Our 9th Anniversary Getaway

We celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on October 4th with some Chinese take-out food from Dillions, which I ate in a rush because I needed to be at a meeting that evening that started at 7pm. Whew!  Good thing neither one of us has high expectations for this yearly occasion.  We established this from year one... usually having a shrimp dinner cooked by Eric, exchanging some sort of "Happy Anniversary to the One I Love" card, then watching our wedding video.... This year only the exchanging of cards happened (and I am okay with that).  Because we have three little kids and are very busy, sometimes things don't get done exactly how I planned or imagined, or sometimes things just don't get done at all.... I am getting better at accepting this... I am a work in progress, but aren't we all?

Here is what we DID get to do though, a week and a half later... we went on a little four day getaway.  We left the girls with my parents and took Silas with us, and we visited some family along the way.  It was a good trip, and nice to "getaway".

Our first day was spent driving to Bella Vista, Arkansas where we visited my Uncle Ernie and Aunt Judy.  They have a beautiful home on a lake there.  We got to enjoy a couple meals with them, visit, and take a scenic Fall boat ride.  (Silas's first boat ride! Thanks Uncle Ernie.)

On the second day we drove to Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  Silas was a good little traveler... sleeping a lot in the van, and sleeping well in his pack-n-play at Ernie and Judy's house and at the hotel.

We stopped at Beaver Lake, just outside of Eureka Springs to look around.  The Fall colors were beautiful in Arkansas.  Leaves of all colors were everywhere!  Being up on the dam and above the dam at Beaver Lake we got a good view of lots of the trees.

When I was in elementary school my family took a family vacation one summer to Table Rock Lake, near Eureka Springs.  I remember coming over to Beaver Lake then going to the Dinosaur Park (which is now closed and in disarray), and going to the Great Passion Play with my family.  We even have lots of this on home video - old VHS style!

Silas liked laying on the hotel bed, stretching out after the car ride, and doing lots of smiling!

Here we are at the large Christ of the Ozarks statue.  

We went to the Great Passion Play on Saturday night.  When we arrived it looked like it might rain... this was bad news because the play is in a large outdoor theater.  The theater seats over 4000 people!  (I remember the place being packed when I got to go as a kid.)  There may have been about 500 people there Saturday night.... when it started lightening and raining down on us.  I admit I thought the play would be called off due to the weather.  Eric took some of our things back to the van so that they wouldn't get all wet and left Silas and I sitting in our seats in the theater.  It started to rain harder... more close lightening... I took Silas and myself and exited the theater.  To make a long and boring story short, we took our seats again in the rain, under our poncho and umbrella, and the play started... in the rain... and it continued, the rain and the play, until about halfway through the rain stopped!  Hallelujah!  (Here is a picture of Eric, Silas and I with jackets on, huddled under a poncho and our big umbrella before the play began.  He was such a good baby there...a little restless, but after drinking a bottle he fell right asleep.) The play was awesome, just like I remembered it.  There were over 100 people in the production and live animals... horses, camels, sheep, goats, and birds.  Here are a few pictures taken with a phone during the play....

Here is the part that is a little sad to Eric and I.... The Passion Play venue will be shut down on Jan. 1st, 2013 if half a million dollars is not raised.  Please pray with us that they will find a way to raise this money and will be able to continue to share the message of Jesus and his final days with all those who will hear it. If you or your church would like to help the Passion Play continue, you can give a secure online donation to them by clicking on the following link... http://www.greatpassionplay.org/donations.asp or you can get the information about how to make a cash or check donation by mail from this link.

Pictures below are of a little lake off the beaten path near Eureka Springs called Bear Lake.

The path leading around Bear Lake....

The entrance to the Passion Play, and the Christ of the Ozarks statue at night...

Happy 9th Anniversary to us!

I saw this little saying a few days ago online...The couples that are "meant to be" are the ones who go through everything that is meant to tear them apart and come out even stronger than they were before.  Eric and I have sure been through some "tough" things, but here we are, together, and for sure stronger than we were before!  Looking forward to forever together!