Rachel and Madi's Mission Trip to Nashville

Rachel and Madi went on a Mission Trip last week to Nashville with their youth group. They experienced a ton of new things as they helped those much less fortunate than themselves. They helped in a HIV clinic, worked in a soup kitchen, helped a man with AIDS clean his overgrown yard (which left Madison with a severe case of poison oak...she is now on some serious steroids!), walked the streets handing out granola bars and water bottles to the homeless, assisted in a store organizing shelves and so many other eye-opening things. One day their assignment was to find a homeless person and buy them breakfast. They found a man and asked him to come into McDonalds and they would buy him breakfast. The manager at McDonalds wouldn't let him in because they said he was a beggar! This was shocking to everyone. They were able to meet several homeless people and hear their stories which really touched the girls. They were amazed at how appreciative and loving these people were. Here are a few pics of the trip...

Telling the girls "bye"...always a production in our home!

Rachel and Madi's identical twin buddies Mallory and Cassandra. Mallory used to babysit the girls and now she is like a "big sister" (although she is shorter!) The whole reason Rachel and Madi decided to go on this trip is because of Mallory.

Getting ready to go!

The girls also experienced lots of different types of food. They had Thai food, Turkish food, Indian food and Soul food. :) My girls, thank God, are not picky eaters and love trying new things so they really enjoyed this part of the trip.

They did a lot of work at FAM (Family Affair Ministries) where they took care of children ages 6 months to 12 years. This was their favorite part of the trip. They developed some close bonds with the children and definitely came home with some favorites! They said when they left the last day they couldn't turn around because they were crying.

This is Jordan, the girls' favorite little boy!

All in all this trip was a huge success on so many levels. The girls were able to see people that were much less fortunate than themselves and they started to develop a heart that loves to serve. They didn't want to leave! Rachel kept a journal for the week and asked me to read it when she got home. On the very last page she said "I really missed my mom this week. I realized how much I love and need her. I love you mom!" SUCCESS!

PS I also wanted to thank my in-laws and my husband for taking such good care of me when I was sick in bed with the flu for 3 days! They had a mission trip right at home! :)

Father/Daughter Retreat at Papa's Farm

Having pre-teen daughters can be challenging at times and having one on one time is hard to find especially in a busy family of 6. That being said Aaron decided that he needed a few days with the twins away from friends, cell phones, texting, etc and decided to take them to my Dad's farm about 2 hours from St. Louis. My Dad has a beautiful 110 acre farm with a horse, cattle, a gorgeous spring fed, crystal clear swimming hole, tall ridges, green pastures, big, beautiful trees and good ol' fashioned fun. They headed out bright and early ready to go. We were surprised at how receptive they were the idea of the Daddy Retreat. Aaron only had to promise Starbucks on the way and they were sold. They had a great time and did a ton of fun things while they were there. But most of all Aaron got to spend quality time with the girls. The bonus was Papa got to as well... he even commented on how much the girls talked and how funny they were! Here are a few highlights of the "retreat":

Aaron wanted the girls to have a few jobs when they were down there so my Dad came up with a few easy tasks for them. One was to pull some weeds. My Dad was very concerned that they didn't do too much work and wanted Aaron to make it clear to me that he didn't have them working the whole time. Funny how different it is when you are a Grandparent vs a Dad. I pulled about an acre of weeds every weekend and he sure didn't care then. I even had back surgery to prove it! :)

A trip to the farm would not be complete without a few driving lessons. I figure the more experience behind the wheel before turning 16 might make them better, more confident drivers. I know, wishful thinking!

A new experience that the girls had was shooting a 22 shotgun. They weren't too sure about this at first since I have always preached "Never touch a gun!" but they quickly got the hang of it and loved shooting the targets...they did pretty well! I am glad I wasn't there to witness this part of the trip.

My Dad had a fishing trip planned at his neighbor's lake. My Dad was giving the girl's instructions on how to really "tug on the line" when he got tangled in his line from tugging too hard. The girls thought this was the funniest moment of the trip. He is what you call a city fisherman!

My Dad has a favorite restaurant close to the farm which apparently serves the World's Best Omelets...pretty much a hole in the wall but great food!

They finished off the trip with a stop at Johnson Shut Ins. The girls said this was one of their favorite parts of the trip.

And so the retreat was a huge success and bonding occurred between father and daughter, grandpa and granddaughter and even son and father in law. This will need to be a tradition for years to come. Thanks Papa for your hospitality!

"J" is off to camp!

