Texas trip

A few weeks ago, we headed out of town with Joshua's family. We went to Dallas, Texas for his cousin Matthew's reception with his new wife Diedra. They had gotten married in a small private ceremony in May. We loved our time with them, we loved meeting Diedra, she fit right in to our family! She is fun, sweet, kind and just perfect for Matthew! We're so happy for them! Joshua's Aunt Rachel flew in for the weekend too, and it was wonderful to see her again as well.

Picnic lunch in New Mexico...

Loved the color contrast of sky, reddish dirt and green weeds! (in Texas)

Outside our hotel in TX... a cowboy boot planter and  "howdy ya'll" on the door!

We arrived in Dallas (after driving 2 1/2 days) on Thursday afternoon. We had a free day on Friday since Matt and Dee were working. Dee recommended that we go to Downtown Dallas. There is a nice park there, we ate at food trucks for lunch, and went to the Dallas Museum of Art. It was a great day! The only bad part was the heat and humidity.

They opened our gifts...

We played lots of games together, my favorite was "Reverse Charades." It was funny to watch the group act out the same thing at the same time. On Saturday, we relaxed in the morning and we went to Matthew & Diedra's open house in the afternoon. It was fun to hang out, relax, chat a lot, and meet some of their friends. We wished we could have attended their church on Sunday morning, but we needed to begin the journey back home again. The trip went way too quickly!

 We took family photos before we left...

All together now....

                  Faces squished together!

 We took pictures of the kids standing by age, and by height... Rebekah is the oldest, but not the tallest anymore! ;-D

This one is oldest to youngest... what a great bunch of kids!

 With the Aunties/ Nana/ Cousins...

So happy to see the mountains of Colorado again... missed them!

Bethany took my picture in the back of the van on the way home... it was so nice to be done traveling! 

Where are you traveling this summer? I'd love to hear about it!

Some wonderful verses...

John 5:20
For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

1 John 4:7-12
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

VBS Game On! decorations 2018

Our theme this year from Lifeway's VBS was Game On! The decorations book had some great ideas, and a fewer, easy-to-do things than other years. I planned three decorating nights at our church in May, and I really appreciated the help that I got from church members! It made the job sooo much easier on me! Everything turned out wonderfully, I was very pleased!

We have a "ticket booth" that our Ladies' Committee uses to sell tickets for their events, and they let me use it for VBS. I wanted it to look like a more authentic ticket booth, so my daughter used a large sponge (found at Walmart) to paint butcher paper with maroon paint, to look like bricks. It turned out very well!

My son and daughter transformed a round, white vinyl tablecloth into a baseball to hang on a wall, using tape and crepe paper streamers.

Two ladies helped me paint this frame to use in crafts, as a sports card frame for pictures.

I made one poster on pasteboard, and a friend made others...

Several church ladies also made tenants with poster board and Sharpies...

I needed a green background to go behind the picture frame. I couldn't find any grassy green tablecloths, bath mats or beach towels, so we I grabbed green fabric and a college kid put tape on it to look like a soccer field!

My hubby and son helped me make a "tailgate" for our food missions...

Several 11 and 12 year old girls made jerseys to hang around, and an older gal painted these tires for the tailgate...

Another gal painted and designed these lockers for me, they looked perfect!

This was a Pinterest idea, and I loved how it turned out!

I painted this board for the ticket stand top...

 We decorated our church auditorium with black silhouettes and nearby school colors under them. The basketball and baseball were on this side. Those are the group signs for the different ages we have (Pre-K, 2nd-3rd grade, on other side was K-1 and 4th-6th grades.)

 Our "concessions" stand complete with banner overhead, popcorn containers and the menu...

 I ordered this great stadium (upper/lower) background from Amazon, and it looked sooo cool! It pulled everything together!

 I had a balls, bats, hockey sticks & puck display on a green tablecloth on our organ....

 The "tailgate" set up with pompoms and a cooler inside, and a paper plate banner hung above it...

The other wall with silhouettes from other local teams... it looked so cool! The football and soccer were on this side.

I praise God for the wonderful team that I had to help me, and the whole week of VBS went extremely well. I'm glad  we made it back from our quick trip to Texas so we could help Tuesday- Friday. I love VBS week, it is so much fun!

This was our VBS verse, and part of our theme song...
2 Peter 1:3
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Another related verse...
1 Timothy 4:8
For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

Why I like crossword puzzles...

 The past several years I have enjoyed doing crossword puzzles. My dad enjoys them and so did my grandparents. I am not into the New York Times crosswords, they are very difficult! This past spring, I've been trying to spend less time on my phone. I don't always have lots of time to do them, I wish I had more time and quiet to read. I've always liked word games, including Boggle, Scrabble, and word searches.

But here are my Top 10 reasons that I enjoy crossword puzzles...

1. They are a good challenge for me mentally.

2. They keep my brain sharp, which is important as a stay-at-home mom.

3. They are portable, I can tuck them into my purse easily. I can work on them in the car, the doctor's office, or even while waiting for a baseball game to start.

4.  I learn new words, abbreviations and names of actresses/ actors, etc.,

5. It keeps me wondering how people can think and write crosswords. Have you seen the movie, "Wordplay" about Will Shortz, the editor for the NY Times crossword puzzles? I found it quite intriguing!

6. I like to use fun pen colors on my crossword puzzles, like purple or blue. No pencils for me!

7. I feel like I am doing something productive with my spare time, instead of just staring at my phone.

8. I get to interact with my hubby and kids who help me sometimes, especially with the sports and computer related clues.

9. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I complete a big puzzle, like the one in the Sunday newspaper.

10. Since I don't get the daily newspaper, I can buy a crossword puzzle book for a few dollars or even $1.00, and enjoy a hobby!

What about you? Do you enjoy crossword puzzles or word games?

John 1:1-5, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.