I can't believe we are this far behind....I took notes each day, but didn't have time to sit down and write out our blogs completely and it seems I have so much to say...so...here is Day 14:
The hotel breakfast was AMAZING.....and of course, the boys barely ate. Why do I feel like I have to make up for the areas they are lacking in?!?!? I swear I have gained 50 lbs on this trip all because of their leftovers! We headed to Apostles Church in NY. JR Vassar is the pastor there and he was once a pastor at Lakepointe. If you know anything about the subway, you know they shut down certain trains for maintenance and also, not all trains run the same on the weekends. The original instructions I looked up on the web DID NOT APPLY today so here I was trying to wing it. I told the boys we were attempting to go to church and if it were God's will, we would make it before it was over. Stop reading here and decide whether or not you think we made it to the service. Now, if you think we made it, do you think we heard the service?
Well, if you said we made it on time, you are right! We were actually 10 minutes early! God allowed us to meet people, talk to the Vassar family, and grab coffee! The service spoke DIRECTLY to us. The boys and I have been trying to make this our own little "mission trip". Yes, it's been a vacation, but we want God to be glorified in everything we do. Sometimes, NY can distract you from your primary purpose in life. There are so many "things" we begin to desire, the boys saw how easy it was to forget about our "little goals" we set as a family. The sermon was about missioning in every are of our life! Wow! We couldn't believe we were given that reminder and encouraged to continue on! The people sitting behind us were from Carrolton, The greeter was from Allen, and we felt right at home listening to JR preach. This was just the refresher we needed to get through the rest of our week!
We headed to see Chinatown. We were a little overwhelmed by this so we didn't stay long. We headed to eat at the Soup Man's restaurant before the Broadway show Spiderman. Dayne fell in love with shrimp gumbo soup and asked if I could drive him home through Louisiana to have some more!
Now I have heard mixed reviews about the show Spiderman, but I am here to report WE LOVED IT! It was amazing. If you are looking for a lyrical, melodic, extremely intense show, this may not be for you. If you are looking for fun, exciting, adventurous, and "comic like" stage scenes, you will love it. The actors were talented and you could tell they enjoyed what they were doing!
Dayne wanted to get his birthday present so he headed back to the Disney Store to build Mater the Greater. I got it all on video, but then, my phone died before it was exported so we were pretty disappointed. They actually introduce you to the the store along with the vehicle you created. You get your own garage and key. It's just like Build a Bear only BETTER!!!!
We headed back to get the car and say our goodbyes to Bridget, Manny, and Jack. We didn't leave until 8ish so we just got on the road and made it a few hours to a hotel in NJ. I guess I was whooped! Much love to NYC, Bridget and family, and to God!
Blessed and highly favored.......
Thursday, July 28, 2011
....late, but here's Day 13 :)
This was our day to run wild in the city on our own. Our tour guide taught us well so we ventured out alone to ride the subway and see the sites on our list! We headed to Liberty Island. Lots of history here....since 9/11, we have airport security just to get on the ferry. What I scheduled for a short "run over here to see this" turned into an entire afternoon and lunch on the Island! We enjoyed every minute of it though. Of course, every experience we shared became memories that will last a lifetime! We had a man in front of us that needed a little extra security check. He had some liquid in a bottle they were concerned about. I am 99.9% he told them it was used to make meth. He told them more than once and I really think he thought he was going to be arrested, but they let him go through. They did not take the liquid from him either. Hmmm. Is all the security really necessary when they take your word for it that it's not an explosive liquid, just chemicals for meth? Bless his heart. He was just being honest. So, he made the prayer list immediately.
We rode to the Island and Cole chose the seats in front of the fire hose. Coincidence? I think not. There was some concern about an explosion. JK! We did joke about having to be the fireman and saving the day if necessary. It was amazing to ride up to the Statue and ponder on the thought of the immigrants that came to America settling here with hopes for a brighter future. I teared up thinking about how grateful they must have felt. I don't know if my gratitude compares, but just sharing this with my boys overwhelms my spirit. We spent the afternoon walking around the Island and headed back to the city after we ate.
We took a cab to the hotel because we just had to experience driving in this city. Our taxi driver gave me his cell in case we needed him again and we had a great time talking to him! He has been here from Pakistan for 20 years and has started drinking and smoking again because NY is too stressful. The way we got around in that car was stressful enough for me to rethink sobriety. he was next on the prayer list!
