Lo and Behold

Well, the other morning I happened to get a look into Rachel's mouth and what did I see? A new tooth had poked it's way through her gums and she has a new tooth. She never lets you put your finger in her mouth to check for items she shouldn't have in her mouth or even just the random check for a new tooth. Since I knew she had a tooth, I stuck my finger in her mouth just to see if it was real. Lo and behold, it was! Today as I was writing in her baby book, and since she cuts teeth pretty close together, I decided to check one more time while I had the book out. She still didn't like me messing around in her mouth, but lo and behold, ANOTHER TOOTH! Two teeth in one week! I guess she's halfway through cutting her 2 year molars! Maybe we'll have a mild terrible twos since she won't be cutting teeth?!

We have even more news. On TuesdayJeff's brother called saying they were going to the birthing center. After several agonizing hours, and some sleep, we got the news that lo and behold we have a baby nephew!! We are ecstatic to have a nephew and to finally be Uncle Jeff and Aunt Teri. I'm sure our girls also love that they now have a cousin. We have a friend who had 4 or 5 children before those kids had a cousin. Well, he's 8 lbs and looks a lot like Jeff's brother Chad. You can see their blog to the right under Strangers in a Strange Land.

Only 2 days left of 5 Day clubs and then we're off to galavant the countryside (Megan's words!). We hope everyone is staying cool and able to enjoy the summer (or winter if your in New Zealand :) ).

Long Week

Well, Day 1 of 5 Day Clubs is over. It went really well. I guess the good thing is that it's not at my house. We had 22 kids come today. I'm very excited to see what the Lord does through these children this week.

As the title mentioned, it's going to be a long week. Jeff has soccer camp every morning and as soon as he gets home Rebekah and I go to 5 Day Clubs, and we have something every night of the week except for tonight. I don't know if I can function! Well, we sort of signed up for this, so we should be prepared. Another thing complicating the week is that Rachel cut another tooth, so she's not exactly the happiest camper on the planet. After this week we'll be going on vacation for 5 days and then on to Camp Baranabas for a week of serving others with the youth group from our church. Some day our life will slow down, but I'm not really sure when that will be.

If you're thinking of us there are a few things you could pray about if you so choose:

1. Time to do our housework, laundry, packing, unpacking, and repacking

2. Wisdom when our patience runs low (with wisdom comes patience-it's in Proverbs somewhere)

3. Safe travel (see Pulling a "Lehmann" post if you're curious)

4. Pray that Rebekah will be comfortable with continuing breastfeeding after our trip

5. Pray for the youth on our trip that they will make it through the week and understand the expanse of God's love and compassion

6. That the girls' routines aren't too upset by all the schedule and scenery changes

7. Good visits with family and friends on our vacation

If I think of others, I'll post them somewhere if you'd like me to.

Oh, and Happy Father's Day to the father in my house, as well as our Dads!

Lavon in the summertime

Not much going on here other than our usual weekly events. We are excited to be going to the lake tomorrow for an outing filled with water skiing. Not sure if the girls are coming or not. We'll have to wait and see! We're hoping for calm waters.

There's also a missions opportunity for us that just came up and we need your prayers for wisdom and a quick decision on our part. It also changes a few of our plans, so we will have to rearrange a few things. We'd really like to do it, but it may not be possible. Thanks for your prayers.

A few pictures from the last week or so.

1st "Ponytail"

Rachel reading to Rebekah

Camping Trip

Rebekah's new toy...

...and Rachel's new playhouse

Looking at the stars

This is what we got to do this weekend with the Junior High group from our church. We took 10 kids camping at Lake Ray Roberts this past weekend where we got to eat smores, ride in the boat, go tubing (skiing for me), canoeing, hiking (and lots of it), swimming, play games, bond as a group, and worship our Creator.

The first night, after we set up camp, we snacked on smores and got to know each other before one of the leader talked about Creation and the sovreignty of God. There was a storm headed right towards our campsite that split in two and went completely around us. I believe several of the leaders were praying about this. Since the storm went around us, we had a clear sky and saw many stars! The moon was big and bright and Jeff even pointed out a couple of satellites to the kids. The kids stayed up way too late and we had a hard time falling asleep even though we were up past our bedtime 2 nights in a row.

Saturday brought lots of fun and excitement as we rode in the canoe, swam off the edge of our peninsula, rode bikes around camp, went on nature walks, and even rode in the boat. Jeff let everyone go tubing, and unfortunately, some of the ropes broke and even ripped the cover off of the first tube. Thankfully he had a back-up tube we could use. The boat also came in EXTREMELY handy while we unpacked, because our campsite was a 1/2 mile from the trail head where we unloaded everything. Some of the containers, firewood, and coolers were VERY heavy and we wouldn't hav e survived without the boat. Jeff brought in 2 loads of equipment via the boat and some of the smaller stuff was carried in from the road. It did take a while, but we were able to unload everything and get all the tents put up before dark.

