The Witte Museum

Tuesday afternoon we tried to get to the Witte Museum. We finally caught a bus and they directed us to another bus, which took us there. :) It was free after 2 p.m. :) Altogether I was disappointed in it. If we had paid $8 a piece I think I would've been mad... or maybe I would have appreciated it more!

These are the highlights:

This was my favorite part: All these trains designed and worn by royal women throughout history.

After the museum we had a terrific supper at Sonic!!

Remember the Alamo

The Alamo was amazing. We were able to spend more time here on Tuesday, and read everything. First of all, the structure we call "the Alamo" was the church of the entire fort. It was only a small part of the original "Alamo." Now it is a shrine inside. There are a few displays, and a lot of flower wreaths. You are not allowed to take pictures inside, and gentlemen are asked to remove their hats.

This is the view from the street.

This is from inside, but a different section than the above picture. This was the short barrack, an original structure... I think. It was huge and full of displays... guns and knives, pictures. Did you know there were survivors of the Alamo? Women and children who were there with their families were not killed. Amazingly, they were in a room in the church and when the soldiers found them, they did not kill them. After it was all over, Santa Anna gave them each a few dollars and a blanket and told them to leave.

Unbelievable Oak tree!

These are some diagrams of the original compound. The small structure top right is the church.

An actual cannon used in the Battle of the Alamo

The next day we went to see an IMAX about the Alamo. Then we came back once again. The story was unbelievable. They were fighting for the freedom of Texas and it seemed so vain. But it kept Santa Anna's army away from Sam Houston and his army long enough to build that army. They defeated Santa Anna just a short time later!

Spanish Governor's Palace

Before you get lured into the luxurious idea of a palace, let me explain. This is from the 1700s. There was no such thing as luxury. I'm sure it was very nice for its time, like it doesn't have dirt floors. :)

The outside:

The living room:

This was an addition from the 1930s. It is a children's bedroom. The bed is very ornate, and I think it's kinda creepy. :)

The terrace: (with a handsome man)

I probably should get this picture out when I feel like complaining about cooking. The kitchen:

Stairs to the loft:

The loft where herbs were hung to dry and grain was stored:

Together:

San Fernando Cathedral

On Tuesday morning, we bought day passes for the trolley and bus. We hopped on right in front of our hotel, and rode to San Fernando Cathedral.
Just inside were the remains of a few Alamo heroes.

Inside the beautiful building:

The outside:

It was a beautiful sight to see. It just made me so sad to see the people come in, pay money, light a candle, and pray to Mary. To them, it's just a ritual for the most part, something they have to do. I think San Antonio needs church planters!

San Antonio, Day 1

I have been so excited about this trip! This is our first time to go away without our boys. And with little Eva coming, it will be a while before we can do it again. It has really meant a lot to me, just in the planning stages. :)

We got up at 2 am, and headed to Nashville at 3. We've been at Mom and Dad's for a couple days, so that is where the boys are. We parked and waited for the shuttle to take us into the airport. We got our tickets printed and headed to security. I thought I would have to opt out of the body scan because of the pregnancy, but they say it is safe, so I did it. After I went through, they held me for a minute though because my scan wasn't clear. The lady had to pat me down anyway. :) I had left my necklace on, and she said that was probably why. Then any time they do a pat-down, you get this "hand test." So, a man took me aside, and took a little wet wipe thing and wiped it on my palms. It was to check for explosives! Wow! Of course, it took all of 1 minute to take care of these things, but I thought it was hillarious! AND, our laptop was in the suitcase. They had to take it out and re-scan my bag. Sigh. I didn't even know it was supposed to come out. There weren't any signs or directions about it. Live and learn.

I was getting so nervous waiting for our flight. This being my first time, being nervous and pregnant, we knew I should eat breakfast. :) So, we ate at Wendy's, and then had a good 45 mins. before we boarded. The whole experience was so fun for me. Take-off took me by surprise! Jamin had told me it really goes when it goes, and he wasn't kidding. But as it was going up for so long, and banking, it kind of made me light-headed. It wasn't really a big deal but I was glad to get on the ground. I took pictures, but I think I was so tense, I didn't enjoy it to the fullest. :) The first flight was only 35 mins. to Atlanta. I think we were only at maximum altitude for about 5 mins. :) Very fast!

The next flight was a lot more fun for me! We had just at an hour to get our next plane. Atlanta's airport is HUGE! We had to get on a train to take us to our concourse. Unbelievable! So many people, going so many directions. I enjoyed this flight way better. :) It was almost two hours, and the flight attendants served drinks. Jamin and I played cards for a little while, and I dozed. It was a completely full flight, and we were on the very last row. It took a long time to get off. :)

We thought our hotel had a shuttle, but we didn't see it. We called the hotel adn they said they didn't have one of their own, but they recommended a few. But the cheaper of the few was almost $40! So we waited for the bus, which cost us $2.20. :) Good for us! The driver was very helpful and told us she knew exactly where we needed to go, so we didn't have to signal to get off, she just stopped and said, "That's your hotel, right there." We liked her.

