Blessed New Year

I've never posted via my iPhone and I'm clearly struggling with it. I just a few mins o quiet and wanted to reflect on all the 2009 was about and what 2010 holds for our family. I'm sitting here in front of a fire at the family lakehouse and I'm so grateful to be able to relax and reflect on the journey we are on right now. God is at work in our family in ways I can't explain but as a mom I see them and know they are from HIM.
Adoption update: we received notice from homeland security that our I600A was being processed and we would receive fingerprint appointments soon. Once we do, we can send our dossier to Ethiopia and be officially on the wait list. As the reality of knowing who our children are gets closer we all get more and more excited. The anticipation of new siblings permeates our family and it is so exciting we can hardly contain ourselves. I pity the individual that asks me an adoption question or about how we are doing in our process because I could talk their ear right off.
So as we go into 2010 I am thrilled to think (God willing) this will be the year we bring our children home and our crazy, fun, loving family grows by 2,3, or 4 more. If you think of it, please pray for our children and that God will put people in their life to love on them until we bring them home. If they only knew how much they are going to be loved!!!

If you want a good read for 2010 I highly recommend The Hole in Our Gospel!! God has changed me as a person through the words in this book. Also, a group of friends and I are reading through the Bible together this year. I'm looking forward to all that HE will say to me and teach me through His Holy Word.
The Porterhouse wishes all of you a blessed New Year full of God's grace and mercy!!

Last Chance to Order

I am placing my t-shirt order this week. If you want to order and haven't, now is your chance !! We are getting closer and closer to getting our dossier to Ethiopia. I will post an update on our journey soon. In case you didn't know, Christmas is in 5 days ... so much I still want to do.

T-Shirts for Sale

"Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says ... he will be blessed for doing it." James 1:22,25

Our adoption journey began earlier this year. We have been blessed by a beautiful friendship with the Alexanders and it was at Abe's one year birthday party that the words were first put to our heart's pull toward adoption. The words were spoken just between Craig and me - but the desire was spoken. Since that time, we have researched agencies and miraculously were brought to one that has a special place in our hearts (YWAM-Ethiopia), we completed and sent in our application, we had our homestudy visit, we completed the required hours of adoption training/education, we have become rather fluent in adoption lingo, we have been blessed to meet great adoptive families, and we have compiled our enormously tedious dossier. I look back and remember how overwhelmed I was with the thought of international adoption, much less with actually doing something about it. But, I can't begin to explain the difference in our family in the last 9 months. Our journey thus far has been -- well, it's been life changing!!

And here I am on the threshold of another learning curve. The thought of fundraising and selling things is SO far out of my comfort zone ... Yet, God is giving me righteous confidence that "from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." And so, here it is, our first fund raiser (drum roll please .....)

Two amazing women, seven adoptions and thirteen kids .... 147millionorphans.com is helping other families raise funds for adoptions. We are one of those families. Below are the t-shirts we are currently selling. Plans are in the works for a party with even more products. Please let me know if you have questions and thank you in advance for helping bring our children home.


Ladies 'Pick-Me' Daisy Ragland
Color: Chocolate sleeve/ white body -pink/chocolate graphics
Available Sizes: Sm, M, L, XL
Price: $24.95

Men's Original Cross TEE
Color: Navy Short Sleeve Ringer TEE
Available Sizes: Sm, M, L, XL, 2XL
Price: $24.95

147 Million Orphan Toddler Tee
Color: PINK or RED
Available Sizes: 2T, 3T, 4T
Price: $19.95

Youth Tees will be coming soon ....

Did you know that 34% of Christian families consider adoption, but only 1% actually do?

Thank you again - and please be patient as I learn the ins and outs of fund raising ... oh yea, and please spread the word!!!

