Creepy

It's creepy. I just updated my status on Facebook to say, "Rett is thinking that being obedient to God isn't always popular. And it sometimes increases the Tums intake." I posted that because, well, Tony and I are those unpopular, Tums eating people trying to be obedient. I'm working on a longer post about it, because frankly, I need the therapy of writing it out. But for now, I wanted to share something creepy about it.

I wrote that status update and then popped over to our blog to read the daily scripture. Look to the left, you'll see it. It says, "I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me -- the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." Acts 20:24

Ok, God, I get it. It's not about people agreeing with what we're doing. It's not about people questioning our sanity. It's about completing the task you have given me. Given us. Just stepping out in faith and being obedient. We want to shout about and show your grace, and this task you've given is a good way to do that. Please, God, remind me of this often. You are God and we are your followers.

This post may mean nothing, or seem really confusing to some of you. And that's ok. I needed to work it out...and I'm sure there will be more on this topic later. I hope that, if anything, the scripture God gave me today, applies in your life today too.

And if you know someone who is being challenged to step out of the boat, encourage them. Pray for them. Support them. And if you think they're nuts...tell God, not them. Trust me. They're going to need you.

Ok, I promise, a fun post will happen soon. We've had a fantastic spring break of firsts. Museums, libraries, art...so much to share and rejoice about. Stay tuned!

Thankful Thursday/Photo Friday

Greetings.

It's me again (Tony). I hope all is well out there...it seems this world just keeps getting scarier every day (I will keep those views to myself during this post)...BECAUSE this is Thankful Thursday and I will discuss what I am thankful for...

I am thankful for a job (and Rett's) that allows me to spend time with the fam. when Rett is off.

I just finished my second day at home with Rett and the girls. It has been a great vacation thus far. Yesterday we visited the Children's Museum in Indy (photos on another post), strolled through some malls and had a good day. Today, was filled with appointments this morning and then an afternoon painting the hallway (ok, Rett did the work, and I am thankful because we did not kill each other during the process...painting is not one of those things we do well...but it did work out well in the end).

Tomorrow we have a few things to do in the morning but we plan to take the girls to the library. They have never been before. They LOVE books. I cannot wait to see their heads spin when the see all the books :) We're planning an art project for the afternoon...we'll post photos if it goes well.

I am thankful that although life gets ugly sometimes, it could be worse. We are blessed and we all need to remember that everyday.

Since this Thankful Thursday post is late in the day, here are a few photos to kick off Photo Friday...enjoy and have a great weekend!!!!!!

Abby enjoying chocolate pudding...enough said.

Laney in the morning before she gets her daily banana and doughnuts.

Ok, I know this is random, but here is a photo of one of my turtles :)

Happy Anniversary--um, late!

March 13, 1999...it was cold, it was blustery, and it was perfect. This was the day I married my best friend in the whole world, Tony. We had dated since the beginning of my freshman year and his sophomore year. In high school. Yes, high school. We met at a youth group meeting at our church...where his mom was the leader! I remember it well! It was in May because we were celebrating one of his (now our) best friend Paul's birthdays. It was fun. These guys were upperclassmen and fun! By that August, we were officially dating!

Tony is what I would call a planner and a provider. He worked hard in high school and was bound for college (all while working at his dad's service station).

Tony decided to stay local for college (hmmm, wonder why he did that) and worked hard on his career plans. He was determined to graduate from college and have his career established before we started a life together. Half of me was so impressed and thrilled that he wanted to provide security for me, for our future. The other half of me (ok, more like 3/4 of me) wanted to start our lives together. NOW!

Well, Tony got his first "real" job, bought a house and then proposed! He proposed in November (the same month eight years later we met our girls...actually, down to the same week...the week before Thanksgiving!) and we were married in March. It was a fun ceremony with our two of our good friends and pastors performing the ceremony. The hallelujiah chorus played after they announced us as man and wife and bolted out the door to run through McD*nald's drive-through! Our reception was fun, and our cake was topped with Hot Wheels! What a memorable day! (It was complete with bridesmaids dressed I loved and they hated. hehe)

Over the past ten years we have grown up and grown together in so many ways. We have moved once, changed jobs once or twice, and built our family. We have suffered through the deaths of a few family members, and the deaths two pets we considered our first "children". We have had to step out in faith together, and pray for direction. We have laughed, cried, fought, made-up, laughed some more, and loved intensely.

Words will NEVER be able to express the love I have for Tony. God spoiled me rotten with this man. He puts God first, and cherishes his family next. He always thinks of others before himself and challenges me to push myself and grow in God and in life.

I am so happy we have been blessed to enjoy 10 years as a married couple (that's almost 19 years total together for those of you keeping track). I pray that God blesses us with a hundred more years together!

I love you, Tony! Happy 10th anniversary!

Happy Birthday, Skate Diva!

My niece Kristy was surprised on February 28, with a birthday party (whispers...a 30th birthday party) at our local roller skating rink! It was BIG fun and brought back sixth grade memories!!

The morning of the event, we asked the girls if they wanted to skate later and they cheered, "YES!" But, when we asked them if they even KNEW what roller, not ice, skating was, they looked puzzled and answered, "No!" So Tony dug up our old fashioned research guide...YouTube...and showed the girls what skating was all about. Boy, were they pumped! All day they kept asking when we were going to surprise Kristy and go skating! The anticipation was killing them!

We arrived at the rink at our scheduled time and Kristy rolled in a few minutes later. Mind you, we weren't all in place because the decoy forgot to call and warn us they were almost there! It didn't matter...Kristy nearly died when she pulled in the parking lot! Whoo hoo!

We filed inside laughing the whole time. Talk about a blast from the past. The rink hadn't changed ONE bit since we were kids. Ok, I lied. The PacMan arcade game was replaced with one of those durn stuffed animal cranes. (What's up with that anyway?) The smells, the skate counter, the trippy colors and disco ball. Even the kiddie rink and the bearded umpire skate dude was still there!

Tony took our tickets up to get the girls each a pair of skates. (NO skates for us, thank you!) They were so cute...see below.

Sorry for the crummy pic of the girls together. I was playing with different settings on my camera. Note to self: this setting didn't work!

Well, we headed to the kiddie rink where bearded umpire dude instructed us to work on getting the girls to just WALK in their skates...that the skating will come later. Well, Laney got the walking thing down right away, while Abby thought, "Why walk when you can roll?"

Tony is doing such a good job! I abandoned them to snap a picture, like any good Mama would!

Kristy (and her aunt Jill) were too sweet when Abby announced she was done with the kiddie rink after two minutes and wanted to "Go out there"...to the abyss of skaters on the big rink. They rolled her out there, and took the time to go around the rink with her. She looked like such big stuff! It was painstakingly slow...but they were troopers! Abby even got a taste of skating with the black light on!

Soon after this picture, Jill rolled up to save Kristy and help them move a little faster!

Finally, Laney was brave enough to try it and Jill and Kristy took her out to do the Hokey Pokey. Oh my word...she LOVED it! Such a big girl! (Warning! Another dark picture alert!!! But if you focus really hard on the middle, you'll see they're down in the low Hokey Pokey position!)

One of the funniest moments was when Abby decided she was ready to go back out and wanted my nephew (and Kristy's brother) Jeremy to take her. Here's this tall handsome adult who is shy as can be (unless he's around family) and this little tiny girl skating together. The best part was when he was like five feet from us and turned around and asked, "Now, which one do I have?" Um, Abby, Jeremy!



The girls had a great time and didn't want to leave. They were such good girls, and they had only napped about 20 minutes or so!


I think Kristy had fun too...it was a neat way to celebrate such a milestone birthday.

Happy Birthday, Kristy. You've been such a close friend over the years. I'm glad we were close enough in age that we grew up together. I treasure you so much! I hope you had fun!!!!

Count to 10...

So, you know the cool-down technique of counting to 10 when you're angry? Yeah, well, focusing on taking pictures of the twinados' latest debacle was my "count to ten before you blow".

Ok, let me set up the scene...while I was cleaning, the girls had a great time taking everything off of Laney's bed and piling it in Abby's bed. Once this task was complete, they both climbed in Abby's bed and just played and played. This gave me time to run around and get some cleaning done. WHOO HOO! Thanks girls, for cooperating!

Then...the call. Tony was at his third service for the weekend doing some vice-chair of the board kind of things when he called home to see how things were going. In the time it took me (yeah, isn't that the phrase most parents utter when they're getting ready to explain what they came back to?) to answer the phone, walk into my bathroom to pick up the trash bag, take it in the kitchen, and return to their room...THIS is what my two "cute", "adorable", "precious", "darling" little angels did.




For those of you who can't quite tell what the pictures are...the girls got the lovely PINK and PURPLE nail polish that their cousin Missy bought them off their dresser. (For the record, I had it out so that we could do manicures and pedicures after nap!) They proceeded to open the bottles, climb into Laney's empty bed (THANK GOODNESS) and paint their toes, legs, hands, etc! AAACCCKKK!!!!!!


I must say, Abby at least understood the paint was supposed to go on her toes. Mind you, it was so thick, her toes were webbed together. YUCK!

Laney, however, chose the bright PURPLE and decided her legs needed a good coating too, along with her feet (both top AND bottom)!

OH--and I only had was one tiny travel size bottle of nail polish remover!

Bless those girls' hearts...Ok, my friends. Lay it on me. Tell me a story about what your sweeties have done while your back was turned! Misery loves company!!!

Tony's Thankful Thursday

Ok, so Rett set me up. Is it because she does not think I am thankful for anything? Or does she think I should be posting on here more (I did the polyphenol post by the way). I think more dude's need to be posting on their family's blogs by the way...

So where do I begin...I am thankful for so many things. To start, I am of course thankful for my lovely wife, even after she set me up for the "thankful Thursday" post. Is there such a thing as blogger peer pressure (I guess so)? I am thankful for my beautiful daughters that keep us laughing and wondering why we are so lucky to have them, my family and friends.

From there, I'm lucky to have steady employment, a job that keeps me challenged and helps pay the bills. (Here I am presenting to city council which is shown on public access...the girls think I am cool)

Yes, there is more, but do you want to hear it all now? How about how Laney (our 3 year old traffic cop) yells at me for turning left when the traffic light is red (WHY ARE YOU GOING ON RED BABA????? she yells every morning)...she hasn't figured out the green turn arrow yet, but I am impressed that she understands the traffic signals. And how about how Abby still loves to be picked up and just carried around and has dance moves like no other. She kind of has the Elaine kick going on (Seinfeld fans may understand) when she dances. Hillarious!!!

Well, Rett is harassing me to read this post...you can blame her because I am cutting it short. Thanks for stopping by. Have a good weekend!

Thankful Thursday

Good grief! It's Thursday already??? Holy cow...well, I am exercising my wifey right to pass the buck. It's time that Tony does a thankful post. :) It might not be until tonight, but it can be called "Thankful Thursday Night". Don't get me wrong, it's NOT that I'm NOT thankful...trust me, I have a billion things to praise God for! I just think he should get a turn! Just to prove it to you that I am still thankful, I'll list a few before I sign off.

• I'm thankful that tomorrow is the last day of our state testing. My poor students have been so stressed out!
  
• I'm thankful for family and friends that love me, in spite of my flaws.
• I'm thankful for my health. (Good reminder, Sarah)

And finally...

• I'm thankful I serve a mighty God that knows how my story ends! (Even if He won't let me in on it when I think I should at least get a memo!)

I Am Your Daughter.

Ahhh....it's late. It's about 11:30, and my house is quiet. Well, all except for the clock ticking, the girls' lullaby music playing softly, and Linny's playlist from her blog, as I type. Today wasn't a particularly stressful day. It wasn't particularly tiring. It wasn't specifically reflective. But, as I settled into bed with Tony, I couldn't shut my mind off. I just couldn't relax and sleep. Do you ever have those nights?

Honestly, I used to have more of these kind of nights before the girls came home. I would lie awake and dream about what life would be like as a mother. And before that, I would lie awake and wonder what it would be like to be a wife...Tony's wife. All wonderfully blissful things came to mind. But with that bliss brought insomnia. I never was one to drift off with dreams of sugarplums. If I think about the joy going on in my life (or life to come) I get a good dose of adrenaline...and I always turn to writing. Well, these experiences are fewer and fewer now. No, not because I'm not experiencing joy...trust me, my cup runneth over. It's just that after a long day at work, and time with the girls at night, I fall into bed exhausted. I haven't needed the sandman for a long time!

So where does that leave me? In the living room...typing. Talking to you. And to God. And to myself. Heheh.

It has been a long time since I've simply taken a few moments to relish in God's grace on my life. On me. Now, Tony and I try our best to update the blog with weekly quips and hilarity the girls impress us with, but it has been a while since I've gotten truly emotional. (For those of you who know me, you know I am one emotional chickadee!) Well, I've had this post building for a while...so humor me.

The girls had a great day today. They had ZERO time outs at our good friend, and their sitter, Theresa's house. She said they were good all day! When I picked them up, it was like seeing them recharged my batteries. (Now, mind you, there are nights that I'm too exhausted to enjoy them...it's not always sunshine and roses.) I mean it. We had a great talk on the way home about the clouds, their Baba, airplanes, China, dinner, birds, the semi-truck next to us, etc. And the rest of the night continued so well. We did beauty shop, played, read, sang, danced, bathed, they ate dinner well, and went to bed without a fuss.

But I had a moment with them. You know that moment. It's that one minute of time you wish you could freeze forever in your mind. I had both girls curled up in my lap while we were sitting on the floor. They said they were both babies and wanted to suck their thumbs. Well, this game made them giggle hysterically when I would tell them they weren't babies and would try to pull their thumbs out. They both were so carefree and just joyous.

After a particularly funny episode of this game, they both settled down and looked at me. I told them that they would always be my babies. I would love them forever. Abby looked at me and told me she loved me and kissed my arm. This prompted Laney to do the same. (Which is big, because Laney is becoming so affectionate too! I love it!) Then Abby said, " I am your daughter." (We've been working on this because she used to ask if she were my mama, like I was hers.) And I said, "Yes, Abby. You are my daughter, and I am your Mama." She snuggled in deeper and said, "Baba is my daddy and Mei-Mei is my sister." I agreed with her and she seemed just perfectly content. Of course Laney had to confirm it all, just to be sure, that she, too, was my daughter. Seriously, it was pure bliss.

Did you see it? Look again. It all comes down to that end mark. The punctuation after Abby's comment. It's a period. Not a question mark. Seriously, look again. "I am your daughter." She said it as a statement of fact. It wasn't a question in her mind at all. She has been declaring this for several days. Many times a day she will smile at me, or Tony, and say, "I am your daughter." Yes, my love. You are my daughter. How powerful that period is!!!!

And so, as I sit here in tears relishing in the perfect evening we had tonight, I think once again of God's grace. How in the world am I worthy of a God who heals, refreshes, forgives, challenges, grants, loves, adores, showers, raises, praises, saves, seeks, teaches, scolds, blesses us? It's by his grace. His blood. Without this, I would not be able to snuggle deep in His arms and say those same, innocent, powerful words that my Abby said.

"I am your daughter."

Wow. I am so thankful to be a part of God's family. I am so thankful that He deemed Tony and me worthy enough to raise two of His beautiful creations. Thankful doesn't describe the joy, the ache, the adrenaline I feel when I say those words...I am your daughter.

I am your daughter.

Polyphenols?

So, have you seen the Welch's grape juice commerical with Alton Brown (the Food Network guy)? Apparently Laney has seen it too.

We were watching TV while eating lunch. The commercial came on. When Laney saw/heard the commercial she immediately said "phenols". About one second later Alton Brown made a statement about the juice having Polyphenols in it. WOW! (I looked up Polyphenols on Wikipedia - they may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer if you were wondering.)

I guess when you think they are not paying attention, they really are...Polyphenols of all things??

P.S. - thank you for all of your comments on our last post RE: things you are thankful for...

Drink your Welch's.

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for so much...and I'm emotional today, so it's best if I don't post a long one...

How about, instead, YOU tell US what you're thankful for by leaving a comment! YES, even you lurkers. Even those of you who NEVER EVER EVER leave a comment. Uh huh, I'm looking at you!

I just want to praise God for all of YOUR joys today. So, yep, it's all about you.

Ahem, now's the time to comment. Go ahead, click it...COMMENT!

Learning about God...

After church Saturday night, the girls came upstairs and we were in the foyer talking. Their teacher (and our good friend) Jerry came up and was talking to us. He told us the girls were learning about the 10 commandments. We were impressed when he asked them, "Girls, how many Gods are there?" They chimed, "ONE!" YAY!

THEN he asked, "Where does God live?" Laney piped up and said, "DOWNSTAIRS!" HAHAHAH! Makes total sense to me! I mean, that's where they learn all about God! But, yes, we had a chat with them about God and Heaven and how he's with us wherever we go.

Is it just me, or are these girls too smart for their own good?!?!?

Thankful Thursday

A friend of mine posted this on her blog. She said someone put it on a Yahoo group she belongs to. Wow. Talk about a gut check.

Sometimes I'd like to ask God why He allows poverty, famine and injustice when He could do something about it. But I'm afraid God might ask me the same question.

Today I am SO thankful I serve a powerful God that is big enough to listen to my questions, but gentle enough to remind me of my part.

What a mighty God we serve!!!!

WOAH

OK, the following photos could NOT wait until Fun Foto Friday, or Wordless Wednesday. Take a look...

WHAT IS THAT?

WHO CARES, LOOK AT THAT PURE JOY ON THEIR FACES!

I know that a couple of you already know what the pictures above involve, but can any of the rest of you figure out what in the world is going on? It's SHAVING CREAM!

Here's where you come in. Can you come up with a good caption for the first picture? Leave a comment with your most creative captiion! The winner gets a lot of praise, a healthy pat on the back (virtual or in person), and a link to your blog (if you have one)!

Thankful Thursday...on Wednesday night

This post is from Abby (top) and Laney (bottom).

Hi friends! We are thankful for great birthday gifts from friends (Chris, Sarah, Amaya, Paige, and Jaxon). We finally convinced Baba to put our "little white house" together. Now, if they would just trust us with markers to PAINT it!

P.S. I know my picture looks silly, but Mama said to say, "CHEEEESE" and really smile. So I did. Thanks for understanding, Abby.

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday is easy as pie for me this week. But it's gonna be looonnng!

• I'm thankful I married a man who loves God and wants to do his best for Him.
• I'm thankful I married a man who loves his children with every ounce of his being and would go the ends of the earth (or China) for them.
• I'm thankful I married a man who knows his heart (and our HOME) are big enough to love on kiddos that need a Mommy and Daddy.
• I'm thankful I have two precious daughters that teach me way more than I could ever teach them.
• I'm thankful for family and friends who support us (or me) when we come up with off-the-wall ideas.
• I'm thankful for a mom and a dad that raised me to be who I am.
  
• I'm thankful I have a job.
• I'm thankful God blessed people with the gift of medicine. We have needed those people lately.
• I'm thankful for a church that knows it's time to challenge us to BE the love of Jesus. (Wow, read the daily verse to the left!)
  
• I'm thankful that I have a workout buddy, Beth. I'm especially praying for her right now.
• I'm thankful for a group of friends in our homegroup. They challenge, pray for, and encourage me.
• I'm thankful that I have a roof over my head, food in the fridge, and the word of God in my heart.
  
• I'm thankful for bloggy friends near and far.
• I'm thankful that it's almost Friday!!
• I'm thankful for the snow. I'm thankful for the rain. I'm thankful for the sun.
• I'm just thankful.
  

(Thanks for the reminder, Sarah!)

Making a house a home!

OK, if you didn't read the last post, scroll down and read it! Read it especially if you need a good laugh!

But now, I want to post something especially sweet that the girls say. I mean sweet to the point I want to cry. (NO comments how I cry at everything, thank you!)

When we come home, we drive past the front of our house to go around and park in the garage. Every time we get close to home, the girls will say, "There is our home!" I will say, "Yes, it's our house!" They BOTH immediately say, "It's not a house! It's our HOME!"

I choose to believe that they are passionate about calling it our home because it's the safest, loving place to be. And every time they say it, it warms my heart.

Yes, girls. It's our home.

We're so thankful God blessed us with a home that has space for kids. Does your home have space? Wouldn't it be awesome to have a kiddo change YOUR regular old house into a home? Adoption is a great way to make that happen! So many kids just want a place to call home, and a family to love them. You just might have THE house they need! This might just sound like an adoption plug, but trust me, my friends. I NEVER EVER want just a plain old house again. I'll take a home any time!

