Celebrating 8 Years

Darrin and I celebrated eight years of marriage yesterday (Tuesday). Woo-hoo! We made it past the 7-year itch! LOL! Actually, I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who loves the Lord and seeks to be a godly husband and father. God was so good to bring Darrin into my life. From the very beginning he sought to protect me, long before our courtship began. He took me home on a late night after spending time with friends out of town for the day just so that I wouldn't have to drive home alone. (Boy, did that get my dad's attention too!) Darrin was always so thoughtful and generous to those around him. He always thought of others first and was sensitive to their needs. His sensitivity to others has impacted me as well. I would not consider myself nearly as thoughtful as Darrin, but he has opened my eyes to how others might feel or what they might need. Darrin is also very generous in giving to others, and God has blessed him so that he can do so even more. These special traits have impacted me to see the need for others and to desire to reach out when a need arises.

One thing I have to mention is that Darrin is such a great helper around the house. He is readily available to lend a helping hand, whether it is cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, giving the kids a bath, or taking over household duties when I am feeling bad. Now how many men take over cleaning up the kitchen every night? It's one area that I so appreciate!

Darrin is an awesome dad, too, and he is improving more and more. He is extremely protective of the kids, especially Rebekah, but he takes great care of them. They are so blessed to have such a loving daddy who seeks the best for his kids and is continually learning how to teach, discipline, and father them. It is fun to see the kids get excited to see him when he comes home because they missed him so much.

I am so proud of my husband. God truly gave me His best for me. Darrin has strengths where I am weak, and through them I am learning how to improve. God is using him to mold and shape me into the person I am to become, and He placed this man in my life for a covenant partnership that will last us the rest of our lives.

So, yesterday we celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. Since we had just returned from vacation we decided to have a low-key celebration. We went to Macaroni Grill for dinner then to see "Up" in 3-D. It was a sweet time to enjoy each other with no interruptions and to reminisce on our developing relationship over the last 10+ years. The movie had a great marriage message to it as well. I look forward to growing old with my dear sweet husband and making many more memories in the years ahead.

Dollywood Day 1

If you have read my blog for very long or if you know me very well then you know that we visit the Smoky Mountains fairly frequently, at least once every year, and sometimes more. We usually visit in the fall when the colors have changed, but this year we decided to come when we could enjoy the outdoor amusement parks. We visited Dollywood today and will revisit tomorrow. We are planning to go to Dollywood's Splash Country this week as well. Rebekah has been hesitant in the pool lately (which I don't understand at all since she just had swim lessons for two weeks), and we are unsure if she would like Splash Country now, so we'll wait and see.

We decided to rent a cabin in Pigeon Forge instead of Townsend this time since we would be spending so much time in this area. We like the cabin quite well, and we have a beautiful view, plus the parks are not very far away. The only thing we don't like is having neighbors right next door who sound like they are on the other side of the wall at times. Not that they are being particularly loud, but at 11:00 last night we could hear them since our bedroom is just outside their cabin. The cabins are only a few feet apart, and we prefer the privacy we had in Townsend. However, it has been a really good trip so far.

We began our day by heading out around 10:00 this morning for Dollywood. By the time we got inside the park it was already 10:45. We are definitely going to get an earlier start tomorrow! As we started to walk through the park we saw Strawberry Shortcake.


The first ride we took was the Dollywood Express to take a tour of the park. This was Darrin's favorite ride.



They took our picture before boarding the train, and the photo was really good, but we didn't want to spend the money. You could buy a package, but all we were really interested in was a 4x6 which was going to cost $10 alone. It ended up our lunch was way overpriced too. I guess that is part of vacation and amusement parks, but it is highway robbery! When the cashier told me the price I had to ask her to repeat it just to be sure I had heard correctly. Yes, nearly $40 for two burger meals and two kids meals! HELLO!

Anyway, we hit the carousel after the train. Although it's a nice carousel, I have just found none other that matches up to the one at Coolidge Park. Its animals were handcrafted and handpainted, and they are just beautiful! Still, a carousel is a fun ride no matter what, and we enjoyed it.




