Family Mission Trip: Day 3

Day 3 of our trip was the same assigment as day 2. We went to 2 more apartment complexes and had backyard Bible studies. Don bought a few balls and a large frisbee for the kids to play with, so we had more things for them to do. The big boys loved throwing the football around. The smaller kids liked the soccer balls and the frisbee. It was really hot, but the kids didn't seem to mind. Well, that is, except for my kid. :-) Katelyn complained about the heat and the bugs and her foot might be bleeding and on and on. I realized very quickly that she is quite the pampered little princess. We had a heart to heart, and then she and Daddy had another heart to heart, then she finally decided to quit complaining and join in the fun. She met a 7 year old little girl named Amber Star. She was quite the talker, so Katelyn sat and listened to her for quite a while. That's good for Katelyn... to be the one listening instead of talking. :-)

As you can tell from Carson in this picture, he was mad at me for making him sit in the shade for a few minutes. Right before this he was out in the middle of the dirt in the sun playing with beer bottle caps. You know Carson... :-)
The other kids pictured here were all enjoying the Bible study and songs.

This litle girl on the top right has those eyes that look like they have seem more in their lifetime than most adults. She was such a sweetie. She was hot and tired when I took this picture because she had been kicking a soccer ball with Ellen and the other little girls for quite a while.
The little girl with the ball walking down the sidewalk was a little apprehensive about all of us being there at first. After talking to her and looking at her ball I finally figured our her name was Marie. She brought her own ball, but she wasn't sure she wanted to play. She warmed up to us, though, and she had fun.
I had to coax Katelyn into interacting with the kids. After a little "mom/daughter talk", she decided to color with this little girl. She seemed to enjoy it after she got going.
Carson is really hot and tired and very dirty in this picture. He spent most of his time playing in the dirt. :-)
The little cutie on the bottom left came with her sister. She is so cute! I could have photographed her all day long. :-)

After our day with Mission Arlington, our group headed straight for Hurricane Harbor, which is a 47 acre water park with so many huge water slides and more! We had a great time, but our time there wasn't quite long enough for us. We didn't get to try everything before they closed, but it was a great way to cool off! Not a camera friendly environment, though, so sadly I have no pictures to share of it. :-(

After Hurricane Harbor, we went to Grapevine Mall to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. It was fun and we ate way too much! We ordered the VOLCANO dessert in honor and James and Kerri's 16th Anniversary. It was yummy! Happy 16th to the Veits! :-)

I have so many more pictures to share with you, but after our trip I am exhausted. I wanted to get a few from Day 3 on here before too many more days went by, but I will post more in the days ahead. We are safely home and we had a wonderful time. We are so glad we went, and we are planning to go again next year.

Family Mission Trip: Day 2

Today was the first "real" day of our mission trip. We made it to Mission Arlington where Miss Tilly and a group of her staff members gave us our first assignment. We were to go to a local apartment complex and basically have a backyard Bible club for them. We had a guide named Sara, who came with us. She has been interacting with these kids all summer, so they knew her and were ready to come and play. We went door to door and told every apartment that answered that we were from Mission Arlington. I wasn't sure how many kids were going to come, but it was a huge success! We played games, had a Bible story, and were able to share Jesus with them while having fun. They had lunch delivered to them around 11:00, so we helped them make their way to the lunch area and then we went and had lunch on our own.

We had 2 places to choose from for lunch, and we picked Wendy's. We had been outside in the heat all morning, so a Frosty was in order!

After lunch, our next assignment was to visit another apartment complex for another backyard Bible study. We did everything the same as before, but this time we were on our own - no guide. We knocked on several doors, where you could tell they really didn't understand a word we were saying, but they just smiled politely and nodded. I can't even imagine what that must be like. We didn't have as many kids show up to our Bible study, but the kids who did come were precious, and were excited to be there with us. We opened up with songs from our Sunday school years, and they all seemed to love that. Joe taught the Bible study, and he did a really great job. I know I'm biased, but he just has a real knack of being able to communicate with people. He did a wonderful job. :-) After the lesson we all played a game of Simon Says and then we passed out fun worksheets for the kids to color.

At both the morning and afternoon sessions, the kids were so fascinated with our digital cameras. It was so cute to see them gaze at them as if they were seeing and touching something for the very first time. For most of them, I'm sure that was true. Something that our kids are so used to seeing and touching everyday because we are fortunate enough to have them in our home.... Something that we take for granted and toss around.... Something as simple as a camera.... They found so cool and interesting.

The best part about the entire day, for me, was seeing their eyes light up when we talked to them about Jesus. Seeing the big smiles on their faces when we sang songs and praised the Lord. Seeing them hug an adult and cling to them even though they had only met 10 minutes earlier. These kids were so trusting and so open to us. I wonder what they did after we left them. Did they go back inside their apartments and show their parents the papers they had colored? Did they play outside in the heat? Did any of them get to go swimming in the swimming pool? I will always remember each of their sweet faces, and I hope we planted a seed in their lives that will someday lead them to Jesus.

There are 13 pages of pictures here. It was hard not to take so many. James took my camera during the afternoon Bible study and took many of the pictures there. With his help we captured the entire day, so now we can share these precious kids with you too. Thanks James!

After our day with Mission Arlington we finished up with swimming, then dinner at Buck & Loons, and then swimming again. It was a long, busy day, so I fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed, which is why I didn't update my blog until this morning.

We are looking forward to another day of whatever God has in store for us with Mission Arlington. I will update again tonight or maybe tomorrow morning. Stay tuned...

Family Mission Trip: Day 1

Our first day of the mission trip was mostly traveling, but we had fun riding on the bus. It was a new, big adventure for the kids. Carson and Ainsley were really excited about it. We left Bartlesville around 1:00 P.M. and arrived in OKC to meet Kyle and Shannon. They took Ainsley and Hayden with them, and the rest of us headed to Arlington. We stopped again in Gainsville to have dinner at the Cracker Barrell. Katelyn and Carson got to have pancakes for dinner, so they loved it! We spent some time visiting and rocking on the front porch and then we finished up our evening traveling to Arlington. We arrived at our hotel around 9:00 P.M. and took the kids for a moonlight swim. They have had their showers and are now tucked into bed excited about tomorrow's events. I will update tomorrow with more pics and news! Stay tuned....

Let's Give Ainsley a Kiss!

During our Patriotic photo shoot Adam and Carson laid a kiss on Ainsley. I was never more glad to have my camera than that moment. The look on her face was priceless! This is the series of photos as they happened.

Just Splashin' Around!

There's not much to do around here with all the rain and high waters, so we decided to play in the puddles in front of our house. So glad to have rain boots! The first picture in this slideshow is the floodwaters at the bridge at Frank Phillips and Hensley. We used to take this bridge every day to Dewey when we lived there. There is a car in the picture that is covered up to the windshield. Poor Kiddie Park.... it will be a long time before it dries out!

Rain Boots

These rainboots were a major impulse buy that I felt really guilty for buying several months ago. I didn't know at the time that we were going to have so much rain this year. I am really glad now that I bought them, and the kids love them! Katelyn is the only one who doesn't have a pair. I haven't found any in her size yet, but I'm on the hunt for some. ;-)

Ainsley took a turn!

Ainsley was able to put on her own boots and go for a splash in the puddles outside. She had a blast!

Hayden splashin' in puddles

Hayden has been putting on Ainsley's rain boots the last few days, and I just had to get a picture of him in them. What better place than in the puddles in front of our house? I know they are pink, but he just looked so cute in them! He had a lot of fun splashing. He kept looking back at me with a look of, "Is this really okay Mom?" I never let him splash in puddles. Oh what fun!