Operation: Asa Joy

February 28, 2015 Carl and I decided to take the kids to Jamestown and Yorktown today. We did not want to pay all the money to go to the settlements so we just went to the National Park section of each one. Since we have the military national park pass we got in free both places. Before we went to Jamestown, we decided to treat the kids to a nice breakfast. When we pulled into town last night we laughed at a restaurant called The Astronomical Pancake House. We all expressed a desire to see if the pancakes were really big or not. We packed lunch before we left this morning and then we went out to breakfast. The pancakes definitely lived up to their name. They were HUGE! Alex and William split something called the Chocolate Insanity. Imagine chocolate chip pancakes topped with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and covered in chocolate syrup and pecans. Wow! I did not get to try any. I had the blueberry pancakes with Carl. Esther spilt regular chocolate chip pancakes with Tirz...

Finally left the Picture Lake Campground after 12 days and two snow storms and no internet for 2 weeks. It was not my favorite campground. They did have nice showers though. I much prefer space between sites. I felt like we were packed in like a can of sardines. We made the best out the situation though. And we were very close to family of some very dear friends. Angie Gudzinas, who is a very dear friend, used to live in the area and her mom and dad still live about 15 minutes from the campground. In fact, one day when the propane did not seem to be working in the camper (more about that later), Mr. Bob came over to see if he could fix it. They later invited the whole crew over for dinner. We had a great time visiting and the kids had a blast getting to know their friends grandparents. Mr. Bob and Skeeter were awesome to open up their home to us. Carl had to go into work today to take his final exam. He got home around lunch time. Then began the debate of what we were ...

I cannot believe it. I knew it would happen one day. My baby - my oldest child- my child that I remember being place on my chest and him looking at me with those big brown eyes- my child who gave Baba and Pop Pop their names- my firstborn- Alex is 16!!!!! What????? I have a 16 year old. I do not feel like I have a 16 year old. I am too young to have a child who is 16. It is hard to realize that in 2 short years, he could be out of our house. He could be in the military or in college or in culinary school or art school. The world is open to him to figure out where God wants him. He has been so blessed with talent. God has gifted him with a love for art and a love for cooking. I cannot wait to see where the Lord is going to lead him. It is hard though because I feel like I have so much more to teach him. He cannot be getting ready to leave us. I need more time. I have wasted time. But I serve a gracious and merciful God. A God who can redeem the broken efforts of ...

This post was written last week sometime. I have not had internet access to post. Carl is trying to teach me how to use my phone as a personal hotspot so hopefully I will be able to post more often.   We have not left the state of North Carolina, much to my dismay. I thought that we would really be on the road by now. At least one visit out of state. But NOOOOOOOO! I have struggled with this a bit. I have been just a little bit on the frustrated side of things. Carl has noticed and so have the kids. These past few weeks have definitely not gone the way that I thought they should. Alex had a doctor’s appointment 3 weeks ago. He was finally given the go ahead to start putting pressure on the foot and go to physical therapy. It has been nothing but running him to therapy ever since. He has been going 2 times a week but it normally takes the entire day. I have been doing laundry the same day since I am out anyway. He has been doing very well getting used to walking ...