200 days down...who knows how many to go?!?!

We have crossed the 200 day mark and loved every minute!  We have had a few challenges to overcome but the Lord have given all of the tools and people necessary to be able to be on this journey and to do His work. 

Don't know if you want to hear about what we did for Thanksgiving and spending time with friends, but I'll tell you anyway...

We have spend more time in Texas that we ever thought we would but we have had such a wonderful time visiting the folks that we came for.  After we left Dallas/ Fort Worth, we headed to San Antonio...a place I said I would never come back to.  Well, I would have missed so much if I wouldn't have come back.  *****A little background...when I was stationed in Grand Forks, ND, I met Holly.  Kelly and I got married and she moved to ND with me and Holly and I let her into our group :)  (Just kidding, there were more people involved in the decision making process!) Then, Holly met Mike and they got married and the memories continue.  We have been stationed together throughout our career. We have been there for births and so many life events.  We pulled up to their house and thought we were going to stay for a night.  Well, we dropped the camper off at the base and got about 3 days worth of stuff for our family.  Well, we finally left them over a week and a half later.  We had to force ourselves to leave because we are going to be leaving San Antonio soon and need to settle back in and get into a routine.  We had such a great time while we were there and the time went by so quickly.  Our families truly (appear to) love each other and the kids did great being kids together.  They did so well, one might have thought they were all brothers and sisters! 

There were other things that we were able to do like crafts, painting, hanging out with their friends, and just plain ol' doing nothing...together.  There was one day when the boys were able to serve a neighbor who needed their lawn cut and went and cut it for them.  Our families had a great time together and the next time we see them, they will have another addition to the family...can't wait to then have 6 kids around!

  

 

We have arrived!

The Princess twins. 
 

 

Heading to church as one big family. 

SLEEPOVER!

 

The girls and Leo chillin' out.

Holly and Kamryn doing their nails. 



Getting ready for our hike...with books and pencils in hand!



While we were there we took a day and went to another Six Flags and had a great time.  The cool thing about this one is that they are open over the holidays so the had it decorated and lit up for Christmas.  They also used the word "Christmas" all over the place...that was nice to see.   We nearly closed the place down and were very pleased with the low wait times...it was too cold for everyone else to be there!  Kamryn has graduated to riding bigger roller coasters and we had a blast watching (and listening to her) on them. 

Six Flags San Antonio...Six Flags #6



Kamryn on her first big roller coaster

These two are a hoot. 

Caleb taking care of his sister and riding with her. 

Zachary slaying a dragon!

My girls on the carousel.

Not a marvelous picture but you get the idea. 

We also took a day and went to the Missions National Park.  There was some really neat history there and the kids earned another Jr Ranger badge.  We learned about how the Spaniards came in the 1700's and built these missions to be temporary places to spread Christianity; the Alamo is one of the Missions.  I know there is much more to it than that but that is my excerpt if you don't want to look up the history.  Also, both families took a day to go on a hike in a state park and the kids earned another State Park.  We got to sing silly songs, throw dirt and rocks, and complain that it was too long...but it was fun!

"Eating out" before we go to Missions NP.

Studying and doing their books. 

Sworn in at Missions NP.

Badge earners!

 

Holly having great patience and doing a craft.

Kamryn and her Thanksgiving craft. 

The girls showing off their crafts.

 

The kids serving a neighbor. 

 

 One of the biggest things we did was a Thanksgiving feast!  We thought that we were done with a feast while we were in DFW with Stacy, but we were blessed enough to have another!  Mike and I cooked all day and the girls took care of the desserts.  You name it...we ate it.  I made "my" green bean casserole and sweet potato casserole (in which the latter is sometimes confused for a dessert!) and Mike brought in his special chicken and dumplin's.  Other than that, we had every other "Thanksgiving" food that were supposed to.  The kids even got into the mix and we had a feast set for a King! 

The boys have begun...

The kids are ready!
 

The spread.



All of the kids ate (and enjoyed) the "inners" of the turkey!

Zachary and his eggs...with Holly zooming by in the background.

I disappeared for a minute to Mike and Holly's bed!  I was just kidding...I'm not asleep!

These two...aye yae yae. 



A little Christmas craft.



Meeting some new friends and heading back to visit with their family at their RV. 

 



We were undecided what to do for a Christmas tree.  We said we would decorate one outside the camper.  Then, we said we would just take a few branches and make a Charlie Brown looking Christmas tree.  Next we said we would buy a little one but that went quickly because of storage (and the crazy things are over $50!).  We ended up making our own out of a round piece of wood, a dowel rod, about 100 nails, fishing line and some personalized stickers from Michaels. Thanks Holly and Mike for the cool idea!  After deciding to do that, we thought that if we made it Christmas, we would have to store it.  So, we ended up making a family centerpiece that displays our love for Christ, camping, and friends.  Then we added some removable presents and ornaments and a piece of white garland...voila!  Our Christmas tree has arrived!




This is our Christmas tree this year.  We made it from some items to include fishing line and made it Christmas like. 





 





Finishing our time here over at the librbay and heading out soon. 

So as we thought we were going to be leaving a few days ago, we have our first sickness.  Kamryn ended up at the Dr for ear infections.  Her allergies got the best of her and we were blessed to be at the base and be able to go in.  The Lord has blessed us with great health and we are so thankful.  So, we stayed a few extra days to make sure that she is good and that no one else ended up with anything...AND...if we would have left, we would have met a few of the people that we have.  There is allot to those meetings and we are also very thankful for them.  We met a single guy whose camper was flooding and I turned off his water (he wasn't there).  This led to allot of great conversation and some meal eating. We have really enjoyed getting to know him.  We also met a couple that we ended up visiting with and their daughter and their kids came over.  Our kids and their kids played all evening and the adults had great conversation.  It was a great evening and it's possible we might have planted a bug for another full time RV'ing/homeschool family :) 

God has a plan...and I remind myself often that it is different than mine.