Butler's Orchard!

On Tuesday, myself and two other PC wives took all of our kids to this great place out here called Butler's Orchard. It is this great, cute, quaint farm about 15 minutes from here that has all kinds of fruit picking, seasonal activities, and this great barn where you can purchase all kinds of fresh produce, baked goods, gifts, and other misc. things. We specifically went for the blackberry and raspberry picking. Both girls totally got into it! You are allowed to eat right off of the plants and then you purchase what you bag. So I bagged and the girls ate! Well technically I ate my fair share too! We were out there for a couple of hours and I came home with 3 Ziploc bags of blackberries and a carton of raspberries. Apple picking starts in September and then pumpkins! I am so excited!

Josh and Amanda Jordan are attending the PC this year from Texas and they have a 3-year-old girl, Sydney, and an almost 2-year-old boy, Noah.  They are also expecting a third child in December.  They are in our care group and our fellowship group (like an accountability group) and are staying in a home pretty close to ours.  We are really excited to get to know them as a couple and as families.  Their kids are precious and are the same ages as ours.  I think you will see lots of pictures of them!  Here is Abby with Sydney and Noah.

This is Shari Schiel, also from Texas, and she is a super outgoing, real, relatable, joyful, homeschooling mom.  Her and her husband Darrel are also in our care group and are the closest in proximity to us.  Darrel has been kind enough to pick Jason up in the mornings and bring him home.  That means I have the car and can do all of these fun things with the kids.  Thanks Darrel!  They have 4 beautiful, sweet, respectful, and obedient children.  The youngest is only a year older than Abby.  Shari is all about field trips this year and I am going to try and tag along to as many as she will let me!  Doesn't she just look happy?!
This is Trinity their 4-year-old.  (with Abby and Katie of course!)
Okay, so let's just say that Katie, once freed form her stroller, totally got into this berry picking thing!  She gradually got more and more stained until we were rolling in laughter!  Look at her pants!  Isn't that hysterical?


Another great family here is the Slack family from NY.  They sent two of their daughters with the Schiel family and they were so helpful.  I just love these girls that have such sweet character!  They are respectful, quick to help, quick to serve, joyful, and so gentle and kind with little kids.  They have been trained so well!  There are several similar families back home and I am humbled and desirous to be a mom like these moms!  This is Brooke.  Katie just loved her and her sister.
They also had a flower garden there.  You pick a whole bunch of flowers for $8.  I decided to be frugal and just look and take pictures.  And yet, Shari brought me a bouquet of gorgeous flowers that night for my birthday!  What a sweet thought!

This is Mariah Slack.  She hung around with me the whole time and took care of Katie.  She showed her how to eat the berries and helped her walk down the rows.  What a mature sweet girl!  I keep using the word "sweet", but it just seems to fit!
This is Amanda, the first mom that I mentioned.  We are excited to build a unique friendship with them this year!
So that was our day at Butler's Orchard!  New friends and a whole lot of fun!  I am sure you will see this place again soon!

Cute Abby Quote For The Day!

Jason was leaving to go study.
Abby: I am going to go with you Daddy!
Jason: No sweetie. Daddy has to go to school. This school isn't for Abby, or Katie, or Mommy. Just Daddy.
Abby: Okay, well how about you be the Abby and I will be the Daddy and go to school?

What do you say to that? :)

National Smithsonian Zoological Park

Now that is a name for a zoo!  I love having a zoo membership back home.  A great outing to get out of the house, burns off energy, lasts a long time, kids love the animals, educational, and so on.  So I am hoping to continue the fun out here!  And by the way, could it be cooler that for a year like this, I get to be right outside of DC!  TONS of stuff to go see and do and, get this, it is all free!  The only issue to figure out... getting there.  I wasn't sure if my Cadillac of a double stroller was going to fit on the Metro.  I certainly wasn't going to expect Abby to walk around zoos, museums, and parks.  One of the first things I wanted to do when we got here was try it out.  Especially before school started so that I could have Jason's help and preferably when my parents were here so that I could have their help.  So last Saturday, we packed up and headed for the Zoo.  The Metro was so easy!  I was thrilled!  The Metro station is really close to where we are, the parking was easy, and we utilized all of the handicap accessibility benefits.  Plus there was plenty of room for my big stroller.  I am excited to see what adventures the girls and I will have this year!

