Friday Family FUN Day!

Nick gets Friday's off now...well, in exchange for 10 hour work days Monday through Thursday. I complained about it all week because I couldn't go for my morning runs seeing as he has to leave the house at 6:15 a.m. (or 0615 for you military types). There just isn't any way I am going to get my pink body up and out the door at 5:00 a.m. (o-five-hundred hours)...nope, not gonna happen. But come Friday, I changed my tune, because Friday, we did something REALLY fun, together as a family and not getting to run all week was totally worth it! Now every Friday is going to be our Friday Family Fun Day (that's what Jay and I call it).

What did we do? Here are some hints:

• Kiddie Kowabunga!


• Viper Vortex (otherwise known as the giant toilet bowl)


• The Avalanche


• White Water Wave Pool


• Mammoth Canyon


• Pipeline Mines


• Endless River


• Double Trouble Drop Slide


• Little Splash Mountain

I wanted to bring my camera. I know I would have had some REALLY fabulous photos to share...if it had survived all the water. But something inside me just told me that bringing a $3k camera to a water park just isn't a good idea. However, the images of that day will be forever etched in my brain. Luke's sheer joy of going down the water slide all by himself and the wonder and amusement on his face when he played with the water steering wheel. I will always remember all three of my boys faces in the wave pool. But most of all I will remember the look on Jay's face during the Avalance ride!

The Avalanche is the beast of all water park rides! It is like a half pike, you know, that skateboarders ride. Riders go in a little boat, two at a time, facing each other (that is the best part). It is a straight drop down and when you quickly reach the bottom you head straight up the other side, the boat turns and another straight shot down, back and forth until you lose momentum and come to a nice stop at the bottom. The minimum height requirement is 48 inches. Jay just barely made it, thanks to his mohawk. He was scared but wanted to go anyway...I love that about him. During the ride...sheer terror and since I was sitting just opposite of him I got to see it all over his face. Oh, how I wanted my camera! He loved every second of it and after having conquered the beast his height grew to cloud nine. He is still talking about The Avalanche.

Here is what he wrote in his journal:

" Before I got on the ride I felt half asume (awesome), half sick cause it was so hi. During the ride I felt sick cause it was so LIKE A REAL AVALANCHE!!!!!!!! After the ride I felt asume cause I was so BRAVE."

Guess what we did yesterday...

Stepping Up

I love Beth Moore Bible studies! She is brilliant and every study I have completed by her has resulted in spiritual growth in me. Yet I still consider myself an "immature" Christian. I still have SO many questions and my perpetual prayer request of God is to know Him more. I want to know more and that is why I continue seeking Him and studying His word. Whenever I seek guidance from those who seem closer to knowing God than I do, sometimes I am enlightened but often I leave feeling quite frustrated. Why can't anyone answer those tough questions? Why, after years of studying the Bible do I still feel so far from God, from really knowing what he is all about?

Well, in today's study on the Psalms of Ascent, Beth Moore presented me with the most intriguing question, of which I pass on to you.

First, she writes: "Consider afresh that God was just as intentional about what He didn't tell us on the pages of Scripture as what He did. You might say that what is missing and unexplained on the pages of Scripture is in some ways just as inspired as what you find in ink. Who else is so brilliant, so multi-dimensional and gloriously mysterious that you could spend your entire lifetime studying and never grasp His vastness?

What do you think you'd do if you thought you had God completely figured out?"

Some fun home videos...

...courtesy of Tony.

Ode to a Dib

I think I have a problem

That I can't seem to stop

These things are SO good

They go POP POP POP

Into my mouth, there the magic begins

First, a crunch of chocolate then ice cream seeps in

My husband tries to convince me not to as I shove in some more

My little boy cries "MOM, you've eaten fifty-four!"

Out of sixty...they were supposed to be his

An intervention is needed, I am getting REALLY big

I think I have a problem

And I can't seem to stop

Silence

Yesterday, Jay was at day camp and I was trying to get caught up on cleaning my house. Luke was running around doing the usual toddler things, playing with his cars, following me around trying to help, hiding in the curtains, asking for food, etc... Then in the middle of cleaning dishes I heard something I hadn't heard in a long time...silence. Aaahh, sweet silence. Wait a minute! My internal motherhood alarm went off...silence with a toddler in the house only means one thing...trouble! So, I start looking, a little frightened of what I might find. I am sure many of you reading this understand that once you have children "silence" can be almost deafening. With children around there is always noise...obnoxiously loud toys, slamming doors, cars banging into the walls, wrestling, arguing, laughter, screaming, snapping, whistling...it's all white noise to moms. Even the occasional "thud" is in some strange way a comforting, everyday noise. As a result, silence becomes a mother's very loud indication that something other than those obnoxiously loud toys has grabbed hold of her little one's curiosity. And THAT something more often than not means there is going to be ONE BIG MESS to clean up!

So as I start to search for Luke, my mind starts thinking of the possibilities. What is it that has his attention? I'm thinking paint on the walls, lipstick all over his face, toothpaste smattered from here to there, toilet paper or some other random item clogging up the toilet...a part of me is a little hesitant to find out, and I was kind of enjoying the silence.

I found him in the office. My relief was followed by amusement, so instead of getting him down I got out my camera.

Somehow he managed to pull up Google Earth.



Yes, he is quite proud of himself!

A New Star in Heaven

(This poem was written by my great grandmother for her mother.)

Often when stories are told

About the ranchman and the great round-up,

They forget the brave and bold

Who worked to fill the cup.

I like to think of those cowboys,

Who have already crossed the great divide,

But heaven will have more joys

With the wives by their side.

The sky is filled with beauty,

As I lift my eyes up there tonight,

For one who did her duty

Is now a shining light.

I'll never forget her prayer,

"Oh God, please save my children all,

Let the chain be unbroken there

When they answer Thy call."

Yes, there is a new star tonight,

To me it is the fairest of the fair,

For as it glows so very bright,

I know our mother's there.

~In memory of Mrs. T.B. Cooper

By, Lillian Droke

Any Resemblance?

Cafiero Family June 2008

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Colorado Cousins!

We just returned from a whirl-wind trip to Texas and Colorado. In Texas we visited Nick's sister and brother-in-law, Anne and Tony. We also made a little side trip out to Hamlin for the Cooper Family Reunion. The Coopers are the descendents of my great-great-grandfather. More to come on that later. Then, the boys and I stopped in Colorado on the way home. We met up with my sister Katherine and her daughter Macie, who traveled out from Nashville. We spent some time visiting my mom and then some time with my Dad...also more to come. It was a great 12 days that went by WAY too fast!!!

Here are Luke, Jay and Macie wrestling on Granny's floor before bedtime.

Macie LOVES Jay! She didn't wrestle...she gave hugs.
Luke having fun with his big brother!
Awwww...isn't she sweet? I miss her already!