived here ~10pm last night. We have already had a great time spending time with family. We will leave out toward the next stop of our trek early Monday morning...

Last day at the clinic...

I cannot believe it has been a year since I started as a Nurse Practitioner at Richland Primary Care! I have learned so much since starting and have gained so many great friendships. This past week has been full of sweet goodbyes, many with tears from both staff and patients alike. I will never forget this experience. Thank you to all the staff at Richland Primary Care!!!

Care-free dancing

Bro. Freddie presented some great teaching and insight yesterday on how "worry" will kill your joy. This was a very timely word for me as God has been dealing with me about this over the past few weeks. I have been carrying a lot of "stress" for the past many months and I have essentially handed Satan my joy. One of Lily and my favorite songs is the "Cinderella Song" by Steven Curtis Chapman. We love to dance together and sing to the top of our voices. The opening lines goes: "she swings and she sways, to whatever song plays, without a care in the world; and I'm sitting here wearing the weight of the world on my shoulders". I can relate to this so much. So many people (myself included) allow the cares of this world to steal "our joy for today". I want to be 100% present to my family and friends, but this is not possible when I "worry" about the past and/or future. The funny thing is that we named Lily with inspiration from the passage from Matthew 6 "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these".

I was thinking on these things on my drive to work this morning and an old song from my childhood came to mind; "I cast all my cares upon You, I lay all of my burdens, down at Your feet, and anytime I don't know, what to do, I will cast all my cares upon You". I commit and I hope you will also, to cast my cares upon Him, for he cares for me (us), and dance care-free and enjoy the blessings of God today, "...for all too soon, the clock will strike midnight, and she'll be gone."

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:34 NIV)".

Oh my feet... and my whole body!

We had a very busy and "active" weekend which resulted in my body being very sore and stiff! To the point that I can hardly put my own shoes on! :) Friday Hannah and I had a great time at Geyser Falls water park with Jeremy and Renee for some wet and wild fun celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. Congrats Jeremy and Renee! Then on Saturday our family spent the day raising funds to support Melanie Marx (wife of James Marx, a NP colleague of mine) in her fight with leukemia. Hannah and the kids manned the space jump and I played 3 softball games! Our team won the tournament! Please, please keep Melanie (Mel) and her family in your prayers.
Needless to say, between walking all day Friday barefooted on fiery hot concrete and softball Saturday, I am SORE and very STIFF! It was all worth it though.

Long Beach, Ca bound...

I looks like we'll be heading to Long Beach, Ca to start a job (for James) for 6 weeks starting in early July at a children's hospital. We thought for a while that we would be working in Oakland, but Long Beach worked out better. Never been to Long Beach before...

Rocky...a good friend

This past Saturday our family lost a good friend, Rocky our turtle. Not sure why but he died. I guess maybe rocky could not stand the thought of us leaving him too. We had a small simple burial service for him on Sunday and Hannah and the kids painted his favorite rock as a headstone. We will miss you Rocky...

"Good bye" service

We had a really nice time Sunday at Roosevelt. I enjoyed leading the body in worship. Many friends shared some good memories and nice words about our family. We really appreciate the kindness shown to us. It was good to see everyone in such a relaxed atmosphere.

This weekend

We are looking forward to a fun, restful weekend. Naomi and Matthew (and Ava) are coming in for the weekend from Texas so we'll get to spend some time with them. We also are having our annual Church wide pick-nick (Church at the Park) at Roosevelt state park this Sunday. They are going to have a kind of "good-bye" service for our family. I get to lead the body in worship one last time "acoustic style." I am looking forward to that.

Lily and bible school

Lily has been attending her first (all by her self) bible school this week at Church Alive in Magee. She cried a little on the first day (so did Hannah I think), but she soon got over it. She is having a blast! I think she has tried to wear the t-shirt they gave her all day every day this week. She's growing up so fast...

first post

Well, this is the first post on our new blog. We are going to use this blog to keep friends/family updated on where we are and what we are up to.