HOPE-- More Than Meets the Eye

Rachel spent the week at Winshape Camp again this summer. This is her third year

at camp. Her past two were here and here.

 

On the first day she ran into lots of friends and she was pretty excited about that. The kids are

divided into groups- Ocean, Safari or Alpine. Rachel was in the Alpine group this year. Rachel

was in three activities- Sew Much Fun, Fast Food and Gymnastics.

On Friday, the camp lets parents and siblings attend camp for the day and see

what the campers have been learning all week. The first class was

Sew Much Fun-- and Rachel learned the basics of sewing. 

This was the first summer, that I let Rebecca come to camp and she

loved it! We spent time sewing on buttons.

Rachel and Meghan were in Sewing together. They have known each other

since they were three years old and have been to Winshape each summer.

We moved on to the next class- Fast Food. This class taught the kids how  to

cook basic meals and snacks. We got to make rice krispy treats. Rachel was

happy to have her Abuela visiting at camp too.

The last class was gymnastics. Rachel loved it and so did

Rebecca. She did a great job walking the balance beam.

Rebecca loved being part of the class and participating with

the big girls.

Samantha, Rachel and Isabelle

Rachel went to Bible study time with her group and we went to

watch a video about Winshape Ministries, hear some speakers talk about

the week, stuff like that....... Then all the campers came and we sang and prayed.

Then it was time to go home!!

The theme for camp was HOPE and the Bible verse was

2 Corinthians 4:18.

So thankful that Rachel was able to go to camp again this summer. She

always makes new friends, learns fun stuff and spends the week learning

more about Jesus. Can't wait until Rebeca is old enough to go. Next year,

Rachel is thinking about going to Winshape Overnight Camp !!

 

"so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is

seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV

 

 

Life Lately

Our days are going by fast and our summer is almost over! Just a few pictures of what we have been up to lately...................................

Rebecca put on a show for us with all her turtles.

The girls and I went to Chick-fil-A for lunch last week. While we were there, this older

man arrived, walked in with his cane and sat behind us.  Come to find out, Mr. Jim, eats at

Chick-fil-A everyday for lunch. The staff knows what he eats, and brings it over for him.

He seemed like the sweetest man. He spoke to everyone and told the same stories to

each person he spoke with. Made me smile.

Crape myrtles are in full bloom around here. I love them. I have never seen

one until we moved to Georgia.

My garden is growing like crazy. The tomato plants are taller than

I am.  I have been eating cucumbers, peppers, blueberries and cherry

 tomatoes. Lola keeps getting in the garden and eating all the

zucchini blossoms, so I only have one so far.

This made me laugh.

On July 5th we went to Stone Mountain to see the fireworks.

Rachel and I did the Sky Hike. It was my first time and it was scary.

Later we went to the top of the mountain.

pic from stone mountain website

The laser show was good, but the fireworks were amazing. Glad we took

the time to go and see them.

After Rachel's tennis camp finished, we went to Lake Lanier for the

afternoon. And we finally went paddle boarding!! It was something I have

wanted to do for a long time and was so fun. Rebecca sat on the front of my

board and Rachel had her own. We didn't tip over once. Can't wait to try it

again sometime.

 

 

 

 

My First Peachtree Road Race

In Atlanta each year on the 4th of July, there is a huge 10K race. They say it is the world's largest 10K and that over 60,000 people run/walk it each year.  With so many people running the race, they use a lottery system to decide who runs each year. Thankfully, I made it and I was excited  to see what the Peachtree was all about.

Me, Michelle, Candy and Jamie

 

On Friday I went with my friends to the Expo to pick up our running numbers.

I had never been to an Expo that big, so many booths to look at and it felt like

a million people were there.

Early Saturday morning we waited at the MARTA station to take the train

to downtown where the race starts.

Our "before" pictures- ready to run!

The weather had been rainy on and off all week and they were predicating some

rain for the 4th of July. As we walked to the start area, the rain stared sprinkling down.

Every runner is assigned a corral to start in according to times

a runner had from a previous race.  The really fast runners are in corral A

and it goes all the way to corral Y. I was in corral D, but all my other friends

were in P, so I waited for the start with them.

Corral N --line up and ready to go.

 

So many people, as far as I could see. We waited for our turn, talked, took pictures and it started

raining a little harder. I had a small umbrella and lots of people had rain ponchos.

We were about five minutes from our starting time, when we heard thunder and lightening.

So they stopped the race and made us leave the road. We all crowded around the mall

 and waited for an announcement when we could run.  It was crazy! Trying to move

thousands of people and everyone had something to say.

We had to wait 30 minutes and then we were able to run. My friend

snapped this picture of me near the start line. I was ready to go!

I have run in the rain lots of times, and don't mind it, but just being

wet and waiting was no fun.

We finished and had to go to a big park for our "special" race t-shirts. The Peachtree gives out a

specially designed t-shirt each year, instead of a medal. Because of all the rain and thousands of

people, the park was a big mud pit.

Soaking wet and muddy, but we finished! It was quite the experience and I am glad I was there.

Thinking about maybe running it again next year.

My shirt!

 

 

 

Independence Day 2015

We had a good 4th of July this year. It started off a  bit rainy, but the sun came out and we had a nice day to celebrate.  I was up early to run in the Peachtree Road Race. It is a 10K race that is held in Atlanta every fourth of July. I will blog about it later, because it was an interesting morning.

                                                        Michelle, Mary and Me --ready to go!

After I came home from the race, we started setting up for our friends coming over. Raphael had several coworkers whose families are out of town, so we had them over for BBQ and just hanging out. I didn't take a lot of pictures from the day................

                                              Rebecca was ready in her red, white and blue!

                                                             

After dinner, the guys played dominos, the girls watched a movie and I took a cat

nap. My early morning had caught up with me :)

My Peachtree t-shirt. Everyone that runs and finishes the Peachtree Race,

gets a special t-shirt instead of a medal.

It was finally dark enough for fireworks.

We are hoping the weather cooperates, and we can go to Stone

Mountain tonight for a big firework show there. Trying to fit in all the

4th of July fun we can!