Dallas Zoo

February 26:
Family Fun Day again! :) This was the last Sunday that the Zoo had winter prices, and since it was not at all winter weather (mid to high 60's), we decided to take the opportunity! It was a huge place, with a great carousel and children's zoo, and a good variety of neat animals. But the best part was how up-close-and-personal you could get with some of them! The trainers had taught the male lions to stand up against the glass and say hello. That was neat! And it was also fun to see the elephants reaching their trunks within feet of us to grab pieces of apple. But my favorite part was the giraffes. Wow. Take a look at some of our pics...

Like I said--AWESOME giraffes! Here are some more pics of our fun day!

Sharing Music and New Friends

Once again, I forgot all about taking pictures... One of these days, I'll learn! Anyway, today after church and potluck, we went on the Nursing Home Ministry. They've been visiting this facility for 30 years, and everyone in the place treats them like family! We had such fun going around to the rooms and singing the residents' favorite songs! Aile started asking if we could come back next month after only about 20 minutes! :) And bonus: the church volunteers also run a small ice cream parlor on the weekends they visit, so we all got free ice cream too! :)

Celebration!

February 24:

So someone at church told us about a park in Allen, TX, about 15 minutes away, that is so big you can "lose your child in it." I can't say that statement really made me want to go there, but... it sure sounded fun to the kids! :) So, picnic in hand, we ventured out to find it today.

Oh yeah. It's true. It's the hugest park I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot of parks. We pretty much had a blast. And the fun will only be doubled come May 1--that's when the splash pad part opens. :)

Here are some pics of the monstrosity that is Celebration Park:

Trusting in God

Tuesday, February 21:
Today was a whirlwind. We spent pretty much the whole day on the phone trying not to have our identities stolen and to track down proof that we owned the truck, since all our paperwork was in it. Sean made calls while working with patients, while on breaks, and at every possible free moment. I made calls while my children homeschooled themselves and while trying to keep them happy and occupied and not stressed.

Then our first miracle came... A man named Steven Johnson called Sean. He said that on his way home from work, he drove by a field next to the highway and saw tons of papers littering the area, so he decided to pick them up. He noticed that the papers were personal information and they all had our name on them. He knew they were important. He picked his son up from school, and they went back to pick up every paper they could find!!! When we got to his house that evening, he had a file box and another bag full of our papers! What a blessing! What an angel of a man!

THEN... about 2 minutes after we walked in the door, the Dallas Police called. The truck was found!!! The thieves abandoned it in a neighborhood about 40 miles from us, in south Dallas. AND... The 5th wheel hitch is still there!!! AND... The engine is still in tact!!! Those were the two most important items on the truck. However, the inside has been completely gutted, and the tailgate is gone. Seats, speakers, door panels, consoles, etc... It's an empty box on the interior. In fact, that's what was in there-- an empty box. That's what the thieves sat on to drive it to the neighborhood to dump it!

We are feeling very blessed though... The interior is replaceable, and the most important things to us have been recovered. God has surely taken care of us! He is worth trusting!!!

Passport to Adventure--With a Whole New Twist

Monday, February 20:
Today was mostly great, at least 3/4 of the day. After we finished our school work, we headed to the library for a special program they have called Passport to Adventure. Each month, they teach the kids all about a country. This month we learned about all things Australia. The kids had a great time! Then we continued our search for awesome parks, and found a unique and fun one! This was actually an outdoor play area at an outdoor mall. It had a maze (in the shape of Texas, of course!), 4 mini buildings making up a play town, and a real train caboose with activities and seats inside. If it weren't so blasted windy in this place, we would've stayed much longer! :)

Good thing we didn't stay though, because as soon as we got home, we got a text message from Sean: "My truck is stolen. Calling police now." WHAT?!?!

Sadly, it was not a joke. Sean had stopped at Lowe's for some supplies, and came out to find his truck gone. I quickly sent out a request for prayers and went to pick up Sean and meet the police. We began to recount all the things that were in the truck... 5th wheel hitch...a few empty boxes we had wanted...some random candy (including Sean's beloved chocolate covered coffee beans he brought back from Hawaii)...Sean's keepsake box...Sean's suits that he had planned to take to the cleaners... OH!!! And our file bin! With ALL of our personal information-- birth certificates, social security cards, vehicle titles, tax paperwork, sales documents from large purchases...everything. Great...

This evening has been very sober. We are trying to figure out what the next step is, and all the steps after that. We are asking everyone who is willing to pray-- for the truck, for the hitch (it's very expensive), and especially for the threat of identity theft! However, my heart was touched at Aile's prayer: "Dear Jesus, please help the thief to learn about You and how much You love him, and to turn away from his sin."

Time to file a fraud alert with the credit reporting companies and try to get some sleep...

So what IS a natatorium?

Sunday, February 19:

Family fun day again! Yay!

Today we went to the Rodenbaugh Natatorium. Is was completely awesome. :) A natatorium, as it was described on the website, is basically an indoor swimming pool. But this was way more than that! I wish I could have taken my camera in there, but I was afraid it would get ruined...

Anyway, this place had two huge swimming pools. One had several lanes for lap swimming, and a large diving board area. The other half of the building was taken up by another large swimming pool, a kiddie pool area with a huge play structure/slide thing that had squirty things and fountains all over and around it, a lazy river, and a huge twisty water slide! We all had a blast! Oh, and in the middle of all that fun stuff was the largest hot tub I have ever seen--very relaxing! :) That was a great way to just relax and have some plain old good fun with the kids!

Milestones and Hot Air Balloons

February 16:

Well, today was a wonderful day! First off, BRENNER READ HIS FIRST BOOK! His little face was so full of excitement and joy as he sounded out words and realized he could do it! YAY, BRENNER! He has been wanting this for a long time, and I am so happy for him! I'll try to post pics of him reading soon... :)

Next, we went exploring. We found a place called Erwin Park--a huge place full of open fields and hiking/biking trails and creeks and ponds, tons of picnic and bonfire options, and a few swing sets scattered around for good measure. As we were hiking around and searching for the perfect walking sticks, the kids saw a truck drive by with a hot air balloon basket in the back. They all ran down the trail to see where it would go, and we got to watch the whole process! Fun! We had just read a story about hot air balloons, so their interest was already piqued. Here are some pics from our experience there:

Can you spot the hot air balloon way off in the distance in that last photo? :)