Saturday afternoon we all went down to the beach area to go swimming and enjoyed ourselves. After the first hour or 2 of doing not much, I was ready to go back to the campsite, but then a game of keep away with a volleyball in the water got started, so I joined the fun. It ended up being a pretty large game of keep away and lasted for almost an hour. I went back early with a few other people, and shortly thereafter, the rest of the group joined us at the campsite. One of the mom's was gracious enough to cook us some food and bring it out to us while it was still hot. It was an amazing meal of spaghetti, salad, and bread with dessert!

Unfortunately we left early due to an impending storm larger than the one the night before, so we packed up and left in the dark, with only 30-45 minutes to spare before the storm hit the lake. We had some very exhausted kiddos, some very sore leaders, and lots of red bodies, mine included. Being sunburned is one thing, but being sunburned AND sore is very painful. I'm starting to think I'm too old to be doing this! Thankfully I have until Wednesday until I have to be exciting and fun again!

Summer has started fast and furiously. The girls enjoyed their weekend at my parents house, and maybe we'll let them stay with Jeff's parents for a day or two while we go somewhere by ourselves, but there's nothing planned as of yet. Hopefully everyone's staying out of the hot summer heat and humidity!

Pulling a "Lehmann"

On our way to a lunch appointment with some friends, our car started acting funny. Eventually we broke down before we reached 544. Jeff had said it felt like gas wasn't getting through to the engine, so it must be the fuel injector. I asked how much that would cost us and he didn't really say. All I knew is that we weren't ready to buy a new car.

As we sat there with the windows down and the vent blowing, we called Jeff's parents (where no one was home) and then his brother to come pick us up. While Jeff was doing that, I called our friends and said we were having car trouble so we would be late or would have to cancel based on what we could work out. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but then I asked if we needed to call a tow truck, because we were in the middle of the road. Jeff was nice enough to pull into the shade.

At some point, we got to talking about gas, and how there was 1/4 tank left when I finished driving it on Monday. Jeff said the same thing about him driving it on Sunday, so Jeff asked how many miles we usually get per tank. I replied maybe 300 as the odometer read 314 miles. At that point we concluded that there was a strong possibility that we had just run out of gas. Thankfully there was a construction crew nearby and the foreman was a former auto mechanic. He brought us about a gallon of gas to see if that was the problem, and after a little bit of time, the car did manage to start. The gas gauge said we now had a 1/2 tank of gas. Drew drove up shortly before we got the car started, and he followed us to the gas station.

We put more than 13 gallons of gas in our 13 gallon tank that we usually put 11 gallons in. Great news! Problem solved!.....sort of. If you know the Lehmanns, you may have heard that their mini van has had some problems, most of which are gas related. Most of there long trips involve car repair with the exception of their most recent one (which can be read about in "How Firm a Foundation" to the right-->). Well, their van's gas gauge hasn't worked in a VERY long time, so they have to watch the mileage, and recently the number of miles they could go on a tank decreased, so they broke down a few times. Even though people everywhere run out of gas, I have decided that since the Lehmanns' gas gauge is broken they are "notorious" for it and therefore, we "pulled a Lehmann."

We didn't actually take any pictures because Bekah was fussy and tired and Rachel was quite a handful. Jeff and I are very grateful that a complete stranger was willing to help us and brought us some gas. It is always such a blessing to have others help you for no reason at all. I hope I am able to help others who are "stranded" just because I want to be of service to others. Maybe you'll find someone this week that you can serve.

Lagging Behind

Okay, so I've actually been pretty good about posting new blogs once in a while, but realized a few days ago that our settings were all messed up. Jeff and I were looking for a way to have a song play on the blog or a way to upload a song on an individual blog. We still have no idea how to do it by the way, but we did discover some things we weren't aware of. Somewhere under settings you can control who comments on your blog and there we discovered that only registered bloggers could write on it.

Rachel carrying around her princess doll like mommy carries Bekah around

So, we have officially changed it to where other people can write on our blog even if you don't want to write your own blog. We are very sorry to anyone who may have wanted to comment on our blog but were unable to. Of course we understand if our friend Holly is the only one who wants to comment. We are just giving you the opportunity to do so in the future.

Summer has started, but I'm not sure it feels much like summer. We went sailing with some of Jeff's co-workers on White Rock Lake last night and because of the wind and cloud cover, it was a very pleasant evening. Rachel went out on the sail boat with Jeff and enjoyed herself. Jeff did say that she was happiest if she got to hold the rope. We didn't take any pictures unfortunately, so you'll just have to take our word for it.

