Karen Kingsbury

Meeting Karen Kingsbury was by far the highlight of the conference! I have read almost ALL of her books and have LOVED every single one of them! We were just about the last people to leave on Friday night; therefore, we were able to talk with her and have her sign our books without much of a wait at all. I was thrilled to find her just as personable and down-to-earth as I had hoped she would be! Taking her time, she chatted easily and joked with the brothers who were helping her take pictures for her website.

To my surprise, I found out that she also writes children's books, which of course I bought, so we had her sign those to our children as well. On Saturday, she spoke in one of the sessions and actually read one of the children's books, Let Me Hold You Longer, to us leaving not a dry eye in the place! Feeling a little like a "groupie," I actually bought a few more books and stood in line once again to get her autograph on those as well. However, we ended up getting another picture taken for her website because she said she was having a "better-hair day"! :) I loved that! See? Even famous authors worry about their hair! Anyway, the whole experience was amazing, and I will never forget it!

Random Girl with Great Hair...

So...this is just some girl we didn't know. Angie has been wanting to get her hair cut, but she hasn't been able to find the right style! Well, as we were walking around the Vines Center, Angie grabs me and says that we have GOT to get her picture! Since I had my camera with me, I went up to this girl (whose name I still don't know) and asked her if my "crazy" friend could get a picture of her hair! I stood next to her so she didn't feel too stupid, but I'm sure she probably thought we were a bunch of lunatics!!! Oh, well, Angie got her picture; and it really IS cute hair, don't you think? :)

Richie McDonald

Country music fans may recognize Richie McDonald by face (a pretty nice-looking one too! :), if not by name...he is the former lead singer for Lonestar. We were not aware that he was going to be giving a concert Friday night of the conference, but were pleasantly surprised by it! He sang many of the songs that he made famous with Lonestar along with many of his new solo songs. Because he wanted to spend more time with his family, he left Lonestar and began his own solo Christian career. I bought his CD titled "Faith & Family" and absolutely LOVE it! The song in the video below is on the CD along with many others.

As you can see, we were all pretty excited to get our picture with him...and yes, he had his arms around us!!! :) Something I'm sure we'll never forget!

I'm sorry if the camera shook in places...

This song by Richie McDonald was written for his wife when she turned forty. I'm sure you will all agree that it is the sweetest song you will ever hear! Although I actually have video of most of the songs he sang, it took too long to upload these few videos that I have; therefore, I just displayed a song from each person.

Charles Billingsley

Charles Billingsley led the "Praise and Worship" time and did a fantastic job! He had tons of energy and certainly wasn't "hard to look at"! :)

Mandisa at the EWomen't Conference; Lynchburg, VA

For those of you who are American Idol fans, you probably already know who Mandisa is. She was the contestant who "forgave Simon" on National television for some cutting remarks he made about her weight. In her concert Saturday, she talked about her experience on American Idol and how she overcame her fear of Simon to compete on the show. She was extremely impressive both in speech and in talent. We really enjoyed her!

Because of her status, Mandisa was surrounded by body guards and behind a table autographing CDs and pictures. This was as close as I could get to take her picture.

On the way home Saturday afternoon, we stopped at Texas Roadhouse for lunch and to reflect on the weekend and all we learned. Although completely exhausted, we all agreed that it was a perfect trip! God had taught us all so many things and had blessed our hearts until they were overflowing! We can hardly wait until our next journey!

First days of school...

On Wednesday, we sent our little Cade off to K-4~ needless to say there were alot of tears...on MY part. Cade did just fine! At GCA, the boys have to wear ties, dress shirts, pants, and dress shoes for chapel. On the other days, as you can see in the last pictures, the boys can wear polo shirts, shorts, and tennis shoes or sandels. This was actually Cade's first time wearing a tie! (we are really into "comfort" in our family!) To help the kindergarten students have a better "first day," our school has them start a day before the 1st-12th grade students. Therefore, while we are taking these pictures, Xander is making the MOST of his last day of freedom by sleeping in!

Sending our little Cade off to school! (sniff!)

Cade and his best buddy, Lowell. GCA will never be the same!

Cade with his K-4 teacher, Mrs. Stephens.

When I picked Cade up after his first day, I asked him what he had learned that day at school. After considering it for a moment, he answered, "EVERYTHING! I don't need to go back anymore!" Oh, if it were ONLY that easy! :)

Thursday was Xander's and our first day of school. Xander was very excited to get the teacher that he was hoping for. Our school starts on Thursday, and Thursday and Friday are both half days. We believe in "easing into the year"!! :)

Xander, the "old pro," is enjoying showing Cade the ropes at school.

Shane and I with Xander on his first day of 2nd Grade!

They're getting so big!

The boys with Grandma Golden and Hayes before heading off to school. We are very fortunate to have Grandma watching Hayes this year for us; he is getting plenty of TLC!

Xander with his 2nd Grade teacher, Mrs. Vick.

We had a great first "week" and are looking forward to an exciting year!

A great week!

This past week, my family came down from Michigan to visit us. Although my parents were able to spend time with us down in Disney, it was the first time my brother Steve was able to meet Hayes. We even broke him in babysitting, which is the first picture you see in the slideshow below. When we ran to the store to pick up some items for dinner, Steve was blessed with the opportunity to care for all three boys... We came home to find him standing there holding a sleeping Hayes. After trying desperately to get him calmed down, Steve finally realized if he stood and held him in that exact position, he would stop crying and go to sleep. Any attempt to put Hayes down in the swing or crib held dire consequences...thus the picture I could not resist taking! :) He insists he will never have kids.
Because of the extreme heat and the fact my "Northern" family members were not accustomed to such heat, we made sure we had a place to swim each day they were here. On Tuesday, we drove to the beach for the day. It was a quick trip, but we had a lot of fun. It was Hayes' first trip to the beach, and he wasn't all that impressed. Although it was a little hot for him, he was very good and just sat in his seat with his portable fan! :)
Steve was a little distracted throughout the week by a certain "someone"; however, I will let you draw your own conclusions on that matter. In this case, "a picture is worth a thousand words"; therefore, I will leave it unsaid so as not to jinx anything that may be in the fragile stages of beginning.
The last night they were here, we had several people over for dinner and a rousing game of Scattergories. As you see in the pictures, it would most appropriately be called "Cheatergories" because there were several players who spent most of their time arguing why their BIZARRE answers should be acceptable! (Doogenheim is most definitely NOT a "foreign city that starts with the letter D" although one player, to whom I happened to be married, insisted it was just outside of Scotland...hmmm...) We had a good time, concluding an extremely enjoyable week.