So I have been through all 880+ photos of this trip and WOW are they amazing! We thought we would share some of the great ones on the blog. To check out the slideshows, just click on the arrow twice and it will automatically load and play for viewing. We hope you enjoy....I know I did!
This is Chelcie's final day of her trip. They headed out to Midtown Manhattan for breakfast at a deli. After breakfast, they toured Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral and then on to Fifth Avenue, Trump Tower and Tiffany's. Chelcie has been so excited to go to Tiffany's and texted me a picture of a bracelet that she bought there. This $205.00 purchase left her with 11 cents for the trip home....good luck to her! Then they headed to JFK Airport for the flight home. I talked with her right before she boarded and we prayed over the phone. I am doing much better this time! I am so thankful for the peace that God has blessed me with. A great friend of mine talked with me after Chelcie left and reminded me that my fear had overshadowed my faith for a time and that we have not been given a spirit of fear by God. I am so blessed to have such great friends to lean on! God has been so good and is with me now, keeping me calm and at peace as I endure these last hours. Chelcie is due to land in Long Beach at about 7 p.m. and then should arrive here in the desert sometime between 10 - 11 p.m. Can't wait to see her and share some pics on the blog. So far she has taken over 800 pictures! Thanks for those keeping her in your prayers and to all who had a part in her going on this trip of a lifetime!
I woke up to a picture text message of the Statue of Liberty that Chelcie took from the ferry. It was amazing! A bit later I got a call from her and they were at Ellis Island. My dad was able to trace his family back and find that his father's parents came through Ellis Island from Switerland. Pretty cool place for Chelcie to be standing. Afterward they headed back to Manhattan to see Wall Street, St. Paul's Church, U.S. Customs House, Trinity Church, Federal Hall and to visit Ground Zero. They took the subway back to their hotel to get changed for their big night on the town. Chelcie said that it was pretty obvious that they were a bunch of Californians because they all screamed when the subway started moving. The evening was spent going to dinner at Broadway and 51st Street and then seeing Lion King att the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway! After the production, they took a group photo in Times Square and got back to their hotel around midnight. I worked at Dream Dinners tonight and didn't have a chance to talk with her but she texted me a picture of the Lion King Playbill.....made me smile just thinking about the amazing opportunity she has had. Doug talked to her after midnight and she was packing. They are checking out of the hotel in the morning.
Chelcie's day started off quite early with a 5:30 a.m. wake up call. They were up bright and early in order to be packed, checked out and at breakfast by 6:30! Today is their last day in D.C. They spent the morning going to the Ford Theatre where President Lincoln was shot and then to the Petersen House where he actually died. Then they headed over to see the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial. My dad came for a visit this week and got to spend some time talking with Chelcie about the Vietnam Memorial. He gave her some names to look for and even brought his yearbook to show her some pictures of friends that were killed there. It really impacted her to make a connection between a wall of names and yearbook photos. She was able to find one name in particular and the idea is to take a pencil and rub over the name on a piece of paper and get the imprint of the cariving from the memorial. She was glad to be able to do that today. After lunch, it was on the bus for a 4 hour ride to New York City! Chelcie called and we chatted a bit while they were driving through New Jersey. She texted me when they arrived in New York....she even saw a Chipotle and texted a picture to me. I talked with her a bit ago and they ate dinner in Little Italy, toured Chinatown, got a great deal on a necklace she liked and are now in line for the Empire State Building! She says she loves that town and it's so crowded and crazy with so many people and cars. What a day!
Talked to Chelcie tonight and she had a great day! She had a good night of sleep and is feeling rested. By 8:30 a.m. they were at the Capitol. It was closed to tours for construction so that was a bit disappointing. Then to the Supreme Court to hear a case at 10 but it was too crowded and there would not have been enough seats for the whole group so they headed over to the Library of Congress and the White House for a photo stop. It was great to get text messages from her throughout the day letting me know what she was up to .... even texting me pics of the Capitol and the White House! They spent the afternoon visiting the World War II Memorial and taking a tour of Mt. Vernon and then on to the National Archives checking out the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Photos of these treasures are not allowed so I encouraged her to just appreciate the memories! She was surprised at the neatness of the handwriting on these documents since they were written by "boys". Funny girl! They headed back to their hotel by 10 p.m. and we got a wonderful phone call from her.
So, I left off with Chelcie's arrival in D.C. and although it was 2:11 a.m. my time, it was 5 a.m. east coast time and they were ready to start the day! By 8:00 they were at Arlington National Cemetary and were able to see the Kennedy gravesite, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the changing of the guard. Next they headed to the US Air Force Memorial, FDR Memorial, Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument. They headed to the Reagan International Trade Center for lunch. Then off to Emabassy Row. In the afternoon they took a tour of the National Cathedral and then headed to the Smithsonian to visit the Natural History Museum and the Air & Space Museum. Dinner was had and then they arrived at their hotel and checked in by 8 p.m. After a LONG day, Chelcie called and it was great to hear from her. Her favorite thing today was being at Arlington. She felt it was such a peaceful place and she was overwhelmed by how large it was and how many people are buried there that have given their lives and died for her freedoms (these are her words and I couldn't be more proud.....she actually gets it!).
