Today we get Fred from Impact VA. He has been building a ramp and repairing and painting a trailer in western Virginia. He says he's had a great time. He enjoys working, so I was excited for him to have this opportunity. It'll be good to see him again. Sam and Peter have been at Vacation Bible School all week, so Ben has been alone every morning. I've spent the week running errands and unpacking and packing.

Last night I sat down in the living room and saw that Michael Jackson had died. I was so shocked that I let out a suprised "noise." Ben tells me that he's never been so startled. To see that his life was over really hit me. Farrah Fawcett's death was expected. She'd battled cancer for 3+years, I believe. But Jackson's was sudden and unexpected. I haven't followed him since I was in jr. high/high school, but I had the Thriller album and spent much time listening to it and watching him on Friday Night Videos. People die every day, but for me, these celebrity deaths are so much more shocking for some reason. Perhaps it's because they seem bigger than life--their lives are separate from the rest of us. Plus, he was only 50! It made me think, once again, about the insecurity of life. We talked some about death at bedtime. Ben asked me if Jackson was a Christian. I have no idea, but his life certainly didn't reflect that. When I prayed with Sam and Peter, we talked about how for us the sting of death is gone. We don't have to be afraid of it anymore. We know that Jesus bought us. He loves us. We belong to him and so our eternity is secure. You just never know when that bus is going to come out of nowhere and take you out! I don't know where Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson are right now. But I'm sure that if they could come back, their message would be the same. Repent, turn to God, ask Jesus to save you and then live for Him every day. When it comes to death, nothing else really matters beyond that.

Guess where we've been?

We visited the Gulf of Mexico instead of going to the Atlantic. The water was so warm, which was a bummer since you really wanted a cool, refreshing bathe! Florida was pushing record highs while we were there.

We ate at Applebees, and a young man was making balloon animals and hats for the kids and using the tips he recieved to put himself through college. I'm sure that isn't his only source of income!

Sam and Chris ready for Buzz Lightyear's adventure.

Twins! This was while waiting for the Toy Story Mania ride at Hollywood studios. The waiting area was designed to keep your mind off of the wait.

This crane and his two friends were outside our windows each morning. We enjoyed watching them fish.

The boys had fun at the water park on our resort.

We had a fun, relaxing time, which is what vacation is supposed to be. The biggest adventure was getting there. We had been getting updates about time changes for take-off, but aparently someone just made those up. I thought our flight was leaving at 10:50, but actually it was 10:24. We were talking about how nice it will be to get there early and be ready to board and not have to run to the gate. NOT! We did have to run. We were the last ones on the plane and in the very last two rows no less. That, thankfully, was our biggest hassle.

We went to Hollywood Studios Monday, Blizzard Beach Tuesday, and Magic Kingdom Wednesday. How thankful I was that our kids didn't want to close the park down. I had no idea how our of shape I was until I walked three parks for three days in 95 degree weather! We spent Thursday in St. Petersburg on the gulf, and then Friday at Downtown Disney at the cool shops. Saturday was for rest and swimming. Florida is beautiful, but I'm very thankful to be home in the cool 80's!

Girls!

Braids for the tea party.

Moose ears for Fred!

I had the opportunity to be with girls last week! It was wonderful. Two of my wonderful nieces came to spend some time with us. Grandpa and Grandma were coming up for a car show on Saturday, so they hitched a ride with them. We shopped and played and did hair. (The boys aren't interested in French braids!) My friend Donna and her daughter Bekah invited us to a tea party. It was so much fun to do girl things for a few days. The boys loved having them here, too. I hope they'll come back again soon!

Computer-less

Last Wednesday Chris went on a golf trip with some men from our church. They were gone until Saturday night. Friday evening we had a storm, and when the power came on, no computer! I truly think God was sending us several messages. Our lives were on that computer. I didn't even have Sam's coach's information. It was all on the computer. Our budget--on the computer. The team roster so that I could order trophies--on the computer. Directions to the woman's house for our Bible study on Friday--on the computer. Yikes. How do we survive?? Amazingly, Chris was messing with the wires and all of a sudden it comes on. I hope I've learned something.