New York, New York

We'll we spent our first day in the city today. We got up early and took a bus from New Jersey over to New York and then rode the subway (for the experience of it all) to 81st street and landed right at the American Museum of Natural History. We spent all morning there and around 1:30pm we left and had New York Style Pizza. Afterwards we went to Toy's R Us to look around while Glen found us some last minute tickets for Broadway. By the time we all met up again, we were feeling a little tired, so we jumped on a city bus and took a tour of the city. We went through Greenwich village, Ground Zero and Battary Park. We got off the bus and caught a glipse of the river and the Statue of Liberty (where we are headed tomorrow). After the nice bus ride we sent mom, dad and the kids back to the hotel and Glen and I saw the new hit Disney show Mary Poppins on Broadway. It was fantastic and we truly enjoyed ourselves. We had really wanted to see Wicked, but they were sold out for a month. Lion King was our second choice, but they were sold out for the evening as well. But it was well worth it, Disney + Broadway = wonderful and delightful.

While we were on our adventure we decided that most families probably wouldn't find it enjoyable to take four young children into New York City. But I have to tell you that the kids were so much fun and they did a great job. They loved seeing everything at the museum and they just kept a good attitude the entire day until they closed their little droopy eyes. They all said thank you one time or the other and it was a good day, definitely one for the memory books.

Like I said earlier, we are headed for the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Cruise tomorrow which we plan to take on the New Jersey side and then we'll spend the rest of the afternoon in Central Park before we head up to Cape Cod.

I am trying to put pixs up, but between Glen's non-apple laptop and this slow hotel internet service I am finding it difficult. I will keep trying, we got some great shots. Hope you guys are enjoying your families and finding ways to relax.

New York, here we come!!!

We are headed on our family vacation tomorrow after church.  All of our company has left except my mom and she will be coming with us to Cape Cod.

We are stopping in New York City for a couple of days.  My dad is meeting us there and we are planning to visit the American Museum of Natural History, The Children's Museum of Manhattan, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  Glen and I would like to take in a show for our anniversary, but we'll just have to see.  We're not sure if we'll hit everything, but we are going to try.  I'll try to keep you posted.

Then we will all head to Plymouth, Massachusetts (Cape Cod) for a week of fun at the beach.  My Aunt Joann and Uncle Larry have a house by the water.  We are looking forward to hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa.  

It should be lots of fun.  

Soul Survivor 08'

Soul Survivor 2008 MISSION POSSIBLE

Every year for the past seven years Glen and I have put on a summer camp for our church and community youth.  It has been very loosely based off the Reality show Survivor, but no one gets voted off the island.  The kids are put through physical and mental challenges.  They have to survive the elements of nature, which this year included a very severe thunderstorm at 2 am.  They attend bible counsel and workshops each day.  

This years theme was MISSION POSSIBLE.  We emphasized the fact that God has a mission for each of them and it is possible to accomplish with Christ in the center of your life.  The campers or secret agents were challenged to:

Outdream - "For I know the plans I have for you", says the Lord.  "They are plans for your good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope".  Jeremiah 29:11) 

Outlead - Don't lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your good example. 1 Peter 5:3

Outshine - In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:16

We had a fantastic time and Christ was ever present in each testimony and sharing time.  There was a flood of teens that came to the alter to accept the mission God has for them.  

We are completely exhausted now and it will take a few days to get things back to normal.  But I am already excited to see what will be in store for next year.

Here we go again

I had to post this picture because it keeps getting funnier and funnier.  Glen has joined the gang and there was a symphony of snoring going on when I went up to bed tonight.  The funny thing was that Glen was just going to lay down with the kids tonight and maybe take a little nap.  Two hours later I tried to wake him up, but to no avail.  So I guess I'll try one more time.  

ALL ABOARD!!!

A week or so ago I called a friend of ours who works for the railroad to see if we might be able to get a tour of the train yard when the Cartwrights come to visit.  Their son Steven absolutely loves trains and I thought it would be a nice surprise.  To my dismay, they don't give tours anymore but said sometimes they give free train rides.  He called back a few days later and said we could go on the 2008 BNSF Special on Monday, unfortunately our friends weren't coming until Tuesday.  We decided to take the tickets anyway and surprise the kids.  So at 8am this morning we got in the car and took them over to the train.  We all had a great time.  About every 30 minutes people would come through with prizes and snacks.  Halfway through the ride Glen and the boys went exploring some of the other passenger cars.  They were all different.  Mom, Lydia and I ended up joining them a little later on.  It was a 2 1/2 hour ride.  It was a lot of fun.  Thank you Andy for the tickets!

A sure sign of summer

You can tell by the infrequent amount of blogs the last couple of weeks that I am getting into the busyness of summer.  Next week is Soul Survivor, our big camp we put on each year for the youth. Plus with the kids home from school there is little time to sit and think, much less write anything intelligent or interesting.  

I've been preparing for company all week.  My mom and brother, Daniel are coming tonight for Soul Survivor.  Early next week, my best girlfriend and her family (including mom and dad) are coming also.  I'm very excited to be spending some special time with them all.  I'll try to keep you posted on our happenings.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far.  Remember to stop and smell the roses, take in some sun and laugh a lot...I plan to.

Repeat

We had a repeat of the other night last night, this was the scene before we scooted them all off to there own beds.  Notice Ethan's legs on Evan and Evan's Leg on Lydia.  Too Funny!!!