July 20-24 Baltimore, VT

Don’t try to look for this on a map, you probably won’t find it. Chester is as close as I could easily find. Matthew’ Aunt Judy and Uncle Shep live here along with Grammy Ruby (the one who Katriel Ruby is named after). There were great times of raspberry hunting and seeing the sugarhouse to learn how maple syrup is made. We saw cows being milked and chickens laying eggs. This was a nice relaxing time to sit and visit and remember days gone by.

July 18-20 Elyria, OH

To share our time in Ohio, we split up our nights and stayed with Mark Porter, the best man from our wedding, his wife Janine (who inspired Katriel to sing opera for hours in the van after we left) and their two children Luke and Julia. While we were there, we went to a park and met with Adam and Jay Williams, two more blasts from Matthew’s past. At the park, a rainstorm came, we were under the pavilion and the rain started to come in sideways! It was great. We were soaking wet! We laughed so hard. It was either that or cry. After a few minutes the sun came out again and it was beautiful, back to the slide and swings!

July 16-18 Elyria, OH

We stayed with Matthew’s brother, his wife Denise and their daughters, Malia and Julia. Maila, 4 and Jaden had a great time. They played hard together. Jaden really enjoyed Malia and I think it was mutual.

July 14-16 Piedmont, SC

Two families from our WCG days live in South Carolina. Their church supports us so Matthew participated in worship and delivered a wonderful sermon about missions. We stayed with the Miller family, Robert, Shiela, Bryson and Sydney. We ate wonderful food from their garden and playing at the Puckett’s house (of course Jaden’s favorite part because there was a pool).

July 13-14 Jacksonville, FL

Penni is another one of Matthew’s cousins. We went to the coast and Lisa was able to see the Atlantic Ocean. The girls ran around collecting all of the shells everywhere. Penni had to go to work, so this was a short visit.

July 10-13 Atlanta, GA

Tim, Davina, Tad and Ty Furnish were the purpose of our stop here. Davina is Matthew’s sister. The cousins loved playing with each other. Jaden thought it was great to play with swords, something we don’t have in our princess décor. By the end of the visit, Katriel was talking about her self in third person “the princess is tired, the princess would like to play…” We had a great day at the pool and this really great park that was huge and fun. We also got a new gas tank in the car here. A valve broke somewhere in it.

July 8-9 Hawkins, TX

Home of one of Matthew’s childhood friends: Matt and his wife, Barbara and their four children. We were so blessed to stay with them, but as with all the stops we have had, one night was not enough. The girls enjoyed swimming with Savanna, Sierra and Zeke, the three older children. The slip and slide was another source of pleasure. Since we missed church that morning, we had a great time of worship together with Matthew playing the guitar.

July 6-8 La Jara, NM

What a fun stop. We visited Sarah and Dickey. They live in a house that Dickey built. Sarah is Matthew’s cousin. We walked with Sarah and Dickey and hunted for Indian pottery and arrowheads. Jaden and Dickey went and caught grasshoppers. Sarah was a great cook and we enjoyed eating a lot! Dickey and Matthew played guitar together. We were sad to go and decided to leave at night and stay a few extra hours.

July 5-6 Grand Canyon, AZ

We had a great time at the Grand Canyon. Other than Lisa being petrified at how close the kids got to the edge, it was uneventful. There was a place right behind this picture where there was a gap between the fence and the rock. Lisa said, “be careful, there is a hole there.” To which, the ever helpful Jaden replied, “Yes, Mom, it’s called the Grand Canyon!” Gotta love ‘em!

Off to Grand Canyon and New Mexico

We leave first thing in the morning and travel to the grand canyon and then off to New Mexico to visit Matthew's cousin, Sarah. We had a WONDERFUL time in Las Vegas and will be really sad to go. Thank you to Raf, Devone, Celeste, Danica, Kendra, Allison, Aaron, Chelsea, Ariel and Sophie :) We love you all!!!!

Here is a picture of 4th of July fireworks.