Our hotel was amazing and we had a perfect view of the empire state building! We just dropped our heavy backpack off and headed to the city to see more sites. We went to see Madison Square Garden because Dayne and Cole watched the Justin Beiber movie the night before and wanted to see what all of the hype was about...we ended up going into Borders to shop for Dayne's summer book he has to read. We ended up meeting two guys that loved comics and skateboarding. We talked about Carnage and his origin and bought Dayne a book. We stopped and grabbed dinner before heading to see the Empire State Building. We enjoyed the Skyride and then enjoyed the observation deck. I started tearing up in the ride and Cole looked over at me and said, "are you crying"? I was like, no, no.....something's in my eye! But really I was again overwhelmed with gratitude to the God that loves us so much He gives us the desires of our hearts. I really wanted to see the lights in NYC. I know this sounds silly, but without doing anything else, I just wanted to stand in the middle of Times Square at night and see the lights surrounding me! The reality that I would actually see them from the top of the ESB WITH DAYNE AND COLE was sinking in. Every part of this vacation has been a dream come true. EVERY PART. I just kept wondering if we would really get to do the next thing on the list!
One more prayer request....the sales people for the Skyride were also Comic fans (Cole carried his spidey action figures everywhere) and so we ended up giving them tracts.
We finished off the night in Times Square at the M&M's Store, eating Hershey candy, and closed it down by watching the end of SNL at the hotel. Thank God it wasn't wildly inappropriate! For some reason, watching it in NY feels completely different knowing it's happening LIVE right down the street!
Great day for the blessed and highly favored family! Pray for Sophia!
We rode to the Island and Cole chose the seats in front of the fire hose. Coincidence? I think not. There was some concern about an explosion. JK! We did joke about having to be the fireman and saving the day if necessary. It was amazing to ride up to the Statue and ponder on the thought of the immigrants that came to America settling here with hopes for a brighter future. I teared up thinking about how grateful they must have felt. I don't know if my gratitude compares, but just sharing this with my boys overwhelms my spirit. We spent the afternoon walking around the Island and headed back to the city after we ate.
We took a cab to the hotel because we just had to experience driving in this city. Our taxi driver gave me his cell in case we needed him again and we had a great time talking to him! He has been here from Pakistan for 20 years and has started drinking and smoking again because NY is too stressful. The way we got around in that car was stressful enough for me to rethink sobriety. he was next on the prayer list!
Our hotel was amazing and we had a perfect view of the empire state building! We just dropped our heavy backpack off and headed to the city to see more sites. We went to see Madison Square Garden because Dayne and Cole watched the Justin Beiber movie the night before and wanted to see what all of the hype was about...we ended up going into Borders to shop for Dayne's summer book he has to read. We ended up meeting two guys that loved comics and skateboarding. We talked about Carnage and his origin and bought Dayne a book. We stopped and grabbed dinner before heading to see the Empire State Building. We enjoyed the Skyride and then enjoyed the observation deck. I started tearing up in the ride and Cole looked over at me and said, "are you crying"? I was like, no, no.....something's in my eye! But really I was again overwhelmed with gratitude to the God that loves us so much He gives us the desires of our hearts. I really wanted to see the lights in NYC. I know this sounds silly, but without doing anything else, I just wanted to stand in the middle of Times Square at night and see the lights surrounding me! The reality that I would actually see them from the top of the ESB WITH DAYNE AND COLE was sinking in. Every part of this vacation has been a dream come true. EVERY PART. I just kept wondering if we would really get to do the next thing on the list!
One more prayer request....the sales people for the Skyride were also Comic fans (Cole carried his spidey action figures everywhere) and so we ended up giving them tracts.
We finished off the night in Times Square at the M&M's Store, eating Hershey candy, and closed it down by watching the end of SNL at the hotel. Thank God it wasn't wildly inappropriate! For some reason, watching it in NY feels completely different knowing it's happening LIVE right down the street!
Great day for the blessed and highly favored family! Pray for Sophia!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Road Trip Day 12
Day 12:
Cole wanted to get up to go to the Today Show to see the free live concert at Rockefeller Center. Cee Lo Green was the performer today and Cole loved The Voice. I woke up at 5:30, started waking him at 6, then 6:30, then 7 was his last call. He changed his mind since he was so tired! We slept in for a little while longer then headed into the city.
Wow! A day of shopping basically! Toys R Us, Element, Billabong, and FAO SWartz! The Apple store is remodeling so we didn't feel like it was the most appealing place to go to! We rode the Ferris Wheel at Toys R Us and had lunch at TGI FRidays. We went tosome souvenier places and walked to Central Park. The honking, pedestrians, crosswalks, sad people, diverse culture, and pure chaos is so much to absorb here. It is truly an experience. To think the original immigrants that settled in NY would build this is bewildering.
