Our Vacation in Pictures (and some words)...

We left for vacation almost 2 weeks ago. It was amazing. And now...We're BAAAACK!

There's lots to tell.

We went to Dallas and spent time with Allen's family on the front end, dropped our little darling Taylor Tot off with them and headed out to Charlotte, NC, the place we spent our first 15 months of marriage. It was pretty cool how the Lord took us there to "leave and cleave" to each other with no one else we knew at the time. But it wasn't too long before he brought some Charlotte folk into our lives and they will remain there forever. We stayed with our best friends the Bridenstine's and their new little bundle of joy, Aidan.

Here is Allen with the boys.


Will and Aidan.


We played lots of Settlers of Catan with the B-Stines. Will won EVERY time. We're still not sure his tactics were completely honest, but we could be wrong! :)

We spent a couple of days in the mountains of Asheville, which is just a few hours away from Charlotte. Allen and I used to take weekend trips there when we lived there. We trekked up the mountain on a hike and the big boys wore the little boys in their carriers.


Beckett was SO excited that his legs were kicking practically the entire time! This made for an "uncomfortable" trip for Allen (hence the face he's making)...





I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't even sore after such a strenuous hike! Maybe I'm in better shape than I thought! Perhaps...perhaps chasing after 2 children really is a workout in itself! This is great! Oh, and on that note, our little boy developed many new skills while we were away. He is now sitting on his own (mostly) and "scooting" around (I hesitate to call it a crawl, but he definitely gets around). I was hoping to delay this skill because it makes my job so much harder, but he is so proud of himself. I will post a video later.

The view from the top of the mountain was amazing. It's always such a wonderful reminder of the majesty of our God when you are surrounded with a view like this. We serve an amazing Creator. To think that this is only a glimpse of what the new earth will be like astounds me and makes me all the more ready for that day.







In Charlotte we visited our old friends, from church and work who we still keep in touch with. What a blessing it was to reunite with them and be able to mutually encourage each other.






Soon we were on our way back to Dallas, where we spent the back end of our vacation with my family and were reunited with sweet Taylor Joy. She didn't go with us to Charlotte, not only for the sheer convenience, but also the cost and the fact that the grandparents were dying for some alone time with her. It was the longest we had been without her and we were really missing that sweet girl. Apparently she missed us too. She ran up to us and gave us hugs and kisses and wanted to hold us for awhile. She was so sweet, too! Usually she goes through a little relapse in her discipline, but we haven't seen those effects yet, so praise the Lord for that! We really did pray for that and we have seen that prayer answered.



I have almost finished reading Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands over this vacation and Allen finished reading John Newton's biography. We had many moments of refreshment with the Lord and with each other. Thanks to those who prayed for our vacation and specifically for that.



We're glad to be home.

Home sweet home.

But sweeter once I finish the laundry, unpacking and go to the store to get some groceries. :)