Eight is Great!

This pretty girl turned eight years old this month! Alexis is a lovely girl who no longer seems little. She is quite the conversationalist and enjoys doing crafts. Kristen suggested I get her some perler beads for a gift and Alexis has been busy making beautiful designs with them. Yesterday she sent me this picture showing me all her creations.

Steve and I enjoyed her party. The pink cake that Kristen made was gorgeous and delicious. I almost missed getting a video of the birthday song but did manage to get a little bit of it.

Eight is great indeed!!!!

The Ark

It's big alright :)

The last week of July, Steve and I spent several days in the great state of Kentucky. We toured the ark in Williamstown and the Creation Museum in Petersburg. We stopped at Abe Lincoln's birthplace in Hodgenville and the house where Mary Todd Lincoln grew up in Lexington. We even drove to the far out little town of Butcher Hollow where Loretta Lynn lived as a child. And we played a lot of golf.

The intention was to just get away from Mt. Nebo and enjoy a few days of rest and relaxation. When we started out we knew we were going to the Creation Museum and the Ark but we didn't have any set plans after that. We had put our golf clubs in the car, but weren't sure that we would actually use them so were pleasantly surprised to find that Kentucky has golf courses at many of their State Parks that are very reasonably priced. Playing golf turned out to be a great way to fill out the days and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Creation Museum and Ark Encounter were fascinating. Just seeing in person how big the ark was is an amazing experience. The inside of the ark was interesting too. Obviously, they have no idea what the inside of the ark was actually like and I think they went a little overboard on the luxurious living quarters! The message of the Gospel was portrayed very well through two videos that were thought provoking and interesting at the same time.

Here are a few pictures I took inside the ark.

Small cages

Bags of something.

There were lots of storage containers throughout.

Larger cages

Like I said, the living quarters were pretty nice.

Doesn't it make you wonder what the living quarters really were like?

Each couple had their own spacious room :)

The kitchen

I only took two pictures at the Creation Museum

There was lots of stuff about dinosaurs in the museum. 

Adam and one of his sons in the garden

I didn't take any pictures of the Mary Todd Lincoln House, but we enjoyed the tour so much. The tour guide was fantastic. Even Steve said that it was one of the best presentations he had heard when touring a place of interest.

Abe Lincoln's birthplace.

The 56 steps are for each year of Abe's life. A little log cabin is encased inside this monument replicating what the cabin where he was born looked like.

The Coal Miner's Daughter was one of the few movies that Steve and I went to a theater to watch soon after we were married so we decided to look this place up. It was not your typical tourist attraction. No nicely paved road or place to park. We just pulled into the yard. The house is still pretty much like Loretta Lynn's parents left it. A niece gave us the tour.  There is nothing fancy about this place but maybe that is why it fascinates people.

The outside of the house

Hutch in the kitchen

Sewing machine

Washing machine

Kitchen table and chairs. The chairs cost $2.00 apiece

The parent's bedroom

One of the golf courses we played on. I actually hit the ball over the water and onto the green on my first try. Yahoo!

Steve poses in front of the ark

It was a nice time away for us. As we were visiting the ark I had to think that sometimes our lives feel like we are living in an ark. We are just floating around not really knowing where we are heading. Thankfully we can be comforted in the assurance that God is guiding the ark and He knows its final destination.

Awstin is Four!

I took this picture yesterday. He was wearing my sunglasses and pretending to drive me to the store.

It's hard to believe that this cool, little guy is four years old! His birthday was way back on July 12, but I just realized that I never got around to posting about it. I sure have enjoyed keeping him on Wednesdays and when I think back to that little baby that first came and spent most of the day sleeping in the pink little baby seat that I had for him, he has changed quite a lot!

One of the first Wednesdays that I kept him way back in 2013.

Awstin's birthday was on a Wednesday so we just incorporated a little party for him along with our regular night Wednesday night supper when family comes. We were lucky enough to have Jay & Kristen and family join us too (just 4 days before Clara was born!). Melissa brought the cake and after our meal we celebrated his reaching four years of age.

All smiles for the birthday boy!

A closer look at the awesome cake.

This video makes me smile every time I watch it. Both boys reactions are so funny and then when we finish singing and Awstin says "thank you" so politely it is hilarious. 

The joy of 4-year olds over birthdays is contagious. I'm sure glad these two are part of our family!