As we were walking to Central Park today, Dayne and Cole referenced TV show after TV Show. I got so irritated that the boys can't talk about anything but TV!!! Even the stuff we have seen like Rockefeller Center has to have a movie reference! "Hey Mom, was this the place in Home Alone"? "That's like the part in Meet Dave where Eddie Murphy...." LOL! So I griped at them in my most mom tone and said they needed to stop watching so much TV! Then I made a resolve that when we get home...yada yada yada. You know the drill. All of the sudden, these thoughtcome rushing in...the entire time I have been here, I have thought of things like Laverne and Shirley (when I see an apartment underground), sung the Green Acres theme song in my head, texted the picture of the bull of Wall Street to Frank because it was in the movie, The Other Guys and the boys wanted him to see it.....all of these things I had thought and done were directly from TV and movies. I'm humbled. As a matter of fact, I remembered telling them about this day care that was in the movie The Pursuit of Happiness. Even though I wasn't sure it was the on, I said it was just because it looked just like it! Wow. Like I said. Humbled.
We are staying with Jack tonight while Bridget and Manny have a night out on the town! We have had a great time watching Justin Beiber movie here at the house. We've planned a big day for tomorrow so we better get some sleep!
PRAISE: Sophia just had the ventilator removed and cried for the first time in 5 days! PRAISE OUR GOD!!!! HE IS MIGHTY TO SAVE!!!
Blessed and Highly Favored......
The Rowdy Ones
Cole wanted to get up to go to the Today Show to see the free live concert at Rockefeller Center. Cee Lo Green was the performer today and Cole loved The Voice. I woke up at 5:30, started waking him at 6, then 6:30, then 7 was his last call. He changed his mind since he was so tired! We slept in for a little while longer then headed into the city.
Wow! A day of shopping basically! Toys R Us, Element, Billabong, and FAO SWartz! The Apple store is remodeling so we didn't feel like it was the most appealing place to go to! We rode the Ferris Wheel at Toys R Us and had lunch at TGI FRidays. We went tosome souvenier places and walked to Central Park. The honking, pedestrians, crosswalks, sad people, diverse culture, and pure chaos is so much to absorb here. It is truly an experience. To think the original immigrants that settled in NY would build this is bewildering.
As we were walking to Central Park today, Dayne and Cole referenced TV show after TV Show. I got so irritated that the boys can't talk about anything but TV!!! Even the stuff we have seen like Rockefeller Center has to have a movie reference! "Hey Mom, was this the place in Home Alone"? "That's like the part in Meet Dave where Eddie Murphy...." LOL! So I griped at them in my most mom tone and said they needed to stop watching so much TV! Then I made a resolve that when we get home...yada yada yada. You know the drill. All of the sudden, these thoughtcome rushing in...the entire time I have been here, I have thought of things like Laverne and Shirley (when I see an apartment underground), sung the Green Acres theme song in my head, texted the picture of the bull of Wall Street to Frank because it was in the movie, The Other Guys and the boys wanted him to see it.....all of these things I had thought and done were directly from TV and movies. I'm humbled. As a matter of fact, I remembered telling them about this day care that was in the movie The Pursuit of Happiness. Even though I wasn't sure it was the on, I said it was just because it looked just like it! Wow. Like I said. Humbled.
We are staying with Jack tonight while Bridget and Manny have a night out on the town! We have had a great time watching Justin Beiber movie here at the house. We've planned a big day for tomorrow so we better get some sleep!
PRAISE: Sophia just had the ventilator removed and cried for the first time in 5 days! PRAISE OUR GOD!!!! HE IS MIGHTY TO SAVE!!!
Blessed and Highly Favored......
The Rowdy Ones
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Road Trip Day 11
Chicken literally falls from the sky in New York!
Okay, so only if you are sitting on a park bench under a tree where a bird drops the chicken from it's mouth down in front of you!
cole thought the sky was falling...LOL
We woke up with an excited energy to get the day started. Bridget and Jack packed up all of the fun baby stuff to cart around the city and we headed to see the Statue of Liberty. We took the Staten Island Ferry and got a great view of the city, the statue, and other islands. The massive ferry provided a great relaxing time to be grateful to God for allowing us to spend time with dear friends and reflect on the blessings we are experiencing. Well, we did all that after we realized we weren't on a ferry that actually took us to the Statue of Liberty. Oops! LOL! We put it down on the agenda to do Saturday! Still a great time and experience to learn more about the city!
