Kemah

We took our girls to Kemah last Saturday and met up with some friends that are also hosting some students. It turned out that most of the girls knew each other and they all seemed to have a good time. We rode a few rides and had lunch at The Flying Dutchman.

Our Girls

I picked up Scarlet and Nina yesterday, they are very sweet and polite girls. I brought them home and Braden showed them their room and they began to unpack. Truitt is drawn to them, he was in there with them, following them all around the house and bringing them his toys - he even brought them a flower - very cute! I think they're taken with him but who can resist that sweet little face :) Scarlet is on the Left, Nina is on the right....and sweet Truitt in the middle.

Chinese Exchange

Today at about 5pm we will be receiving two Chinese exchange students to our home for 3 weeks. There are 255 students arriving from the Chengdu Provence in China over the next three days (starting yesterday) to be staying with 148 different host families from Second Baptist Church.
We are happy to have our two 16-year-old girls here in our home...I'm not sure how happy they'll be though! We'll be taking them to school each day (although they won't be 'in class' each day) and we also get to attend a few activities they have scheduled (an Astros game). My prayer for these girls is that they enjoy their time in the States and in our home and that we can be a witness for Christ. I pray that they see Christ in us by our interactions not only with them but with friends and our children. We appreciate your prayers as well.
I'll post pictures soon, I should snap a few today...I hope!

Our Trip

Kurt and I had a whole week to ourselves, it was great. There were many things that reminded us of the boys which was fun. It made me look forward to a family vacation. Vacations have gotten better since having kids. When the time comes I am ready to leave and have a break and when it's over I am HAPPY to come home! Here are a few pictures of our travels below.

Kurt and I with Mt. Saint Helens in the background.

One of the many waterfalls we saw as we made our way to the lodge on Mt.Rainer.


Kurt in the midst of the falls.

Hiking an unmarked trail, it was buried under 7 feet of snow. There were footprints in the direction we were headed...it was reasonably safe :)Our lodge at Paradise Point...it was beautiful.

Out of nature and into the big city. This is a picture of Seattle and Puget Sound from the Space Needle.

More to come....

We went to the lake house this weekend. The boys had fun playing in the pool, sitting on the tractor, going for golf cart rides and finding lizards. We had a nice relaxing weekend.

Not our plan but His.

God's plans for us were a little different than what we had in mind. Guess what? His plan prevailed...no surprise there! We were a little shocked at first but we're happy to welcome another member to our family, the last Box baby! Braden already has his heart set on having a baby sister, Truitt moving in with him and painting Truitt's room pink. The odds are against us but we'll see.

"..many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" Proverbs 19:21

Memorial Day Weekend

For Memorial Day weekend we went to Kerrville for a few days then headed over to Pipe Creek. We had a great time - there are lots of fun things to do at Nana's and Grandad's houses that we don't do here at home....


We went to Mo Ranch on Saturday - played in the river and had a picnic.

This was looking out over one of the walkway bridges....we were up pretty high up!

At the rivier by Nana's house.

Playing in the sand box at Oma and Grandad's house. Hours of entertainment!

Feeding Mr. Dan, isn't he pretty?

Feeding the cows too.

Truitt likes to eat raw carrots, he doesn't chew them well but likes to nibble on them :)

Today we went to the zoo with NaNa, we had a nice time. It was pretty warm, both boys had rosey cheeks when we left :) Summer is definitely here!

Braden is trying to "fish" with a stick, hold onto his brother and pose!

The boys riding the new train with their great grandma. The train is one of Braden's favorite things, imagine that?!

Loving the "big boy" cup

Too cute!

Mother's Day

I have had a nice mother's day. Kurt made breakfast and then we were off to church. Afterwards we tried to go to outback Steakhouse but it was too long of a wait so we headed home. The weather is nice today so we sat outside and had some watermelon. The house is quiet now, Truitt is sleeping and Braden is resting...I'm off to do the same!