By this time we were ready for lunch then we hit the theater to see a performance of "The Little Engine That Could". I think this was probably my favorite part of the day. Both the kids were showing fatigue by now because it was 1:00. It wasn't excessively hot out, but it was warm, and it was getting close to Joshua's naptime. The kids really enjoyed the show, though. Joshua was pretty fidgety before the show began, but as soon as the music started he settled down. The kids never showed great excitement due to fatigue, but they were glued to the stage the whole time, so I know they really liked the show. Flash photography was not allowed, so the pics I took were blurry. I had my little point-and-shoot camera, so I was not able to play with the settings much, or if I can I haven't learned how yet. Anyway, here are some pics from the performance.






"I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could."


Finale


Posing with "the funniest toy clown you ever saw" and a "doll with blonde hair and blue eyes".


After the show we hit the kiddie rides. Rebekah immediately wanted to ride the "Lucky Ducky".


Rebekah has a pretty smile here.


Next they rode "Busy Bees". This was Joshua's favorite. He wanted to ride it again, but we wanted to try to hit other rides first.


I was actually surprised Joshua liked it as much as he did.


The kids then rode "Piggy Parade".



At this point we were going to head back to the cabin so Joshua could take a nap, but Rebekah really wanted to ride the VeggieTales miniature roller coaster. Darrin stayed back with Joshua while I took Rebekah. Rebekah says this was her favorite part/ride of the day.

Here I am turned to face Darrin, but Rebekah wouldn't turn around again for a picture.


I'm surprised Darrin got any pics at all since this is not an easy ride to capture.


Joshua fell asleep on the way back to the cabin, but he did take a nap this afternoon. We were all going to go to the pool this evening, but we decided Joshua just needed to rest. Darrin took Rebekah for a short dip in the pool. I was really surprised they close at 7:30, especially since it is still daylight, but Darrin said Rebekah just didn't want to venture out into the pool anyway. I'm baffled as to why she is like this, especially after having had swim lessons for the past two weeks.

We are definitely tired after such a big day, but we're looking forward to some more fun this week!

By the way, you may have noticed that I have never posted pics while on vacation before. That is because Darrin bought me a new laptop as an early Anniversary gift! All so that I can stay on top of my blog, post photos, and keep in touch with everyone through email and Facebook. Isn't that so sweet?!

Defending the Truth

Every year our church, Woodland Park, has a Mission Conference to invite missionaries our church supports to come be refreshed, share what God is doing where they are at work, and to encourage the body to be missionaries wherever they are. Flags of all the countries where missionaries are sent out from our church are hung around the auditorium. It is incredible to see so many countries represented. I am truly humbled yet proud that our church places such a strong emphasis on missions. It is one of the many very unique things about Woodland Park.

While the worship services throughout the week are geared for the visiting missionaries, Bible fellowship classes invite the missionaries to share about what they do and how God is working. They share their needs and prayer requests. In addition, the children also learn about missions. In AWANA Cubbies the children learned about the apostle Paul and how he was a missionary. They learned what a missionary is and what they do. Throughout the week the children learned about a specific country where we have missionaries we support and what food they eat (and they even got to taste some if they wanted). They made a flag and pasted a map of the country with information about the missionaries there and a prayer request for them.

This year's conference had Ron Carlson from Christian Ministries International as its keynote speaker. The theme was "Defending the Truth". The unique thing about this year was that it focused more on equipping us in the church to defend the truth of Christianity. Sunday morning's sermon gave us an overview of different religions and cults and some of the basics of their beliefs, who they believe Jesus is, and what sets Christianity apart from them. His focus was their Jesus vs. our Jesus. They do not believe in the same Jesus we do nor the same God. Sunday night's sermon was about Evolution vs. Creationism and what science shows. Ron Carlson taught more in depth about the different Cults and what they believe on Monday night, about Mormonism on Tuesday night, and about Islam on Wednesday night. I had always wanted to learn about different religions and do a study on apologetics, and this was a great overview. I learned so much last week, and I was amazed at what some people believe. It is really sad that so many are misled.

I highly recommend listening to the sermons from last week's Mission Conference if you have never heard Ron Carlson speak. He is very intelligent, but he explains things in a way that the average peron can understand. Just click on the link above and you can download or just listen to the messages straight off of the website.

On a sidenote, I just realized that today marks the first anniversary of my blog. It's hard to believe that it has been a year already. It's been a great way to not only keep you informed on our lives, but it has been an outlet for journaling which I never would have done had it not been for my blog.

Seven Years Ago

Today marks the anniversary Darrin and I were married seven years ago. It's hard to believe it has been seven years already!

Please excuse the quality of these pics. I was unable to scan them to our computer, so I took pictures of pictures in our album.








