TEAM IMPACT

Team Impact came to First Baptist Church Trussville last night. Nate, Jeff, and myself took the boys and had a blast!! They loved every bit of it. We saw guys break blocks of fire, crush full coke cans, bend metal with their teeth, and Caden's favorite was the clip below.

I love to see the creative ways that the Lord uses people to help brings others into His kingdom. There were around 100+ decisions made for Christ at the conclusion of the event last night. The guys did a phenomenal job and gave God the glory for every bit of it.

We serve an Awesome God!!

Below is my favorite clip from the evening.

OH HAPPY (SNOWY) DAY!!!

As often as we have fun in the sun during the summer, very rarely do we get to have fun.....IN THE SNOW!!! We doubled up on Friday and Saturday and had an absolute blast. From building a snowman, to making snow ice cream, to just pummeling each other with snowballs, the snow created an awesome set of memories. This was the first real snow that Caden and Lala had truly experienced. We got a dusting last year and Caden was able to slide down the hill and do a little bit, but nowhere near the fun that we had this weekend with it.

We spent Friday playing at our house and Saturday playing at Bitsy and Poppi's. Poppi broke out the lawnmower and the sleds and the kids got to ride around and have a great time. We also had a fun snowball fight, adults and kids!! :) Overall, the snow was a fun experience, but glad that I don't live somewhere that has to deal with lots of snow daily. Wouldn't want to do it. I will just take my 1 or 2 days every couple of years and be content and happy with that.

WE WILL MISS YOU SNOW!!

PUMP IT UP!!! (ALL TO OURSELVES)

This week, Pump it Up had an open playdate and the kids were really wanting to go somewhere to rip and run and just be kids. So we decided to take them to Pump it Up. I will say that anytime I have ever been to Pump it UP, there have always been a ton of folks there and I sometimes worry about letting mine run free because I am scared that they will get knocked off the climbing ladder or something of that nature.

Well this trip to Pump it Up was rare and unusual. We were the only folks in the building, having it all to ourselves. AND WE HAD A BLAST!!! Lala is now of age where she can do most of it herself. We are still a little hesitant about letting her run free, but she did awesome. It was so much fun to just let them jump around and be crazy. It was also so much fun to participate in the experience with them and not just watch from the side.

I will say that they are quickly changing and any memories that we build as a family are priceless. The most fun was playing "popcorn" with them and seeing how high I could shoot them off the blown up ball in the middle. I think at one time I almost launched Lala out of the entire cage. :) Caden has become very brave and that warms my heart as a dad, but also know from experience what that may hold. He was going down the big slide forwards, backwards, upside down, and towards the end got a little too brave!!

He decided to barrel roll from the top of the big slide. The first roll was good..........the second roll looked like Carl Edwards coming across the finish line at Talladega...... Half upside down and crashing into the side wall. Thanks to the Lord, he was fine, but I don't think he will be doing the barrel roll at Pump it Up anymore!! Caden said "That was sorta fun but sorta scary!!"

I thank the Lord everyday for my wife and my little monkeys and so glad that I have the opportunity to do fun things like this with them.

The family that plays together, stays together.

GUATEMALA

ANTIGUA, GUATEMALA JANUARY 14TH -18TH

Although it has been a few weeks since our wonderful wedding trip down to Guatemala, I wanted to take some time to recap the trip for you and show you some of the beautiful scenery. I also wanted to give a big congratulations to Jonathan and Luisa Moody!! The wedding was absolutely beautiful and we pray that God will continue to bless you and your marriage.

WEDNESDAY - JANUARY 13th - HEADED TO ATLANTA

I will try not to tell 5 million stories as I go through and update this blog but there are many that have to be told and have to be preserved. :)

As we begin the blog stories, Jonathan's Uncle Donnie will be a major focal point in most of the highlights. All I can say is that man is a hoot and we had an adventurous blast! Thank you sir for some hilarious, yet sometimes scary memories.

