Arkansas

So I'm not sure if I told you or not, but we live in Arkansas.  (If you know me, you'll know that was said sarcastically.)  We moved here from (sorta) East Texas.  (I say sorta b/c we were only an hour from downtown Dallas.)  I thought I had dug my heels in and refused to go any further east, but apparently not.


When we got here, I fully expected the worst.  Like Deliverance worst.  Like when I moved to East Texas from Austin and one of the attorneys in my office emailed me this picture and told me not to let Landry outside, or she would have puppies who looked like this!

But I have to say, other than people who are insanely obsessed with the University of Arkansas and say things like, "Woo Pig Sooie" and put razorback decals on every surface of things they own, Arkansas hasn't been that bad.  (And seriously, someone down the street from us has a Razorback decal on the siding of their house!  I would sneak down there and take a picture for you, but they might not like that.) 


The people in our town are very nice, and the town as a whole is very family oriented.  Plus, Jarrod and I have always enjoyed doing outdoorsy things together and what better place to live than The Natural State!


So this past weekend we jumped at the opportunity to spend some time with new friends and enjoy their lake house / boat / jet-ski.  We had so much fun, and Collin did great!  He helped me pick out a lifejacket for him on Friday afternoon and Saturday when it was time to wear it, he didn't fuss at all.  He was pretty overwhelmed by everything that went into getting a boat loaded and onto the lake, so he didn't say much.  He also just wanted to snuggle with Jarrod or me the whole time we were on the boat, but once we anchored somewhere he did spend a good amount of time floating in the lake with Jarrod.  He loves the "wa-wa"! 


I wish I would have thought to take a picture of them in the lake together, but all I got was Collin in his lifejacket before we took off from the dock. 



"Hi, Mommy!"

Is he not the cutest boy ever?!



We swam, the guys played together in the water swimming down into little caves (or something...we could never really figure out what they were doing!) and seeing how far they could free-dive, while the gals just hung out on the boat and enjoyed the kiddos and girl time.  At the end of the day we went for a really long boat ride all over the lake and blasted a combination of Christian music and Texas Country.  It was seriously the most enjoyable time I have had in a while, and all I could think about was how the Lord keeps providing for us. 

So for anyone a little freaked out by the pity-party nature of my last post, please know that I am thankful for this season in Arkansas, for the friends we're making along the way and for the experiences we're having.  I know these are the memories we're going to look back on as a family and talk about for years, and I know that God will keep providing for us just as faithfully as ever.