Pine Cove 2011...

We have many pictures to share from our family vacation at Pine Cove. I will have to break it down into several post but wanted to share some with you! Sam fell in love with Pine Cove! He calls it Pamp! He is wanting to watch our camp DVD daily and anything we can find on Youtube that is about Pine Cove! I think it is in his blood already! It is one of our favorite places on this planet to spend time.

Summer....

We have had one hot summer! Really very little from any other Texas summers but I know this one is going down as one of the hotter ones. It got really hot quick this summer which has made it a longer, hotter summer. Sometimes we have a more mild June but not this year. Oh well! After 25 years of being in Texas I have learned to adjust. It is Texas, it is summer and hot is just part of it. We go to the park, we go to the swim park, we go to camp and we don't let it stop us from living life. Life is less sweaty when it is cooler but hot can still be very fun mixed with lots of water, stay away during peak hours and chilly pads! We found these neat pads this year that hold the cold. They can be wrapped around your neck or placed on your body to help keep you cool.

Rest...

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:1-2

Jacob turns 14....

Jacob turned 14 July 18th! It often falls when we are at Pine Cove or right when we return but this year we had a couple days once we got back before it was his special day! We went with his friends to play whirly ball and to get ice cream at Braums. They had a great time and I am convinced if you give boys anything that moves with a steering wheel they will be pretty happy! They had the biggest smiles during much of the hour they played and especially when they really ran into one another! We celebrated the night before at home with a family meal and Jacobs favorites. It was a great birthday and I can't believe he is 14!!!

Time to escape....

It is that time again! Time to escape to The Woods at Pine Cove in Tyler, Texas. This will be our 6th year to go to family camp. It is one of our favorite places on this planet. Family time, couple time, time with dear friends, no cooking, little cleaning, lots of whatever you want to do time, good speakers, great worship, amazing staff, sweat and dirt, costumes, tons of pictures (which I promise to share with you!), all in one room, laughter, usually a few tears (in a good way), theme nights, good books, trips into town, red dirt, time away with the Lord in a very quiet place with no TV, less media, daily routines thrown out and praying the baby sleeps well! We would covet your prayers for our week away! For safety, great time together, health and wellness, relaxing time away, business to continue for Trae while he is away (smoothly) and lots and lots of FUN!!!!

Story time....

Story time is one of our favorite times! Sam has his favorite books and they often are about animals, birthdays or Thomas. I love that I saved almost all of my older boy books because they are being enjoyed again and such a treasure!

4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!

Jacob love of cherry pies.....

Jacob loves cherry pie! We have Aldi near us that we love shopping at and one of his favorite pick is the cherry pies. They are .39 cents compared for .99 cents at the other stores. They are one of his favorite treats but he recently said he noticed that many of them don't have glaze like the package shows. After bringing it up several times he said he wanted to contact the store to let them know that they were selling a product that doesn't measure up to the picture on the package. I thought it would be a good lesson for him to see what that process is like. We emailed the company late Wednesday evening on Aldi's main website. By the time I woke up in the morning I had an email to let me know that they were sorry for the disappointment and were forwarding our email onto the company that makes the pies. By lunch on Thursday we had a call from the manufacturer of the pies. She assured me that each one is frosted however that over time the frosting absorbs into the dough. She told me she was going to go pull some fresh pies off the line and ship them to him! By Friday at lunch the pies arrived with a T-shirt from the company. It was a fun surprise and a great lesson. The pies do have frosting and Jacob said they were the best pies ever!

One of his favorite things....

Wagon rides are one of Sams favorite things! He has now added reading while riding. Trae and Sam walk to the park often so he gets plenty of play and busy time. I found this at Aldi one day (for a great deal!) and knew it would me loved. Sweet memories!