A day in the life of me...

These are pictures of the hotel I just got back from. I got to go to a MOPS convention for four days and it was the bomb. This is the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN. It is beautiful, amazing, and gargantuan, to say the least! It covers 300 acres and all that you see in these pictures is inside the hotel. We heard Nicole Nordeman, Mark Schultz, and a children's group called Go Fish who were fantastic! Kim Hill led our worship throughout the convention, too. I am very thankful for all I received during that time. It's always good when you've been equipped with tools that make you ready to walk back into your living room and be the best mom you can be... It was a getaway, yes, but I was excited to return to life. These pictures only give you a glimpse of the whole place!

The Price is Right!

All right all you bloggers... Chelan's baby is coming any time and she has her own game showwhere all of you need to guess the date and time she will have Miles. Let's all bless her with lots of comments and participation. I'm probably going to beat everyone because I'm really smart, I KNOW how to play, and God blesses me more than any of you! But good luck anyway!

Hope

Hope. Hope is a powerful thing. I shall try to share a bit about hope today. My mother is a woman of hope. She put her hope into action these last four weeks and searched and prayed and searched some more for a way to fly me and the kids to Portland. She tried to think of ways to make money (Don't we all?) and she looked and looked at plane tickets without money to pay for them... But... we have come a step closer...We are coming to Portland. The tickets have been bought, the blood has been shed, and the bags will get packed. Prepare your hearts and your minds for the Ries' for hope has prevailed once again!

Hope. Hope can keep you alive, can't it? I hope so. We got some new kittens two days ago and they are adorable but I hope they make it...

The kids are having a blast...

It's so hard to not squeeze their guts out...

They've already recieved an unwanted bath in the drinking water...

...and been put in scary places...

...but hopefully love will keep them alive... I hope...

(Their names are Stripers, Sara, Suzie, and Sally and they live outside. They are very good kitties!)

Welcome to Sidney

This is our humble abode.

Can you see our well out front? We fetch water every day and boil all the impurities out. Then we dig a hole deep into the ground to help cool it down to soothe our parched throats from the exhausting heat...

This is our back porch. We have lovely grass and a lovely tree, perfect for climbing! There is also a lovely swing built for two and a third swing from our tree. On hot days we pull out the pool and lounge peacefully in the water. The children slide down the sweet little slide and splash playfully into the water. Refreshing...

This is our place of worship. We gracefully hike across the rocky parking lot each week and partake in the body of Christ. Glorious...

And so it is... The Church of Christ, Sidney...