T-ball

We decided to sign Port up for t-ball this summer with his cousins and they have a great coach Mr. Casey. We missed the first week of practice, the first game, and then the second practice. We ran and got Port a glove and bat the morning of the game and played catch for about 10 minutes before we left for the game....

Picture Day

The boys team name is the Cheetahs. They all got matching hats and had their pictures taken. Port was just thrilled to be with his cousins, if you couldn't tell from the picture!

We had the 12 o'clock game. We weren't quite prepared for how hot it was outside! A few of the grandparents brought umbrellas that the kids would crowd under for a little bit. This is Preslee trying to share Lolli with Haynes:-)

Haynes again didn't get to play, but we promise in the fall he will get to play soccer. Haynes bats and throws left handed, but Brian could only find a right handed glove. Haynes was just happy to have a glove and practice with Champ.

Coach Casey helping Port get a hit. Port did a great job hitting, especially since he hadn't even been to a practice!

This is the boys out in the field. It was so funny watching each of their personalities come out. When the ball was hit Port would chase it down, even if it was across the field. At one point Port and Braxton were wrestling for the ball. On our way to the game Port told me, "I get to touch the ball in this game!" It was a REALLY hot afternoon but the kids did great, I can only imagine how much they will improve each week!

Jordan and Trey's Wedding

Snacks before the wedding

We brought the computer for the kids (and Brian) to watch a movie while they were waiting. I'm not sure who was enjoying it more...Aren't my boys the cutest!?! (all three of them)

I don't have any pictures of them coming down the isle since Brian and I were on the stage. Brooke and Alex got great seats and got a great video for us. The boys did an awesome job, they were precious! After they gave Trey the rings they got to leave with Champ. I told them there were suckers waiting for them if they did a good job...a little bribery seemed okay?!?

Port really LOVED it! When we got to the church and Port saw Jordan for the first time he said, "Miss Jordan is BEAUTIFUL!" He couldn't have described her any better, she was absolutely stunning. Haynes on the other hand said he liked her hair down...don't worry Jordan he tells me the same thing all the time:-)

The reception was at Galardia and it was absolutely amazing. The food was spectacular! The boys were pretty excited until they heard there was an option to leave with Champ. After they watched Jordan and Trey dance they were ready to leave. Thanks Champ for taking our boys home! Josh and Jenny were Ella's buddies for the night. Thanks for all your help!

Lolli helped coordinate the wedding for Jordan. Haynes really just wanted to hang out with Lolli all night and we kept trying to explain that she was working. I thought this picture was really sweet though...

I had to take a picture of the dance floor because we had such a great time! Alex and Brian definitely won best dancer awards for the night, but Shannon and David were in a close second:-) Love you guys!

We had a great time celebrating Jordan and Trey. It was an amazing wedding, but mostly we loved celebrating two people that are pursing Jesus on all levels. We were honored to do some of their pre-marital counseling and we expect great things from them. We pray God's extravagant blessing over your marriage Mr. and Mrs. Williams:-)

Jordan and Trey's Rehearsal Dinner

Jordan and Trey asked the boys to be their ring bearers in the wedding. My boys were absolutely thrilled to be apart of their wedding. Brian and I also were readers in the wedding, so it was quite a family affair! The fun thing is that 7 years ago Jordan was a member of my house party...isn't God so good! This is a picture of my boys waiting so patiently for their big moment. Trey's mom was so sweet to get the boys some fun gift bags with coloring books, markers, and best of all Toy Story action figures:-)

Jordan and Trey decided that they wanted the boys to carry the REAL wedding rings down the isle! This is a picture of me explaining to the boys that they have the MOST IMPORTANT ROLE in the WHOLE wedding!!! We did lots of practice putting the rings in our pockets, walking down the isle, and handing them to me. This is such a sweet picture of Jordan with the boys...they absolutely LOVE her!

They made it down the isle and are handing the rings off to Trey and G! I think they are pretty cute! They held each other's hands walking down the isle during rehearsal, we'll see how they do with 350 of their closest friends watching:-)

The boys were invited to come to the Rehearsal Dinner with us too! We got to sit at a table with Gerod and Kerri which was super fun. Jordan and her mom got all the kids sweet gifts. These are Cow Banks and they also had a little bag of money to put in the bank...needless to say they LOVED it! They also really loved the Trey's favorite strawberry short cake, I think they both went back for seconds.

We got back from Lebanon on Sunday night and this is Thursday night. Our goal all week was to get over jet lag, but we had a few set backs...like the night the boys got up and played from 2-4:30 am! So when it came time to do toasts my boys got pretty cuddly. Kerri held Port and I held Haynes. You can't see from this picture but I have slobber running down my arm! It was such a fun night to honor and bless Trey and Jordan. They are an amazing couple that God has great plans for, thanks for letting us be such a special part of it!

Happy Birthday Uncle Josh!

Jenny surprised Josh and got him the day off work for his birthday. They spent the night at the farm (Josh was wanting to do this) and then met us for lunch at Cains. We were super excited to get to celebrate with him! Next we went to the pool for an afternoon of swimming, which Haynes cleared the pool completely by pooping in it...gross!!!

