Update on ZOE Conference

We have always loved the ZOE Conerence in Nashville, TN. This year was no exception! We heard from Randy Harris, Brian McLaren, Mike Cope and Dean Barham as well as other class presenters. They each did an outstanding job. It was Mom's first time to go, so it was fun to share all of that with her! We (Mom, John and I) stayed with my cousin, Elizabeth. It was so good to see her and her family! Thanks, Elizabeth, for letting us crash! We also met up with Pat and Deborah and their boys as well as Matt, a good friend from high school, for lunch one day.

We drove back to Searcy on Saturday night full to "overflowing," as that was the theme for this year. I think we can make it until next year now!

Here are the pictures I promised from our day at the farm and from Kalleigh's b-day lunch:


Okay, not from the farm or the party, but I had to snap this one of Johnathan and Uncle Kreg in their matching shirts!


Digging into her yummy cake!


Mamaw, the mastermind behind the Tinker Toys creation!


Kalleigh's cake that Mamaw made.


And my personal favorite of all the pictures I took that day!

There are several more pictures on Facebook, but these are the highlights.

While we were at the conference, John's mom kept the kids. I wasn't ready for how much I would miss them! I wasn't worried about how they would do with Momo, or how they would do without us. I just really missed them! Martha said they did just fine, as I expected they would. I am so thankful to her for keeping them! What a blessing!

So, we got home to Tyler Sunday evening. On the way, we had a tire blowout, so that was far from fun. But it couldn't have happened at a better place. We were just on the south side of Little Rock and in the right-hand lane when it happened. It was the back left tire that popped, so since we have front-wheel steering, it didn't throw the van out of control. We were able to exit immediately where there was an empty lot where we put the spare tire on. I called Mom and she looked up the closest Wal-Mart. It just happened to be the next exit. It just happened that the automotive service center was open - on Sunday after 4pm. It just happened that ours was the last job they were taking for the day. It just happened that the tire was actually repairable and we did not have to buy a new tire. Amazing! The whole ordeal set us back about three hours. Thankfully, we weren't rushing back for anything except bedtime! The kids made the most of the pit stop:


The Flat.


The Feast (okay, it was popcorn).


The Fun - Look Out, Little Rock!