Last Florida post

I'm closing with just a few random pictures of our time in Florida.  It was such a sweet time of fellowship.  Only God could have orchestrated our families meeting like we did.  To think that we have known each other for such a short time and yet felt comfortable spending a week together.  And it was such a fun week!  The McDonalds are very gracious hosts and made us all feel so comfortable and relaxed in their home.  Just today one of my boys said that he thought this was probably going to be the best week of the year!

We spent time just hanging out and playing games together.  (Some played games late into the night too!)

Time for electronics ... together.

Or being together while doing your own thing too.

Grandma was such fun to be around.  You can see that Eliana made a friend!

Thank you Grandma for the wonderful dinners you treated us all to as well!

We had fun playing inside.

And out.

Working puzzles.  (This is everyone who contributed to either or both of the puzzles.)

And the backyard.  What a delightful place to play!!!  Eliana loved the trampoline!

Joshua on the zipline.

Which is attached to this really cool fort.

We set up our slack line there.

A fun swing (and I love this angle).

And just boys ... chasing and fighting and running and having a blast!

Joe and Christopher battling it out.

The week went by too quickly and we were sad to have it end!  We are definitely hoping that we can all get together again soon and  spend time together.

Thank you McDonalds for an amazingly fun week!  We thank God for your family often and for the sweet ways that He has connected our families.  We are looking forward to y'all coming up for a visit this summer!

With love

Leslie for the Nelsens

Easter Week-end

Things this year were just going to be different.  We have spent the last several Easters with our good friends in VA.  We had planned to go again this year too.  Then the date of Rebecca's missions trip was moved forward a day and we knew it just wasn't going to work out.  We missed hanging out with our friends, but knew that we would also have fun in our own ways at home.

I tried to leave some margin in our days so that we could just have fun family time.  Christopher came home on Wed night.  (Love that State gives them 2 days off for Easter!).  On Thursday, I was at co-op with the 3 younger boys (my turn to teach) and then home for the afternoon.  Roger was off on Friday so we had that as just a fun family day.

We decided to go for a bike ride to a nearby park.  Eliana rode in a "carrier thing" attached to a bike (riding on the ground).  She usually likes this, but wasn't all that keen on it this time around.  Everyone else had a great time riding.  

 It was a gorgeous day!  We spent time at the park on a nearby empty field playing.  Eliana and her  Daddy did spend some time at the playground too.

 Daniel has become a great bike rider!  Its fun seeing him enjoy this activity.  I like that its one more thing that we can all have fun doing together.

 We also spent time playing football (Joshua and Daniel).

 Hackeysack.  (Christopher and Rebecca)

 Racing (Roger and REbecca).

Reading a book.  This just cracked me up.  Eliana loves to walk around with chapter books.  I'm not sure if it is the smaller size or what it is about them that intrigues her.  She does this quite often at home too.

Isaiah liked reading history quiz questions to see who can get the correct answer the fastest!

 The Eno.  One of Christopher's most favorite places to hang out!

 Quite funny when he tackles Daniel and takes him captive too.

 We spent most of Saturday celebrating Easter as a family.  WE had an egg hunt.  Christopher, Rebecca and I hid a ridiculous number of eggs.  I hunted for gluten free candy this year and thankfully there are lots of options.  I didn't get lots of great pictures.

Joshua debated being one that hid the eggs this year.  I encouraged him to hunt.  I told him that he would have the rest of his life to hide eggs and that he should enjoy the hunt this year while he still can.  :-)

 Even after they finished hunting, we went around and found many more eggs.  Later in the day, Christopher and Rebecca walked around and still found 9 more eggs.  Wondering if there are still eggs out there to be found!

 Just loved this picture of our happy girl.

 She spent a while hunting and then told me that she was done. I asked if she wanted to find more.  She told me no.  I encouraged her again telling her that there was candy inside the eggs.  Nope.  She was done and wanted to go watch "Ferb".  LOL  I guess its good that candy doesn't have a huge pull on her.

