The boys' first trip

Last week our family and both sets of grandparents took a trip to Kerrville, TX to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23). The decision to go with such young newborns was last minute, but I was stir crazy and felt they were old enough to be around people (5.5 weeks old). The trip would have been a 5 hour drive with no stops, but ended up being around 6.5 hours by the time we stopped to nurse TWICE. (In the car with a nursing cover, then my mom changed diapers in the front seat with a diaper changing pad. It was quite an operation) We took my parents' van, which made things a LOT easier than if we had taken a smaller car.

Once we got to Kerrville, things were actually easier for me than when I am home, because both sets of grandpaernts were around to help out, almost 24/7! My parents had an adjoining room to ours, and both grandmas were willing to help out at all hours of the night. Not to mention that with twins, an extra pair of hands to hold a crying baby or change a diaper helps a lot! It can mean the difference between pulling your hair out and a little bit of sanity :)

Here is me, the babies, and my nursing pillow in the backseat of my parents' van on the way over.
Me, Alan and our boys by the Guadalupe River. Matthew's expression here cracks me up, because he was actually about to fill his diaper right on my shoulder when this picture was taken. We didn't get my "after expression" lol.

Me and the boys by some pretty flowers while walking back from the Guadalupe. The boys were so good on the walk... as long as they were in their stroller.

Me, Alan & the boys by a waterfall at the resort. The boys are comfortably in their carrier/Moby wrap.

We had a great time, and I was sad we came back early (we had planned to come back early when we thought it would be too much with the twins to go for a full week.) It may have been harder on the extended family, but I was having a blast (especially having so much help!) :)
A few funny moments from our trip:
--When Alan & I were "wearing" the twins in the carrier & Moby wrap, a lady stopped and asked us how old our baby was. Of course we answered 5.5 weeks. She was only looking at Alan's baby, she didn't hear Alan say they were twins. Finally Alan said, "the other baby is over there," pointing at me. She said, "oh, I thought she was pregnant!" Pregnant? THAT pregnant with a 5.5 week old baby also?? Yikes!
--A girl about 10 years old asked me if my babies were wearing clothes when they came out of me. lol
Overall it was a great trip, and I'm glad we went!!

1st Anniversary

Today, Alan and I flew back today from our 1 year anniversary trip to New York/Canada to see Niagara Falls and a baseball game in Toronto. 

I am blessed to have married a wonderful man like Alan! :)

While we were visiting Niagara Falls (walking on planks that werebuilt near the bottom of one of the smaller falls), Alan took a video that I think shows a funny/good example of a wife hesitantly trying to submit to her husband ;)

Notice I did not wholeheartedly submit to that ;) This video was taken on what they call the "Hurricane Deck." As you can see the water is coming down pretty strong, but what you can't see is that the water is freezing too!!

A few other pictures from our trip:

Geared up for our "Maid of the Mist" boat tour of Niagara Falls...

...where we road a boat like this. :)

At a Blue Jays/White Sox game in Toronto, Canada.

All in all, it was a good trip, but it was definitely great to be home again!!

Bible Reading Program

My family (brothers, sister-in-law, parents, husband) and I have decided to begin reading the Bible from cover to cover on a set schedule. We are planning to use the schedule and the commentary from the Bible Reading Program from our church, the United Church of God. Here's the link:

http://www.ucg.org/brp/brparchive.htm

I am really excited about starting this with my family! I have not been good about studying the Bible lately, and having a plan to read through it is exciting. My dad and I actually read through this program for about a year and a half, but that was 7 years ago, and I was interrupted with dating, college, etc. I don't think it will do any harm to re-read some of it :) My brother Daniel set up an online Google Spreadsheet for us, so we can check off when we have read that days' scripture & commentary -- and everyone can see that we've checked it off. That way we have some accountability to each other!

I am hoping this will be a great tool to help us learn a lot about the Bible, and be able to discuss the Bible together, since we will be reading the same parts at the same time.