Wow, what a great weekend! Inside-Out LAUNCH was our mission partner celebration that took place Wed-Sun of this past week. We had several mission partners that participated. Everything from pregnancy centers to Navajo Nation ministries; And a new start up church here close to home and church plants in the Ukraine. All of the mission partners had booths set up in the church so we could all get a glimpse of each ministry and what it is they do. So many people were involved in putting this event together. It was inspiring to see how excited everyone was to get in and help.

We kicked things off by having dinner and worship service on Wednesday evening with our mission partners. Our Life Group was paired up with Joel and Ira Colon, sweet newlyweds that serve in the Ukraine. Friday night, there was the International Banquet, where the church ate together and all the missionaries involved got to share a little about their ministry with the church. On Saturday evening, our Life Group got to mingle with Joel and Ira. Check out the pic with Eric and Mike..maybe Joel has a second calling as a rock star!!! On Sunday, all the missionaries visited different Life Groups sharing their ministry. What a great opportunity for all involved, to be able to be inspired by all of these missionaries. We all need our place...it may be right here close to home or some far off land. God will let us know if we ask.

Spring Break

We had a great Spring Break this year. We went on a ten day cruise with Heath's Dad, Terry. It was such a great time. Below are several entries from our cruise. It is our pleasure to share our journey with you!

Our last day at sea...

Today was our last day at sea, April 11th. Austin headed to the kid zone first thing. Heath and I attended morning trivia and then played team Taboo. It was alot of fun. We all ate lunch together in the Dining Room, (Heath, Terry, Austin, Mitch, Sheri and I). Afterwards it was time for the variety show that the kids put on for us. Austin's group danced to "Rockin Robin". They were cute! Afterwards, Austin went back with the other kids to the kid zone. We headed to the last day of Progressive Trivia. This game had been played over the course of the cruise. It was great, the Brits, Swedes, a couple from SC and Heath won. They won a reversible bag and more luggage tags. After dinner, Austin headed to the kid zone for their last night together. They exchanged phone numbers. We finished up all our packing and headed to the "Liar's Club" game. The crew members sat on the stage and gave us a definition of some never-seen-before words. This was quite interesting. Two were lying and one was telling the truth, that was tough to figure out. The words were Oxpecker, Woowad, Chubble and Goulard. It was quite entertaining to hear the outlandish stories they told though! After this, we went to the ship's version of Dancing with the Stars. It was fun to see some couples show off what they had been learning as they took lessons while on the cruise. After the show it was time to pick up Austin. We headed back to the theater to watch Pop Princess (the ship's version of American Idol, only Karaoke style). There were many talented people who participated. One of trivia buff buddies sang, Robin from Utah. We voted for her, but unfortunately, she didn't win. By the end of the show, it was around 11:15 or so. This was way too late for us since we had to get up super early to depart. We got back to the room and Terry had made it to bed already.

April 12th...In the morning, we got up early and ate breakfast. We had to get the rest of our stuff together and go wait in the Dining Room for our number to be called so we could get off the boat. The crew had decorated for Easter. There were eggs everywhere and a table full of chocolate Easter goodies in the middle of the ship. We waited for a little over an hour I guess. Austin was so tired, he fell asleep while we were waiting. It was finally our turn to depart and we made it through security and on to the bus heading to the airport. We had to wait on the bus for a bit until it filled. When we got to the airport, we said goodbye to Terry. He was heading home on a different airline than us. We were hoping to find a quicker flight home, but so did everyone else. We thought we may could rent a car and make it home faster, but Fort Lauderdale was just too far. So, we hung out in the airport for about seven hours. We witnessed people not getting on their flights due to overbooking by the airlines. I am thankful that didn't happen to us, but felt so bad for those it did. We are thankful we got to go on this wonderful cruise. It was so enjoyable, but we are glad to be home in the USA!