Lunchtime provided us with some delicious hot dogs and churros. Oh and chicken from the kind birds in the trees up above! We got to experience the tourists, locals yelling, and people napping randomly. We headed to ground zero which is really now a construction site for the new WTC. They have the first 104 floors completed and it seems to be a massive undertaking. Everyone remembers where they were that day so it seems strange to tell Cole about it. He wasn't born yet, but it is still so real to me. It's a sad thought and questions still linger in my mind about it, but God is always the answer I find. We headed to see the Brooklyn Bridge, but didn't quite make it all the way there. NYC is the most distracting place! Time can go by so quickly when you want to stop and examine everything. Jack had made it all day and it was time to come home to some NY pizza and relaxing time!
Manny (Bridget's husband) skateboards so he took the boys to a new park behind their house. It is a quick walk to the local park and they met a lady doing a documentary. She asked them to come and skate tomorrow so she could get some video. This made their night! They had a blast! Dayne says it was the best part of his day!
Continue to pray for Sophia...report is good and she is making progress. Also, pray for our nation as a people of God. Another prayer request we received today is for Jeanette's dad who is in the hospital. Feel free to comment for your prayer requests as I have really been talking to God ALOT lately!!!!
Okay, so only if you are sitting on a park bench under a tree where a bird drops the chicken from it's mouth down in front of you!
cole thought the sky was falling...LOL
We woke up with an excited energy to get the day started. Bridget and Jack packed up all of the fun baby stuff to cart around the city and we headed to see the Statue of Liberty. We took the Staten Island Ferry and got a great view of the city, the statue, and other islands. The massive ferry provided a great relaxing time to be grateful to God for allowing us to spend time with dear friends and reflect on the blessings we are experiencing. Well, we did all that after we realized we weren't on a ferry that actually took us to the Statue of Liberty. Oops! LOL! We put it down on the agenda to do Saturday! Still a great time and experience to learn more about the city!
Lunchtime provided us with some delicious hot dogs and churros. Oh and chicken from the kind birds in the trees up above! We got to experience the tourists, locals yelling, and people napping randomly. We headed to ground zero which is really now a construction site for the new WTC. They have the first 104 floors completed and it seems to be a massive undertaking. Everyone remembers where they were that day so it seems strange to tell Cole about it. He wasn't born yet, but it is still so real to me. It's a sad thought and questions still linger in my mind about it, but God is always the answer I find. We headed to see the Brooklyn Bridge, but didn't quite make it all the way there. NYC is the most distracting place! Time can go by so quickly when you want to stop and examine everything. Jack had made it all day and it was time to come home to some NY pizza and relaxing time!
Manny (Bridget's husband) skateboards so he took the boys to a new park behind their house. It is a quick walk to the local park and they met a lady doing a documentary. She asked them to come and skate tomorrow so she could get some video. This made their night! They had a blast! Dayne says it was the best part of his day!
Continue to pray for Sophia...report is good and she is making progress. Also, pray for our nation as a people of God. Another prayer request we received today is for Jeanette's dad who is in the hospital. Feel free to comment for your prayer requests as I have really been talking to God ALOT lately!!!!
Day 10 Continued....
Awwww, after a good night's sleep I have forgotten everything I wanted to say about yesterday. As you can tell, the boys have not been as into doing their own blogs as I thought they would. They are basically sitting with me recounting the day and struggle with remembering the events by themselves! Boys? Let me know your thoughts on that one!
Anyway, we got up yesterday to leave. We were all packed and ready to load the car. Our estimated time to hit the road was 8 and we nailed it! That includes a sappy goodbye where I felt my heart being ripped out of my chest yet again! Much like Port Clinton goodbye, I just wish we could see our loved ones more often.
The boys and I headed to the partner church in Stoughton, MA to do some service work. Our intent in Boston was to come alongside the youth team that would be here missioning in Boston and serve with them. The timing was off a bit. They were here last week and we were on our own. I told them we would be glad to help in any way possible and I offered to pass out Sunday invites, clean the church, or whatever they needed! It just so happened the lady that was coming to clean Wednesday would b unable to make it and they really needed it done! So, we were BLESSED to do it. When I had told the boys earlier in the week, honestly Dayne was not excited AT ALL. As a matter of fact, it caused some serious strife! I am extremely excited to report that he sincerely apologized after we left from cleaning and he apologized for the very thing he did-he had a bad attitude. It was simple and minor....actually even expected! I am just amazed at his maturity sometime! Thank you God for my blessing!
After a nice lunch, we headed to NY. We quickly drove through Rhode Island. I think it was about a blink and then we hit Connecticut. The city just overwhelms me really. It just seems like a different typ of city than I am used to I guess, because I really don't think of myself as the suburbian type. Guess I am. As we drove up on co-op City, I just can't believe the mass amounts of people they fit into such small areas in the Northeast. My brain keeps going back to all of the needs of God's people and ho we are all the same underneath it all....