 We attended church at 4pm.  I am thankful that it was an option to go on Saturday so that we could attend as a family.  It was a wonderful service!  Christopher and Roger went back again on Sunday to volunteer at church.  AFter the service we came home and took photos.  Some of Rebecca were on a previous post.

First I worked on getting a good shot of our children.  It was amazingly easy this year.  We had a few shots that I liked!

 We even got a good family shot too!

 Time for our Easter meal.  It wasn't fancy, but it was good.  The favorite of the younger crowd was jello eggs!

 We also had ham, spinach salad (with a variety of toppings to make everyone happy), parmesan tomatoes (really yummy recipe that Rebecca found), chicken salad (with and without grapes), potato salad (which I forgot to pull out of the fridge), roasted cauliflower and pickled cucumbers.  Yum!

The rest of our week-end was full.  Up late.  A trip to the airport to send Rebecca off and then home at 6am.  Its been a long time since I've pulled an all-nighter like that.  Working at church.  Friends over for lunch.  Christopher heading back to school.

In the midst of the relaxed time and the busier times, I'm reminded of why we celebrate.  Its all Jesus.  He died in MY place.  He paid for my sins.  He conquered death and rose again.  He is RISEN!

With a grateful heart,
Leslie

More on Rebecca's Trip

My computer got a little whacked out last night so I wasn't able to post these pictures.  Just wanted to share a few of them.  More on Easter soon.

We left early in the morning to take Rebecca to the airport.  We arrived at 4:30am on Easter Sunday.  Rebecca found a jello egg to take as a snack.  LOL

 Isaiah and Christopher and I went with her to the airport.

 We met her team that is going to the Dominican Republic.  There are 7 high school students and two leaders from our church that are going.  They will be working with a church there.

 On their way.  Heading into the unknown.  Following God's call for each of them to go and serve.

We received brief messages last night that they had arrived safely and been able to go to church with the team they'll be working with this week.  Rebecca said that the beaches were beautiful!

We are hoping to talk/skype with her sometime this week.  In the meantime, we'll pray.  Praying that God will work in unmistakable ways to show His love, grace and mercy both in and through them and those with whom they are working.

In grace,
Leslie

Happy Easter and a missions trip!

We celebrated Easter early this year.  Really, its not so important the date as it is the fact that He is Risen!  Christ is risen indeed.  What a beautiful truth.  One that has set us free!  I'm so thankful for all that Christ has done for me!

Normally, we celebrate this holiday with friends and we have missed being with them this year!  Our plans were altered though and so this year we remained at home.  We celebrated on Saturday by attending church (I'm glad we had that option!) and having our Easter dinner a day early too.  

The reason ... Rebecca is leaving to go on a missions trip in just a few hours!  She will be going with a team from our church to the Dominican Republic!  They will be there for a week.  

She will be going with a team of 6 other high school students and two adults.  All female as it turns out.  This is Rebecca's first trip out of the country.  What a huge step.  One huge step that she will be making without her family there with her.  As her Mom, I can't help but reflect on the fact that she is growing up.  This this is the beginning of a path that will at times not include her family.  Its a little bittersweet as I would love to be there to experience it all with her.  I know this is all good though and is a part of letting go.  Trusting God to guide her, lead her and watch over her.

I know that God will use this team to change hearts.  Both the hearts of the people in the Dominican Republic as well as those on the team.  He is so eager to pour out His love to all of us!  Praying for open hearts to hear Him and to receive all that He is ready to give.

Praying for health and safety as they travel.  Praying for opportunities to share His love with all that they meet.  Praying that He would draw people to Him on this trip.

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us"  Eph 3:20  It is so easy to stop short of asking God to do big things.  To trust that He can do more than we can even imagine!  Praying that HE would do so much more than we have asked or even considered!

So very thankful for my amazing daughter and her willingness and desire to go and serve in this way.   Praying that she would come to know and love God in a whole new way.  Praying for you often my  beautiful daughter and will look forward to when you return so that I can hear all about your trip.  I love you so very much!  Mom

 Happy Easter from all of the  Nelsens!

 Blessings
Leslie