The funny highlight on the trip to Atlanta actually turned out to be a huge blessing from the Lord. As Shannon and I checked our passports 5 million times, I felt the urge in the car to just make sure one more time that we had them. We had carpooled with Uncle Donnie and met in Moody. Uncle Donnie lives in Adamsville. The original plan was to carpool and meet around 5:30, be in Atlanta by 9:00 and have plenty of time to sleep before the big flight out the next morning. Well somewhere around the Talladega exit, I asked Shannon to check one more time for our passports. As soon as the word passport came out of my mouth, Donnie yells, "Oh shoot!! We gotta go back yall. I left my passport at the house!" Keep in mind that Adamsville is a good hour from Moody. Part of me went "there goes 2 good hours of sleep" yet the other part of me felt that I would have rather it happened then than to get to the airport the next day and he not be able to get on the plane and be there that day for the rehearsal dinner. Needless to say, this was the beginning of crazy things to come. We arrived in Atlanta safe and sound, checked into the hotel, and got a good nights sleep.

THURSDAY - JANUARY 14TH - DINNER REHEARSAL

The early morning in Atlanta was peaceful and easy. Shannon was in good spirits as was I. It was nice to have a trip ahead of us being just the two of us. It had been awhile and we were really excited about it. On the ride to the airport, we shared a shuttle with a girl from England. I loved the way she talked and was happy that I had a wife who kept her talking. I think Shannon actually knew that I liked the way she talked, so thank you babe for the good work! :) No problems at all through the airport and we loaded and flew with no incidents.

As we touched down in Guatemala City, Guatemala, the landscape did not match the pictures that I had seen on the internet. We caught a van with the rest of the family and headed out towards Antigua. I remember taking in the sites and it reminding me very much of Honduras, which is just a rock throw away from Guatemala. As we reached Antigua, the first thing that popped out to me were the volcanoes in the background. They were huge and gorgeous. As we entered in to the main gate of our hotel, my breathe was taken away. On the outside is a wall that you have no idea what lies on the otherside. And as you enter, you are entering a land of absolute beauty. Flowers, water, plants, the awesome mountainside, ruins, hanging vines, parrots in the trees chirping. BREATH TAKING is the best description.

It took Shannon and I some time to really digest everything that surrounded us. We checked in and headed to the room and then had plenty of time to just explore.

TOUR OF THE CASA SANTO DOMINGO

















That evening was the rehearsal dinner. We walked from our room to a museum where they held their rehearsal dinner.

The walkway through the hotel area and through the streets of the city was lined with 3000 candles. It was stunning. At the rehearsal dinner, we were able to spend some time with Shannon's boss and his wife, Gabi and Kim. They are such wonderful people and I am so glad that the Lord has blessed Shannon with such a wonderful job and wonderful employers. We enjoyed the events of the rehearsal dinner and then headed off to bed. I could only imagine how beautiful the wedding was going to be.

FRIDAY - JANUARY 15TH - WEDDING DAY

We awoke and had an awesome breakfast buffett. The fruit was the absolute bomb!! I wish I had fruit like that to eat everyday. Shannon and I went down to get on the internet to send out a quick email that we had arrived and were good and to check on the kids so far. We then left and went to venture out into the city. It was very fun. We would not make it on Amazing Race, but I thought we made a great team in Antigua.

We were able to find our way to the square and to the market, and by the end of the weekend, we knew our way around just fine. We were able to go through an old cathedral that was run down. It reminded me a lot of Rome, so that was cool.

We then moved to the main square which was really cool.

At one particular point, one of the volcanoes began to spew out some smoke. I took some pictures of that and thought that was really cool as well!

We went on to the market was able to make some good deals. One of our favorite little hideaways for the weekend happened to be a little McDonalds, which turned out to not be so little and also had FREE INTERNET!!

So it just happened to be the hangout spot for us most of the weekend. It also was a very pretty setting, so it really wasn't all that bad. We didn't play in the city too long on this day because we knew we had to get back and rest up for the wedding.

