Our Christmas Festivities ~ Part 4: The Day After Christmas Party

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

The night of the 26th, the partying continued.  :)  We were invited over to our longtime friend's home, for a night of eating, visiting and playing games.  Pictionary we played, and also spicy Uno.  There were philosophical/theological discussions, and definitely a lot of fun!  It's always a great time with the D.'s.  :)

Playing 'spicy Uno'. 

Theological discussions.

Our {Soon to Be} New Home

On July 4th, we traveled up to S.E. Oklahoma (where we'll be moving in a few weeks) to look at rent house.  The realtor, a lady who attends the church where Dad will be serving, told us that she thought this house would fit all our needs.  Well, indeed it did - lots of yard (the front yard is huge), 2+ bathrooms, 3+ bedrooms, a big living area and within our budget.  This was a blessing send from God.  So, after inspecting the house, Mom and Dad signed the lease agreement, and secured the home for us to move into in less than three weeks! 

For all of our family and friends who are interested in seeing what the house looks like, here are several photos we took.  Pardon the bad lighting (and poor focus on some of them, I wasn't being very careful when taking some of them).   Please keep our family in your prayers as we transition our lives to Oklahoma.   Thank you!

Mom and Dad sign the lease agreement, with Ms. Debra (the realtor).

This is right after you enter through the side/back door.  To the right through the double doors is the kitchen and eating area.

Through the double doors (the back/side door is on the right side of this photo.)

And now into the kitchen, standing where the dining table is supposed to go.

Another kitchen shot - there's lots of cabinet space!

Oh, and two sinks, with lots of counter space, too! 

Through the doors at the back of the kitchen is the laundry room.

The laundry room is huge!  Just what we have always wanted - enough space to fold laundry, etc.  Perfect!

More storage space. (Still in the laundry room.)

Looking into the living room from the dining/end of kitchen area.  (The doorway on the right is into the master bedroom.)

Looking into the living room to the left.  You can see the front door and entry way on the left side of the picture.

The (gas) fireplace.

Front door and entry way.

The living room from the entry way.  (Sorry for it being out of focus.)

The master bedroom.  If you turn to the right almost 180 degrees, you go into the master bathroom.

The master bathroom sinks.  (Through the doorway on the right side of the photo is the master bedroom.)

Master bathroom - it has a nice big bathtub, and a shower.

Down the hall way, to the main bath and the other two bedrooms.  (If you turned 90 degrees to your right, you would be looking toward the front door, in the entry way.)

Through the first doorway in the picture above is the main bathroom, which will be us kid's bathroom. 

It has a large bathtub/shower and plenty of cabinets and counter space.

Kid's bath - if you turn to your right about 45 degrees you'll be looking through a doorway into what will be the girl's room.  The door way on the far left side of this photo goes into the hallway. 

The girl's room, through the doorway off the hall.  It has a chalkboard wall section!!

The girl's room has lots of windows (as does the whole house), and the room is large (14' x 11' approx.).

   I don't have any good photos of what will be Jaden's room, but it is located directly across the doorway from the girl's room.  The doorway that is located on the left side of the picture above goes into the hallway, and then right across from that is Jaden's room.

This is to the left off of the back/side door - an extra room (with another room behind it), which can be used for an office / school room / library.  The door way pictured on the right leads into a large storage room, pictured below.  

The storage room, looking to the right after entering.  Unfortunately the only way to enter is through that one doorway.

To the left, with the door in the picture on the left side of the photo.

And this is the small room behind the extra room I just showed you.  We may use it as a guest room.

And now to the outside part of the house. 

The front.  It has a HUGE yard, with two large trees (lots of shade!), and a large front porch. 

To the right.

The front porch.  There should be enough room for a porch swing!  :)

After looking around the house, and signing the lease agreement, we were hungry.  So, we ate some lunch out on the front porch.  :)

You can see one of the two large trees in this photo.

Looking into the backyard from the patio area.

The backyard to the right.  In need of some definite trimming, but there's plenty of room for a garden! 

Looking back into the patio, and covered area right outside the other back door that comes into the backyard.

This was Abby's response to us securing the house. 

We were ecstatic!  (Can you tell?!)  To say the least, there was lots of shouting and jumping, and excitement.  All we can do is praise the Lord for the goodness He's shown to us!

 Very soon we will be officially Oklahomans.   Well, not for entirely, because Texas will always be home - but our heart is definitely with the folks at our new home church in OK.  Praise be to our gracious God!

Independence Day 2011

July 4th is a special day for average Americans.  The celebration of our nation's birth.  My family and I are not your "average Americans" - but we do take pride in the fact that this is our land, a beautiful land, a privileged land, a land which our forefathers sought to give as a gift and work of their labors to future generations.

 

Old cars

Early on the 4th, my sisters and I left to play a game of volleyball with a friend.  It was already hot when we got to the park (8:30 am) but we endured for quite a while and had fun despite the heat and sun.  Then we proceeded to downtown, where we planned to pick up some burgers and buns from The Local Yocal, a meat market which supports and sells locally grown produce, meats, soaps, dairy products and pastries.  There was a few minutes wait before our meat would be ready, and in the meantime, the annual Independence Day parade began.  We watched, took pictures and cheered as the different participants slowly passed us by.

 

Maddie

The parade consisted of many vehicles, a few floats, some marching groups, military and local law enforcement and fire department.


Here comes the fire engine!


A little bit closer

There he goes...


A roar of motorcycles


Honking and revving their engines...


It was a deafening noise...


There were all sorts of cars and trucks, old and new.


classic truck...


roadsters


Classic Chevy


my kind of VW Bug :)


nice car...


There were horses...


lots of them

Tae-Kwan-Do group


An old-fashioned fire engine

Brothers~

We ran into several friends of ours on the Square.  A few were in the parade itself, and some where there as spectators.  The picture above is of our friends the M.'s little boys.  Aren't they precious?

After the parade was through and we got our burgers, we four girls headed back to Maddie's house to drop her off.  Two hours later, we finally left after an enjoyable visit with her and her family.

On to home we drove, arriving in the early afternoon. It was hot.  By that time, the thermometer read well over 100 degrees, with a heat index eventually reading at 109.  We grabbed some water, and then spent a few hours relaxing with our family.

In the evening, we packed our cooler, and loaded into our suburban to begin the drive to Grandma's house.  We got there in the early evening, and begin dinner preparations, while we waited for the rest of the party to arrive from their various abodes and work places.

We enjoyed a wide array of yummy dishes prepared by the moms and daughters.  Since I had badly jammed my right thumb (and I am right handed), I was of no assistance creating the delectable meal. :P


Our burgers came from The Local Yocal (as I mentioned above) and are 100% pure organic, grass fed beef.  They are soooo tasty, and filling.  Not at all like conventional, store bought meat that is loaded with chemicals, GMOs, pesticides and who knows what else.


Slightly seasoned


we smoked them on a charcoal grill

fruit pizza

This is what we had for dessert ~ super delicious, and fruity!

It was an amazing holiday spent with family and friends, and lots of fun.  What did you do for the fourth?  Do you have a tradition of going to the lake?  Baseball game?  Or perhaps you prefer enjoying a quiet day pool side while your hubby grills burgers and dogs, and your kids splash you with H2O. :) Whatever it is you do, I hope that you had a beautiful holiday!

Happy Birthday America, land that I love.