Rain, Rain, Go Away!

We spent our rainy Saturday afternoon, with Shawn's parents, at the theaters watching the new movie "Fireproof." We had heard that it was produced by the same people who made "Facing the Giants," a few years ago. This movie was sooo good, very funny and motivating. It was both a challenge and encouragement to Shawn and I as a Christian couple. The kids loved it! Even Audrey and Jack cried! Here's the trailer...

http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

The movie ("along with Facing the Giants") was actually produced by a church in Albany, Georgia! The Lord be praised, they did a phenomenal job!

http://www.sherwoodbaptist.net/templates/cussherwoodbc/default.asp?id=33770

God, and his infinite wisdom, still amazes me! This movie shows several parallels between the relationship between a husband and wife in marriage, and Christ with his bride, the church. As a married Christian couple, both Shawn and I were challenged to model that relationship of love and sacrifice on a much deeper level. Be prepared, your marriage won't be the same, after seeing this one!

O R I O L E S

One of Shawn's birthday gifts was 4 tickets to the O's game last weekend. So Friday night, we headed up the Baltimore for a fun family night out.

Dylan tested his speed at throwing a baseball. 30 mi. / hr.

Bird land!

Shawn's perfect timing taking this picture!

Unfortunately, the game was called in the 7th inning, due to rain.

Lots and lots of rain!

Hopefully the Orioles will have a better season next year!

It's Official...

It just arrived today!!!!! She was sweating it!! She didn't hear anything for an entire month!! But after... swimming 300 yards (12 Olympic laps) for 5 days in a row; retrieving an object out of 9 feet of water; rescuing a grown man in 15 feet of water; memorizing and learning advanced CPR w/ AED; learning all sorts of rescue, advanced first aid, and safety training, AND Passing a HUGE TEST...

Ashley, received her American Red Cross Lifeguarding/First Aid, and CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer Certificates!!! She's a happy girl! Now all that's left is her workers permit, a whistle, red lifeguard shirt and then she can GO TO WORK!!!! ;0)

ICE CREAM CAKE RECIPE

A friend just reminded me about posting this recipe' for my Homemade Ice Cream Cake. My family loves it so much I haven't been allowed to make a "real" cake for years!

Shawn's 38th Birthday Cake!

Ashley's 15th Birthday Cake!

Hunt Family's Favorite ICE CREAM CAKE!
Soften 1 container of ice cream in frig. for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

(I like to use vanilla* for this layer)
Spread in extra large Pyrex dish or container.
Crush 1 package of Oreo cookies in Ziplock bag

& sprinkle 3/4 on top of softened ice cream.
(Push Oreo's into ice cream a bit.)
Cover and put in freezer for at least 1 - 1 1/2 hours .
While that's hardening, I soften another container in the frig.

(Chocolate* layer)
Spread on top of crushed Oreo's.
Spread 1 Large container of Cool Whip on top

& sprinkle with remaining crushed Oreo's.
Sometimes I'll add some Cake Sprinkles (not sugar) for color!

* I usually let the birthday boy / girl pick their favorite vanilla / chocolate flavors WHICH THEY ALL LOVE TO DO!!!

* Favorite combo's: Cookie Dough & Peanut Butter Moose Tracks.

Butter Pecan & Rocky Road. Chocolate Chip & Caramel Moose Tracks.

* Ice Cream with large nuts or hard layers of peanut butter are difficult to cut.

Have fun with it & let me know how it turns out!

Chic-Fil-A First 100!

Last night we packed up the tent and headed to Capital Heights, MD for the "Chick-fil-A First 100 Promo" at Steeplechase. Whenever Chick-fil-A opens a new restaurant, they give out 52 free meals to the first 100 people. It's so popular, people camp out (up to 24 hours in advance) just to get registered as one of the first 100 people!
No surprise, Chick-fil-A makes it quite an event. To pass the time, they have games, contests, prizes, and all kinds of activities.

Once you've registered you are not permitted to leave the property, or you give up your spot. (And there is always someone ready to take it too!) They do line ups every few hours or so, and afterward they feed you! They even included a late night chicken nugget snack and a midnight make your own sundae!

The Smiths have done several of these now, its so much fun, and who wouldn't love free Chic-fil-A! We visited them, their 1st time, when they opened the Quarterfield location, and have wanted to do it with them ever since!

On the down side, its always during the week, and usually on Wednesday's. (This one was on Tuesday, because of 9/11.) Good for us unemployed homeschoolers!!! But poor Mike had to go to bed early so he wouldn't miss too much school! We love ya Michael!

Scott, Josh, Shawn, & Ashley working on a contest together.

The goal was to make something that would protect an egg (keep it from breaking) when it was thrown off of Chic-fil-A's rooftop! If it survived you were a winner.

1/2 of the egg had to be exposed. And honestly, they did a really good job... except the basket holding their egg was top heavy and wanted to go down exposed side first!

Some people came up with some really crazy stuff!!

The inventions were named.. I think this one was called the "Olympic Torch", and the one pictured above this one was "Crazy Chic!" The one our group made was named "Blue Bomber" by Jeanine.

Off the roof they went one at a time. Each was inspected for yolk.

