My Life As A Pastor's Wife: The journey begins as soon to be empty nesters!

I realize this is a loooong over due post but due to many things happening one after another, I haven't been able to sit down and blog. I so much enjoy other ladies blogs about what they do, places they've been, recipes they try out, blessings that have occured or prayer requests that have been answered so I will go back about 6 weeks and share my happenings in case you are like me and want to know. :)

Well, with such a busy Sunday, August 26th, I did stay up all night to pack and prepare the house to be gone for a week. In fact we all stayed up the whole night. David and Andres were busy trying to fit all their things into limited suitcases for the plane and needless to say excited!
We left the house the next morning at 3:30 a.m. for the airport. I was running on adrinalin until the moment we got in our seats in the plane, and then I was gone! I had a good nap and was good to go!
We stayed in Kentucky for a day and a half and we were able to accomplish quite a bit.

We got the boys settled in their dorm room.
Got to spend time with the other college students from our church.
Took the boys to Wal-mart & AT&T.
Took David to Cintas where he will be working while here for college and get a drug test.
Took Andres to Chick-fil-A where he will be working while here for college.

I was glad we were able to accomplish all that before we left the next day.
We had a sweet good-bye! I wasn't sure if I would cry, tear up or be fine. To my surprise I was fine. I think the peace I have comes from the fact that I know they are where God wants them. They are in God's will! Also, this being Andres' first year I know he was ready! Everytime one of our kids left for college we tried to see that they reached the place where we knew they were ready for the next level in their lives. That includes: work ethics, having general study habits, responsibility...at least some (Lol!) and knowing how to do their own laundry! (Lol!)
After we left the boys, my husband and I went to Maryland to see our oldest son Danny. He is working as an assistant pastor to Pastor John Seay in Frederick, MD. There we spent a week with him and took in some sight seeing in the neighboring areas. My husband and I had a great time! Plus it helped keep my mind off leaving the last of our kids at college.
God has been so good to our family! Any of the blessings we have received are not taken lightly! Raising our 4 children was a lot of hard work, being constant, loving, giving discipline and most importantly lots of prayer! Let me just say that it doesn't mean it all gets easier! We pray more for our children now that they are either in full-time service or in Bible College. Plus we now have a son-n-law, granddaughter and soon to have a daughter-n-law that we pray for. The list keeps getting longer and longer! :) Praise The Lord!
The following are pictures we took on our little excursion.

David doesn't look like it but he is awake!

Andres keeping awake with his ipod.

Checking in my bag at around 50 lbs! Whew!

A much needed cup of coffee!

A mad dash through O'Hare airport to catch our connecting flight 33 gates away!

Yes, I was the last one to the gate!

Arrived at the college!

Buying things that wouldn't fit in the luggage. Good ol' Walmart!

Saying good-bye....no! "See you later!" :)

MARYLAND

Frederick Baptist Church

Frederick, Maryland

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

Arlington Cemetery

China Town

The Battle of Gettysburg

Gettysburg, PA

Shady Maple Smorgasbord

East Earl, PA

The Largest Smorgasbord in Lancaster County

My husband thought he died and had gone to Heaven......

.....I thought I died and had gone to Heaven!!!

One of the hugest gift shops I had ever seen!!! Over 40,000 square feet!

AMISH FARMLANDS

Lancaster County, PA

SIGHT & SOUND THEATRE

Lancaster County, PA

On our way to see a live performance of "Jonah"!

As far as I know there are only 2 theatres of its kind. In Lancaster, PA and Branson, MO. If you ever have a chance to go to one of these performances you will LOVE it!

WASHINGTON D.C.

My husband really did his homework when it came to getting our plane tickets for this trip! It was actually less money to have a layover than to fly straight home! Guess where that layover was? :) It was in Kansas City where my family lives! I love it when God gives us those little blessings to let us know he loves us! It was not even 24 hours long but we took advantage of every moment! We had a great time! My mom and sister-n-law had a home cooked meal ready for us when we got home. We spent the evening talking and catching up on everyones news! I was so consumed in spending time with them all that I didn't get many pictures until it was time to say good-bye.

What a wonderful way to end our get-a-way, keep our mind off the boys, mini-vacation!