The Dunes

After many months without access to water we thought it was time to get our bathing suits (or baby soups as Samuel calls them!) and head to the water park.  Myrtle Beach has a great resort with 2 indoor water parks so we, and 4 other families, packed up and headed south!  We had so much fun playing together, eating together, shopping, resting and watching movies/basketball.  Already looking forward to next January when we are itching for some swimming!

These two can often be found together.  They did a pretty good job of taking turns picking the show they would watch.

LK's birthday is Tuesday, so we celebrated with a delicious cake and some singing.  She was LOVING every second of eyes on her!!!

Samuel loved the "big kid" slide.  I think he rode it about 100 times!

Playing in the "sprinkles".  When did my little baby get so big???




 Charlie LOVED being in the water!  Daddy had fun with him too!

Watching a movie together!



The moon Saturday night was incredible.  This picture doesn't do it justice!

After our last slide down the waterside!

Marbles

We decided to head up to Raleigh for a day to see some friends and for the kids to play at Marble's, Raleigh's Children's Museum.  Ryan stuck with Samuel and I stuck with Charlie, so needless to say we spent most of our time in different areas.  We all had a great time and can't wait to go back!










Our Little Fishermen

We have had some beautiful days lately so we decided to walk up to the little pond at the front of our neighborhood to "fish" and feed the ducks & turtles.  Charlie rolled down the hill several times and worked as hard as he could to get as close as possible to the water!  Thankfully Daddy was right there to keep him dry!






Fort Fisher

Fort Fisher was having a reenactment a couple weeks ago and we decided to go down and share some history with Samuel and Charlie.  Ryan and I both love reading and learning about history and it is something we want our boys to love as well!  Aljuane came too and we had a great time-despite the bitter cold!





Make Every Effort

First, I want to say I am not a poet or really a great writer, so prepare yourself for some random thoughts, some run on sentences and just some blabbering, but this is something I want to come back to at the end of the year, so here it goes!  (first run on sentence-CHECK!)

This past summer our pastor went on a 3 month sabbatical.  The week before he left he preached about making every effort-whether it was a spiritual journey, physical, educational or even just the day to day.  It has really stuck with me through the rest of the year and I want it to be my focus for this year!  So here is where my efforts will be focused!


I don't know much about the below devotional, but I found it and plan to use it as a guide as Ryan and I work through the Bible together this year.  

As Ryan and I have expanded our family we have found that we are easily distracted from each other and that our time together before kids was always seemingly carefree.  Now, don't get me wrong, we LOVE our kids and are so thankful for what they have added to our family.  This year I plan to Make Every Effort to focus on Ryan, to pray for him every day and often throughout the day.  I plan to do little things here and there to make him know how much I love him, and I am excited for some of the fun things we already have planned for just the two of us!

Uncle Stephen is living with us right now and will be with us for the foreseeable future.  I plan to make every effort to care for him (not that he thinks he needs caring for), encourage him, pray for him and love him daily!  We are so thankful that he is with us and are also excited to be part of the beginning of a new chapter of his life!

I plan to make every effort to do something new and fun with these two 3 times a week.  It may be as simple as coloring in a new coloring book or as extravagant as going to Raleigh to a new museum.  I want to really do new things with them that allow them to explore fun activities, stretch their imaginations and grow their character!

Finally we want to make every effort to make our home a place that is open to college students.  We have been praying for the past semester how to do that and we are excited to start a new chapter in our own lives where we are able to minister to college students.  We still don't know exactly how this will look, but we are excited to see how it happens and what the Lord does with our desires!

So, there you have it!  Some of my resolutions to make every effort this year!  Please feel free to ask me  about any or all of the adventures whenever you think of it!  I know that I will need encouragement throughout the year to keep up my tasks!!!  We at the Powell house hope you have a very wonderful 2013 and that you make every effort to accomplish your goals this year!