The girl's first Metro ride!

So, adventure #1, the Zoo.  This Zoo was huge!  I don't think we saw half of it.  I have been prepping Abby for the Panda Bear exhibit, so she was pretty excited.  When we got there, the Panda Bears were taking naps.  Abby was glued to the exterior fence, saying over and over, "Mommy, I can't see his face!  Where is his face!"  Finally, one rolled over and she got a brief glimpse.  

Have you ever heard of a Red Panda? It looked like a cross between a Panda's face and a huge Racoon's body, and it was red. Can you see it in that little window?

The other really cool exhibit we saw that day was the 5 BIG Gorillas! It was kind of freaky to be so close to those animals! I just kind of looked at them and thought, "You are really smart, really big, really strong, and really wild!" There were some people there that were sadly taunting them. But it was crazy to see them respond and beat their chests and clap their hands in anger. Abby again was totally engaged!

Do you see the electrical fence around the perimeter?

I love this set of pictures. Abby was really into the gorillas and wanted me to be constantly looking as well. When I tried to take her picture she would emphatically say, "Mom, Look!" So here was how it went...
Me: "Abby, say cheese!" Abby: "Mom, Look."

Me: "Abby, say cheese!" Abby: "No, Mom, Look!"

Me: "Abby, say cheese!" Abby: While grabbing for the camera, "MOM LOOK!"

I am glad she is so into it!
Then there was the Komodo Dragon! This thing was also cool, also scary! It's cage is pretty small so you get pretty close to him. It was sitting perfectly still when we walked up. Jason was holding Abby, Katie was in the stroller. And there were lots of people there. After a couple of minutes, he looked right at Katie and walked right at her! I am not even kidding, it was like he realized that she was just the right meal size compared to us all! It even freaked Katie out and she started screaming! Crazy huh! The pictures don't do it justice but we tried to catch his direct route!



And then there was the butterfly pavilion! How can you ever take a butterfly pavilion seriously again after that Brian Reagan act?

And we can't forget about Katie! Everything to her was, "Dog! Dog!" Even the giant orangutans in the sky!





And THANKS to Mom for pushing the stroller the whole time! That was a nice change!

And there is our day at the Zoo!

Week #1 Update

As I sit here tonight it has officially been one week in Maryland! My parents left Monday and we are beginning to get settled into life. We love our apartment, we love our host family, and we are itching for everything to begin! Thankfully this week we had several opportunities to begin building with people and get a taste for how things will be. Here is the run down...

On Monday, our host family invited us "up" for dinner when the whole gang showed up. What a sweet family! All of their kids are our age with some grand kids the same age as Abby and Katie. The girls had so much fun running around and playing with them. Even just a week of not being home with their cousins and their little friends has made them itch for some playmates!

On Tuesday, one of the PC couples invited us over for dinner. We had a great time! The kids were a little crazy, of course :), but then we put them to bed and had a great time laughing and getting to know each other. Get this, they have 3 boys, the oldest will be two in September and then they have 4 month twins! Now that is having your hands full! She was amazing too! I didn't see her complain or get flustered once! And she is so excited to be here, even though she left all of her family and support back home! Oh, there will be so many people to learn from this year!

I know! I missed the pictures of all the kids! But this is Aaron and Crystal! Thanks for having us over!

On Wednesday, all of the PC guys went out for a long 3 hour lunch. They had a great time and Jason is definitely excited about the dynamic of this class.

Today, I was super excited to go to the Dustin's home (Chris and Tara's host family) for the PC Wives Luncheon. I am still pinching myself that we are here and that we get to sit under Gary and Betsy Ricucci and Jeff and Julie Purswell. Today Betsy and Julie were so approachable, so kind, so purposeful in communicating care. I can't wait to learn as much as I can from them! I also had the chance to have several conversations with several of the wives. I too am excited about the dynamic of this group and how eager everyone is to build into each other! Some of them have really cool stories that I would love to share with you all at some point.  