4:00 p.m. was the meeting time, Kohl's parking lot was the meeting place. We met a chartered bus and loaded the kids on. There are a total of 50 students, chaperones and teachers heading off for the trip. They took off for Long Beach airport for a 9:27 p.m. direct flight to Dulles Airport in D.C. I talked to Chelcie right before take off and swear I was in a perpetual state of prayer for her. It really felt as if the Lord were allowing her to be ripped from my grasp. I realized that this is only the beginning of letting her go and trusting in The One who loves her more than I do. As a mom, this is one of life's most difficult realizations. There was a point when I wondered what I was thinking sending her across the country???? God met me where I was at and has provided for a wonderful husband to remind me of whose she really is! I got the call at 2:11 a.m. from Chelcie that they had just landed and were waiting to get off the plane. I so love technology! My prayer of thanks was immediate!
So amazing....that early morning, that empty tomb, those shocked disciples! Are we still in such awe of our Savior each day? Thank you Jesus for your incredible sacrifice and for your victory over sin and eternal death in order that we might receive you and your gift of eternal life in your presence!
We had a great morning with the girls taking a peek outside at what might be there... little Easter baskets with a few goodies on our porch for them. We had fun sneaking out in the night placing candy filled eggs on our neighbor's yard and a chalked Easter message for their kids to find. Sheila even drew bunny feet. So cute! This was a tradition at our house by a secret family friend and it was fun to do it with my girls and pass it along to neighbors with small children.
It was great to all head to church with my Dad and Sheila and even met Sandy there for some amazing worship and praise. We had a 60's theme going this year so there are "flower power" type flowers everywhere, record albums as decor and even a VW bus parked outside....quite groovy really. "All you need is love" is the message series title and the series will continue over the next 3 weeks too. As a staff, we really tried to incorporate lots of elements into our services this year to make the most of the opportunity to minister to those who might only come to church on Easter. We wanted to be sure that everyone knew that God loves them, all that is available at Southwest and invite them to return. I am truly blessed to be a part of what God is doing through this ministry.
Today was quite a whirl wind with going to church, serving at the next service, going to Mark and Sandy's for lunch, visiting with beloved family from out of town (for a visit that was just too short) and then getting Chelcie off for her trip to D.C.
What an amazing day we celebrate today: Palm Sunday. How quickly those who ushered Jesus into the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey hailing Him King and praising Him.....changed. Within a matter of days their hails of "Hosanna" turned to hails of "crucify". The amazing thing is that Jesus knew His purpose and that it was coming down to the wire, He knew their hails would change so dramatically!
Lord, may my hails to you always bring you praise!
"LEAD ME TO THE CROSS" by Hillsong United (love them!) is one of my favorite songs and we sang it in worship today:
Savior I come Quiet my soul remember Redemption's hill Where Your blood was spilled For my ransom Everything I once held dear I count it all as lost
Lead me to the cross Where Your love poured out Bring me to my knees Lord I lay me down Rid me of myself I belong to You Lead me, lead me to the cross
You were as I Tempted and trialed You are The Word became flesh Bore my sin and death Now you're risen
To your heart To your heart Lead me to your heart Lead me to your heart
May we take time to reflect this "Holy Week" on the amazing love that was poured out for us as Jesus was led to the cross and may we continue seek to be led to the cross daily so that we may truly live!
Today Madison headed off with Lolo for a Prince & Princess Tea Party. They went out to Norco (I think) to meet Jody and the twins and then off to the tea party. Who remembers the "jellie" shoes? I had them in so many colors back in Jr. High....I remember getting my first pair of white ones at J.J. Newberry! I just loved them.I am sure Sandy took about 500 pics of the day so check out her blog. Here are a few pics of my princess as we got her all glammed up this morning! We talked about how she is actually a Princess because her Heavenly Father is the KING!!! Love you Peanut.
Ok, I know it's been a while and someone we all know and love stated that "If your gonna blog, then BLOG!" So here ya go Megan.......Back when Madison and Doug went to camp, Chelcie and I tackled her bedroom makeover. It's been a long time coming and Chelcie has invested quite a bit into this project: new bedding, new nightstand, paint, new pictures, new frames to put pics of friends in, etc. This was the big weekend. Chelcie and I started in on the primer as soon as we dropped Doug and Madison off at the church for camp. We were so thankful that Chelcie's awesome friend Abby came over to help. We got the primer on and the first coat of black paint on before we went to bed. The next day (after my shift at Dream Dinners) we started back up again and were able to get everything just about finished up by Saturday evening! Chelcie treated Abby to Starbucks.....the people at Starbucks asked what they had been up to (since they were covered in paint) and when Chelcie said they had been painting her room Starbucks treated them to Venti Frappaccinos for the price of the Grande! What a treat! I settled for Coffee "Fro Yo" (frozen yogurt) from Golden Spoon....yummy. So here's why it's taken me so long to blog all of this.....I don't have pics of the final product yet! Chelcie just got around to getting everything put back into her room. Long gone are the 5 million pictures of Dylan and Cole Sprouse and the Jonas Brothers! Maybe we'll be able to get some pics now and get 'em on the blog. Until then, we'll keep you all in suspense!
