From Stress-Free to Stress-Full

Can anyone say, "Calgon, take me away!" I know it's an oldie, but that is how our family has felt the past few days. We spent a wonderful weekend in the town of Suwannee fishing in both fresh and salt water. Suwannee is where the Suwannee River ends and flows into the Gulf of Mexico. We had some really good family time, but the fish weren't biting. Anda got to come down for the night on Friday and we had a good visit with her. HOWEVER, Joy was on crutches from a skating accident she had and she has not been doing well with all that. Her foot has hurt, she hasn't slept well, and it has been raining every day for the past few days. I know it won't last and it is just a season right now, but boy what a season!!! We are going to hang it there and pray A LOT!!!!!!!!! We appreciate your prayers, too.

Reflecting on Family Day

We enjoyed a "stress-free" day yesterday. Didn't do much. Had no agenda. Just did whatever came up, ate when we were hungry, laughed, played, napped, and lived together! Could not have asked for more!

Couldn't Resist

Anda began packing for college yesterday. She says she will not take EVERYTHING yet!!! We'll see!!!!

She will be heading to BCF next week. Actually we are all going...we're pulling our RV over and camping out for the night...she loves it and says she will be "famous" on campus because her entire family moved her to college!!!

The Boys are Back in Town

Arvis and Aaron have returned from their adventures. Arvis got home on Thursday from his 11 day journey to the Amazon River. He hasn't really told us much about his trip yet, but we are eager to hear how they ministered to the people of Brazil. Aaron returned from Centri-kid camp on Friday. He spent the week there with his friends on their last camp as "kids" from our church. He is now officially in the Youth group and will look forward to doing all the "youth stuff" with the church.

June and July News

Well, so much for me blogging once a month!! Have you ever noticed that LIFE gets in the way of things like this? Let me catch everybody up on the Scott adventures over the past two months.
In May, Jason turned 15 and got his learner's permit. He has been driving as much as we will let him. He had a great birthday and we just love celebrating with him all that God is doing in his life. Our family took a week's vacation to Keaton beach at the end of May and we had a wonderful time fishing in the gulf. I think every person in our family likes to fish and we work great as a team! Then, you can look at the last post, Anda graduated from home-school high school!! What a month!

In June, Arvis turned 15. He had friends over to swim, play games, and cook out. It was a blast. We love birthdays...they are bigger to us than Christmas as far as presents and celebrating each other. Christmas is for Jesus!! We also went back to Roatan in June with a group of 41 from FBC. There were 29 youth and 12 adults. God moved in mighty ways and we witnessed His power, provision, and protection. Several youth heard God speak to them about being full-time missionaries. We were blessed beyond measure to be a part of such an amazing adventure. Following that week, our church had VBS, family style. We went to each rotation as a family and learned that playing, learning, and serving can all be done as a family...it's not just for the little ones anymore! The last week of June and into the first week of July was family week at Cherry Lake. Aunt Julie and the cousins, Sam, Joseph, and Alex all came down from Tennessee. We skiied, tubed, rode the knee boards, played games, and went to Wild Adventures. We finally invested in a digital camcorder and made our first movie...just a hoot!!!

Jason, AnnMarie, and Anda went to SLU (Student Leadership University) the second week of July. SLU was in Orlando and all three said it was AWESOME! They learned a lot about leadership, witenessing, and about themselves. I am excited that they have the next three years to attend as well...the last year they get to go to Isreal. My sister, Christy and I made a very quick trip out to Colorado this month. Our grandfather passed away and we flew out to be with family. It was a short trip, but a full one. We both can't believe so much time has passed. On July 21, Aaron turned 12! Did I mention that we LOVE birthdays?!? He has been asking for a drum set and we got one!! He is going to take lessons this year, but can already keep a pretty good beat. We are excited for him!! And we praise the Lord for another year with our man!! Last week some friends from our UGA days came by for a visit. David and Sharon Lynn and their children are preparing to move to Thailand to be church planters. They still have over a year of study and prep, but they are so excited about this opportunity God has given them. Arvis left Monday morning...just yesterday...for a ten day trip to Brazil. He and the team will be ministering on a boat in the AMAZON. We got word that they arrived safely and with all their luggage!! We praise the Lord for that!

That brings us to today: we are praising the Lord for another beautiful day and praying for Arvis and his team in Brazil!!! Have a blessed day.

Anda's Graduation

Well, we have graduated our first child!!!! What an exciting day. Anda was so beautiful and gave the most awesome speech at her ceremony. We had friends and family from all over come to celebrate with her and it was just wonderful!! We are so excited for her and know that God has big plans for our daughter. We started the day with a semi-private ceremony at Southside Baptist Church where we along with Freedom School Director Kimberly Hammock put together a beautiful, inspiring graduation morning. I sang for her, Jeff spoke beautifully about her life and the blessing she is to us, Anda gave her speach and Pastor Phillip Herrington from our church challenged Anda as she readies for college. Kimberly presented her with her diploma and we celebrated Latvian style with a parade of flowers and chocolates.

At 5 in the afternoon, we went to the Scott Lodge for a celebration dinner and square dancing, hayride, and roasted marshmallows. We had friends and family from all over the south join us. Anda was especially excited that a friend from the big A, Atlanta, came down to be with her and anothe special friend from Graceville came over as well. Anda felt very blessed and special all day, as she should. Enjoy some photos:

Joy is 8!!

This year we celebrated Joy's birthday at a fun place in Lake City called Panda-moni-yum. It is a little like ChuckECheese and the kids had a great time. We are so thankful that God has given us another year with Joy!!! What a blessing she is!!!

Catching Up Again

Several weeks ago, Joy gave her heart to Jesus. She was a little nervous about getting baptized and decided to wait a little while for that. However, three weeks ago she was baptized and we are celebrating with her. I will post the video asap.

Anda got her driver's license...............we have another driver in the family!!!!!!!!!!PTL!!!!!!!!!

The GREAT Outdoors!!

We spent a few days last week with some great friends, some cold weather, and some REALLY good food in the great outdoors!! Yes, we took our second family camping trip!! We didn't trek far from home on this one, but it felt like we were miles away!!! We were blessed to camp out next to the Herrington's who were breaking in their new rig and Joy and Jakeb LOVED having Emma there to play with. The older kids rode bikes, played baseball, football, and just hung out. I took advantage of the situation and rested as much as possible due to my sinus infection/cold thing I developed just before we left on this excursion, but I still had a good time. I told Joy today that we will certainly do this again.....AnnMarie replied, "Please lets wait until Spring!" I with her!!! But no matter what time of the year it is Smores and Banana Boats are on the menu!!! Right, Gang? Here are some photos of this adventure! Enjoy!!! I'll post more photos later!!

Happy Birthday Jakeb!!

Today is Jakeb's 8th birthday. We celebrated with Mimi and Papa at their house and Jakeb and Joy helped make Jakeb's b-day cake. He got some really cool gifts and had a good day. We are proud of him for his accomplishments this year. His English skills continue to improve and he is very inquisitive. We are excited to see what 2009 holds for Jakeb and what God has in store for this year. Happy Birthday, Buddy!!!