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

This day was Good Friday. We had were so ready for our tour to touch the dolphins and see Dunn's River Falls. We walked to the Island Village to do a little shopping, along the way being bombarded with taxi drivers wanting to take us there. It was only a few blocks but some lied and told it was two miles so that we would take their taxi. We made it through and brought our loot back to the ship before our tour. We got on the tour bus and headed to the Dolphin Touch first. We stripped down to our swim suits and were able to get on a platform in the dolphin pool with a few other ladies. We were all lined up and were right there able to watch Pepe's (our dolphin) tricks and got to touch and kiss him. Afterwards, we walked down to the shark pool. Some crazy locals make their living getting in the water with these sharks (they looked tame, but what a scary thought!!!). We saw some tourists get in and sit down on these benches that were in the pool. The shark tamers set the sharks in these people's laps. It was neat to see, but I was not interested in getting any closer than we were. We grabbed some lunch and picked up some pictures and our video of our dolphin encounter. We walked back towards the entrance and stopped at the reptile area, where we all held a large iguana. A snake was there, but we passed on him! We made our way to the tour bus and headed to Dunn's River Falls. It only took a few minutes and we were there! We made our way to the entrance and realized we hadn't gotten our ticket from the front booth. There we were bombarded with locals trying to "give" us free necklaces and then asking for money. I gave my necklace back and we headed in. We met up with our tour guide and we were off and running, okay not really running. We headed down a series of ramps and stairs until we hit the beach at the base of the Falls. Our group leader had us all join hands and start climbing the rocks in a line. That holding hand line didn't last very long. There were times where you had to really use your hands to balance yourself and climb. It was more challenging than I thought it would be, but so much fun. Along the way, there were areas to take a break in a little pool. It was tempting to go ahead on our own and not stay with the group. The participants were all different ages, shapes and sizes. We survived and have some great memories.

We made our way back to the tour bus and asked to be dropped off at the shops. I had forgotten my free coupon book on our first trip that morning, so I wanted to take advantage of some free stuff. We went on a little scavenger hunt to the different stores getting some free stones. I ended up with a sapphire, Caribbean Topaz and a silver palm tree pendant. We made it back to the ship just in time for a shower and afternoon trivia. We had dinner in the Dining Room, where Austin tried Crab Legs for the first time. He was not a big fan. After dinner, Austin went to the kids zone for "Casino Night". He ended up winning several prizes...he must have gotten a few pointers from Terry! We ended up going to a show with Mitch and Sheri called "Dance". I was surprised Heath went, he usually doesn't do musicals. It was pretty good.

Panama Canal

Today - April 8th - This is the day we had been waiting for. Everyone was encouraged to get up early so we could witness all of the views of the canal. Before After Austin and I had breakfast, we made it out onto the deck (along with most of the other passengers) to look all around as we entered the Miraflores Locks at the canal. Austin was able to squeeze in at the very front of the ship and get a few good pictures. After we had breakfast Austin and I headed up to the card room for a game of Clue. Professor Plum did it in the Library with a Revolver! Shortly, we met up with Terry and Heath. They had been the early birds and saw Panama City in all its early morning glory. Later, Heath and I played Pictionary with a couple from Denver. In the afternoon we made it to Gatun Locks. We then headed down the canal and got some great pictures. The following morning, we were still cruising the canal. We made it to Cristobal Pier (a very short port stop). This was basically a huge flea market. We only had an hour or so to look around and get back on the ship. This evening we played a game like Match Game that you see on TV. Heath embarrassed me a few times, but I survived. I believe we took home some luggage tags for playing this game.

Another day at Sea

The following day, April 7th, we were at sea all day. Heath and I played trivia in the morning and in the afternoon. Alot of the same people play. We have met some really nice folks along the way. All the way from Sweden, Karen and Toro; The UK, Malcom and Sue; and several from the states. We probably spent the most time with Mitch and Sheri. They are from L.A. We hung out quite a bit together playing games and going to shows. This evening we played Majority Rules with our Swedish friends. Afterwards, Heath and Terry went to a comedy show and Austin and I went to bed (I know..so exciting and adventurous aren't we?)

Here comes Costa Rica

We sailed through the night to enter into Puntarenas, Costa Rica. We opted for a Panoramic Tour on the air conditioned bus on this stop. Our guide, Miner was awesome. He shared so much information with us, I can hardly remember it all. Our first stop on the tour was in the town where a group of school children were ready to dance for us. There was a cute little three year old I wanted to take home with me in my carry-on. There was items for sale close by and a church you could tour. I browsed around a little and it was time to get back on the bus. We made it to a place where there were clean restrooms (hallelujah!), a gift shop and fresh fruit waiting for us. The pineapple was so sweet and juicy. Costa Rica is the number one producer of pineapple inthe world, one of the little known facts I learned on the tour:) I also learned that inthe cities that we visited, they don't have house numbers or mailboxes. They don't use mail very often. They have up-to-date technology such as email, so they communicate that way mostly. if they do receive mail, their mailing address will have their name, city, county and a decription of where they live (such as..in front of the school, small yellow house with the tree in the front yard). This might explain the over-the-top brightly colored homes everywhere! Some other interesting things we saw were cashew trees...did anyone realize cashews were fruit??? They're beautiful! At one of the last stops, we were were at a small market with local arts and crafts and food. Austin wanted his picture taken with the Policio there with his motorcycle (more like a motorbike).

