Packing for Israel...

Israel it is...

We are trying this trip again.

I say either third times a charm or else third strike you're out!...:)

The bags are packed once again.

Jenika, Javon and Jazlyn are all packed up and ready to go to cousins and dog sitter for the next 8-9 days!

These faces will be terribly missed!!!

 I know they will be well cared for in homes where they already feel very much a part of!! Thankful I am for two sisters both called "Marilyn"!! One my own sister (she will have Javon) and then the other sister I was blessed with just because our husbands are brothers!...:) (she will keep Jenika) Thanks a Ton Ladies!! I know an extra child in the home can feel unusual but I'm so THANKFUL for your wonderful stable homes where I know our Little's will be cared for and loved on...:)

The adorable personalized duffles they got from my parents are being used for the first time...

The past few mornings out running have been frosty and frigid! We guessed this morning that after our nine days out we will have more spring like weather when we return and we won't be complaining at all...:)

 Although the mornings are still always worth it and it has been a beautiful snow!

Many of my running pictures have Dave up in front somewhere...:) He is always out ahead of me... I stopped trying to keep up a long time ago...:) (I used to stress over it)

The screen time we are doing less of is still proving a big challenge... I have come to the conclusion that we will need to do a complete two week fast of all screens just so we can get it down better. I gave the Little's a half an hour each and you would laugh if you would hear them count and split the minutes but then somehow they always seem to have twenty more minutes that pop up out of the blue!

I'm frustrated about it at times and other times I know summer will be here real soon and we won't even remember we have screens in the house at all... Its all needing balance here these days and we are a bit off these cold winter days...:)

We hope to make more progress when we return from Israel.

Today once again I'm packed... Just like back in October... The boys still need to pack but I'm packed and ready... Today we are thankful for passports and the freedom to travel to the Land where Jesus spent much of his earthly life in ministry and where we will visits sites that happened even before Jesus came to earth as a baby!

We are excited! I am nervous. I'm not sure what about... Maybe leaving my Little's mostly. Maybe all those hours in flight. Maybe because our days and nights run totally on different time zones and I like my comforts of home. Maybe just because we will be so busy with so many people around us for so many days. I don't know but I know that much of the time the ground feels so "Holy" that it makes the hairs on the body stand up. I know we will be standing in AMAZEMENT over and over again and I know this is an opportunity of a lifetime and I'm praying all goes well and also that I can share it all with you on here!

Thank you for praying for our family!! Justin and Eva are traveling home from Florida in his car tonight and will be back home just in time to repack and catch their next ride out with us! We can't wait to spend time with them on this trip!

Stay tuned for lots of pictures coming in from the most sacred place on earth... "The Land Of Israel"!