Vamos a la Playa

After all the travel, it was a treat to spend Thursday afternoon at the beach.  Gorgeous blue water, a freshwater stream that flowed into the ocean, and billions of beautiful pebbles... a wonderful afternoon of enjoying God's amazing creation!

Barahona Bound

Next stop, Barahona, where we will work with Pastor Julio and Maritza to put on a program for the kids at Smiling Faces School and a marriage conference.  Naomi and Johnathan are well-experienced with long road trips, so they settled right in checking out the new scenery for the 3 hour trip to Barahona.

Mesa stopped by the water so Naomi and Johnathan could get their first look at the ocean when we pulled into town.  Then we were off to Pastor Julio's house for lunch.

At Pastor Julio's house we ate some delicious chicken, rice, yuca fritters, and the freshest avocados straight from the tree in their yard.  We relaxed, visited, and the kids had fun checking out the view from the roof!

Maritza and granddaughter Ashery got home from school, and Naomi loved playing with Ashery and trying out the Spanish words she's been learning.

Dominican Republic, Here We Come!

After months of anticipation and planning and a long day of travel, we are in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for Naomi and Johnathan's first missions trip!  We arrived in the capitol on Wednesday evening, where we met Mesa, a missionary from DR whom Kevin has been so thankful for on his previous trips there.  Our team was completed by Vanessa, Andrew, and Pastor Mark.  Together, they made the best group we could ever imagine to travel and minister to and with our family.

Thursday morning started with breakfast at a French bakery in Santo Domingo before we hit the road for Barahona.

Mother Daughter Retreat

Naomi and I had the fun memory of a weekend at a mother daughter retreat at Frontier Camp.  We had a sweet time with buddies Cassandra and Betty riding horses, exploring, competing in a mother-daughter costume contest, riding a big swing, trying archery, making crafts, painting nails, hunting for fossils, and enjoying the beauty of the camp.

Who's Who

An eclectic mix of costumes this year...  

A little lion

A ninja

A scary shark

And Carmen Sandiego!

Fun in Waco

While Grandpa was visiting, we made an overnight trip to Waco, where we visited the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and the Cameron Park Zoo.  We had a fun time, despite a night of stomach flu for Abby!