Joel Sent Picture Of Dallas' Blizzard

First they had an ice storm which closed things down and then they had snow in Dallas Texas.  Hummmmm..... Global Warming?

A Weekend Trip to Plano

Ken and I took a quick little trip to Plano to visit our Texas children.

We left on Friday arriving around 5:00 PM.  First of all giving hugs and kisses to our children, then taking the tour of their new home which God has blessed upon them.    This photo is of the back of the house.   On Saturday morning, Ken and Joel did some little projects.One of which was hanging a gate in the back yard.

Jennifer had an appointment on Saturday morning so we watched Blakely.

Below you will see little Blakely playing her little piano which she inherited from Sydney.

We got to see how Sophie is growing.  Sophie and Nigel are great friends.  Nigel tolerates her puppy hyperactivity.

Saturday evening, Joel had a Black Belt testing for his 6th degree black belt.   Could not get very good photos because of the movement and distance but all of us were there to support his testing.

Three Beautiful Ladies

Joel was testing for his 6th degree Black Belt.......which he now has. His ladies went to support and cheer for him during the testing.

A Son Who Never Gives Up

Joel ran a 26.2 Marathon today with no one there cheering him on.   Everyone who trained with him, got injured.              He said he ran it in 3 hours 55 minutes -- the winner from Kenya who ran (barefoot?) finished in 2 hours.     He reports that the first 20 miles he felt great.  Then, at mile 23 he  what runners call  "hit the wall' and thought he was going to die.   "I wanted to quit so bad but I knew I would not quit."   somewhere around mile 25 he recovered and finished the race.  For the next four hours he was so sick, it felt like food poisening.       What a fighter you are, Joel!   That bulldog determination has to come from God.

Our Dallas Run over the Weekend

We made a quick trip to Dallas This weekend to see our Texas children.  Look at this 5 1/2 month old, 17 1/2 pound bundle of joy, Blakely.  You can not believe how many kisses she gets in a day.  First there are Mommy kisses and then Daddy kisses.   The third photo is Papa waiting on Sunday morning to go to church.  He and the girls are ready to go so they sit in the livingroom and laugh and tease.   You can see that we took Lily and Rosie with us.    We love visiting Covenant Church in Carrollton Texas.  Their praise and worship is so uplifting.   Of course the teaching is wonderful as well.         The grandkids blog will tell the children's  story.   And look at our beautiful Scrivner family at their front door telling us good by.    We love those kids and don't get to see them nearly enough.

Blakely O'Neal Scrivner

• Blakely was born while we were in Salou, Spain. We were sitting in a British Pub eating fish, chips and mushy peas when the news arrived, April 28, 2009. We still have not seen her in person. Perhaps can visit this weekend. Joel said she looks exactly like Sydney did when she was born. Doesn't Big sister look proud! In the lower left corner are Jennifer parents, Diana and Charlie Duty.

Trip to Dallas

We made a quick trip to Dallas to see Joel, Jennifer and Sydney. We were hoping we might also be introduced to Blakely but we only met her still growing inside Mommy. It was a great trip and wonderful to see our children as well as visit Covenant Church. Sunday morning we visited the youth group called legendary with our son, Pastor Joel. We loved their praise and worship, the preaching on friendship and how the young people shared that friendship in small groups at the end.
Covenant Church is unique in many ways. It is the most 'International' church I have visited. The choir alone represents 52 different nationalities. I love their music and their teaching. Being a Dallas Church, the adult services are much more sophisticated -- in decor, rituals, dress. It reminds me when I was a child and my mother also insisted that you act your best and dress your best in God's House. Even though I would not want to live in Dallas, it is nice to visit. Of course it is very special since we have children there.
The Blue Bonnets were in full bloom so before we left to come home, we visited a field for some photos.
Oh, I forgot to mention that on Saturday evening, we ate Ethiopian food at the Queen of Sheba .. yummy, spicy.