THE WEDDING. WHAT A WEDDING!! Probably the most beautiful wedding I have ever attended. I can't describe it. You just need to look at the pictures below, and they still do not do it justice. They had the real Orchestra of Guatemala playing live music during the wedding. Bells were rung. Firecrackers were shot in conclusion. Unbelievable, with a wedding reception that was just as good. Shannon and I stayed till around 11:45, but were told that the party lasted till 3am. Hate that we are getting old and just can't hang with the young bucks anymore!! LOL

SATURDAY - JANUARY 16TH - ADVENTURES IN ANTIGUA

With no time constraints left on the trip, we were free to enjoy our Saturday and Sunday. We spent most of Saturday again roaming the city, taking pictures, and making purchases. We were able to spend some time in the square and enjoy our own little concert with some locals. Here is a video below of that.

CONCERT IN THE SQUARE

One of my favorite landmarks of the city was the Golden Arch which had the big volcano centered behind it. We were able to watch a local family with musical talent put on a mini concert for us. It was very cool to see and hear the instruments that they were playing. One kid was actually playing a set of turtle shells! See video.

MUSIC UNDER THE ARCH

We ended up coming back to this arch to eat dinner that evening.

We all came and ate at a restaurant located right under the arch called the Real Steakhouse.

We had a blast together and the food was great. It was an open restaurant with live music and enjoyable atmosphere. Fun evening!!

SUNDAY - JANUARY 17TH - HIKING WITH THE PRIEST

LA MERCED

With one more full day left to venture out, we decided to hang with the Moodys and Father Jonathan all day. It was very fun. We finished up our shopping at the market and had a good time hanging out.

Towards the end of the day, Shannon and Doris

went to the pool and the boys went on a hike. Father Jonathan, Daniel, and myself went on a hike to Cerro de la Cruz. The view was incredible. Watch the video below to see how a volcano appears from out behind trees.

The hike was not what we expected, being it only took around 10 minutes to get to the top. We expected it to take a lot longer. Once we reached the peak and we able to take in the view, we were there for over an hour just gazing at the beauty

of the Lord.

CERRO DE LA CRUZ

We had some good discussion time as well. We finished the evening by taking Father Jonathan out to eat for his birthday. It too was a very good time.

MONDAY - JANUARY 18TH - CLOSING OUT THE TRIP WITH A BANG! EARTHQUAKE BANG THAT IS

A great trip would not be complete without some major drama or major action. Well we finished our trip with both!!

We will start with the action. We woke up Monday morning, had most of our stuff packed and had to be ready to climb in the van to head to the airport by 10:00. We had a little bit of what Shannon calls "Guatemalas" left that we needed to spend. So we decided to go see the ladies who were selling items inside of our hotel. As we were looking at things to buy, the ground all of the sudden began to shake. The shop lady began to speak really fast in Spanish and grabbed me by my shoulders. I had no idea what was going on, yet could look and see that things were shaking back and forth. No damage occurred, but we did not figure out what it was until it had stopped. The lady was actually trying to get us away from the corner of a building so that it would not collapse on top of us. The earthquake was a 6.0 quake about 60 miles south of Guatemala City. We did not find this out until we landed in Atlanta. Thanks to all who said prayer for us during this time. We know it could have been a lot worse.

We closed out our trip with some scary drama. Uncle Donnie had bought 2 jade smoking pipes for a buddy at work from the street markets of Antigua. As we reached Atlanta, he was randomly pulled into customs, upon which the drug dogs detected something in his pipes that he had bought. As we attempted to wait patiently, 1 hour turned to 2, which turned to 3 and we knew that something was really wrong. By the grace of God, they let Uncle Donnie go and we were able to get our ride back home to finally lay to rest in our own wonderful bed.





This was the last picture taken as we left Guatemala. It was a trip of a lifetime and I am thankful for the many memories made!! It was also a wonderful opportunity to see the beauty of the Lord in a foreign country.