Thursday, March 25, 2010

Thankful Thursday

I'm going home. I miss my family. My flight gets into Des Moines at 11:50p.m.

"As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." Proverbs 27:17

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Charleston, Day 2

Today was tour day. We booked a combo tour of the historic district of Charleston and also the Magnolia Plantation. I took a ton of pictures, but I'm not really in the mood to post many of them tonight. It has been taking forever for them to upload. So, I have chosen to only post the ones I think the kids will like the best.








Tomorrow we plan to tour Fort Sumter. The weather was sunny and in the 60's today. It was breezy, and tended to be cool at times. Tomorrow is expected to be in the 70's and sunny.

"The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe." Proverbs 29:25

Monday, March 22, 2010

March Madness 2010

I just wanted to let the world know that after the first two rounds...

Jodi is leading in the Clark March Madness Bracket Mania!!

But that's not really much of a surprise.

"A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel," Proverbs 1:5




Myrtle Beach, SC

We left Atlantic Beach this morning and headed for Myrtle Beach, SC. It wasn't a very long drive, but the traveling was rather slow due to many towns along the way.



We toured up and down Ocean Blvd. and spent a little time on the beach. Here's a picture of Grandma Shirley playing in the ocean. It was COLD!!!



Papa Ken and Grandma Shirley



Just to prove I was here...




And the picture of the day for Colton...palm trees!



We checked into our hotel in Charleston, SC and plan to stay here for the next three nights. We're taking some tours tomorrow, so I should have lots of pictures to post. We've traveled nearly 2000 miles since Thursday. It will be kind of nice to sleep in the same bed for more than one night.

I'm missing my babies...and Shannon, too.

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the LORD." Proverbs 18:22

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Nag's Head, NC

Here are a few pictures from our hotel balcony of the sunrise Sunday morning.





We attended church at Nag's Head Church this morning. The service was a little more rockin' than I'm used to, but they preached the Word of God and had a great message. We checked out of our hotel, grabbed some lunch (I ate grits), then headed out of town.






Our first stop was at Kitty Hawk to the Wright Brothers' National Memorial.






Around the base of the monument was the saying, "In commemoration of the conquest of the air by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright conceived by genius achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith".

We were hoping to take a route south via a succession of ferry rides along the coast, but were unable because the ferry was booked and they were running limited departure times. We ended up going back inland and retracing our steps from yesterday a bit, then heading south to Atlantic
Beach, where we're staying tonight.

"The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and they are safe." Proverbs 18:3

Sunday, March 21, 2010

The biggest news of the day:

IT'S BRYCE'S 12TH BIRTHDAY!!!



He's smart.

He's funny.

He's easy-going.

He's agreeable.

He likes video games.

He likes writing songs.

He likes music.

He smiles a lot.

He is great at memorizing bible verses.

He makes awesome cookie dough.

He'll always be my little Boo.

WE LOVE YOU, BRYCE!!!!!


"My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands;" Proverbs 3:1


Saturday, March 20, 2010

Saturday

Blogger isn't playing nicely and won't upload any of my photos from today. I'll try again tomorrow.

Way to go PANTHERS!!!!

Smoky Mountain National Park

Saturday we started out the day by driving through Smoky Mountain National Park. We entered the park at Gatlinburg, TN.



I'm not a big fan of mountains. To me, if you've seen one mountain, you've seen 'em all. I get scared looking over the edge of the road into the great abyss below. I'd just as soon drive through Iowa.




I did enjoy the tour through the national park. The roads were wide enough. There were guardrails along the scary parts. They had a lot of pull outs to stop and take pictures.




The thing is, though, that the mountains are ...well...smoky. There's a haze that hangs over them. It doesn't make for great pictures, especially when the photographer isn't great at taking pictures.


We also saw some elk.


We drove the rest of the day, and made it to Nags Head, NC about 7:10 p.m. By the time we got to our hotel room, there were about six minutes to go in the UNI vs. Kansas game. We were busy watching the game, but during a TV time-out I ran out the to balcony and snapped a couple pictures. The sun had already set. I'm looking forward to getting some better shots tomorow morning.

Can you believe those Panthers?!? I bet you could hear Dad and I hollering all the way to Iowa. The harley guys partying in the paking lot below our room sure wondered what all the noise was about. I think we converted them into UNI fans. For the record, I picked UNI to win this game.

"As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable." Proverbs 25:3

Friday, March 19, 2010

Getting Away From It All

A couple weeks ago my parents invited me to go along on a trip they were planning on taking to the East coast. I decided to schedule a Spring Break trip into our school year...for me.

We left Reinbeck early yesterday morning. We had a couple errands to make in Waterloo/Cedar Falls before we officially hit the road. We made it through Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and as far as Frankfort, Kentucky by 8:00pm Eastern time.

There's not much noteworthy to see in Iowa, Illinois or Indiana in mid-March that I can't see by looking out my front windows. It's all pretty much the same--brown and dead. By the time we got to Kentucky, the grass was greener and the landscape changed somewhat.

We saw many horses between Frankfort and Lexington.





We saw mountains and valleys that freaked me out, although I was then informed that they really weren't mountains.

We're staying in Sevierville, TN tonight. We've had a lazy afternoon in the hotel. It's sunny and 71 degrees here. From what I understand, snow is forecast for Iowa this weekend :).

This is a picture of the mountains from our hotel window. It looks like there's still some snow up there.



And also a picture of a holly bush outside the hotel window. It's so nice to see green!



We're planning to drive through the Smoky Mountains tomorrow en route to North Carolina.

"The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the LORD." Proverbs 21:31

March Madness 2010

I love this time of year!

Each member of the family, excluding Hudson, filled out a bracket this year. They're officially hung on the family room wall.



But I'm not home.

It's tradition that I'm the only one allowed to fill in the 'Master Bracket' and keep track of points on each individual bracket.

But I'm not home.

So Shannon has taken over the role of "Stat Master".

Until I get home.

Currently I'm in third place in the point standings. It really doesn't matter who is in first or second, because I will soon be passing them. It's okay for them to have this short time of success. It won't last.

Since I've been travelling, I haven't seen many of the games. I was able to watch the end of the UNI game last night on the computer. Unfortunately, I was in Frankfort, Kentucky, and the networks felt the need to show the Kentucky/ETSU game, even though it was a blow-out.
The nerve.

There was a bit of a time delay between the streaming on the computer and the score displayed on the TV, which was a bit unnerving. We were able to see the last 1.6 seconds live, which is all that really matters.

I'm not sure where we'll be tomorrow afternoon, so will have to see if I can watch the next UNI game. Wish we were in Oklahoma!

"Understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it." Proverbs 16:21a

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Thankful Thursday

* I'm thankful for safety travelling today, and for the opportunity to get away form the usual grind for a week.

* I'm thankful my husband allowed me the opportunity to get away from the usual grind for a week.

* I'm thankful that my big kids are willing to step it up and keep things running smoothly at home while I'm gone.

* I'm thankful for sunshine.

* I'm thankful for my book club ladies. I have so much fun with them. They are a blessing to me.

* I'm thankful for diet Coke. It gets me through the day.

* I'm thankful UNI won their basketball game tonight. KABOOM!

"A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!" Proverbs 15:23