An Anniversary and 3 States in 3 Days

Blog Post About July 2021

After the trips to see grandparents, we returned to our Texas base for two days before moving on. 

While there, on the morning of my 25th anniversary, I headed over to a friend's house. 

When my time with my friend was coming to a close, I got a message from Doug (late at night back in the Middle East) saying that I should go to a certain parking lot in the city where I was.

I texted him when I got there, and he told me to go to James Avery and pick up an order for Doug Taylor.

When I went in, there were two pairs of silver earrings for me to pick up, bought and paid for.

Happy Silver Anniversary to us!

That night, Doug also had three friends take me out to dinner. 

It was fun, but it would have been a lot more fun if Doug had been there.

Thanks Doug!

The day after our anniversary, Keira and I flew to Nashville. 

The first airport we went to cancelled our flight because of lightening. A sweet friend picked us up and drove us an hour and a half to another airport so we could catch another flight. We were constantly blessed by amazing friends!

We arrived late at night, but Kylie was still happy to come get us.

The next day, we looked at some possible houses for Kylie to move into, and then when Kylie had classes, Keira and I did a little sightseeing at the Opryland Hotel and Mall.

Covid made it kind of empty

A large Hungry Hippos game

Riding a ride with a new friend.

When Kylie got out of class at 5pm, we headed to Jackson, Mississippi, with a 6 hour drive in front of us!

The next morning, in Mississippi, Kylie had a follow up appointment with the doctor that did surgery on her knee. Later that night, we went to see Karis dance in her first ballet performance of the summer (she's in the front row, on the right)

Again, kneeling in the front, right.

It was good for all of us girls to be together.

Karis always has a good time at dance camp. 

This year, she stayed for four weeks with a fun roommate.

So many girls got Covid, and many were sent home, but thankfully, Karis made it all summer without being sent home.

Timon and Pumba at camp, ready to do some calisthenics.

Independence and a Zoo, Too

Blog Post About June 2021

The day we arrived back at our base, some of my sweet friends had planned a dinner party for me. These ladies still connect with me every other week over zoom to study the Word together.

One funny thing about that night is that I was having trouble finding out why one of my flights had been cancelled, and before the party I had been on hold with United for TWO HOURS and FIFTEEN MINUTES!  

I really do not like United, but that's a discussion for another day. 

When one of my friends saw me and hugged me, her cheek hit my earbud and disconnected my call. It was actually a blessing because it allowed me to enjoy my friends and stop being concerned with my flight for a little while.

The next day, I got a ride to meet my parents an hour away because they were bringing me a car to use for the rest of my time in America. Some sweet friends had already let me use their car for the first week I was in the States.

Two days later, we took off for Mississippi with Karis driving the whole seven hours.

The next day, we checked her into dance camp where she would stay for the next four weeks, and after one more night of sleep, we headed to a river camp with some friends to spend the Fourth of July. 

We had the best time!

Kylie had a week off as well, and she went to Ohio see a friend she had met at ballet camp years earlier.

Keira and I drove back to Texas to my parents' house on the 5th of July, but instead of taking us 7 hours, it took TEN.  Traffic and weather slowed us down considerably.  It's a good thing Keira is such a good traveler.  She talked to me the WHOLE ten hours ;)

We spent three nights with my parents again, and then headed to Doug's parents for three more nights with them. On the 9th, the weather was amazing, and we decided to go to the zoo.  

Keira has "Kenya" on her birth certificate, but she never got to experience the beauty of the wildlife there because she was so young when we left, so she was soaking it in (AND we got to see the big 5).

The giraffe with her giraffe shirt.

Happy birthday to Caleb today!

 

Dancing our Way out of Mississippi

Blog Post from Summer 2020

We stayed in Mississippi two weeks, for the entire length of Karis' ballet camp.

A BIG thank you to the Snowden's for hosting us for TWO WEEKS!  You guys have such servant hearts!

We were able to see Karis perform at the end, which was really special.

The day before the performance, we went to visit some more dear friends who had us over for dinner.

We had a fun evening visiting the Crowe's, and once again, Keira found a friend in their youngest daughter.

They invited her to spend the night, but Keira wasn't quite ready; however, I told Keira I would bring her back early the next morning, so she could feed ducks in their backyard with her new friend Bella.

July 24, 2020

Keira was having so much fun doing so many things, so I left her there while Doug and I went to other appointments, and she had quite a day.

Bella took her paddle boarding for the first time.

She held a rabbit.

She held a bird.

And then, Bella and her mom brought Keira and met us at the ballet gala, which they were going to anyway.

Karis is in the center of both of these pictures.

I tear up every year watching these performances to such beautiful worship songs. 

Ballet is a beautiful way to offer worship to the Lord.

July 24, 2020

Two days after Kylie's surgery, she took her crutches out in the rain so she could watch her sister perform, and we were all blessed by the beautiful Ballet Magnificat performances by their summer intensive participants.

