Norm, Barbara Jo, Emily, Kara, & Sabrina
Fourteen years ago, when Kelly and I married, we moved to Chicago. He worked as a sales representative for Action and this was his training territory. I had never been more than an hour away from home, so moving to Chicago was incredibly scary! You know God works in our lives everyday, and this move definitely had God's hand all over it. See Kelly wasn't a Christian at the time, but he was supportive of my desire to find a congregation to worship. God led us to a church where Norm Webb was the preacher. He and his wife, Barbara Jo, were from Alabama, yes... our state's next door neighbors, now we weren't the only ones with those "cute" southern accents! They were also young, newly weds just like us! They were so kind to us, and we became fast friends. The best part about it was that Kelly really started to show an interest in learning the truth, and Norm was a wonderful teacher. He had several home Bible studies with us, and was incredibly patient and helpful in answering all of Kelly's questions. One cold, very cold night Kelly showed his desire to be baptized, it was late, probably around 10 or so, and he wanted to be baptized in Lake Michigan!!!!! Norm talked him into going to the church instead and be baptized in the heated baptistery. We were only in Chicago for eight short months, but those were some of the most important in shaping our marriage! I am so thankful for our time there and the lifelong friendship we formed with Norm and Barbara Jo. We don't get to see them much, but there will always be a special place in our heart for them. This weekend Kelly's military school was in Huntsville so the kids, and I went with him. Norm and Barbara Jo have been working with a congregation in Athens, right outside of Huntsville, for many years now. Last night we were able to meet for dinner at Red Robin and visit. It was so great to catch up and see each others' children and how much they've grown! The restaurant was very crowded so we had to split up into two tables. Their girls and our boys sat at one table and we sat at one right across. It was so funny to watch them! For the first several minutes, none of them said a word, no one looked up from their coloring sheets! They did warm up some before our meal was finished, but still I don't think a whole lot of conversation was going on.
Maybe one day (wink, fingers crossed!), years down the road, when they are courting each other they will look back on these pictures and laugh! After eating, we walked down to take a group picture of the kids. Then we went to the Chocolate Crocodile and had a delicious treat! I had a huge chocolate covered strawberry! Yum
Jared, Sabrina, Emily, Kara, Avery, Carson & John Parker
Girls enjoying chocolate covered marshmallows
Carson is in heaven - decisions... decisions!
We had a wonderful time!
We arrived home safely yesterday afternoon from our week long Disney vacation with the Johnsons! We enjoyed beautiful weather right up until the last 3 hours of our last day in Animal Kingdom, and it began to rain. It was a wild, but great time vacationing with 10 children and 4 adults! The children enjoyed having each other to ride rides with, many memories were made! I spent most of yesterday afternoon unpacking and washing. We all were exhausted and in bed by 9 last night! We had a wonderful time, but it is always so good to be home!
![John Parker](<a href="http://lilypie.com"><img src="http://my.lilypie.com/OQgbm5.png" alt="Lilypie Kids birthday Ticker" border="0" /></a>)
