Showing posts with label Summer Vacation 2023. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer Vacation 2023. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Randon Photos from our Vacation Trip to Mississippi

Our summer vacation trip to Mississippi was fun-filled from start to finish!  This will be my last post about it.  This post is filled with all the random photos I took during our time there.

We made A LOT of trips to Wal-Mart.  It is my favorite place to visit on all trips to the U.S.  We arrived in the States late at night and made our first visit to Wal-Mart the very next morning.  We were all excited!!

Reese's Puffs is their favorite cereal.
 
I love this shirt!
 
 
Here is a video of first trip to Wal-Mart.
 

We also made several visits to Chik-fil-A.  We had eaten it in the Atlanta airport the night before but ate it again for our first lunch in the States.
 
We did a lot of shopping!  We always stock up on everything while in the U.S.  Here we are buying shoes for the boys.  
 
 
shoe shopping

We enjoyed a few visits with the Johnsons.  I love getting our kids together to play.  Nicky and Jackie were in our student ministry years ago.

We made several visits to the Dairy Freeze for ice cream and snow cones.


 
 
 
They spent hours in the yard playing wiffle ball.  It provided them entertainment and exercise.


 
 
They also spent many hours riding their scooters.
 

 
We got to enjoy a few kid-free shopping trips of our own.  It was so nice!  We rarely get much time alone without our kids here in Guatemala.   Any time we do, it is a real treat.

We took advantage of one of their sleepovers with friends for a date night to Jackson.  We enjoyed a wonderful meal and movie.  We have not been to the theater without kids since 2009.

We saw Sound of Freedom. 
It was our first experience with reclining seats.  Wow!  That was amazing!

We loved being home during tomato season.  Here is David buying from a roadside stand. That honor system is something that would never work here in Guatemala.
 
Ahhhh.... tomato sandwiches.  That is something we definitely miss every summer. I lost count on how many we ate while home.
 
The boys spent a lot of time at the Sojourners.  These are also former youth ministry students whose kids are around the same age as ours.  I think our boys would spend their whole summer with them if we would let them..  They got to do many fun outdoor activities there like riding 4-wheelers, swimming, and tubing on the lake.
 

They also went on an outing with them to Party Safari.




gearing up for go-carts
 
 
We met friends from Easthaven Baptist for supper at Shiver's Fish House.  Most of this group had been on our our March mission team. It was great to catch up again in person over a delicious meal.
 
We shared during a VBS service at Sardis Baptist in Hazlehurst.

Our family sharing about life in Guatemala with a group of VBS kids.

They enjoyed getting to spend some time with their cousin Ryder after the service.

Enjoying snow cones with the Johnsons in Wesson. 

I loved all the beautiful sunsets we saw while home.

Me and the boys in my hometown.
 
flying back to Guatemala 

 
a video of our travel day
 
We returned home to Guatemala on July 30.  We were sad that our vacation had come to an end. It really was a perfect ending to a fabulous school summer break!!

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Spending Time with the Browns in Mississippi

We enjoyed spending time with our friends, the Browns, while we were in the States.  In addition to several meals and a few game nights, we went out of town together for a few days.  Their daughter was at camp, and my mom kept our boys.  It was the first time we have all traveled together without kids in fifteen years!  It was a highlight of our vacation time.

We visited Natchitoches, Louisiana. It is a beautiful, historic city.  A few fun facts are that it is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory and it is the Bed & Breakfast Capital of Louisiana.

After checking in we headed out for supper.  We had a delicious meal at Mayeaux's Steak and Seafood Restaurant.

A sign that we are all getting old! 

We spent the next day exploring the historic district.  It is a fun area to walk around with a great selection of shops to visit.  Many of the shops are on Front Street.  You have shops on one side and the Cane River on the other side. The river offers beautiful, scenic views.

me and David
 
Reagan and Malinda

A sidewalk view of the shops along Front Street.  That general mercantile store was our favorite! It was like stepping back in time.

me with my dear friend Malinda

David sitting patiently while we browsed the shops.

A beautiful hotel in the middle of town.

We walked through this beautiful old church.

We had lunch here at Lasyone's.

They are the home of the famous meat pie. 

Here is a YouTube video of some of our trip.

After lunch we headed down to the riverfront

We took an afternoon boat ride on the Cane River Queen.


view of the Cane River

ready to go down the river

It was so fun and relaxing!

a fun memory with friends

 
a YouTube video of our riverboat ride
 
On the way back to our hotel, we made a stop by the Steel Magnolia House Bed & Breakfast. It is where the movie Steel Magnolias was filmed.

 
a YouTube video of our visit there
 
That evening we attended a dinner and a show at the local college- Northwestern State University. The show was 100 Years of Broadway.
 
Double dates are a lot of fun.  We laughed until we cried.

ready to eat and watch the show

Our meal was delicious! 

 
a YouTube video of our dinner and a show

Here are the last photos we took together before we returned to Guatemala.  We had enjoyed a cookout at their house. We were sad to say goodbye.

Cruz, Sara Madalin, and Ben

our crew 
We are very thankful for these friends!

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