Surrender

Our adoption process continues to move forward in several ways. We almost have our dossier completed - still wrestling with the bank to get the right letter from them, and reading through the draft of our homestudy. We need to get our CIS approval and get our dossier authenticated before it can be sent to Ethiopia and we then can be put on the official waiting list -- so, all that stands between us and the waiting list is about $7,000 (we then have another big installment when we accept our referral). As Craig said "Whew that's a BIG number", and it is - TO US - but not to our almighty, God. HE is bigger than that and HE is a good God. So, this is the other area where our adoption process moves forward .... our trust and surrender. The adoption journey has been a walk of faith for us, but we are seeing now that saying 'yes' to adoption was the easy part --- saying 'yes, I trust YOU GOD to take us all the way' is proving to be more refining.

I have to go back and remind myself of the character of God and the promises of God:

Philippians 1:6 "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion"
Psalm 16:8 "HE is at my right hand, I will not be shaken"
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future"
Lamentations 3:23 "His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness"
Malachi 3:10 "test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the flood gates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it"
2 Corinthians 12:9 "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'"
Psalm 86:10 "For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God"

God laid it on my heart today that every time I doubt that we will have the money to complete this adoption, every time I become anxious about where the money is going to come from, every time I become discouraged about how long it may take, I am telling God that I doubt HIM, that I am questioning HIM -- that I don't trust HIM. Somehow it's as though I believe I can do it better or that I need to get in front of HIM to control and handle all that this process entails. How foolish, prideful and downright sinful of me. I cannot comprehend the depths of Christ's love for me and each person of this family (both here and in Ethiopia). I trust HIM to pour down HIS blessings and I trust his sovereignty for that which I don't even know lies ahead.

Halloween, Homestudy & Crayons

We had a very fun Halloween serving 250 hot dogs and 400 goody bags as a homegroup. It was even bigger than last year and we are shooting for the moon next year. Here are a few costume pics:

We had a rose fairy, red ninja, blue bonnet fairy and rockstar. We had plenty of glitter, pink hairspray and weapons!!

We completed our homestudy today. Craig feels great about it ... I'm a little contemplative - just thinking over the questions and answers. We have a few more pieces of paper to gather and then our dossier will be complete and we can move forward. Thank you for all that prayed for us today - this journey is in God's hands and it is when I pick it up again that I feel anxious. How timely that our study at church this morning included not only Psalm 82:3 "Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless" but also James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." God knew that we needed to be reminded of our calling and His confirmation on it.

Now for something a little lighter ...

What do you get when you combine a glass bowl + wax paper + broken crayons + microwave=a mess!! Craig decided to tackle a 'craft' project while we finished cleaning the house for the homestudy and get 4 kids dressed for Halloween. Unfortunately, he started the microwave while he went outside to spray Hannah's hair pink and when we came in the wax paper was on fire. A little water on the mishap and the glass bowl exploded and melted crayon erupted all over the microwave. The melted crayon in the microwave wasn't even the worst of it .... the burnt crayon smell was terrible!!

The enemy may have thought this was enough to get me goin' ... WRONG .... backing over the cooler on the way to church this morning - that didn't get me either! Luke showing his pocket knife and sword to our social worker .... that ALMOST got me. But I refuse to let the enemy speak lies to me. I will trust in the Lord!

Psalm 138:8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands.

Thank you to all who covered us in prayer today. We pray that we God will allow us to be His vessels of service and love through this adoption. We are humbled, grateful and blessed for His calling our lives.

Homestudy

Our Homestudy has been scheduled for Nov 1st (Happy Birthday Boba). I am not sure what I was thinking scheduling it the day after Halloween, but it was the first available date in November, so there you have it. We may be hiding costumes and candy in the car - not sure what to do about the sugar high all the kids will be on .... but perhaps they will just appear to be joyful, happy, jovial kids :)


I have been reminded recently of the parallel between the journey of adoption and the journey of pregnancy. I am so grateful I have experienced pregnancy and I am grateful to now be experiencing the pregnancy of adoption. Just like when I have been pregnant, I find myself thinking about our next child(ren). What they will look like, what our family will be like when they are here, what their little personalities are going to be like, and wanting so much to hold them. I praise God that He knew our children before they were born and He knows those that are yet to be Porters. Thank you God for the miracle of motherhood - both biological and adoptive.

Psalm 139:14-16
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Next step ... Dossier (silly amounts of paperwork)!!!

Approved!