Rachel on Grandma and Grandpa's trampoline

(she doesn't really jump yet, but since being on the trampoline, she tries to jump on the ground more than she used to)

We have started working with the Junior High group at church and are starting out with a fun-filled week. Tonight we have a pool party to welcome the new 6th graders and will be going camping over the weekend. We are actually leaving the girls with my parents for the weekend if you can believe it. I can't believe I'm actually going away from my infant for more than a whole day. It's not in my nature to do that. I guess once you have more than kid you are more flexible and willing to let others watch them. I even went to the grocery store without Rebekah when she was 4 days old! I must have been crazy or something. She did manage to survive though.

We do have more great stories, but I will write one about our adventures from yesterday on another post!

Camp Longhorn

It's been a while since I been back to Camp Longhorn, but before my eldest daughter was born I have attended or worked there every summer since '91. It's hard to believe that I spent so much time there. In all honesty, I didn't really enjoy my time as a camper. Most of the kids had a lot of money and we certainly didn't. I always felt like an outsider. Years after my camper days and after my time as a counselor and nurse at the same camp, I realized how much I took my experiences for granted.

I definitely regret some of the behaviors I exhibited while there, and even some of my prejudices against some of the other people there. What I've learned is that no matter how people lives their lives away from camp, they are all there to teach, learn, and grow as individuals, even if they aren't aware of it at the time. I loved teaching the girls new things, and caring for the sick patients that entered the Pit Stop. Unfortunately, I probably didn't make a difference in many lives, but many of those children and college students taught me more than they'll ever know. Some of the things I enjoy the most involve Camp Longhorn.

I love my aunt that lives at CLH for many reasons, not the least of which is her ability to confront people. Now, I don't like being told just how badly I'm messing up, but I know it is necessary for me to grow spiritually. This is a thank you to her for telling me like it is and for trying to get me to be the best person I can in any situation. She has always been supportive of me and the person I've become. I hope to always make her, and everyone else in my family, proud of me.

There is a place among the hills and dales

Upon a lake where breezes fill the sails

It seems to be calling back to me

It's the life for you and it's the life for me

My buddy come out tonight the campfire is aglow

No place on earth where truer friends you'll know

I'm waiting for the day when back to you I'll go, Camp Longhorn

Disclaimer: I love all of my relatives, but this one in particular has been on my heart recently, and is therefore written about in this post.

Letting Go

Okay, so I have a hard time doing this. I like being in control, and when I have to try to let go of my kids and let them make mistakes and possibly get hurt, the idea scares me out of my mind. Somebody once said "Let go and let God." I have no idea who it was, but I'm assuming they are very wise.

I'm one of those mom's that feels like my child only gets hurt when I'm not around. Sadly enough, I just realized a few days ago, that my child has been hurt the most when I was right there. My child fell backwards off a table seat and hit her head and scared me almost more than it scared her. The other day we were at Breckenridge park and just before we were leaving she started running straight for a metal bar that was about forehead height on her. I told her to watch out for the bar but she turned around and kept running. She hit it so hard it knocked her on her back. Since we were leaving anyway, I picked her up and started walking off. Thankfully she didn't cry for very long and only ended up with a small line across her forhead that was barely visible the next day.

I guess I still have a long way to go before I'm able to let go, but they're still young, so there's hope for me yet. Over the years when I've messed up and tried to learn from it I like to keep saying that God's still working on me, like the children's song says. Of course, Brandon Heath came out with a song that I really like called "Waite and See." The lyrics are below for your reading pleasure.

"Wait and See" by Brandon Heath

I was born in Tennessee, late July humidity doctors said I was lucky to be alive
I've Been troubled since the day that I got here,troubled to the day I
disappear That'll be the day that I finally get it right

Chorus
There is hope, for me yet, because God won't forget, all the plans he's made for me
I have to wait and see, he's not finished with me yet, he's not finished with me yet

I never really was that good in school. Talked to much, broke the rules
My teachers thought I was a hopeless fool all right.
I don't know how but I made it through, it's one of those things you gotta do
I always had a knack for telling the truth.

Chorus

Still wonerin' why I'm here. Still wrestling with my fear But oh... He's up to something,
And the farther out I go, I've seen enough to know that I'm not here for nothin'
He's up to somethin'

So here's my time to be a man, follow my heart as far as I can
No tellin' where I'm ending up tonight
I never slow down or so it seems, but singing my heart is one of my dreams
All I gotta do is hold on tight.

There is hope, for me yet, because God won't forget, all the plans he's made for me
I have to wait and see, he's not finished with me yet, he's not finished with me yet
He's not finished with me yet, He's not finished with me yet"