This is Betsy!  I can't wait to tell you all that I learn from her!
Look Tara!  I gave her a big hug for you!  We hope to spend some time with the Dustins too!
More Thoughts This Week

Running: So I ran out here for the first time yesterday. The Bad Part: First, don't ever take a month off, because it hurts, really bad! Second, did y'all know they had hills out here? Those hurt too! The Good Part: The weather rocks! Oh, to run in cool weather again!
Directions Anyone?: First of all, those pilgrims certainly had no idea about city planning and road construction! I miss our grid system. The roads out here are all twisty and curvy and have no consistency in distance. I have no shot at deciphering N,S,E,W nor can I even tell how far a mile is! I am bound to get lost on many occasions I am sure! But so far I know how to get to the church, the grocery store, the Metro, and to Target. All essentials right!
Our Church Home: So we went to Covenant Life on Sunday. It was definitely great! Great worship, great sermon, great community. But I have to say, we missed our church back home! I really did! Part of me really just wanted to be with OUR church family! I was reminded again of this when we were having dinner last Tuesday with our new friends. We were asking about each others' churches and Aaron asked us, "If you could go to any church, which one would you go to?" The question caught me off guard. I have never been asked that question. I really stopped to think about it. Would I be a member of Covenant Life? Of Bethlehem Baptist? Even of the old EVBCT? No, not at all, I would be right where I am. Right where God has called us, Sovereign Grace in Gilbert, AZ. The dearest place on Earth!
We love and miss you all!

We are here!

Whew! Has it been a crazy couple of weeks! But we are here and loving it! There are about 10 posts that I want to write about the past few weeks, but first I wanted to say, HERE WE ARE! Jason left last Sunday after church with our good friend Chris to trek across the country in our minivan. They had a great time and I am sure he will post about all their adventures! The girls and I stayed home to finish up "a few things" and fly out the following Thursday with my parents to meet Jason in MD. I do have to say that the "few things" ended up being about 10 times more than what I thought and there were several people that I could not have done it without! Both my parents and Jason's mom helped to clean the house and get it ready for our renters to move in. This is what I needed the most! Thank You! Tara stayed with me for two nights and was a huge help with cleaning, kid maintaining and overall sanity. Thanks Tara! Aunt Jessica, as she has done many times before, watched the girls so that we could clean and pack without distraction. Thank you over and over again! So when all was said and done, my parents, the girls and I boarded a plane and, with much anticipation, headed for Maryland!

So I am posting without the pictures that I know y'all want to see! I promise, at some point, I will post pictures of our apartment and our host family. Our host family is fantastic! Scott and Kathy have all grown children and are about to have their 6th and 7th grand children. They have put so much work into creating a beautiful and functional place for us. We had asked if they could help us find a few items of furniture so that we did not have to move our furniture with us. In a couple of months they have completely furnished the entire apartment with all that we needed! Including a fully functional kitchen! What a blessing! Even as we are here they are continuing to add special touches like exterior lights for us, painting the steps, fixing the gate, providing us with our own trash can and mail box, chairs and tables for the kids, and the list goes on! I am starting to feel a little spoiled! The best part is that you can tell that they enjoy it because they understand that ultimately they are serving their Savior! What an amazing example! I am excited to learn from them!

In addition, my parents have been so generous in helping us get set up. We have spent the last couple of days making Target and Costco runs and unpacking. They have been so helpful! I am so thankful for you both and how you uniquely care for me and my family. You are so generous with all that you have! Thank you for making the transition between AZ and MD all that much easier!

Well, here is to a very special year! I can't wait to experience it and to come to know my amazing Savior more and more deeply!

Happy Birthday Jessica and Jordan!

We had a birthday bash last week for Aunt Jessica and their cousin Jordan. Jordan is a few weeks younger than Abby and they are two cute kids. They love each other! If Abby could, she would go to their house everyday! They are like two little best friends! I love it! Happy 3rd Birthday Jordan! And Happy Birthday to you Jess!

Cousin Josh

My sister's eldest son is all grown-up and lives on his own. So sad! Just another example of how time flies! I am not really sure where high school went. It feels like he should still be in little league! Anyways... the other day he called out of the blue and asked to come over and play with the girls. It was so sweet! Katie was sleeping but Abby had a ton of fun!