We received word yesterday that our adoption application has been approved!

application read to go!

paperwork - paperwork - paperwork

Next step .... Homestudy!!

Please pray for God's financial provision as we move forward. We know that this journey is all about trusting God each step of the way. We pray that our faith in WHO God is will be so impressed into our souls that it is lived out through our family not just in the words we speak.

Malachi 3:10
"Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the flood gates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."

14 Years!!

Fourteen years ago today Craig and I committed to spend the rest of our lives together. It has been an incredible ride so far and I am looking forward to all of the fullness that the years ahead hold for us. God's sovereignty astounds me as I look at our life together. Thank you God for the amazing man you gave me and thank you Craig for being such a godly husband and best friend.

Our anniversary present to each other is our adoption application. I feel like God is leading us in to a new journey together as we send it in today. Thank you Craig for being my best friend for life and for your sweet, obedient spirit that is open to the path God has called us to follow. Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

"It's only you for me, just like that whooping crane, who has one wife for all his life and if she dies he'll do the same" REK

Calling

The realization of the call of God on a life may come with a sudden thunder-clap or with a gradual dawning, but in whatever way it comes, it comes with the undercurrent of the supernatural, something that cannot be put into words; it is always accompanied with a glow (Oswald Chambers)

Squirrel #3

We came home this afternoon after getting Craig from the airport to a house guest. An unwanted house guest. I caught a glimpse of its bushy brown tail in the playroom and screamed so loud it jumped against the glass door to try and escape. I ran the other direction into our bathroom to barricade myself someplace safe. Luke, sweet Luke, is trying to coax it out the back door he is holding open ... I am still screaming ... and the the squirrel, that is as panicked as I am, is running around our bedroom. I was actually holding the bathroom door closed - why? Luke finally got it out to the backyard. I am so shocked with my reaction ... I don't think I have ever panicked or screamed like that before. But there is something very unsettling about a squirrel running loose in the house. This is the THIRD time we have found a squirrel in our house. I am beginning to think they have a key and are coming in the front door.

Dinner options

I opened the front door and threw out $40. Okay, not literally, but I might as well have. Craig is out-of-town and I didn't feel like cooking. So, it was time to order in. We are having pizza at homegroup tomorrow night, so I tried to get creative - which isn't too easy when you still want the food brought to your door. Did y'all know that Pizza Hut has a whole menu of non-pizza items? If pizza is your thing - stick to pizza. Pasta, wings, cheese sticks .... Pizza Hut should not have these items on their menu. The kids each had a bite of the item they chose and that was it --- not because they were being finicky but because the food really was not good!! So, here we are having cinnamon toast, plain toast, chicken strips from lunch, canned chili, yogurt and cantaloupe. It's not gourmet but tummies are full.
Did I mention that Craig is on a private boat in CA enjoying a beautiful gourmet dinner - I'm sure it's 'business' :)

Discouragement

Craig and I have prayed for YEARS and YEARS that Christ would use our family for HIS glory and HIS kingdom. Of course, we didn't know what that looked like - but now we find ourselves living a life that is much different from the one we pictured when we got married almost 14 years ago (Sept 30, 1995 was the big day). I realize now that when we opened our hearts to God's calling and said 'yes' to homeschooling our children and we said 'yes' to various leadership roles at church and most recently when we said 'yes' to adopting --- we put a big ol' bullseye on our family. Satan doesn't like many of the decisions we have made (good) and he is letting us know it. But as I sit here typing this morning I resolve myself to NOT let satan steal our joy, kill the vision that God has given us or destroy our fortitude. Discouragement has reared it's ugly head numerous times over the past week or so - but God has graciously provided scriptures, words of encouragement and friends to speak His words to me.

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." 2 Cor 4:7-9

"If the Lord delights in a man's way, He makes his steps firm; through he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His right hand." Psalm 37:23-24

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

"The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of deer, He enables me to go on the heights." Habakkuk 3:19

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

Psalm 16:7-8
"I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." Psalm 16:7-8

Esther 4:14b
"And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

I Chronicles 28:20
"Be strong and courageous and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you."

