The Blessings Of Family and Friends

We have had a very interesting week. I had said in a previous post that this week was going to be busy, but not quite as busy as last week....boy was I wrong! This week has taken us on a crazy roller coaster ride. Speaking of roller coasters, our church is winding up it's VBS tomorrow and the theme has been centered around an amusement park. I have been helping to lead a group of about 18 kindergartners and we have had a great time. I feel so privileged to be a tiny part of showing these young kids who Jesus is and what He has done for all of us. It is so fun to see the light bulb moment on their faces when they really understand what is being taught. It's also funny to see how much the language of "candy" speaks to them. We did numerous illustrations, but the ones that involved candy really "stuck with them". You kind of forget how important candy is at that age.

I have also had the tremendous blessing of having family here with us this week. My mother in law has been here since last Monday and then my husband's cousin and her husband as well as their 3 kiddos came to stay with us Monday - Wednesday, and we also had my husbands sister and her 2 kiddos here on Tuesday evening. That makes 13 in all. My husband and I have had to make some very hard life decisions this week and I was so blessed to come home to a house full of relatives that were ready with prayers, hugs, and great words of encouragement and love. What a blessing it is to have family and friends that are lifting you up in prayer, especially during the difficult times.

The sleeping situation was a little bit interesting on Tuesday night as we were out of beds to set everyone up in. So, the kids begged to sleep on the trampoline that night. They had a blast! How fun to say that they spent the night on the trampoline. They all ended up sleeping somewhere in the house by the next morning. The first one crept in around 3:00am and they all followed , in about 1/2 increments until the last one came in around 4:30am. I don't think they got much sleep, but it was a memory made.

On Tuesday everyone packed up and went down to the water park to play. They had a really great time. This is a video of my brave daughter trying out the boogie board.

This is my husband's cousin trying surfing.

I was joking around with her saying that we should have a contest to see who stayed up the longest, my husband or her. So, if you have a vote, write a comment and we will see who the winner is. I think my vote is for her. She does get a prize however, because she hurt her shoulder when she fell.

The last pictures are of our cute cousins! We love them so much!

I am so thankful for our family and friends that have encouraged us this week. Thank you so much if you were one of those that were praying for us, calling to check on us, or just being there to encourage us. We really needed that and I am truly humbled by how incredibly blessed we are to have such amazing family and friends!