River Walk and Alamo

We are on Spring Break and we headed south to San Antonio. We left Missouri and it was only in the 30's. It was about 75 here today. It was a little overcast so we decided to do the River Walk and Alamo today. Let me tell you the WALK part is not an exaggeration. I think that's all we did today :0) First of all we saved $10 by not parking close. I think we parked a half a state away which was fine going in, but when we're all ready to go it seemed like it took forever to get to our car.

We finally figured out that the Riverwalk was down a level from the street so we got down there and it was all restaurants. We were sort of looking for shops (for Kayla). We walked all up and down and smelled all the wonderful smells. We finally decided to go in one place but it was a 45 minute wait. I remembered a McDonald's up on the top level so we went up there and had instant gratification and it was a lot easier on the wallet.

Then we finally figured out where the shops were! They conceal stuff so well. We went into what looked like a small shopping mall, but when you went in there it went on forever and guess what? The River Walk went right past it. We were so close!

Then we visited the Alamo. Ryan was not impressed. We will always remember the Alamo because he had had enough. We got him settled in time to go in. Then we found a spot to sit and while Jim and Noelle went into a Bowie knife museum.

We made it home with a few sore feet (yeah, all but Jim and Joel wore flip flops) and a few hungry tummies but we got that solved. Now we're just sitting around watching TV and trying to get the little ones to bed. Tomorrow is Sea World!

Until The Next Grand Adventure,

Yvonne and crew

Memory WORK

The teens are studying the book of Philippians for their youth group time on Wednesday nights. Last week the speaker challenged the kids to memorize the book (yes, I did say the BOOK) before the next youth group time (last night). Kayla took up the challenge, but couldn't get started until Friday. She actually studied all the way up to Kansas City for their guard competition.

Joel was in his group and the subject came up about the challenge. He told them that he thought his sister had it. They ran to get her and she sat in a room of her peers and adults and started in. She quoted the entire book of Philippians all up until the last five verses which she hadn't had time to do. I wish I could have been there. I've had adults today calling me to tell me that it was so incredible.

She was so excited to know that she could do something that huge. She plans on finishing it out on Sunday for the group. She said she reached a point where she had gone so far that there was no turning back. She was determined to finish it. We've encouraged her to keep going on with another book. She wants to go to the mission field and there's no guarantee that the Bible will always be there. Even in our own country today we don't have that guarantee. We're just so proud of her that we had to share!

Angie's birthday pictures will be coming. We're celebrating tonight since her birthday fell on a Wednesday. She did get to take treats to church and school and Jim brought McDonald's for her lunch and ate with her. That was a fun surprise for her.

Until the next grand adventure,
Yvonne and crew

Winter Guard

I had the great fun of going along with Kayla's winter guard flag corp to their regional competition. We left on Friday at 5:00 to drive up to Kansas City on a school bus (now there's an adventure for you!)

We had reservations for 8:00 at a downtown Italian restaurant. By the time we got there we were all famished. It tasted good even if I'm not a big Italian food fan. Kayla, on the other hand is so she loved it. The bus ride from the restaurant to our sleeping area was interesting. The bus driver blared oldies music and the girls sang at the top of their lungs. They were pretty funny.

Our next stop was a high school where we bedded down for the night in their band room. Oh, I am soooo thankful for air mattresses! Some of the girls slept on the cement floor. The next morning the mom's got breakfast ready for the girls and then the went to practice for a couple of hours. We were able to go in at the last of their practice and watch. I was able to snap one good picture. It's really hard to get a picture when in a gymnasium. The lighting is horrible. During the real competition there is to be no photography or videoing of any kind so this is what I could get.

We loaded the bus right before noon and went about 20 miles to the school where the regional competition was being held. The mom duties were over so we got to go in and watch the competition. Some performance took your breath away and some made you cringe (because they were morbid...I can't even imagine having that to practice at least twice a week!). The girls' show is very cute and upbeat. They had some drops on their spins so we were unsure if they'd make finals. They did! Their second time through their show was amazing! They only dropped a couple of times and they hit all of the other stuff. It looks so cool when they all toss into the air and it snaps into their hands at the same time!

They made finals and when all was said and done they placed 7th out of about 32 teams. We were all so proud of them! There was more singing on the bus afterwards of course! We arrived back in Webb City last night at 12:45. I'm dragging today, but it was so worth it to see her perform.

On a side note, please pray for their band instructor's husband (different lady than their color guard instructor). He was roofing and fell 17 feet and landed on his head. He is bleeding in about 20 different places in his brain. He's under heavy sedation to keep him still. God is amazing and does amazing healing just as in Jim's case. This man's name is Wade Williams. Please feel free to put him on your prayer chains. It just reminds us so much of what we went through with Jim.

Until the next grand adventure,

Yvonne and crew