 

On a side note, I just finished a book by one of the ballet instructors at Ballet Magnificat.

He came to the company in 1993 at age 19 from a newly formed Czech Republic. His autobiography was a blessing to read. From our side of the world, we just imagined what was going on behind the Iron Curtain, but he gives a realistic account about how he lived from birth to age 18 and how he found out about a man named Jesus.

The book is "Velvet Meets the Iron Curtain," by Jiri Sebastian Voborsky.

A Surprise Surgery (that we were SO grateful for)

Blog Post About Summer 2020

In the last post I mentioned the Godwin's. Seeing them was a divine meeting.

C, the husband, asked Kylie how her knee was doing, and she told him it still wasn't well, and she didn't know what else she could do for it.

We had dinner with them on July 15th.

C made a phone call, and the next Monday, July 20th, he scheduled us to see an orthopedic doctor who not only saw Kylie, but scheduled her for an MRI and an X-ray that same day, and then after seeing the results, scheduled her for a surgery two days later!

As I prayed for Kylie before going into surgery, she teared up, and I asked if she was afraid, but she said, "No, I'm just so happy to be getting my knee fixed."

July 22, 2020

October 1, 2018, when Kylie's injury occurred in ballet, we were told that her patella had been knocked out of place, and an MRI confirmed it had gone back into place. 

We got some instructions on some physical therapy Kylie could do on her own, so we signed her up for a gym membership, and she started doing some small things to help; however, even though she gained a little strength, she still wasn't getting better.

It turns out that when her patella WAS knocked out of place, it knocked a part of her femur bone off!

The surgeon did say that the way it healed (interpretation: *the way God healed it) was much better than he could have done.

The doctor cleaned out all the floating bone fragments, including this large piece, and he took a tendon from a cadaver and gave her a stronger tendon to hold her patella in place since the other was "stretched out" (in layman's terms).

July 24, 2020

Our plans got a little skewed, and we had to cancel on the Manuel's and Reed's, but we were so glad to get answers and solutions for Kylie's knee. 

The Slay's and the Pettus' gave Kylie a place to rest during the day hours while we continued to make visits, and then two days after her surgery, on Friday, July 24, 2020, Kylie hobbled out in the rain to watch her sister dance at the gala.

Those two years between injury and surgery were long, and even though her knee bothered her nearly every day, she never complained, even though I know (and she knew) that if we had been in America, we could have gotten more help.

Across the Mississippi

Blog Post about Summer 2020

Karis was ready to go to ballet camp in Mississippi, so we (except Caleb) loaded up for the 7 hour trip.

A couple we have known for a long time allowed us to stay with them as we came and went every day.

Our first stop was the Godwin house, and their kids had a sweet welcome sign for us.

I will tell you some other amazing things that happened at their house in the next post.

July 15, 2020

L (Godwin)'s four younger kids took Keira under their wing, and they had a great time together.

Trampoline park....Mexican food...and a neighborhood friend group coming together to do a "Frozen" skit.

She had so much fun, so they invited her back again for an upcoming birthday party.

While Keira was having the time of her life, Doug and I went to see another dear friend.

I don't know why I have pictures with some and not with others, but that's just how it works sometimes.

We saw the Coggins', J Goff, Pettus', Manuel's, K Adcox, Gregory's, Neese's, Caldwell's, Stovall's, C Woods, Hardin's, Carraway's, N Morgan, W Morgan, Slay's, Moore's, Barber's, Ozier's, Harkins', G Randall, Pearce's, and Crowe's. 

We contacted three others that we visited with over the phone but we couldn't see because they were quarantining for various reasons. 

We had 26 visits, saw 64 people,  and visited for 86 hours during our two weeks in Mississippi.

We love our friends in Mississippi!

When Keira returned a few days later to the Godwin house, this water slide in the back yard had her scared for a good 45 minutes. It wasn't until the sun was setting that she finally decided to give it a try...and loved it!

We saw Doug's former office assistant and my friend J-A, who has added some arrows to her quiver since I last saw her!

July 19, 2020

Then we drove a couple of hours south to visit some friends who had moved since we last saw them. We stayed with them a couple of nights, and we had some great visits and enjoyed walking around their cute town.

They live in Laurel where "Home Town" on HGTV is shot. I have never seen the show, but I saw all the cute houses that have been redone since the show started.

Funny enough, Keira was most excited about seeing an RV. She had never been in one.

Our friend David told her he had one, and she was so anxious to see it, so I videoed her first impressions.

July 16, 2020

There is always something new to see in America.

Meanwhile, back home overseas, this was set up outside a grocery store where I like to shop.

Who knows what they spray on you that will "kill" the Corona virus, but it is actually still set up now, a year later in 2021, and everyone I see walks around it, so I guess it doesn't matter what they spray ;)