Monday, June 27, 2011

Hello from Zambia!

After 2 night flights and a little sleep, we made it to Lusaka at 6:00 am Saturday morning.  Taylor was there to greet us and I all of a sudden forgot I was tired;  now we’re catching up on that.

Camp LIFE starts Monday morning.  Yeah!  We met our partners Rachel and Gwen, and Gilbert and Bryan tonight.  Please pray for them this week.  Please also pray for our children, that they will know God’s love and finish the week with hope.

Love y’all!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

We're off!

Well we're heading out and we're excited.  Lindsay and Tanner are taking us.  We just heard from Taylor and he too is so excited for us to get there.  Infact he will be picking us up when we get there on Saturday morning.  That will be really fun. 

I think we're actually flying with our friend from Sunday school, Shelba Jones.  She is going with a medical group to Romania.

We look forward to sharing about our trip and all of the amazing things that we'll encounter.  Check out Family Legacy on our Favorite List.  You'll really get to see what we're headed for. 

Love yall!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Camp LIFE at a Glance

We wanted you to know a little bit of our schedule so you could pray for what's in store for us each day.

We will leave Dallas @ 5:50 p.m. Thursday, June 23
Arrive London Friday morning, June 24 & Depart late evening
Arrive Lusaka, Zambia @ 6:30 a.m. Saturday, June 25

Saturday - settle in and have team meetings
Sunday - Church in the morning, then meet our Zambian partners in the afternoon
Monday - Tour Lusaka and then Camp LIFE begins.  We meet our kids!
Tuesday -  Full day with kids at Camp LIFE
Wednesday - Full day with kids at Camp LIFE and do our Community Service tour
Thursday - Community service day with the children in their communities
Friday - Celebration service with kids.  They get their new school shoes & shirts and we say goodbyes

Camp LIFE is over and we'll head out on our personal part of the trip.  Will return on July 8th @ 3:25.

Headed to Zambia

We're in count down mode around here and getting ready to head out to Lusaka, Zambia.  We will leave Thursday at 5:50 p.m. and arrive in Lusaka very early Saturday morning.  Because we are traveling as missionaries, we can bring 3 bags each and we've begun filling them up.  Besides the things we will need for our week at Camp Life with Family Legacy, we are bringing school supplies and clothes for the children there.  Following our week at Camp Life, Kevin & I will be traveling to Victoria Falls for some exciting excursions and to see as much as possible.  We will conclude our trip with a few days in London.  We hope to post many times during our trip, but while in Zambia we may be limited because of availability to the internet.  I'll post our schedule so you can know what we're doing each day.

Here are some specific prayer requests that you can be praying for:
  • For Amanda's pregnancy and that all will go well while Taylor and us are away.
  • For safety and rest on the plane
  • For my health, all is good but I'm still a little anxious about it
  • That we will be protected from Satan's attempts to interfere with what we're doing
  • That we will continue to prepare well for Camp Life and that the Lord would guide us in our preparation
  • For the children that will come to camp and especially for those in our groups
  • For the relationship between us and our Apostles and Disciplers
  • That we will love and serve the children well
  • That many will come to know the Lord
  • That I will not be anxious about going into the children's communities
  • For our hearts when we say good bye to the children on Friday

Remembering my Dad on Father's Day

It's Father's Day and I can't help but think about my dad and all the many ways he was precious to me.  Dad went to be with the Lord on May 6th at 1:27 a.m. after a long illness and hospital stay.  We were with him when the time came and even though it was a very sad time, it was also very peaceful.  Dad had some amazing doctors and nurses throughout his stay in the hospital which brought much comfort to us.  My mom has been amazingly strong considering she has lost the love of her life and her favorite dance partner.  Some of the sweetest times I've had with my dad were when we had early morning visits before anyone else was awake, when he drove all night to Dallas to surprise me when Lindsay was born, when we traveled to San Francisco, Natches, MS and Devil's Den in Arkansas after Lindsay's wedding, when he walked me down the isle, when he taught me to dance to Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass Band.  My dad taught me to play basketball and seldom missed a volleyball, softball or basketball game. And I loved our outings to the Dallas Arboretum each Spring and Fall.  He taught me great lessons to live by.  But what I loved most was his love for my mom.  Their relationship was quite rare and a great example for so many.  I'm really missing my dad but am celebrating him on this Father's Day. 

Celebrating Dad's 80th Birthday with lunch at Babin's Restaurant!





Arboretum trips!




Baylor vs Tech at Cowboy Stadium


I attended the Royal Wedding!

I attended the Royal wedding the weekend before The Royal Wedding!!  Our friend's, Nancy & Scott, son got married in Houston.  We had a wonderful time and are so thrilled that Caroline is in the Royal family now. 







Earlier we hosted a Couples Shower for them.  We featured all white desserts.











Saturday, June 18, 2011

Tanner in April

Tanner is growing up so fast and this Grammy & Pops thing is way fun!  We had to get some new things for our house.  He is talking so much and plays really hard.  I just wanted to share some pictures!










Pink & Blue Bar-B-Q

Taylor and Amanda hosted a Pink & Blue Bar-B-Q for their family and friends to find out and announce if they were expecting a girl or boy (pink or blue).  They did not know the sex of the baby as they had the technician write it on a card and then they had a cake baked with the filling being pink or blue.  They both felt certain it was a girl.  It was so much fun watching them cut the cake and waiting with great excitement.  They are having a girl!! 







                                                                                                                  







Amanda was the 1st girl in her generation and now their little girl will be the 1st in this new generation for the Schwarz family.  There are 4 boys in her immediate family with 2 of them born this Spring.  Lindsay and Chris' little Tanner is anxious to meet Mandy's baby gul!!!  As Lindsay said, "it's really fun watching our family grow".

Woman's Day Treat 2011

Our Sunday school class loves any excuse to get together and eat, so the women go 1 way and the guys go another.  The women plan a wonderful meal, the guys pay $5 and got to eat.  The women read a book for a study and the guys play games (they actually had a few speakers that shared and really enjoyed it too).  The women met at the Gover's ranch in Kemp, TX and the guys were at the Dugger's Longhorn ranch south of Alvarado, TX.