Trusty Tom Tom (called Susan) took us straight to Bridget's very nice apartment in Astoria where we had a delicious dinner, special time with Jack and Manny, and a great late night having girl talk! I love friends.....God has blessed me wtih many and everyone who knows me knows I am not always the best friend. Thank you all for your grace over the years. I have spent a lot of time reflecting over the last 24 hours about my life and all of the memories, good and bad. God has brought me through it all.
This morning I am burdened again by Sophia, but I want to continue to pray for the others listed before. Adding to the list?!?!? Grace Church in Boston. They are an amazing people with an amazing mission and they have large obstacles to overcome there. 99% of the people in their town don't know Christ. Pray for a movement of God. I want to see the number cut in half. That could be the movement of our nation.
As we pass through these old towns with historical monuments everywhere, it reminds me about what our country was built upon...In God We Trust. Our founding fathers built this country on Religious Freedom. Our society has taken that word Freedom to a level we never expected-having rights that ACTUALLY BIND US! There is no freedom without Christ. That is the freedom I choose to believe we started out with and I pray each one of us know that freedom in our hearts today!
God bless you and yours!
Blessed and highly favored....
Anyway, we got up yesterday to leave. We were all packed and ready to load the car. Our estimated time to hit the road was 8 and we nailed it! That includes a sappy goodbye where I felt my heart being ripped out of my chest yet again! Much like Port Clinton goodbye, I just wish we could see our loved ones more often.
The boys and I headed to the partner church in Stoughton, MA to do some service work. Our intent in Boston was to come alongside the youth team that would be here missioning in Boston and serve with them. The timing was off a bit. They were here last week and we were on our own. I told them we would be glad to help in any way possible and I offered to pass out Sunday invites, clean the church, or whatever they needed! It just so happened the lady that was coming to clean Wednesday would b unable to make it and they really needed it done! So, we were BLESSED to do it. When I had told the boys earlier in the week, honestly Dayne was not excited AT ALL. As a matter of fact, it caused some serious strife! I am extremely excited to report that he sincerely apologized after we left from cleaning and he apologized for the very thing he did-he had a bad attitude. It was simple and minor....actually even expected! I am just amazed at his maturity sometime! Thank you God for my blessing!
After a nice lunch, we headed to NY. We quickly drove through Rhode Island. I think it was about a blink and then we hit Connecticut. The city just overwhelms me really. It just seems like a different typ of city than I am used to I guess, because I really don't think of myself as the suburbian type. Guess I am. As we drove up on co-op City, I just can't believe the mass amounts of people they fit into such small areas in the Northeast. My brain keeps going back to all of the needs of God's people and ho we are all the same underneath it all....
Trusty Tom Tom (called Susan) took us straight to Bridget's very nice apartment in Astoria where we had a delicious dinner, special time with Jack and Manny, and a great late night having girl talk! I love friends.....God has blessed me wtih many and everyone who knows me knows I am not always the best friend. Thank you all for your grace over the years. I have spent a lot of time reflecting over the last 24 hours about my life and all of the memories, good and bad. God has brought me through it all.
This morning I am burdened again by Sophia, but I want to continue to pray for the others listed before. Adding to the list?!?!? Grace Church in Boston. They are an amazing people with an amazing mission and they have large obstacles to overcome there. 99% of the people in their town don't know Christ. Pray for a movement of God. I want to see the number cut in half. That could be the movement of our nation.
As we pass through these old towns with historical monuments everywhere, it reminds me about what our country was built upon...In God We Trust. Our founding fathers built this country on Religious Freedom. Our society has taken that word Freedom to a level we never expected-having rights that ACTUALLY BIND US! There is no freedom without Christ. That is the freedom I choose to believe we started out with and I pray each one of us know that freedom in our hearts today!
God bless you and yours!
Blessed and highly favored....
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Road Trip Day 10
Day 10:
I want to post pictures so bad, but we just haven't had time to down load them yet! I have so much to post about today, but it's already midnight and I just wanted everyone to know....we made it to NEW YORK CITY!!!! Woo hoo! I will tell you all about it as soon as we can, but just know we had a great drive here and were BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED!
Continue to pray for Sophia! She was stable last report :)
To Be Continued......
I want to post pictures so bad, but we just haven't had time to down load them yet! I have so much to post about today, but it's already midnight and I just wanted everyone to know....we made it to NEW YORK CITY!!!! Woo hoo! I will tell you all about it as soon as we can, but just know we had a great drive here and were BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED!
Continue to pray for Sophia! She was stable last report :)
To Be Continued......
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