I've been having fun going back and watching the video of our wedding as well. In fact, Rebekah has enjoyed it too. One of the most memorable moments in our wedding was when I sang "I Will Be Here" to Darrin. He had no clue I was going to sing to him. It was really special. My sister Carrie also sang in the wedding in addition to being my maid of honor. We had a lot of music in our wedding. Surprise, surprise! A string quintet played much of the pre-ceremony music, and one of my friends, Ann Katherine, played the piano. Another college friend, Josh, sang a duet with Carrie and also played the piano during part of the reception. All the music was so beautiful!

I'm in the process of getting some video online of the pre-ceremony music as well as the ceremony itself. Once it is up I will share.

Happy Anniversary, my love! I'm so happy to be sharing my life with you! You are a wonderful husband and father, and I'm so proud to be your wife! I hope we have many, many more years together.

Anniversary Getaway

Darrin and I just got back from celebrating our anniversary. Monday, June 23 marks seven years since we were wed. Darrin is heading out Monday morning on business to Phoenix, so we celebrated a little early this year. Last night we went to our favorite B&B Whitestone Inn. It is located in Kingston, TN, about an hour and a half from our house, but not too far from Knoxville either. This was our 8th time visiting the Inn and our 5th time in the Hummingbird Suite.

Whitestone is Christian owned and the name is based on the Scripture from Revelation 2:17, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth." Paul and Jean Cowell are the owners. While we have never met Jean, Paul has been such a gracious host. In the past he took care of some problems we experienced, and he made sure that did not happen again. He always remembers us when we visit and makes a point to speak to each of his guests. Paul and Jean have a special ministry to pastors, ministers, and missionaries in that he discounts their rooms when they stay during the week. Being a pastor himself he gives sermons on Sunday mornings in the chapel there on the grounds and does weddings as well.

Upon arrival Friday afternoon we checked in and were greeted with homemade cookies, then I received a one-hour full body massage from Donna. It was so relaxing! What a great way to kick off the weekend! Darrin unloaded our luggage into the room while I got my massage. The massage therapy room was located just off from the entertainment lounge in the basement of the farmhouse, and the Humminbird Suite was off to the side from the lounge as well, and as I entered the door of our suite soft music filled the room and I found a bouquet of roses from Darrin on the chest of drawers!

From our room we had a beautiful view of the grounds, Watts Bar Lake, a small pond, the Lion and the Lamb building, and the chapel. Everything was just gorgeous!

After a shower we enjoyed a delicious and elegant 4-course gourmet dinner while overlooking the grounds from all the windows on the back of the farmhouse. For entertainment we listened to music played by a guitar and violin duo. It was lovely. For dinner we started with a flaky pastry with brie cheese inside and a strawberry sauce around it as an appetizer. Next was a spring mix salad then bread sticks flavored with garlic and other seasonings. The main dish was a choice of chicken, tuna, or steak. Darrin and I had the steak, called tournedos. It was topped with some sort of cheese I had never heard of. The sides were seasoned carrots and some sort of fried patty of a potato mixture that was delicious. For dessert Darrin had the Whitestone pie and I had chocolate cheesecake. Everything was so yummy! It was so nice to have an hour and a half or so to enjoy a delicious meal and to not be interrupted by a 3-year-old who wants to talk to us non-stop or to deal with a 16-month-old who needs us to meet his every need.

After dinner Darrin and I took a little walk on the grounds in the cool air. Yes, it was actually cool! I guess since it's in the mountains some it's cooler than at home, plus it had drizzled just a little while we ate dinner. It was really nice for a walk yesterday evening. We then returned to our room for the night.

This morning it was cloudy, but it was very pleasant out. And you know what? I didn't have anyone pulling on me for attention while I got ready. Darrin and I woke up so refreshed. The only negative thing was that I had the urge to nurse Joshua because I felt so full. Other than that I could have stayed at Whitestone all day! We enjoyed a delicious spread for breakfast - scrambled eggs (some with ham and cheese and some plain), waffles, bacon, ham, biscuits and gravy, and there was also cereal, muffins, and pastries.

After nearly 24 hours away from home Darrin and I felt ready to come back home to see the kids. Rebekah was so ecstatic to see us, and Joshua woke from a nap when we arrived home. Thank goodness he nursed right away! The kids have been hanging on us both this afternoon. They missed us and we did them, but it was so nice to have a kid-free night away to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary.