Photos courtesy of Ryan Prouty

Monday, May 25, 2009

Fun pictures and another update...can you say roadtrip???

Yes folks, school is almost out and we have finally made our plans and purchased our tickets to come to IOWA!!! We are so excited it won't be an actual trip on the ROAD, but one in the AIR!! Thanks to fare sales at Allegiant Air, we got one way tickets for $29! Unbelievable! I told the kids we would certainly be driving when we went home for a visit, unless there was a miracle! Well, we got our miracle! We don't have all the details worked out, but we know we are arriving in IOWA on Tuesday morning, June 2nd! Yes, that is one week from tomorrow!!! No, I am not thrilled at all!! The kids are not excited at all, we are not hoping to manage to see all of you when we are there...woops, I slipped into Not Me! Monday mode! Must be habit! It is Monday after all!

I was also looking for an excuse to post some of the recent pictures I have taken for my on line photography course for learning to use my camera! How appropriate! These pictures were taken by me in a creative mode as my manual calls it, anyway, not in automatic mode. Hope you enjoy them!
Learning to "freeze the action"Believe it or not this is Holden diving in...learning to "imply" the action.
And Alayna and Holden jumping in together
Learning to use metering...good thing it wasn't about finding a great background huh?? Oh well, at least the subject was fabulous!!
And this is my favorite slightly blurry picture! It could have been great if I had gotten it in focus. Still a lot to learn!

Last week were the last baseball games of the season. Here is Holden receiving his medal from his coaches. He had a great team and great coaches. Each kid got to try every position and the coaches pitched to them until they got a hit...even if it took 40 swings! Holden was a great batter consistently hitting it hard and was aggressive in the field unless he was swatting at bugs in the outfield or picking weeds! We were very proud of his efforts to be a team player.


Gabriel was the catcher and Riley played first base for most of the season. They also worked very hard, were aggressive in the field and had some great at bats. I promised them a trip to Nokomis Groves for ice cream if they got a home run OR a win, but neither materialized for either of them. In spite of this, they never got down or seemed disinterested in playing. They definitely learned how to lose with grace! That made us very proud. They were two of the most respectful and coachable kids on the team.We do have one more playoff game to play tomorrow. We lost our first one last Thursday after the rain kept postponing the game all week! We are in the consolation bracket and will be out if we lose our next game. Since we haven't won all year, we are counting on being done! What matters is that they learned a lot!

Adding one more update here. We found out last week that the house we were planning to move into (that was on the market that we were sure wouldn't sell any time soon), was sold! It is great for the owners, but we are back to square one! I am learning that I was not nearly thankful enough for what God provided as we look around at what is available and scramble and try not to stress out. I am glad I will spend much of June in Iowa and will be too occupied to worry about our housing situation here. Paul found this house for us and he will be able to find another. I am excited to see what God has planned. He clearly did not want us in the other house. We have prayed for clear guidance and that was a door CLEARLY closed! It is so hard to walk the line of faith in God's provision for our every need and my efforts. My part and His part are not always easily discerned and both Paul and I tend to be doers, forgetting to wait on His provision. We wonder how often we have missed His best for us this way. Please pray that we will rest in Him and His timing and provision. Doesn't that sound easy enough? As I read through the books of Samuel in my reading, I see that others found this difficult as well and had varying success with consulting God before they stepped out in battle. I absolutely LOVE the story of David and find it hard to put down lately. I think that is partly because it is so parallel to what is going on in our lives right now! God is faithful and I thank Him for his encouragement and His Word! I thank you for your prayers and support and hope to see you soon!!

9 comments:

Lynn Anderson said...

Are you sure we are not sisters?? I am reading the book of Samuel and the stories of David right now too. I am also totally loving it and how it can be applied to our lives. Keep trusting and following His lead. No one can lead like He can. We are praying for you and can't wait to see you.
Never give in!

Cindy and company said...

Jealousy is a sin, so I won't say that's what I am feeling--NOT ME!! I am just thrilled that you will be able to get back to Iowa and wouldn't wish it anyother way (unless it was for our family)--I didn't just write that!!!! Yea God! I didn't even know that $29 airfare even existed!

Rikki Kreger said...

I will definitely be praying about the housing!!

Stephanie said...

How great for you to be able to come home and get there fast!!! We've flown Allegient out of Springfield and were VERY pleased. Sounds to me there is a better house waiting for you, just don't know when you'll find it! NOt stressful at all I'm sure! Your pictures are good...now you need to learn to shoot in RAW. Check to see if your camera is able, I would think it is. If you shoot in RAW you can fix the white balance which always gets off when shooting indoors. It's very easy to do but does require more processing. Well worth it though. Any questions, let me know and we'll keep you all in our prayers. Have a WONDERFUL time in Iowa.

Becky said...

How exciting that you are able to make a trip to Iowa!!!! Wish we were there too to see you! I am praying for God's continued hand in your housing situation. I am glad you will be distracted for a bit in Iowa ;0) You will have to visit Java House in my honor! German chocolate mocha? Yummm!

Anonymous said...

I am NOT excited at all that I will see you all in one week!!! So can't wait. We won't have much to do, so I am sure we will have plenty of time for visiting!! :)
love you!!

safmomma said...

Yay! Can't wait to see you and definitely praying for your housing.

Anonymous said...

Great photo experiments Travis, keep practicing,you will have a third career here before you know it. Holden looks like such a little man and it was joy to my heart in reading that all three boys were good, coachable players. All of their Dad's coaches said that he was always very coachable. PTL!!!! Now he's being coached by the best coach of all being the Lord. What more could one ask? So sorry to learn about the house situation, but once again, God will provide, as you all know. Prayers are going for an expedient answer. We can't wait to see everyone, it's been too long.
Much love, hugs and ongoing prayers,
G.& G. P.

shelley said...

I am so happy to hear that you will be in Iowa soon. Let me know when you will be around I have some stuff for you (stuff that I could not bring myself to mail, long story I will explain later) I hope you don't get to stressed about the housing it will all work out. Love the pics that you are taken you will could soon have a part time job:) Give the kids hugs and kisses