We ended Josh's birthday by going to dinner in the city and back to Lolli and Champ's for dessert. We love you Josh! You are the best uncle, brother and brother-in-law we could ask for. I am amazed by all the ways God has gifted you and you are always quick to use your gifts to help anyone. We love you Josh and are excited for what God has for you this next year!

Ella's First Day of School

Ella's first day of school was Pajama Party day! We missed a week of school while we were in Lebanon. I have taken a picture of each of my kids on the porch before their first day of school. The boys spent the night with JuJu that night, so that's why it's just her...maybe next time:-)

Ella really wanted to take her stroller as Show and Tell. I couldn't get her to take a picture without it! We didn't actually take it to school with us, but she did carry it to the garage.

Ella's sweet teachers send us pictures each week of the kids playing during class, so we know how they are doing. I love getting the pictures and seeing what my little girl is doing. Crew is going to school with Ella and they are having a great time! My little baby is growing up!

We LOVE Lebanon!

We love Lebanon! Our family will forever be changed from our two week trip to Beirut. We are so thankful for what God has done and will continue to do in Lebanon. Our hearts were already tied to this place because of Blake and Marci, but now our kids have a picture of what it looks like when we pray for our team. Brian and I have both said that we would encourage, recommend, push anyone and everyone to go experience what we did!

I just had to throw in these pictures of my sleeping kids! It looks like it is completely sunny in both these pictures and that's because it is...These kids were AMAZING! They thrived on a schedule that college students and adults were dropping like flies on. It definitely took 2 weeks for us to recover once home, but it was worth it! My sweet kids will never be the same because of the things God has planted in them. Praise Jesus that their ceiling truly is already exceeding my floor!

I had to include this update from our sweet friends Drew and Mary. They are beautiful writers and communicated our trip better than I ever could have. We love you guys and look forward to December!

Early this morning the short-term trip from Norman Community Church boarded a plane from Beirut heading back to Oklahoma. Our team of 12 adults and three kids spent the last two weeks running hard with their team of 14 adults and three kids. It was chaotic and dynamic, at times intense and at times light-hearted. Most importantly, it was the most powerful two weeks of ministry in the Middle East we have ever been a apart of.

Our goal was simple. In Luke 10 Jesus sent out seventy two disciples into all of the villages he himself was going to visit. He sent them out with a simple message: “The Kingdom of God has come near to you.” He gave them simple instructions: “Heal the sick, deliver the demonically oppressed. When you find a man of peace, stay with them, eating and drinking what they set before.”
This was the model of our two week outreach in Beirut, Lebanon. We divided into small groups and went to any place Lebanese people were hanging out. We went to neighborhoods and parks and shopping malls, to vibrant downtown Beirut and the always crowded seaside walkway called the Corniche. And everywhere this team went, they made personal contact with Lebanese people and demonstrated, at times by loving words and gestures, and often by thepower of the Holy Spirit, that the Kingdom of God is near the people of Lebanon. We did not try to argue about religious creeds, but instead trusted the Holy Spirit to lead us to hungry people, and believed that if we came to bless people than hungry hearts would surely come to the surface.

And they did. Time and time again as we waited on God, he gave us “clues” (sometimes a picture of a person, sometimes a shirt color or name or need) that led us to people. We saw people cry as we told them God had sent us here to bless Lebanon. We heard time and time again people exclaim that they experienced something new, something inexpressible when we laid our hands on them and blessed them in the name of Jesus. Some felt electric tingling in their bodies, others felt deep joy and burdens lifted. We saw Jesus heal people instantly as we prayed- knee injuries, back pain, shoulder pain, disc problems, ankle problems all disappeared before our eyes. The last evening of ministry alone we counted at least seven people declaring that God had healed their bodies as we prayed for them.

And many of these people, touched by God in a way that disarms the intellectual and religious walls that stand between them and Jesus, told us (the long term team) that they wanted to read the Bible with us in their homes when we move to Beirut next year. It is hard for us to express how powerful such encounters are to us. They are the realization of things that for years we have dreamed about and labored for in prayer. When we look at what we saw God do in Beirut in two weeks it gives us complete confidence that a revival is coming to this war-scarred nation.

Attached to this update is a document logging over seventy testimonies of personal encounters here these last two weeks.

A few random...

This is a gross picture of how dirty my feet got one day...I mean really!?! It gave a great lead into the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet for my kids...WOW!

A man stood on our street corner and sold these gardenias. We bought some the first night and then he just started giving them to us. We would tell the boys that those are Granma's favorite flowers and she carried them in our wedding. Ella loved them and managed to pull them apart completely on our walk...

This was our first team dinner. We ate at a great Lebanese Restaurant in Downtown Beirut. Ella loved the grape leaf wraps...the boys loved the toilets:-)

Rebecca was an amazing helper! When I had used all my resources she always managed to show up and entertain for another 10 minutes. Ella LOVED singing "Little Bunny Foo Foo" with her.

We loved Kelly and baby Rivers. He is absolutely adorable! Ella was in heaven with so many sweet babies around. I loved getting some time with Kelly. She is amazing and I can't wait to spend more time together.