Not surprisingly, God knew exactly what I would need this year and He started providing back in January. A dear friend asked me to join her in memorizing one verse a week for the entire year, Word a Week. This has been the single greatest thing I have done in a long time to grow my walk with Christ. God has placed these scriptures strategically throughout my year and they have encouraged and strengthened me when I have needed it the most. I see now that back in January, when I didn't know we would say 'yes' to adoption and I didn't know how discouraged I would feel on this day, Sept 22 - HE knew and HE has been providing love, encouragement, and His balm of soothing words for 38 weeks.

Why would you want to do that?

I am grateful for times when others do not embrace our decision to adopt. Why? Because God is providing opportunity. Opportunity for us to grow, opportunity for us to share our hearts and declare Christ's love, opportunity for others to be touched and most importantly for HIM to be made famous. See, we realize now that God calling us to adopt isn't about us, and it isn't about the children He has chosen for us, it is about HIM!! I have read that so many times in books and on blogs - but the difference is that now I have experienced it - I feel it - it is a part of me.
I have great peace in knowing that this calling isn't about walking through the doors of our home with our precious children - it is about the journey. While I look forward with excitement to that day when our children will be home and our family together - I don't want to miss what God has for me and us along the way.

Now I remember why I LOVE homeschooling ....

I get to see Luke's hiding spot for hide-n-seek tag

I let Emily carry around her doughnut holes and play while she eats them

we get the 'car' grocery cart and I get 4 really good helpers!

and because I get to see these sweet smiles and have fun with them all during the day !!!

I am truly a blessed woman!!!

Fear

Psalm 145:13
The LORD is faithful to all his promises
and loving toward all he has made.

I have found myself wavering between overwhelming excitement and paralyzing fear. I hate when I feel fearful. I look back in my life and see instances that I missed out on really neat, fun, and possibly life-changing stuff because of fear. It isn't like fear of heights, after all in our younger days we went bungee jumping - or fear of dying, we went scuba diving with sharks. It is emotional deep fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of emotional discomfort, fear of coming out of my comfortable little world. I realized this is what I was dealing with when I read "Strength of Mercy" - It is the story of Jan and Ron Beazely and their journey of adoption. When they were discussing the call of adoption, Ron expressed his fear about adopting and the unknowns that came with it, and his godly, loving wife responded: "You are my husband. I will submit to your decision. But the sad thing is, if you are wrong - if God really does want us to do this - we will never know this side of eternity what could have been. To me there is nothing more devastating that to miss what God has, what He wants us to do....I don't want to stand before the Lord someday and have regrets."
I don't want to stand before the Lord and give an explanation for why I said 'no thank you' to something HE asked me to do - and ashamedly admit it was because I was afraid. I have to keep my eyes upward and my heart connected to HIS so my human frailty and fears do not rule my actions. I am beginning to understand that our adoption jourey is going to change my heart and refine me in ways I can not begin to imagine.

The helmet was my idea

What do the Porters do on a beautiful Saturday morning in Texas? This of course

Craig is in the neighbor's tree cinching up the zip-line...yes, it goes across the street

Can you see the expression on Katy's face?

No, we didn't bring a monkey home from Gibraltar - that's Luke

Hannah waving to her fans

Emily Jane - not scared for a second

Caps for Sale

Have y'all read this book? It was one of the favs around here for quite some time, so we read it over and over. I feel like the peddler carrying my hats on top of my head - not to sell, just to balance and wear. In the book there is a little peddler man that has a stack of hats on his head "first he had on his own checked cap, then a bunch of gray caps, then a bunch of brown caps, then a bunch of blue caps, and on the very top a bunch of red caps." I feel like I add 'caps' to my head all day and then try to balance them so they don't fall off "first she has on her own Jamey cap, then her wife cap, then her momma cap, then her serving others cap, then her homeschool cap, and on the very top her adoption cap" Wow, my neck is sore :)
While my heart is really tied up in our adoption journey right now - I am also trying to get ready for school. I have finally come to terms with the fact that one of my children really needs help with reading... I mean focused help!! So, I am researching reading programs and now I feel like I need to add another cap - the help me cap. I have found two interesting websites but I don't know if either are what I really need. Any chance anyone has heard of or used: Toe by Toe (by Keda Cowling) or HEC Discover Intensive Phonics Reading Horizons (different that Alpha Omega Horizon Phonics program)? Both are 'Highly Structured Intensive Phonics programs, and both have parental reviews that rave about them. Any advice?

