WOO HOO!

If you think that title is because we're leaving for South Carolina in a matter of hours, then you're only partly right. We're getting ready. In the clean-up-the-house-so-we-don't-come-home-to-a-dirty-house phase right now. We leave to pick up our rental van at 8 and then bring it back here to pack it up. We have to stop at the bank at 9 when they open, grab some breakfast, and then we're on the road. Honestly, I'm not looking forward to today at all. This will be the only time we've driven all the way to Mom and Dad's during the day time. Since it's a 10-hour drive even for my Mom and Dad who stop very few times, we prefer to travel at night so the kids sleep. With potty breaks, get-out-and-stretch-your-leg breaks, run off 3-year-old and 4-year-old energy breaks, and stopping for lunch and dinner, we're anticipating at 12+ hour trip. As my brother says, that just hoovers! (Think vacuum if you missed that.) I'm anticipating the worst but hoping for the best.

So, on to why you're only partly right concerning the title of this post. We have the most fantastic news (and it has absolutely, positively, nothing to do with having babies!). :) Nathan and Caleb, as you know, have been in SC with Mom and Dad for a few weeks now. I had noticed a few things before he left but Mom and Dad really noticed how Nathan was really consumed this trip with the Bible. He wanted them to buy him a Bible (even though he already has one, he took only a New Testament with him on the trip), he wanted to study the Bible with his Papaw the preacher, etc, etc, etc. Well, yesterday, Nathan slipped a note to his Mamaw during church service telling her he wanted to be saved! And he went forward during the invitation all by himself! He was pretty excited to tell us that he had prayed to ask Jesus to come into his heart! He's even already gotten on me about how we're going to have to work something out so he can have "absolute quiet", as he puts it, (in this house?) so he can study his Bible once he gets back home. He even told me last night that "the Bible says to read it day and night" so he was thinking he'd study during nap time and before bed so he'd get in a daytime and nighttime study. Isn't that so cool?!?!? (Swallowing the lump in my throat....)

Ya'll have a good week and we'll post what we hope is some beautiful pics of the ocean when we get back! We're due to spend the night at Myrtle on Wednesday night but they are calling for isolated t-storms both Wednesday and Thursday. Thank goodness for indoor pools! That's all my kids really care about anyway. Friday, we'll pack up and head to Bristol, TN to see my extended family (aunts and Mamaw) and my best friend during my growing up years who is expecting her first baby in October. Spend the night with Nannie, my aunt, then get up early Saturday morning to head to Knoxville, a 2-hour drive, to go see my brother and attend his daughter's 5th birthday party. Oh, yeah, and then there's the get-together with 1 or 2 of my 3 college roommates and then, sometime on Saturday afternoon, we're supposed to head home. It's exhausting just thinking about it! Please pray for traveling mercies but specifically that Nathan & Caleb won't feel the separation from Mamaw and Papaw too bad. The past few times, both boys have cried for hours (and Caleb's not a quiet crier like Nathan is although Nathan tends to cry so hard he starts having trouble catching his breath). You should pray for my Mom and Dad, too, as each time we leave, it tends to get harder and harder on them, too.