gifted and talented

reese overheard me talking to a friend about another girl in the second grade who was in the gifted and talented class at school. reese replied, "what? they don't think i am gifted and talented? have they seen this..."

i love reese's attitude! and the girl does have some moves!!!

family vacation

every year we have a family vacation with just the 5 of us. usually, we go to the beach because that is my favorite place to go. this year, colin wanted to plan a trip to the mountains. i told him if he planned it all, i would go wherever he wanted. he chose south dakota. it was a fantastic vacation packed with lots of fun from morning until night (colin's vacation itenerary is like none other). in the evenings we had a fire every night because it plummeted into the 40s! i'll have to admit, it was a nice change from the 3 digit temps we returned to in texas.

the highlights of the trip included ....

hiking

mount rushmore

horseback riding thru the black hills

touring the wildhorse sanctuary where hundreds of wild mustangs roam free

swimming in the chilly cascade falls

we also saw some wild buffalo up close

and wild burro

our time in south dakota ended with a drive thru the badlands

i couldn't leave south dakota without getting a pic of my little mountain man in a coonskin hat

backyard pirates

my girls were watching jack for me while i cleaned up the kitchen. i looked outside and had to take a pic. they were playing pirates. aaaaarrrrgggg!

july update

i just realized that it has been over a month since i have blogged. explanation: the summer is busy-time for our family. we have gone camping, taken a trip to mexico for missions and done several home improvement projects in the month of july.

here are a couple of pics from our camping trip with our houston buddies.

we had a great time! it is always so relaxing and fun when we get together with these old friends.

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we just recently returned from a week long mission trip to dr. arroyo, mexico. there were 23 of us from our church that went down into the villages of mexico and played games, sang songs, acted out Bible stories, did crafts and attempted to share the love of Jesus with the mexican people. while we were doing all of these things, my life changed in the process. it was my priveledge to witness several things on this trip...true worship...a servant attitude...thankfulness...people of different cultures communicating and loving each other (sometimes without words)...hospitality in the midst of poverty...what it means to be needy...and generosity.
as far as reflections go...the thing that has been slapping me in the face is that, as americans...we are fat. we indulge in every food, drink, clothing item, toy or latest fad. then three months later we are over it and ready to dispose of it, moving on to the next latest and greatest "thing." we deny ourselves almost nothing, using the excuse "we deserve it." i am not preaching...i am talking about myself!
seeing the joy on the faces of the mexican women after making their home-made necklaces really impacted me. the villages had so little material possessions and basic, home-grown meals, but were so happy and thankful for what they had.

the following pictures fall short of capturing the life-changing experiences of the trip, but give you a glimpse of what we saw.

these kids were wonderful! they really impressed me by embracing the culture, trying new things, learning spanish phrases and making new amigos.

this is the village of pompeya. a very poor, but beautiful place.

this is a dust storm in pompeya. the families had not washed clothes in almost two months because the dust storms were so bad that the clothes would immediately get dirty on the line.

i love this pic! this is bryan and jackson outside the market in matahuala.

the sunsets in dr. arroyo were gorgeous and a perfect daily reminder of God's faithfulness!