HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving!!! 

We all have so much to be thankful for, first and foremost our Savior Jesus Christ.  By His redemptive blood He has made a way for us to be freed from our sins and will be able to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. 

God has been so gracious to Daniel and I over the last 6.5 years.  We both have great jobs, Daniel has had a wonderful opportunity to attend school at Auburn University, we live in a great town, and have a wonderful family.  And yet we are super thankful for the opportunity for our family to grow in the next year!

I pray everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with their families and remember to be thankful for all you have!

Our Summer Disney Vacation

This is better late than never:

Back in February, Daniel and I decided we wanted to go to Disney again.  We knew our friends the Morgan’s had talked about Disney, so at lunch one Sunday afternoon we mentioned going on a summer trip.  By the next day we had our trip planned, the week picked out, and reservations in the process - July was a long way away! 

We hit the road on Saturday July 20^th at lunch time.  We arrived at Port Orleans Riverside in time to go to unpack and head to Downtown Disney after supper at the hotel!  Downtown Disney was really crowded, so we didn't stay for long. 

On Sunday we went to Universal Studios and visited both parks.  Some other friends , Brian and Mary Grace West, met us for the day as well.  It was great seeing them, and we enjoyed all of the Harry Potter rides and worlds. Of course we needed a picture of us all in "London"!

We attempted to plan our days at Disney based on the “least busy” days that I found on some different blogs, however in the summer they are all busy! We did plan our fast passes well and rarely waited longer than 30 minutes for a ride – which is awesome when it is 95 degrees and 100% humidity. 

Monday was Epcot!  We rode several rides including Mission Space, Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, Nemo, Living with the Land, and Maelstrom.  We went back to the room after lunch to rest and get ready for our dinner reservations.  (This is a huge advantage to staying on site; it is so easy to go back to the room!)  We had dinner reservations at La Cellier that night, so we were a little dressed up and I decided to leave my backpack at the room that had our rain gear.   It rained – for SEVERAL HOURS!  By the time we got to dinner we were pretty soaked.  Dinner was delicious and we walked around hoping to see Illuminations, however due to the continued rain they cancelled the show.  Despite being wet, it was a lot of fun!

Tuesday we headed over to Magic Kingdom!  One of my favorites!  There are so many rides, that you really need two days!  I cannot even name all that we rode, however I made sure we had fast passes to ride the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Coaster!  It was awesome, and we skipped the wait of more than 70 minutes! We had lunch in the Beast’s castle – we ate in the West Wing.  They have done an incredible job of making it look like the movie – and the “Grey Stuff Cupcake” is deliciousJ.  Again we played our fast passes well, went back to the room and got some rest, then rode more rides that night.  We stayed and watched the fireworks, which are always awesome! 

Riding the rides!

 Braving the rain back that night at Magic Kingdom!

 Lunch in The Beast's Castle

 Why yes I would love two giant chocolate chip cookies with butter pecan ice cream in the middle!

Wednesday we took a break from the Disney side and headed over to SeaWorld!  I love to go see all of the animals.  It has changed A LOT since Daniel and I went on our honeymoon 6 years ago!  Marianne, Jeremy, and Daniel rode the roller coasters and we watched several of the shows.  My favorite is the Dolphin show J they are so incredibly smart!  Wednesday night was set aside as date night – we went our separate ways and enjoyed dinner with our husbands.  Daniel and I went to the Raglan Road Irish Bred Pub in Downtown Disney.  We both had fish n chips – something we love from our trip to London!

Thursday we went to Animal Kingdom – which is my favorite!  Let me just say this – you would think it would be cooler because of all the shade – WRONG!!!  The shade prevented any breezes, and all of the water made it more humid than the already 100% of the everyday Florida forecast!  We were glad we got there early and did all we wanted to do before lunch, because after lunch it stormed and they shut down rides.  We also had gone first thing in the morning on the Safari; this is my favorite thing in all of the Disney parks!  We decided to call it early and go rest.  We went our own ways for dinner that night at Epcot, and then met up to watch Illuminations!

Friday – our last day at the parks – was spent at Hollywood Studios.  I am still getting used to calling it that, because the first time I ever went to Disney World (13 years ago) it was still MGM Studios!  Marianne, Jeremy, and Daniel headed straight for Tower of Terror and Rockin’ Roller Coaster – I just waitedJ.  We road several other rides and watched shows.  Then we had lunch plans at Mama Melrose’s it was delicious!

 Olaf fans at the gate!!

 Daniel smoked me on the Toy Story Ride!

We had an incredible vacation – thankful we were able to share it with friends! I cannot wait to go back! I LOVE DISNEY WORLD!!! 

September....and the beginning of October

September…. That means that August has come and gone already.  That also means that school has started back, hence the lack in blog posting.  I have been working on our Disney trip blog, but I haven’t finished it yet, so it will have to come later and out of order. 

School has hit the ground running and keeps me busy most days; Daniel has stayed pretty busy with work as well and has already made a trip to Washington this semester.  School and work are going well, but they are busy.  We have been to several of my students sporting events - volleyball and football!  We are also spending our Saturdays cheering on our Auburn Tigers - from our couch :).  We always have and eat way too much tailgate food - but it is SOOO good!

Rachel and Mary Margaret came to stay the weekend with me while the boys went to a Brave's game!  We had so much fun playing and exploring downtown Auburn! 

We have several 1^st birthday parties to attend over the next several months for our nieces and nephews!  They will all be so much fun!  We are also waiting the arrival of Anna Catherine – our newest niece!  I have had some time to do some more sewing and am working on Anna Catherine Snipes quilt!  Pictures to come when it is finished!

October … Well I started writing the above in September, and now it is October! Yikes … I am not good at blogging often! 

We are looking forward to the cooler weather in Auburn!!! I am ready for boots, sweaters, and blankets! This is a busy time of year with all of the holidays coming up, but it is my favorite! Hopefully I will have some birthday photos to add soon! 

OOOO... my sweet friends the Haslips got to meet their baby boy yesterday!  They are adopting :)  There are so many babies in this world that need a sweet mommy and daddy!  Please pray for him - he is premature and still in the hospital, but doing well.  Pray for all three as they adjust to being a new family!  

July 2 - Last Ministry Day in London

Richmond Street - is what it sounds like!  A lot of expensive places to live, places to shop, and people in a big hurry to get somewhere.  Our ministry at Richmond street was a little different.  We were still on the streets, but instead of just telling testimonies and illustrative messages, there were stories being told in conjunction with painting pictures:

Each painting was a different way to tell the gospel - very similar to the illustrative messages.  There were testimonies that went with the different stories as well.  Daniel was able to relate his testimony to unfinished business in life with unfinished business with God.  I was at a free book table when a woman walked up to look at the books.  I asked her how she was and told her they were free, she then asked me about one of the short story authors in the book.  It was not someone I had heard of, then she mentioned that she had heard him speak at an event that she had attended.  I asked if she was a believer in Christ and she said YES!  She then told me that she was a former Sikh (pronounced SEEK).  She has been a Christian for 5 years!  Her husband was talking to one of our other guys!  This is awesome that they are believers!

After a couple of hours of messages and sharing with others around the Richmond Street we went to the Richmond Street Park.  We were told there were really big deer in this park, you decide what you think:

We explained to our London friends that these deer would be prized trophies in America because of how big they were and how many antler points they had :).  We had to walk up a giant hill to get to them - I did not think I was gonna make it!  But it was worth it to see the deer!

That night we helped at a youth event at South Hanwell Baptist.  There are not many youth that attend the church so this was a big outreach for them.  They played messy games, ate burgers, and had some time sharing testimonies and the Gospel.  Daniel shared his testimony with the youth and about how he struggled with assurance and later a parent came up and told him that he was just talking to his son about that - God is so good to give us the right words to share for His glory.  I helped the girls in the kitchen cooking, serving, and cleaning!  Then we sat around and talked to the youth!  They love to hear about America and it is fun to tell them about our country.  I spend all day with 8th graders, and youth have a special place in my heart, so it was a great to get to spend time with the South Hanwell Youth!

July 3 - Flight Home
I managed to stay awake for all but 30 minutes of our almost 9 hour flight home! YAY! which meant I was able to sleep all night in my own bed, even though my brain was still on London time!  We are thankful for a safe trip and for the opportunity to serve God and share his love with the people in London.  Please remember to pray for them and for those who are sharing God's love every day in London.
Thank you for your prayers and support for us as we traveled!

July 1 - The Bible in the British Museum

On Tuesday we had the opportunity to visit the British Museum and get a first hand tour.  The tour was seeing the Bible in the artifacts that the British Museum has collected.  We were not able to see EVERYTHING in the museum, but what we saw was awesome!  The British Museum is proving the Bible correct!  I have a book if anyone would like to look at it, that connects the artifacts stories and the Bible stories.  Here are some of the references and stories:

1 Kings 22 

2 Kings 9 and 10

Replica of the gate shown below that would have been an entrance into a city.

1 Kings 22 and 2 Kings 9 and 10 

 Gate Piece  

The Rosetta Stone:

It is significant because it was the first writings that helped us translate Egyptian Hieroglyphics. 

Tarharqa

The only document that mentioned Tarharqa was the Bible, until we were able to read the Hieroglyphics on the statue above - supporting the Bibles documentation that he was not a mythical king!  He was the ruler of the Cushites.

2 Kings 19:9 and Isaiah 37:9

Armana Tablets

During the time of Joshua!

Joshua 12:9-24 

The British Museum is a secular institution, that has started to claim that the Bible is indeed true.  The more they discover the more they prove the Bible to be accurate and real, as seen in the plaque above that was posted in 2009!

The British Library

After visiting the Museum and Library, we traveled over the Tower of London.  It was too late in the day to explore inside, so we opted to try that next time.  Here are a few pictures from the outside:

The bottom left picture is of Traitors Gate - If you were sentenced to death they brought you in on a boat through this gate!

We then walked across the Tower Bridge!  I have now walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and the Tower Bridge - in the words of Greg Key "All that's left is the Golden Gate Bridge".  Here are some pictures from the Bridge! 

 

Once across the bridge, we walked along side the Thames River until we got to a pedestrians only bridge that crossed back over the Thames River right in front of St. Paul's Cathedral!  It was BEAUTIFUL!!! 

 

We found a really nice little Fish and Chips (Fries) restaurant around the corner from St. Paul's Cathedral where we ate supper!  It was really yummy!