Rich, Heather and Alana’s Blog

On Wednesday nights throughout the summer, the men and women have been doing separate studies at church. The men are going through a study called “Gleaning from the Greats,” and are studying godly biblical men. The women are going through the Beth Moore study, “A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place.” We are watching the video and breaking into small groups to discuss and apply.

I didn’t know most of the women in my small group, and I’ve only been able to go twice so far, which made our girls night out that much more welcome. I’ve been wanting to get to know them better, but summer is such a crazy time with people’s schedules. Although I still feel that our church is small, when I get in a small group without knowing several people, I realize that we are a growing body! It really has been awesome to watch the church grow from it’s tiny inception to 500-ish people. Compared to my home church in Fort Lauderdale, it still feels really intimate.
Here are some FUN images from our girls evening. Maureen graciously took us out on their pontoon at Lake Ocoee, and I had no idea how much fun we’d have. Unfortunately, Beth and Anne couldn’t make it, so the six of us are below. From top (left to right): Me, Ashley, Maureen, Marilou. From bottom (left to right): Jennifer and Kellie. I rode with Jennifer and Ashley, and very shortly after we got there, Maureen turned the key to start the engine and it actually broke off in the ignition!!! Jennifer and Kellie both put forth valiant efforts in trying to retrieve the key, but to no avail! Maureen’s husband, Clark, had to drive 50 minutes round trip just to get the engine started with a screwdriver! Thank you, Clark! While he was there, we had him take several pictures of our girlie group. He was such a trooper and got this cute shot!

We came across these SUPER fun floating balloon things and just had to play! We swam to the trampoline and made complete fools of ourselves. This is not like a normal tramopline! We couldn’t even stay standing up…we kept falling down because of the movement in the water. Very fun. I’d like to have one of these in my backyard. I had forgotten my suit, so I had to swim in Marilou’s shorts and my tank top Not too comfy once you’re totally soaked.

Then we swam to this large slide thing. We actually had to ascend a climbing wall to get to the top…it was a workout!!! Kellie and I were the first two up, and as we were standing on the top preparing to go down the slide, the entire thing began to topple over! We both realized what was happening, shrieked, and fell the ten or so feet to the water! I can’t remember the details - I was thinking about how my bible study girls would have to tell my husband that I died by falling from a floating balloon thing in the lake and getting trapped underneath with no air to breathe. Okay, that was a SLIGHT embellishment Here are the fun shots of us - this is me about to launch ashley from the balloon thing. (By the way, do these things have names? If no one informs me, I claim the right to continue calling them “balloon things.” Let me know if my technical jargon becomes too lofty for you).

Before…

And after…

Here is the sunset that God gave us as we were on our way back to the marina. It was gorgeous and I got to enjoy it from the tube as I was pulled by the pontoon, with water splashing on me and air blowing on my face. It was simultaneously fun and peaceful. I am thankful for these girls and looking forward to getting to know them better!!!

As most of you know, Rich and I went to the Dominican Republic last year as youth leaders with our youth group. We had an amazing time (ahem…I know that I still need to create the photo gallery from that trip) and made many new friends. Rich and I made the difficult decision not to go this year, yet hopefully we will be able to go again next year (if God opens the door for our team to go again). Sunday morning was the prayer send-off for this year’s team, and it was simultaneously a blessing and a sad realization for Rich and I that we will be missing out.

Kenny shared a bit about biblical compassion, and explained the team’s emphasis on it this year. It’s going to be a great trip and I’m so excited for the youth whose lives will be changed as a result.

Then Valerie got up and shared what God has been doing in her and Brad’s relationship and how it relates to the Dominican trip this year. She told of how they’ve been engaged for quite a while and have been waiting on God’s timing. And of how it’s been so difficult wondering why God was asking them to wait when they wanted to get married so badly. She shared how painful it was putting the brakes on the relationship until God gave the green light. Then she shared the gorgeous story of how God placed it on their hearts to be married next week on the beaches of the Dominican Republic with the youth group and village people and those who live in the dump gathered round to witness the gospel through thier marriage. I already knew much of the story, but still, chills ran down my spine as I sat and listened to how their obedience has come to fruition.