Wait for it, wait for it ...

I can't stand to hold it in any longer, it's true, we are growing our family through adoption from Ethiopia. We are overwhelmed with so many emotions but most importantly we know that this is what God has called our family to and we fully trust Him. Nervous, excited, unsure, anxious, hopeful, how many emotions are we suppose to have at one time? And the paperwork holy cow the paperwork! So glad that we have led simple law abiding lives (for the most part). Anyone that has traveled this road before us knows how overwhelming it can be. We look forward to the journey!! We will have MANY more posts as we move along. Thank you for sharing this with us!

Southern travels

After the festivals were finished we stayed and traveled a bit with Manny & Jamie (full-time missionaries in Spain). Our travels first took us as far south as possible to Marbella, Spain - where we became beach bums




Behind the kids is The Rock of Gibraltar - which was our next stop

Gibraltar is a British Territory - which was really cool because we drove across the border and all of the sudden we could understand everyone and read all the signs -- Yippee!! Gibraltar is also home to the tailless Barbary Macaques. These delightful little monkeys roam around the entire rock where visitors can sit by them and watch them and feed them (sshhh - don't tell - I don't think we were supposed to). For those that don't know Luke LOVES LOVES LOVES monkeys. I can't even begin to explain his fascination with and adoration for monkeys. It was as close to heaven as he could imagine. One monkey friend even tried to take his bracelet off - how many times do you think we heard this??
"A real monkey touched my bracelet, right here - a REAL monkey"


If I haven't bored you enough with our geography and history lesson, here's more: Standing on the Rock of Gibraltar - looking across the Strait of Gibraltar - Africa is only 14 miles away. The view was breathtaking and it was cool to be standing on British territory, look to the right and have Spain right there and look straight ahead and see a clear view of Africa - (I mean the continent of Africa was closer to us there than Ft Worth is to us here at home - WOW) -

Objects in the background (Africa) are closer than they appear

Next post: San Sebastian, France and running with the bulls ... stay tuned!

Spain - Festivals for God

SPAIN TEAM 2009

Our first festival was Saturday night - the same day we arrived. Tired? YES Confused? YES Chaotic? YES

The good news is the God was not tired or confused and He is not a God of chaos. God spoke to hearts this first night and over 30 people prayed, at the festival, to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. PRAISE THE LORD!

explaining the Gospel using the bead bracelets

We quickly got the hang of things and our typical day went something like this:

9 am - meet for devotions
10:30 am - drive to town where we are having that night's festival
11 am - hand out flyers to advertise upcoming festival
12:30 pm - drive back to SEFOVAN seminary http://worldlinkministries.org/ministry/spain/sefovan-graduation-2009.html
1 pm - eat lunch at seminary
2 pm - siesta (which to Porter kids translates 'swimming')
5 pm - meet in hotel lobby dressed in team shirt, jeans, boots, bandana, cowboy hat
6 pm - drive to town and start festival set-up
7 pm - festival begins (the truth is that as soon as we started setting up the crowds gathered - and the fun began immediately)

7-10 pm - hand out Gospel bead bracelets, paint faces, make balloon animals, play carnival games, line dance, chicken dance, listen to the Gospel presentation (in espanol), give out hot dogs --repeat as many times as possible --

10 pm - take down and clean up
11 pm - eat dinner at local church
12 midnight - drive back to hotel
12:30 am - wash 4 little faces, clean 8 little feet, brush cute little teeth, put on clean PJs
1 am - SLEEP