Life seems fairly simple in Costa Rica. Just enough civilization to get what you need, without all the hustle and bustle of the city life. I could so retire there.

Later this evening we boarded the ship and ate at a restaurant on th eship called the Bayou Cafe. It was so good!!! Cajun food for all. I will have to say that the spicy sausage and grits I had were my favorite. Afterwards we saw a comedy show, we had so much fun!!

Cruising Along

The following day, we arrived in Puerto Corinto, Nicaragua. After breakfast, we got off the boat to see what Puerto Corinto had to offer. After getting through the large security gate (in place to keep locals from escaping or bothering people boarding or unboarding the ship), we shopped a little in the open air markets they had set up. Alot of similar hand crafted items as other places, but a little more expensive. We were very hot, but wanted to take a tour of some sort. We saw several tricycles that were being peddled around carrying tourists to other parts of the town. We decided to do the same. We took two separate trikes. Terry and Austin on one and Heath and I on the other. We had a nice, breezy ride through the cobblestone streets across the town to the beach. Along the way, we saw many different types of housing. Some pretty basic and others fairly extravagant for this area. Our driver (peddler) was such a nice young man that spoke very good English. He told us that he has learned through taking to Americans. He shared with us about his family and that his father was a pastor. He also asked us if we knew Jesus. We let him know that we were Christians. Heath shared with him that he and some of our church members had been there to build churches. As we made our way to the beach, Austin found a really cool shell...finally, a free souvenir! After getting back on the ship, Heath and I went to yet another game, Passenger Feud. I got to participate again and won a nice tote bag!

Still cruising...

Saturday, April 4th...After breakfast, we went to shore in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. There was a big Arts and Crafts market right off the pier. There was so many handmade items, anything from wood carved kives, canes to all sorts of jewelry. I picked up a few things. I wished I had done more shopping there, the prices were the best at this port for sure! After we shopped, Austin and I played Uno and his first game of Scrabble in the game room. That evening, Austin went of to the Fun Zone, while Heath and I started our trend of attending game shows. This first one was Peer Factor. I was a contestant. There were different challenges our team had to perform, like stuffing inflated balloons into a fat suit while our friend, Mitch (from L.A.) was wearing it. And then we had to River Dance. Check out the pics for a good chuckle.

Our cruise continues...

Every evening, we received the Princess Patter, the newsletter of the Coral Princess cruise ship. This had the next day's schedule of events, special announcements and information about the port we were going to. The next day, April 3, we were at sea and everyone seems to be adjusting well to the motions on the ship. This morning, and most every morning, Heath and Terry ate before Austin and I ever got out of the bed. it was vacation, we weren't in a big hurry! After breakfast, Austin was excited to see what the Fun Zone was all about. It was the kid's program they had at different times every day and night. He met a couple of boys the first day, one from Ecuador and one from Pennsylvania. While he did that, I enjoyed the sun and Heath and Terry played dominoes in the game room. Later, all the boys played Monopoly and I shopped.

Spring Break Cruise starting in Acapulco, Mexico

As some of you may know, our family went on a cruise over our "extended" Spring Break. It was Terry, Heath, Austin and I. There was so much that happened during our ten days, I hope I can give the highlights without being to long...On April 1st we flew to Acapulco, Mexico where we would meet Terry, who was flying in from Raleigh. The next day, April 2nd, we went on a tour of the city. It was gorgeous. We were able to go to the highest part of the city where there was the Cross at the Chapel of Peace. It is 48 meters tall, taller than the Statue of Liberty. There was another sculpture there of the two hands. The view from way up on the top of the mountain was breath-taking. We rode around the city looking at different things and saw Sly Stallone's vacation home - it was huge!!! Finally, one of the greatest parts of the day came - the cliff divers. The cliffs were surrounded by people anxiously awaiting these daring local divers to jump off the varying heights in to the ocean below. Wow, what a treat this was. It was extremely hot this particular day. We were glad to get back in the A/C for the ride to the cruise ship.

We were excited to board the Coral Princess for our 10-day adventure. We finally got through all of the hooplah and made it to our stateroom. We found two twin beds. Hmmm...two twin beds and four people, how are we going to manage. Hiding in the ceiling were two more beds that dropped down. It worked out just fine. That evening we ate at the buffet and later watched outside as we moved out to sea.