A Good and Perfect Gift From Above

Unexpected blessings are so incredible. When we decided that I would be a stay-at-home mom several years ago I knew it meant we would give up some things. One thing I figured we would never have is vacations. But God is so good. A few weeks back a friend from another church contacted Ethan about serving with their worship team for a family conference . . . on the Oregon coast! They offered to pay our gas and provide meals and a place to stay. And best of all, the trip was on the weekend of our 7th anniversary! It was like a dream come true. The actual campgrounds are located between a lake and the ocean. It's gorgeous. They had a playground, water slides into the lake, boating, mini golf, a treasure hunt, an enormous slide (that you ride down on with burlap bags), and much more. I really felt like God just gave us this trip as a gift. Here are some pics:

Ethan carrying Emmie out to the ocean

The girls just had to bury their feet (and their shoes, seperately of course)

I loved the look of this windmill -- can you believe it's made with Gatorade bottles?
This was the lake at the campgrounds
This river was what we could see out the front window of the little cabin we stayed in.

Some favorite memories:

* Ethan entertaining the kids with his reportoire of voices -- Elmo, Cookie Monster, etc. -- while driving.

* Ethan asking the kids (while in the van), "you guys having fun back there . . . you getting jiggy wid it?" and Emmie answering, "No jiggy".

* Allison's great excitement over the broken, not fantastic shells she found.

* Playing several Dora memory card games at the cabin.

* Emmie thinking of and making a "sand angel" (I think we're still washing sand from her hair).

* Watching the kids touch starfish at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

I could probably go on and on, but I'll save the rest for our scrapbook. :)