This is our closet. We hung some of the pictures the kids painted during worship, some of the crafts Aunt Kourtney sent with us, our weekly memory verse, and other fun things here.

This was our last morning in Lebanon. We took the kids downtown to have breakfast at a fun little restaurant. We loved the breakfast but this is a funny story...Brian went across the street to get coffee from Starbucks. I went a back to get some cream for my coffee and there were three Starbucks employees standing at the window. They said "You have three BEAUTIFUL children, will you bring them over here so we can kiss them?" I laughed and said yes! We went back over and they were all ready with cameras. They gave Ella a sucker that she shared with the boys the rest of the morning:-)

It's hard to tell from this picture, but Ella decided to try and crawl out of the pack-n-play. She landed on her head on the marble floor. It was one of the worst bumps I've ever seen! Thank you Jesus for your protection over our little ones!

We are waiting outside the bar that we had our morning meetings in. My kids fell in LOVE with Valerie- she was absolutely amazing! This bar was a great location for us, but I definitely don't miss the roaches, mice, or smell. I do love that every morning Port would ask if we were going back to church!

Some of the girls got to come to a local farmers market on the last afternoon. I got some fun soaps and olive oil for gifts. I bought some fresh bread and jelly for a treat for my family. It was AMAZING!

Our last night we had dinner at Chilli's...the longterm team's favorite! Notice that Haynes is sitting by Mary, we had to arrange seating around Haynes and Mary. On our last night we saw 13 people healed! We had a team go to a hospital and pray over every patient...there are some AMAZING stories from that!

The Cedars & Bekka Valley

I just love this sweet picture of all three of these girls! Ella absolutely LOVED Claire from the moment she met her. Claire was an amazing baby...I don't think we ever heard a sound from her. I also just love this picture of Cathleen...I love you!

All the boys! Haynes and Port would climb to the tallest limb and jump down to Brian. It was AMAZING! I have some more great videos of that too! The air was so cool and refreshing we stayed in the cedars for a while. While the boys loved climbing, Ella loved playing in the dirt:-)

Family pictures...we did manage to get a few on this trip!

We had enough time for the boys to get a little silly! I love this picture! I have some great video of Brian and Justin trying to run and jump into a tree too!

This was Brian's favorite drink in Lebanon. It tastes like an orange crush...but better he says! I couldn't help but think of Liz Kulhman everytime...she loves these drinks!

We stopped for lunch on our way to the Bekka Valley. This was my yummy maniche?!?

Bus Rides!

I remembered from our last trip to the Cedars that it is a CRAZY ride! I feel like over the last few months I have taken crazy bus rides to see trees:-) Ella loved her carseat and slept for some of the ride and the boys brought some of their treats to play with on the bus.

The boys were so excited to see grass! I didn't know if they would notice that there isn't any grass around Lebanon, but Port immediately said "GRASS!" We got to watch baby Claire sit on grass for the first time:-) The boys loved playing frisbee with all the dudes!

We took a fun girl pick! I absolutely fell in love with Mary on this trip. She is an amazing woman! Her passion for Lebanon, her boldness...I could just go on and on! I am so thankful that God has connected our hearts forever. Love you Mary!

We took the kids on an adventure through the vineyards. It was absolutely beautiful! The kids loved seeing the grapes, finding sticks, and just running free!

Family Day!

We decided to take a Family Day. The kids had been doing amazing, but after 7 days of pushing hard we thought we would give them a break. We called the hotel that we stayed at the last time we were in Beirut and paid to swim at the pool for the day. It was a great treat for all of us! This is at the end of our day, we spent a little time at the beach. Our boys have learned about sand, salt water, and swimsuits don't always make the best combination...so we didn't stay real long:-)

We ate lunch by the pool. We ordered the kids a fruit plate and the devoured it! It was so funny to see them missing fresh fruit so much. We ate a little bit of fruit that we could peel, but I tried to err on the cautious side...(I would rather not have stomach problems with my little ones) Ella LOVED the chicken fingers here...I think she ate all of them!

This is the fun kids pool. The boys quickly made some friends and played with them for a while. It was really fun telling the boys that this was where we played with Kooper when we came the last time. They LOVE hearing stories-everytime we got in a cab they would ask anyone with us to tell them a story. Mary, Cathleen, Rebecca, Ryan, Kelly, and many others were GREAT story tellers!

We started off our family day with breakfast at Starbucks. This Starbucks was labeled by Brian and Justin as the best starbucks they had ever been to...we completely agreed once we got there! It was three stories and beautiful. Port really wanted to eat on the top story which we agreed to if no one was up there...he came running down saying we could eat up there. When I got up there our team was all spread out having time with Jesus...oh well!?!

I got to get up a few mornings and meet mom's here. It was probably one of my most favorite things I got to do! These women are absolutely amazing! They are new mom's thriving in a new culture and winning people to Jesus. I felt so honored to see their hearts for Lebanon, let them pour into my kids, challenge me, and get to know their amazing hearts! I love and really miss you ladies!