All About Texas!

Deep in the heart of Texas: the Alamo heroes monument.

Ended up here on St. Patricks Day, so it was VERY crowded.
Some of the tracts we distributed since there were people everywhere.

Absolutely amazing testimony! Angel (yes, his real name) was a drug dealer 
with many other addictions and on his way to prison when the Lord saved him.
 Only Jesus Christ could change a life like this! He was incredibly articulate and 
so grateful for God's miracles in his life. Huge encouragement to all of us.

Texas gal keeping cool with the tract Carolina gave her. :)

 Favorite moment was when we lost our own Crockett inside the Alamo courtyard and Mama hollered "CROCKETT" trying to find him. :) Looks of shock abounded.

Adorable little ones LOVED their tracts!

Campbell Barret standing on the line William Barret Travis 
drew in the sand before the battle.

QandA following AGENDA 2 showing 

Our very capable staff hard at work.
 Note the popcorn being happily consumed by a certain 
14 year old who shall remain unnamed. 

Sometimes we send the boys into AGENDA events and have gals reformation (organizing) time in the bus.
Had a lovely evening next to a field for the littles to run miles in.
 Blessed by the many specific ways God provides what we need.

Spent the day rounding up cattle with friends who are actually cowboys! Carolina was brave enough to head out on a horse, along with Charlie, Carver and Christian. :)

Looking for the the cows and calves....

Having a botanical moment! Evacuated the bus to make room for the shipping department. Ended up in the flower section of the store. :)

 Authentic Mexican Food Shop

Carolina went in to practice her Spanish and people lined up to get her Spanish tracts! Did not try the meat (!) but we did load up on warm corn tortillas and Cotija cheese for a Mexican feast. :)

Early morning hours in the Walmart parking lot. Never a dull moment.

Stayed with these sweet friends and made the diaper cake for a baby shower. 

 The finished cake! :)  

One of our hosts gave us this enormous cake!

 Trying to eat mostly leafy and raw things to stay well,
so we decided to load it up and head for the Love's Truck Stop. 

Approximately midnight....passed it out to the truckers with million dollar bills...very fun. :)

Campbell and Crosby. Love, love, love! 

Always love Carolina's food and flower shots!

These folks thought our bus was open to the public and just hopped right in! Their son is named Michael, and they moved here from Shanghai 11 years ago. We gave them our cds and tracts and sent them off after a very humbling tour of our bus... dishes, piles, groceries and all!  

Resistance training. :)

Laundry is an ongoing thing, and laundry mats are usually in very rough sections of town.
Only one full load has been left behind so far and not discovered missing until we were three days down the road in another state. At least it wasn't a child! :) 

Lots of happy memories with these sweet friends who fed us delicious gluten free meals and thought of absolutely everything we might need! 

Hiking in the lovely Texas hill country

Chapman resting up!

Filling up at the the World Famous Buc-ee's.
Ran into some friends from Michigan on our way in the door! Love how the Lord directs our paths.

Talk about fun! Had this happy Ohio family of 11 over during the film festival. Parents headed out the door for a more refined breakfast and double date while their 18 children had bagels, yogurt and way too much fellowship for this hour of the day!

Love these dear film friends! In 2010 both of our families won different categories at a film festival. 
Praising the Lord that 5 years later we all finished our second one! So much fun catching up with them again and cheering at the screening of their amazing new film, "The Defense of New Haven." 
First one was "Runner from Ravenshead", our little's all time favorite. 

Audience Choice Award and Best Feature Film. Amen, amen, amen! So excited!!

Opportunity to do a really fun concert at the closing ceremonies.

Campbell singing "I Have Decided To Follow Jesus." So sweet!

The happy clapping front row!

  Best Documentary and Runner Up for Best Gospel Presentation. 
So unexpected!! We are so very grateful for God's blessings on AGENDA 2 
and for allowing us to share His truth.

Packing up and heading out after a very FULL day!
Blessings abound. God is so good!!

Here, There and Everywhere

One of our five minute rest stops at the Gulf of Mexico. 

Sure sign we are not in Tennessee. :)

You can jump in the water, climb the trees and find crabs under the rocks here.
Love it. One stop shopping!

Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Daddy drove over this bridge in 1980 the night before it collapsed.

Our favorite speaker. :)

Singing and sharing (Starkey Road Baptist Church)

Great showing on Super Tuesday!

Wonderful visit with our Florida family was fueled by 
Bami's fabulous cooking, coffee, tea, singing and catching up! 

Back on the road. Very fun to be in a packed theater. Praise the Lord!

Catching up with more of our sweet Florida family after an AGENDA 2 event.

6 am: Had the beach all to ourselves. 
A local fisherman we visited with said SHARKS near the shore had been eating his fish all week. 
We thought no one was swimming because it was too EARLY!??
 Praise the Lord for His protection! 

Singing and speaking at the Villages.

The dedicated back row. :)

So many sweet folks help us tremendously along the way! We are incredibly thankful for them.

Happy dinner afterwards.

Daddy shared the gospel with Matthew
who was on the prison work crew landscaping next to the playground.  

Lina passed out million dollar bills to the other prisoners,
which they had never seen before and really liked. 

Part of the morning exercise team. Strangers always get a kick out of watching these episodes.

 Huge answer to prayer: very patient and helpful mechanics for the bus! 
They kindly let Charlie work with them on different buses all day long. 

Meanwhile, the rest of us were cozy in the only car available. 
Yep. We fit sort of like sardines.

Some need one. Others need two?! 
Waiting for the bus to get fixed near the beautiful campus at Stetson.

Bowers Bench Brunch, which we try to avoid but sometimes must resort to.
One bench, lots of people, lots of hamburgers and fries. Only the girls protest these situations. :)

Whew. Carolina sweetly keeping us happy and healthy. And cleaning up our crazy kitchen!

One occasion....they sit. :)

Keeping Crosby afloat. 
Christian is a gemstone!

Good news: He also got a haircut shortly after this.

Amazingly we can still roll up two swimmers in one towel!

Early Morning Lego Party. All our neighbors here spoke French.

Charlie and Daddy flew (sprinted) from Orlando to Spokane for a one day conference. 

Meanwhile, we pretended to be tourists 
because after all...what good homeschoolers would pass up Gator Land??!

Our sweet grandparents have seen way too many gators in their lives, but
came to where we were staying and patiently tromped around all day with us.

Crosby calls these FLUFFMINGOES. So we do, too. :)

This is campground God provided while Curtis and Charlie were out of town.  
So thankful for a central location, showers, laundry, and a pool! 
One of the thrills of bus living is washing clothes and people in the same day. :)

Family walk and frisbee. So good to be all together again! 

A truly incredible Southern garden

Our favorite flower blossom. Love and hearts. Sugar and spice.

 Peacocks camped out to see their reflections on the side of the bus.

So grateful for bits of down time here and there.
'Tis possible we love each other more in the open air. :)