I truly believe that because Brad and Valerie trusted the Lord in the midst of everything, He is going to make an eternal impact through their wedding ceremony. Congratulations, Brad and Valerie, and we will be so sad to miss your Dominican wedding! But we know that God plans to use it mightily in the lives of the people we have grown to love!

Here are a few pictures from Valerie’s shower Monday night! We had a blast…and laughed so much that our faces were hurting. This is Naomi, me, and Steph at the shower. It was so good to see Steph and have a chance to catch up a little, though it wasn’t nearly enough time! I always enjoy talking about life with Steph…she is so wise and understanding. Naomi is a precious friend who I get to see on a regular basis. Her son is little Nathan, who I posted a blog about in June.

Here’s a shot I took of Naomi, Laura, Jennifer, Valerie, and Laura at the shower…

And this is just a great shot of Kelly. Her expressions and mannerisms could literally provide me with hours of entertainment. I think I will call this one “subdued.” Kelly put together an incredible video for Valerie’s shower, and is one of the most talented people I know. She’s got a quick wit, an endless repertoire of songs on hand at all times, and is the most awesome worship leader ever!

Then on Tuesday night I had a crop. Since I became a Creative Memories consultant in March, I’ve been having scrapbooking get-togethers (”crops”) at my house on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of every month. I love it! It is often one of the sweetest times with my girlfriends and my mother in law, and a time set aside to stay current on our album projects. Last night, it was Naomi, Jennifer, Becca, Cemele, my mother-in-law and I. We had a great time scrapbooking and talking (okay, we did more talking than scrapbooking) and we managed to gobble down some homemade chocolate chip cookies while talking about diets and healthy eating what are girlfriends for???

Cami is one of my dearest friends in the whole world, and she recently had a precious baby boy, Max Winston. I wanted to take a few moments to say Congratulations to Cami and her husband Andy!!!

Cami and I met and roomed together in college, and became kindred spirits. She’s the kind of friend a person only comes across a couple of times in a lifetime, and I love her dearly. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding, and got married a week later herself. Everyone who meets Cami loves her, so I thought that all my girlfriends who have met her would enjoy seeing the new little one. Isn’t he amazing???

I love and miss you, Cami! Congraulations on your precious gift from God!

So much for a daily “chronicle” of the trip! Ha! I guess we ended up having too much fun and staying too busy to blog that often! So here are more pictures from our week…

Day Two - We sleep in and my little bro, Shawn, makes a yogurt parfait for Rich and I for breakfast. I think he and mom make them often. He was like a professional…layering the vanilla yogurt, fresh fruit, and granola. Not bad for a 12-year old, eh? Rich was so impressed he took a picture of the one Shawn made for him…

Amber and Jonathan arrive and the whole fam goes to pick them up at the airport. It is GOOD to see them…

Mom and her girls…

Back at the house, dad recruits the guys to help him lay the new mulch around the pool in the backyard. They work hard and then jump in the pool to cool off.

Hanging out at the dinner table. We had the Elliotts over for dinner, so there were too many of us to fit at the dining room table. So, mom added a smaller table next to the main one and Rich and I sat there with Amber and Jonathan. I gave mom a hard time about always putting us at the “kids” table and told her I didn’t think I’d graduate to the “adult table” until I have kids of my own… Oh, well…we have fun at the kids table.

We all get to meet Shawn’s new pet, Freddie, a Chinese Water Dragon. Freddie is very social and we all decide he’s pretty cool. And his colors are awesome…

Amber even put the moves on him…

Day Three - Sunday was a wonderful relaxing day. We went to the 10:00 service at Calvary (I always love being able to choose from 4 weekend services when I am at Calvary Fort Lauderdale) and came home for lunch.

Then we met Papa at Granny Bear’s grave. Amber and I hadn’t been there since the buriel last year, and Papa had since purchased a beautiful memorial stone for her grave. We took a few pictures, as Papa wanted to send some to relatives. It was beautiful, but incredibly sad because Papa is so lonely after 60 years of marraige to her.

On a lighter note, we decided to go to dinner at Olive Garden (one of my favorites) and go see the LONG awaited Superman Movie! For those of you who do not know, my husband is an AVID Superman fan. I think his excitement is completely contagious, so I was really looking forward to it as well. It did NOT disappoint. Great movie. Great acting, great story, great special effects and action sequences. I’m mad that we didn’t take any pictures in front of the Superman poster at the Theater. Oh, well.