P.S. We treasure our home because it's the first place the girls ever had a family in. Friends of ours, Linny and Dw recently lost their special log cabin to a fire. They are an adoptive family and are willing to be mommy and daddy to others (because 10 isn't enough!!! HEHEH). If you want to help, click the button to the left. We all need a place to call home. If you want to be inspired, challenged, and encouraged by them, just read their blog.

Out of the mouths of babes...

So, today, while Tony was pumping gas, Laney asked me to watch her make fishy faces. I giggled and told her they were adorable. Then she asked me to make one AND pretend I was swimming. So, buckled in the front seat, I did my best impression of a swimming fish. (STOP that laughing!) She then giggled, so I told her it was her turn again. She complied, including the swimming part. This is where the conversation about KILLED me. I mean it.

Laney: I'm swimming, but I don't have a tail like fish do.

Me: No, people don't have tails.

Laney: Hmm, well, Baba does...(wait for it, wait for it) in the front!!!

Me: Bwahhahahahahahahha!!!

Seriously, tears were STREAMING down my face. Tony could hear me laughing outside the Jeep. I could barely contain myself to retell the story! Heck, I can barely contain myself now, but I have to because the girls are sleeping. Seriously, aside from her astute observations, isn't she just so stinkin' smart?

These girls are hysterical. And the more I laugh, the more calories I burn. OK girls, tomorrow make me laugh about 1,000 times to burn off all the wings I ate tonight!

I love you girls!

Are you kidding me?

Yeah, so I have another wonderful snow day at home and the girls have been great. (Orginally, I said they were "angels" and was sarcsastic. Well, honestly, they have been good. I'm just a crabby mama and not feeling well) I'm sitting here thinking, what educational and fun activity could I work on with them? At this point, Abby yells, "I can't get out!" I look over and she has wedged herself into a little purple plastic basket. (I know a pic would be better, but our computer has recently been wiped out and I don't know if the program to upload the pics is still on the computer).

SOOO, the first valuable educational lesson the girls received today was...when your butt is stuck in a little plastic basket, just roll to your side and you can get out. Quality. My girls are destined to be geniuses!

This is kind of a dark picture, but the girls are working hard on their thank you notes from their birthday party. Laney perfected her simple, one line signature, while Abby perfected her doctor signature. If you didn't get a thank you card, I'm blaming the mail system!

Have you ever seen the Christmas Movie called "A Christmas Story"? Well, everyone who knows me, knows I LOVE that movie. I watch it about 20 times a season. Anyway, one of the kiddos (Randy) on that show gets bundled up to go to school. It takes place in Indiana so it's quite chilly. Anyway, his mom gets him all dressed for school and just as she finishes wrapping him up, he says he has to go to the bathroom (and that he can't put his arms down). Well, here my girls are giving their best impression of Randy. For the record, last year they screamed bloody murder when we put them down in the snow. This year, we can't get them to come back inside!

The girls and I shared a first together. We played Candyland together for the very first time. Monopoly was more my speed as a kid-hehe No really, it was my first time ever playing Candyland. Baba had to teach all of us! They know their colors, so that wasn't the issue. The issue was they thought they could put their little gingerbread man on ANY red, blue, purple, etc. It was a long game, but Abby won! It was also the first time Laney expressed that she was totally displeased with Abby winning, Usually, when we play a game that someone wins, they are cool with losing and just want to play again to see if they can win next time. Not after THIS game though. Laney kept saying, "But, I WANT TO WIN!" We had our first little chat about winning and losing, Which, was hard. Because I don't like to lose either. EVER. I'm uber competitive. So, Laney, my girl, we'll have to learn this lesson together.

Who doesn't love a giveaway?

Especially when it does so much good!!

Check it out!!!!

You can click the link above, or the button on our sidebar!

Fun Foto Friday

I agree with Sarah, that with the craziness of this week...sometimes we just need cuteness to make you smile.

This is one I dug up from our days in China. We were in Guangzhou and the girls were wiped out. We actually have this as our desktop wallpaper on our home computer too. It's just TOO cute :) I love it! Can you tell which twin is which?




As a side note, Linny and Dw (blogger friends of ours) are dealing with the phrase, "When it rains, ir pours." First, their loving log home catches fire. Then, their son Graham has to have emergency surgery (he's ok!). Now, Dw has the flu. AND, this has all taken place since Wednesday. You can follow their story here, but be sure to praise Jesus for their safey and pray for their strength and sanity along the way!