Most of these crazy things won. Blue Bomber had some damage on the way up to the roof, so quite sadly, it didn't survive. ;-(

We got over it pretty quickly, (at least most of us did - Shawn) and headed off to play several rounds of Fizzle (a Canadian dice game).

The kids enjoyed watching "Facing the Giants," on a projection screen. It started to drizzle, and we moved Fizzle inside the tent... guess the thing really would sleep 8 if we all slept sitting up! We laid down sometime around 3:00 a.m. Chic-fil-A woke everyone up around 5:00 a.m. to start packing up, and to line up for the finale. (The restaurant was opening at 6:30am!)

After they dressed us up in T-Shirts and hats, we waved to the local news helicopter, and paraded through the line to get our 52 meal vouchers each!

The employees cheered and banged on stuff... pretty funny considering we were all a bunch of sleepwalkers!

When we got home we raided the showers and had the BEST NAP EVER!

BTW: If your interested, I hear there is another "First 100" in Columbia on Oct. 16th! We just may be lining up on the 15th! Click on this posts Title for more info. on future openings near you!

Happy Birthday Shawn!

On Saturday, we celebrated Shawn's 38th birthday with a SURPRISE birthday party at his parents house.

Ashley and I did some cleaning and decorating Saturday morning, while Shawn was working at the church. Surprising Shawn was VERY DIFFICULT because... 1. I have the WORST time keeping anything secret from him, 2. He usually figures every/anything out if I do, & 3. He has been home for the past few weeks!

He might have noticed a couple things "out of the ordinary," but all in all, he was pretty surprised!

He enjoyed all the attention & love from his family & friends.

I made his favorite ice cream cake & some taco salad. Audrey did most of the cooking... very sweet! Thank you!

(Left to right) Kimberly, my mom, Irene, Erica, Karen (peeking) and Erin.

Melanie & Jeremy

Scott, Debi, Josh, Mike, and Nick.

THAT IS A LOT OF CANDLES BABY!

The (balloon) football players, Dylan, Nick and Jared.

We played a lot of games... Birthday Bingo, Package Pass, All I want for my Birthday is..., Blind Draw, and Its all about the Birthday Star!

He loved all the Birthday cards and gifts!

A few gifts from those who really LOVE you!

The time together ended with a little whistle and a bit of light!

Espanol Fun!!

I've been trying to change the school board each week to match something we've been learning. This weeks board turned out fun, so I thought I'd post it. We are attempting to learn Spanish as a family!

Adios!

Labor Day Weekend!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! This year we stayed close to home. Ashley enjoyed mini-golf with the teen youth group on Friday night. Saturday, we had dinner over Shawn's parents. Jack (Shawn's father) showed us his new toy that he had planned on "riding in his back yard." Funny, because your looking at his back yard!
Cody tried very hard to get Prissy to play, but she would have none of it, wise old kitty that she is.

After dinner, we went through some of Audrey's old photo albums. Shawn and I have had quite a life together so far. (This picture was taken while we were dating, 18 years ago!) Many ups and downs, laughter and tears since then. It made me so thankful to the Lord for the work that He has done in our hearts. (People change!) And, at the same time, I am even more thankful that we can serve a Lord that is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow! (God does not change!)

Sunday, we had a great service at church, recalling our salvation. Afterwards, Shawn's parents came over with the go cart for some test runs around the farm. Jack left it here...with the key...

Sunday evening, we enjoyed singing praises to the Lord during our 5th Sunday Singspiration and Fellowship. Ashley and her best friends sang "O' Wondrous Love," before the devotional. It was the 1st special she sang, it included a solo part and it turned out beautiful. Turns out God has blessed my daughter with a beautiful voice and a heart for music. (She's even composed her own song!) I'm feeling guilty about not encouraging her more in this area.

Monday, we enjoyed a family bike ride at Quiet Waters Park. The puppies enjoyed their run & play time in the dog area. After that we did some chores around the house... vac pool, cut grass, etc.

One of the cats on the farm just had a litter of kittens. Ashley and Dylan spent some time cuddling these little guys for a while. So adorable! So glad they had to go back!

We have a lot of changes going on in our lives right now. Shawn has been out of work for over a week. Typical around the holidays, but not this time of year. Business has steadily been slowing down for the past year. Employers in the home improvement area have been struggling, and we've heard of many that have went out of business. Shawn has been one of the rare few who has been able to stay busy. But this past week, even the work / estimate calls have pretty much stopped. So, Shawn spent this last week sending out applications and resume's in response to different employers.

This Labor Day, I spent some time reflecting, and truly appreciating this national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. I also spent some time, thanking the Lord for his goodness, faithfulness, and provision, both in past, and in future. When we were looking over those pictures at Shawn's parents house, I can recall so much time and energy worrying over things I had no control over, can't change, and honestly had no business worrying about.

Who knows what tomorrow holds! I'm just so humbly, gratefully, THANKFUL, that I know WHO holds tomorrow! What a BLESSING it is, that I CAN TRUST HIM! (Why? Because I can see His faithfulness & work through the years! I know His promises, and He WILL work all things for my good! Rom. 8:28) That is peace, and that is joy!