Our little girl isn't so little anymore... in fact, she's a whole year older now - 8 years old! We celebrated her birthday a little differently this year: no big creative arts birthday party, but rather, an outing like no other and a day of memorable meals with family and new friends here in north Houston. The event occurred at the Texas State Fair, and we made a day of it last Friday, Oct. 15th. SaraKay had a caramel apple for the first time and stuck with her favorite, the mini-corndogs for lunch. We fed lots and lots of animals in the "petting zoo" there, and were delighted by dog shows, piglet races, and a birds of prey adventure. We also got to see the coolest giant pumpkin carving demonstration and to drive new cars at the Chevy Test Track. Daniel and Greg thoroughly enjoyed the CAR show, and even SaraKay found herself seated in her "dream car."We met "BIG TEX" and even saved enough tickets to ride the GIANT TEXAS STAR FERRIS WHEEL! There was much fun to be had and while our feet reminded us just how much we'd walked, we were so glad that we went and that SaraKay had the chance to experience this fair again, at an age where she will remember much of it.
 |
| MIDWAY prizes... both found the "duckie" game to be the most "user friendly" if you actually wanted a prize. LOL |
  |
We rode it after sunset so that we could see everything lit up... it's quite an
experience requiring courage for an 8 and 9 year old!!!
Because I like to learn about "traditions around the world" after we arrived back at Grampy and Grammy Turcotte's house that evening, we "camped out" in their RV on their land. We did this because we are trying to honor and celebrate the JEWISH FESTIVALS/Feasts this year, and our visit up to the Dallas area fell right during the time of the "Feast of Tabernacles" or SUKKOT. The whole point of the festival is to thank God for all of His provisions and for His generous forgiveness and to learn to really appreciate the promises He gave to our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. By building a "sukkah" or temporary, outdoor house, one can begin to appreciate and understand the dependency that the Israelites faced as they wandered in the Sinai desert those 40 years after the EXODUS. The Sukkah is usually made out of natural materials, and has at least one opening in the ceiling so as to view the stars each evening/night. Our sukkah was anything but "au naturale" but we did leave the windows open... that counts, right? Seriously... we felt quite a bit closer to nature when those coyotes were yowling at 1am and the birdies were chirping at 4am. Alas, if we have time, we'll put up our temporary TENT here at the house today and eat at least dinner in it tonight and then all meals in it tomorrow. On the 20th of October, we will read through as much of the journey through the desert and recall just how and what God provided and is still providing for His beloved people. Earlier in the month, our little family celebrated "Rosh Hashanah" which is the Jewish New Year by learning about the stories behind these Autumn Feasts and partaking in the tradition of eating "apples and honey" to celebrate the SWEETness of the new year. On Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of Atonement) we fasted from dairy and all bread products and focused on the need for spiritual provision to feed our souls.  We serve a very powerful, faithful and generous God! Above and below are a couple of pics of us in our "Sukkah for the Night" at G&G's house:   On Saturday, we celebrated SaraKay's 8th birthday by having lunch, pumpkin cake, and presents from Uncle Andy, Aunt Lindsey, Cousin Lenox, and Grampy & Grammy Turcotte. SaraKay has been overjoyed to be back in Texas with her extended family, and we're looking fwd to getting to see Nana and Poppa Rehm at Christmas this year!     On Tuesday, I (aka Mom) made SaraKay's favorite meals throughout the day: super-cheesy omelets with Greek yogurt in a mini-pie-crust for breakfast; mac n cheese for lunch, and then Zaxby's for dinner. I also had made a flop of a cake the night before, but thankfully, was able to salvage enough of it to make a white gourd-pumpkin cake for the 4 of us to eat after our outing with our new neighbor friends at Zaxby's. On that note... praise the Lord for His provision for Greg that afternoon through our neighbor, Adam. Daddy's Dodge RAM Pickup Truck broke down on him on the highway on his way back from the FMC class he was co-teaching all day here up at Lonestar College. The PowerSteering went completely out just as he was pulling into the FMC parking lot, and thankfully, he was able to "muscle" it into a parking space. He took leave from his class to work on it after lunch... what a stud! But here's the real miracle, if it wasn't enough that God spared Greg from getting in an accident on the way to work, on the way home from work, the truck began to overheat and it began to leak fluid just off Beltway 8 and Hwy 249 and stall again! Greg pulled off the side of the road while fluid leaked all over the ground. Oh no... what to do now? Our AAA coverage is expired! Well, let me just tell you how God graciously provided for my personal sanity and Greg's safety, through our neighbor Adam. He just happened to have left his Secret Service office 40 minutes late that night, and just "happened to be" driving that same route just as Greg needed the lift. Adam's wife, Laura and I were just in awe of the perfect timing of that rescue! We were both at our homes, supervising our girls at my house and our guys at her house, while we burned up the cell phone texts back and forth to help guide our hubbies toward each other. Because Adam was able to pick Greg up, the 9 of us were still able to go out to dinner at Zaxby's to celebrate Skay's birthday, as we have previously planned to do. Now that's what "community" is all about, people!!! What a day, what a day!     |