Jordan has always been a very independent child and so when I asked her if she wanted to go away to camp she didn't hesitate to say "yes". She, along with most of her soccer team, went to Maryville University for a VERY hot week of soccer. We dropped her off on Sunday and she immediately went to town decorating her dorm room. She brought about 50 posters (some of which were her baby sister's which didn't go over too well!) and an industrial tape dispenser. I cracked up when she pulled that out of her bag...only Jordan! She also had made about 100 feet of paper chains which I had the pleasure of carrying through the parking lot. She had that room together and organized in about 10 minutes flat...her roommates were watching in awe and wondering how they got such an anal friend :) And so we began our goodbyes which took about 30 minutes and finally we literally were shoved out the door as Jordan closed it.

On Monday morning she called. Of course I thought she was getting homesick but she quickly assured me that she was only calling because some of her posters were falling down and she needed some more tape. :) The parents can come up at night to watch their matches but she only allowed us one night which was Wednesday. Aaron went ( I was home with sick Livi) and said she was doing great...she sent her dirty laundry home with him since it was "bothering" her. She is really something! She called yesterday and said she came in 3rd in a juggling contest...43 was her score.

We picked her up today and had to disassemble her room which was quite a feat. She came home and slept on the couch for 2 hours soaking in the air conditioning! We missed you Jordan and can't wait to get Livi out of our bed tonight (she won't sleep without Jordan!). We missed you "J"!

Race for the Cure

Hoda Kotb from the Today Show

Saturday morning, bright and early, the twins, my Mom and I, headed to the Race for the Cure. (I don't think the twins have seen the 6 o'clock hour in quite some time :) And all I had to promise them was Starbucks.) We, along with 70,000 others, packed the streets of downtown St. Louis and raced to end the devastating disease of breast cancer. This is near and dear to our hearts since 25 years ago my mom was diagnosed at the young age of 36. I was 12 at the time and my brothers were 3 and 5! I can not imagine how scared my mom was having kids that were so young.

There are so many things I remember about that time. I remember hearing the words "your Mom has cancer", I remember how dark my Mom's room would be after chemo and how I would sit outside of her door and wonder when she would stop throwing up. I remember when my Aunt Barb came to stay with us to help us and how she folded the towels differently than my Mom did. I would always try to show her how we folded them at our house (sounds bratty doesn't it?). I remember when my Mom's hair fell out and how frightening that was for me to look at her as someone sick. There are so many memories of that difficult time but the best memory was when she was declared "cancer free" a year later.

And so with feelings of thankfulness and pride we declared on our backs that we were celebrating that our Mom/Grammy was cancer free for 25 years. I saw many people taking pictures of our backs as we walked our 3 miles. My prayer is that we gave many people still fighting this disease some hope. We met a young woman currently in the fight of her life. She walked with her husband, parents and pulled her two little girls ages 2 and 4 in a wagon. She just finished chemo last week and is now starting radiation. Several of her lymph nodes were positive for cancer. Her father, Ed, told me that they take it one day at a time. He was so encouraged to hear my Mom's story and said he can only pray that she has the same ending to this disease as my Mom did.

I would love to make this a tradition and do this every year with my family. It is so moving to see how strong these women are that are battling this awful disease. It is also encouraging to see the massive support systems that get them through every day. Our family has been incredibly blessed by the healing of my mother and I thank God for her EVERY day! We love you Mom! Thank you for fighting for us.

Livi can ride a bike...FINALLY!

We have been trying to teach Olivia to ride a bike for quite some time now with no luck. Since we live on the Katy Trail we would love for everyone in our family to be able to ride. We have tried everything! Aaron's Dad who is an avid cyclist even bought us this contraption that mounts on her bike and we stand behind her to keep the bike steady when she rides. It has a release button to let go when she starts riding by herself...needless to say, we have never released her. She has even fallen off the bike several times while we are holding her! :) Last year, Aaron's Dad was practicing with her when she suddenly fell off and as her head was getting dangerously close to the ground she quickly exclaimed "Papa, look at all of the ants!" It was then decided that she wasn't really interested! So I am not sure what made Aaron drag the bike out of the garage the other night but it was the lucky night! She was focused and ready to learn. Within just a couple of minutes she was riding her bike all by herself. And now we are having a hard time getting her off her bike. :) Here are a few pics of the special night. Livi already posing on the bike..Lord help this child!

Olivia, her proud sisters and her "husband" (as she likes to call him) Sonny too.

Livi with her protector watching closely by...

I had a minor heart attack when she came VERY close to a mailbox...good thing Daddy is fast on his feet!

Following her Big Sis Jordan

Way to go Livi..We are so proud of you! XOXXO