Church Camp

Our trip home from Nashville went very smoothly.  We saw a storm coming towards us as we were in St. Louis and we were hungry so we found a Cracker Barrel and got in there just as it was starting to rain.  While we were ordering and waiting for our food, it started POURING!  I'm very glad we were inside during that and not out driving!

The rest of the trip home went well and we hit some nasty rain just south of Omaha but we made it home just fine.

The day after we got home from our trip, Meighan went with my mom to her very first church camp (at the same camp I went to in Jr. Hi!).  She had an absolute BLAST!  She also made a very good friend.  We need to make sure the girls get together again.

Jumping!  One of her favorite activities!

 

Looking through her God Finder

 

In the dining hall with Grandma

 

With her new bestest friend

 

She got to ride a horse!

 

 

Always together!

 

Show Hope 10th Anniversary Concert

Wow!  What a concert and special evening this was!  Artists that sang were Laura Story, Mark Hall and Casting Crowns, Audio Adrenaline, Geoff Moore, Andrew Peterson, and of course, Steven Curtis Chapman!  Interspersed throughout the evening were adoption stories made possible with the help of Show Hope grants, as well as a very special family working on their third adoption and they needed all kinds of funds to complete their adoption and then they were surprised by a video from Tim Tebow and the Tim Tebow Foundation telling them that his foundation would be covering the cost of their adoption.  The whole evening was being webcast live.

One very special part was when SCC sang "Cinderella" and invited anyone who wanted to to get up and dance.  I got all four of us up and we danced as a family in the aisle.  We even made 2 seconds in the highlights video!  And, he also had all the grant families that were there stand up.  We got to stand up for this because of the grant we got for Dawson.  There really weren't as many grant families as I thought there would be, but I couldn't see the entire arena, either.

Dawson's first concert.  He did amazingly well.  So did Meighan but she was camera shy tonight!

 

Laura Story

 

The Chapman Family and spouses.

  

Andrew Peterson

 

Audio Adrenaline

 

 

Mark Hall and Casting Crowns

 

The family getting the funding from Tim Tebow Foundation.

 

 

Geoff Moore

 

"Cinderella"

 

A Fun Family Day in Nashville

Today we got to sleep in as long as we wanted to!  Although there were two United Methodist Churches nearby (and MANY other churches all along Franklin Road!) we just decided to take it easy this morning.  Of course, I was awake before anyone else so I eventually got up and took my shower.  Then everyone else eventually woke up.  We ate a little breakfast and watched some TV but I didn't want to just watch TV until it was time to go to the Show Hope picnic.

So, I asked the front desk about any parks nearby that we might be able to get to that would have activities for the kids.  The person I asked wasn't from the area but told me of a park IN Nashville that would be closer to us than Lipscomb University (where the picnic was).  BUT according to my map, that park was farther away than Lipscomb!  Also on my map was a park straight down the road a ways.  We decided to try that one.  We passed a little park and kept driving to see what we could see but decided that was the park on the map.

We got parked and walked behind the building and this little park seemed to be a little recreation area for the people that worked in that building (but it was also open to anyone).  Meighan and Dawson started running across the grass to a family that was walking their dog.

 

We visited briefly with them and then found some stations around the park that people could practice balancing, climbing, etc.  We have a couple little monkeys!

 

 

He did take his hands away right after I took the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

Next we were off to the Show Hope picnic.  We drove north on Franklin Road till we got to the road to turn onto for Lipscomb University.  We followed signs and found the picnic just as it was starting.  We had a fun day!  It was warm and we didn't really need much to eat.  We got some ice cream and as we were leaving, we got some fried chicken and biscuits and gravy (sounded like a local southern thing to me!) and took it back to the motel.  We took naps and then warmed it up for our supper before heading to the concert.  It was really quite good and Tony and I could have eaten more!

They each spun a wheel to win a little prize.

 

 

Meighan climbed and slid down the big inflatable slide three times!

 

 

The second slide, she slid with this little girl.  Her brother is behind them.  I spoke to their mom.  They are all FROM China.

 

Dawson's balloon sculpture.

 

Bob and Larry

This would have been a really good picture if it had been in focus!

 

 

Face painting!

 

Almost as tall as the juggler on stilts!

 

The next post will be about the concert in the evening!

On To Nashville

We survived the night, ate a little breakfast and were on our way again.

We stopped at a rest stop in Illinois that had a little playground so the kids could play.  We got to the playground and noticed that there was another family headed towards Nashville for the Show Hope weekend, also (based on the two girls' nationality and one of them wearing a Show Hope t-shirt!).  Meighan played with them on the teeter totter for a while till they had to leave.

 

 

 

We got down to Nashville and checked into our hotel at Brentwood about 2:30 pm.  We checked in, brought most of our stuff in and were off to the reception at the Show Hope offices in Franklin.  It was crowded and HOT!  We were told that they hadn't expected so many people but that they would get to everyone.  NOT.  At about 6:05, Steven and Mary Beth Chapman started out of the offices and quickly shook people's hands and waved goodbye.  I was disappointed!  I had printed out a picture of us with SCC for him to sign.  I got his "body guard" to give it to him to sign.  We all then got to go into the offices and we met Emily and Caleb, two of the Chapman kids.

 

Then as we were leaving the building which is called "The Factory" and is a former factory that has been turned into shops and offices and an art gallery, we saw this HUGE chair so we had someone take our picture in it.

 

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at Chic-fil-a and had some supper and let the kids play in the indoor playground there.  We then stopped at Kroger and got a few things for breakfast (since we have a little kitchen) and went back and just crashed!  We slept better as we had a queen bed, a sofa sleeper and then the portable crib for Dawson.

Last Day of School and VACATION!

Well, today was Meighan's last day of Pre-K.  They played board games and said goodbye.  Her teacher is a docent at the zoo so maybe we'll see her again.

I packed and loaded the car while she was at school.  She got home and we ate a little bit.  Tony got home from work and he ate a little bit.  Then we loaded into the car and we were OFF on our first driving vacation since Meighan came home!  Our destination:  Nashville, Tennessee, and the Show Hope 10th Anniversary Celebration!  We were a bit worried how the kids would be on such a long trip in the car.  They did amazingly well.

We stopped at a rest stop in Missouri and had a picnic supper and ran around a bit.  There really wasn't much to this rest stop, though, so we ate on the sidewalk.  The "restroom" was a glorified outhouse.  No running water, no paper towels (luckily I had wipes and paper towels).

 

 

Then we were on our way again.  We made it to O'Fallon, IL, at about 10:30 and checked into our hotel.  We had reserved a King bedded room but were told that since we didn't arrive by 6:00 pm, they didn't have a king anymore so they gave us a queen.  Three people sleeping in a queen bed is NOT comfortable!