Day Four - Amber, Jonathan, Shawn, Rich, and I spent the morning at the beach…

A super cute sibling shot…

Sweethearts…

I’m rather proud of myself for this one…I love the “looking-out-at-the-ocean-unaware-that-a-picture-is-being-taken” feel that it has. Plus, I love the relationship between my brother and husband. They’re my boys.

Then we headed back to the house, showered, and left to spend three days in Orlando. These shots are at the resort where we stayed - it was beautiful, but we didn’t spend much time there at all - we were up early and back late since we were enjoying Disney!

Beautiful palm trees…

Day Five - Rich’s first day at Disneyworld EVER!!!

On the monorail…

At the Magic Kingdom…significant because mom and dad actually met at the Magic Kingdom on a blind date!!! Thier best friends set them up and they figured Disneyworld would be a great place for my parents to be able to get to know each other. It worked

Dad took this one…

Me, Amber, and Shawn at Splash Mountain. We all had an AWESOME morning at the park, getting there when it opened and before it got too busy. We went on Space Mountain twice with NO WAIT and then went on Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain all before 10 AM. Whew!

And for all you Johnny Depp fans (ahem, Amber) here is the new Captain Jack Sparrow “robot” in the Pirates of the Carribbean ride. It closed down for a few weeks and reopened with the new character made famous by the movies.

And here we are with all of our pirate mickey mouse caps…wow…we are goofballs.

Heather at the Castle…

I have no recollection of why we were making these hideous faces…

Since we were at the Magic Kingdom on the Fourth of July, we stayed for the famous fireworks display…none of us had ever been for that. It was pretty amazing, though very brief. The fireworks were shot around the entire perimeter of the park, so you had to turn in circles to see it all. Rich got a couple of gorgeous shots of the display…

Day Six - we spent the day at Animal Kingdom and LOVED the new ride, Expedition Everest. Amazing, fun, fast rollercoaster. Here are some shots of the day…

The “Tree of Life” in the center of the park with very impressive animal carvings all over, and a really fun 3D show inside it

This is the new Expedition Everest ride in the background, and we all loved it. We were able to go on twice…with a much longer wait the second time…

We ate at Rainforest Cafe and thoroughly enjoyed sitting down since our legs were so tired, and being inside in a dark, cool place since we were so hot and getting so much sun outside We ordered a huge mountain of chocolate brownie and ice cream for dessert and it took all 7 of us to eat it. Mmmm…

Day Seven - Dad had to go back to Fort Lauderdale for work and the rest of us stayed and went to Downtown Disney on Thursday. We enjoyed the shopping, food, and of course the Ghirardelli Factory where we all got milkshakes or cones. Shawn got an amazing Cookie Dough Milkshake. We took some really fun pictures that I’ll include below…

We packed up and said goodbye to the beautiful place where we stayed, stopped for bagels and coffee at Dunkin Donuts, and headed for Downtown Disney…

Arriving at Downtown Disney…

In front of the Disney Store with a gigantic “Stich” on top. It’s really fun to watch people walk by and get spit on by Stich as he shoots water out of his mouth…

And my philosophy for shopping is this: if you find something really cute and you decide not to buy it, take a picture of it! Amber and I fell in love with these fat little round guys with stubby arms and legs and decided that we were going to put them on our kids beds when we have kids Here are the cutest little Piglet, Eeyore, Pooh and Tigger that I have ever seen…

We are Disney Princesses…I know, I know, you don’t have to say it, we look just like her

Then we spent some time at Lego World and Rich wanted a picture next to this dude (made entirely of individual lego pieces!). This place is amazing. I didn’t know there were so many legos in the entire world.

I love the way this picture turned out. Rich, Shawn and I all bought a pair of sunglasses so we could be cool like Amber and Jonathan.  Then we decided that we needed a group sunglasses shot…I think we’re stylin’ Notice Mickey Mouse behind the glass also wearing his shades!

We have a couple more pictures to conclude the trip, so we’ll post them soon! We hope you enjoyed going on our vacation with us!