R E P E A T

lunch at seminary

flyer advertising that night's festival

Limbo

this game didn't work too well - it got replaced with the AWESOME balloon making

the AWESOME balloon making

cactus roping

line dancing

dinner at local church


Here are quick reports about each night:
Festival #1:
Like I said we were exhausted, it was chaotic, but God showed up in a mighty way. We had 32 people pray at the festival to accept Christ.
Festival #2:
This festival was in a more affluent town. Manny prepared us ahead of time that often there is not a good turn out in places of higher economic wealth. We weren't expecting a big crowd and, quite frankly, we weren't expecting to see any souls saved. Again, God is bigger than us and He was evident throughout the night. We had a big, energetic, fun crowd - many many young kids hung out all night. We had a BLAST this night and witnessed 11 people pray to accept Christ.
Festival #3:
Both festival 3 and 4 were held in the same town. This area was a town of lower income and great need --- the people were awesome!! The festivals were in a small ampitheater setting that was really fun. Craig, John, Devon and Luke made balloons -- they were slammed the entire night -- I mean busy like you can't imagine busy. They ran out of the long twisting balloons, but kept up the pace with round balloons they made into baseballs and smiley faces. At festival #3 we had 32 people pray for their personal salvation and accept Christ.
Festival #4:
This was our last night - it was bitter sweet. We were so tired, and our feet had blisters and hurt, but God was being glorified and His work was being done and we were so blessed in the process. We had the routine down pretty well by the last festival. The only things that got a bit crazy were handing out our extra cowboys hats and bandanas (a bit crazy is a HUGE understatement -- it was down right insane) and the hot dog stand hit an all time high on the crazy meter. I decided it was probably best that I didn't understand Spanish, because I could just keep handing out hot dogs and Coca-Cola with a smile because I didn't have a clue what they were saying. Are you ready to read how many accepted Christ? Wait for it ..... wait for it .... 111. Honestly, that is not a typo, 111 people prayed to accept Christ as their personal Savior. We cried, we cheered, we had chill bumps and we praised the ONE TRUE GOD!!

"I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10

We could almost hear the rejoicing from heaven!!
It's not about the numbers, but it is about the numbers!! This whole trip would have been worth it for ONE person to have eternal life. We praise God for every single person that we will see in heaven some day. Can you imagine what an amazing day that will be?

We know that hundreds and probably thousands of seeds were planted and that God will reap the harvest in His time.

Please pray for those that are new believers, both those that prayed with someone at the festival and those that prayed privately that we don't know about. Pray that they will get connected with the local church (which, by the way, will actively pursue them). And, please pray for those that heard but did not make a decision --- pray for them to choose Christ!!

Spain - Departure & Arrival

S P A I N

Wow!! I don't even know where to begin..... I guess with:

Day One - Departure and Arrival

Friday, June 26th 1:30 pm

Leaving home to carpool from church

Leaving Arlington TX in our bright blue team t-shirts

10 adults
6 kids
(the rest of the team was meeting us there)
32 checked bags
20 carry-on bags
16 hearts dedicated to the Lord's work

Saturday, June 27th

Our little man, Luke, turned 8 on the airplane

Happy Birthday - We Love you!!

We were SO happy to see Manny & Jamie at the airport!! We arrived and got through all of the lines by 11:00 am.

Too cute for the immigration line

The whole team, by this time was safely in Madrid - God went before us and handled all of the details - things could not have gone more smoothly and if you can believe it, all of our bags, boxes and suitcases made it on time and in perfect shape! After delivering our personal luggage to the hotel we got our room assignments, freshened up (barely) and left again ...
Manny & Jamie had us to their beautiful home for lunch

Saturday, June 27th 3:00 pm

We left TX 22 hours ago - most of us slept very little on the airplane, if you take into account the 7 hour time difference, 9 1/2 hour plane trip, 2 hours going through immigration, retrieving bags and getting to the hotel, we are officially exhausted - but the fun was just beginning!! Time for festival number 1 -- quick stop at the hotel to put on CLEAN team t-shirts (this time bright green), jeans, boots and hats and off we go ... Yee Haw!

Yes, that is one seat and two children -- they are double buckled....sorry!

Ready for Summer

Before

After

Emily is ready for summer with her cute new haircut. Isn't she CUTE?!
Now I can add beautician to my resumé