Our cute room:

We ordered pizza. By this time it was 12:30 central, 1:30 to us... we were starving and tired. So we ate pizza by 2, and took a nap! At 4:30 we headed out to explore the riverwalk. It was SO beautiful!

A little off the riverwalk stands the Alamo. Since we were there, we decided to look through. It's free, but we got there about 30 mins before it closed. We're going back, but here is a preview of it. Inside the main building, it is a shrine. You are not allowed to take pictures or video, and men are asked to remove their hats. You can't touch anything. There are a lot of pictures and plaques of the men who died. There was a painting of Davy Crockett, and one of his rifles. (He doesn't look anything like Fess Parker.)

The grounds are beautiful! Check out this huge cactus! Ouch!

On to the Tower of Americas... by this time I was getting a little tired of walking. But we were already over halfway there, so on we went.

At the top. It was open-air and super windy! It felt nice though, a few degrees cooler.

The admission into the tower included a 4-D IMAX show. It was so cool! We sat in non-moving seats because of little Eva. It's a good thing we did, because the show included a football game, and bull riding... yeah, a little rough! Don't we look nice? I seriously considered stealing these:

Outside the tower, there were tons of fountains. Beautiful! We spent some time just looking at them, enjoying being together. :)

We finally headed back to our hotel, exhausted. We stopped at a few shops, and grabbed a cheap supper at McDonald's. We were both SO worn out, we kind of limped back to our room. It was about an hour from the time we got our supper. We've been awake about 22 hours now, except for our nap! :)

Surprise Baby Shower

I am in a home school group. I'm not sure exactly why since Jackson is only 3. :) But I love the moms and have come to just enjoy the friendship that comes with it. So, I have been on lots of activities, saved Box Tops, and participated in fund raisers to enjoy that friendship. Last week, we had a Moms' Night. We're always trying to talk with a million kids running around, spilling drinks, needing to go potty, etc. So we try to have a night just for us every once in a while. I hosted it in my home this time and it was so much fun! The moms gave me a surprise shower! I was so excited. It really made me feel special! A few favorites:

Jamin and the boys had escaped to the preacher's house to hide out. :) When they got home, Jackson almost immediately fell asleep on our bed. It was just so adorable, I had to take a picture. :)

Love his mouth hanging open. :)

What to Do on a Rainy Day

Head for the tub!!!!

My Heart

I was recently given the privilege of teaching in our monthly ladies' meeting. A subject immediately came to mind since it has been my focus all of this year. The Lord kept confirming the direction.

I have been saved since I was very young and raised in a Christian home. I was home schooled, then attended a Bible college. I married before graduation so I was always very sheltered. I did all the "right" things, made all the "right" decisions. And that is the way God means for it to be.

But because my "outside" was formed very young, some decisions I never had to make. Not once in my life have I got up on a Sunday morning and wondered if I would go to church or not, or a Wednesday. I never questioned if I should join the choir, or attend special events. But in all the hustle and bustle of ministry, sometimes I would just go through the motions and leave my heart out. I mean, I'm the assistant pastor's wife, people expect things of me. But that is the wrong attitude.

Deuteronomy 28:47-48 says, "Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee."

When I don't serve the Lord from my heart, I experience hunger, thirst, nakedness and want of all things… in a spiritual way. When I am not happy, I know I'm not serving the Lord, I'm serving something else because His yoke is easy and His burden light.

It's so easy to just go through the motions because it's your "job" to teach a Sunday School class, or go on visitation, or come to choir practice. And there will be many days when we don't feel like doing it, but we should anyway. That just shouldn't be the norm. "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men." It should be for the Lord and nothing else. Isn't He worth it? Don't I owe Him?

It's been said that this is a basic of life, and it is. It's very basic. But even more, it is essential. If I can't learn to serve God from the heart, keeping my eyes on Him, then I'll always fail. If I have my eyes on others, I will always be miserable because I cannot please everybody. But I can please Him. He says in Psalm 147:11, "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him…" I can't please people, but I can please God. I think that's amazing!

You would think that with my childhood days, this would come naturally for me, but I'm in the thick of learning right now. I'm having to learn it because I get discouraged so easily, feeling jealous over others' talents, worrying about what people expect of me, trying to be the best and be noticed. It's simpler just to look to the Lord and serve Him with all my heart. His yoke is easy and His burden is light!

Time for a Trim

Just because haircut day can be hilarious!!

Many hands...

"Many hands make light work"

... so they say...

I've often wondered who "they" are.