Time to Fly

Leaving On a Jet Plane

As I write this I can't wrap my brain around the fact that come this time tomorrow I will be somewhere in the air headed toward London. I am flooded with emotions, but mostly I am just excited and of course a little nervous about leaving my three precious children. Of course I know they will be in good hands as my mom will be keeping them part of the time and Jeremy took a shift off, so being a firefighter that means he will get to be with them for 5 days straight. But since my kids are still 7, 5 and 2 that makes it a little more difficult for me and for them. Also, since I am a stay at home mom who also homeschools, I think that just adds to the difficulty level of being away for so long! 

We tried to make it a fun week for them to have a lot of fun memories before I left. So we had a swim day, a day with the boys at Six Flags, a splash day at our church, a day where we painted ceramics at a local ceramics place called Creative hands, and we even sqeezed in a play date. Here is a photo of me and my favorite boys (my dad included) enjoying special time at Six Flags last week. This was right before Jadon got to go on the Giant for the first time.

Here is one of me with my kids during our pool time day.  Thanks to my friend Stephanie we got to spend the day at her neighborhood pool!

Today we spent most of the day getting last minute errands done and I think it really started to hit the boys that I am leaving, especially Jadon. Tonite when we were by ourselves he asked me what happens if I don't come back home? That's when it hit me that he is young enough to be very sad that I am gone, but old enough to realize the dangers of it. So after we read through Psalm 91, I think we both felt a little better. 

Here is one more photo of my sweet Kailey Girl, AKA Ladybug, trying to help me pack yesterday. She kept saying, "I go to Ak-rik-kah too Mama!!" See why its going to be so hard to leave her tomorrow?? I know I will be crying!!

I tried to get the kids involved in getting ready for our mission trip and feeling like they were helping also. So we decided to get the kids to go through their candy stash and pick out some to give to the kids. There will be about 50 kids there at the VBS, and the church is bringing some suckers to give out. But I asked if it would be helpful to bring extra candy and they said the kids would absolutely love it. 


So here are the kids putting their candy in a bag for me to take over there to them. 

They really got into it and in fact, I think Reece pretty much got rid of all of his candy. He really has such a compassionate heart for others. Then they both gave me more money to buy another bag of suckers for them. I can't wait to show them photos of the kids getting the candy!

The Coach fundraiser

I wanted to write a quick update before I headed out about our last fundraser we had. I also wanted to be sure to thank everyone who supported us. Some of you even sent money in and didn't want a part of the drawing. So for that, we are so very grateful.

As most of you know, we had two Coach purses donated to us and we were putting people's names on a raffle ticket for every $20 they donated. We had the drawing yesterday, July 31. 

I tried to post a video of us having the kids draw the names out, just in case any of you think we just picked out our favorite two people. Just kidding. Anyway, I can't get it to work so a photo will have to do. 

So the winners we drew (well Jadon did the drawing so as not to be biased) were Sarah Franklin and Carissa Doigg. Sarah goes to church with us and Carissa is the wife of one of Jeremy's fellow firefighters. Thanks so much for everyone who donated and helped support our cause. We wouldn't be able to go on this trip without you, so thanks again!!

 Anyway, we ended up selling 54 tickets for the drawing for the Coach purses, so that is $1,080 we raised. In addition, we had several people who donated additional money and didn't want to be a part of the raffle, so I don't have the exact amount, but it was somewhere all together about $1300 more we raised for our mission trip!! In total with all of the fundraisers, because I was helping my sister raise money for her trip, we ended up raising more than $5200 total for both of our trips. We are just so thrilled and in awe of everything God has done for us!!

And again, we are so thankful for all of the support we have received from our friends. (Also, I am so thankful for all of the support I have received from my husband to be able to do this and leave for so long!) I think I still owe about $900 left for my trip and sister around $2,000, but the church may kick in some and we may continue to pay some when we return. We aren't really sure yet about all the details. All we know is God is in control and we are getting on the plane tomorrow!!

Prayers, Prayers, Prayers

So please be praying for our entire team, for safe, uneventful travel and that we would be able to show these kids God's love. Also please be praying for my family and for peace for me in being able to leave them with Daddy and Grandma. Thanks again and be watching for updates as I let you know how our adventure turns out!!

I will leave you with just a portion of Psalm 91 that is giving me peace tonight about the unknown I will face this week. 

"Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord, He alone is my refuge, my place of safety. He is my God and I trust Him!" Psalm 91:1-2 NLT