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Archive for the ‘Traveling’ Category

My solo trip to New York

15 Aug

A couple weeks ago I had the chance to go visit NY for 2 weeks! Josh had to stay back and work so I made the trip solo. :( It was a  great trip with a lot packed into it! Here are some of the highlights from the 2 weeks.

I drove to NY with my in-laws church on their way back home from Youth Conference.  The ride was surprisingly enjoyable and fast! The teens boys were very well behaved the entire trip. :) I discovered  flat bagel sandwiches at the rest stop where we ate lunch and I must say, I am a huge fan of them now! If only I knew of a place to get them around here!

When We got back to my parent’s home my mom gave me a much needed hair cut, we talked for a while and I enjoyed a great home-cooked meal that I didn’t cook! Hannah also gave James is new favorite shirt. She got it from “Weesa” and Josh’s house far, far away. :)

The first week I was there we did a lot of family things. We had a picnic at the beach one night, a family game night another night, we also went swimming in a beautiful in-ground pool which we had all to ourselves! After we swam in the pool for a while Hannah, Frankie, and I went down to the lake (the house we were at had stairs in the backyard going down to their own private part of lake Erie!) and body surfed in the huge waves that where coming it. It was a lot of fun!

One of the Broughton girls favorite pastimes is shopping! We went shopping a lot! Hannah and I has a special “Hannah and Lisa” day where we went out shopping for hours. It was a lot for fun and we found lots of great deals! :)

We had Tim’s graduation party while I was home. We spent a lot of the week getting ready for it. I made the cake (which I was told tasted great!), my mom and family made tons of food and we cleaned the house inside and out! About an hour before the party started we started up the grills to cook all of the chicken and burgers. However, someone (we won’t name names :) ) forgot to close the propane tanks that were under the one grill! They filled the grill with coal and light it up. Once the coal heated up the propane tanks started hissing and eventually caught on fire! The propane made a huge noise when it caught on fire and it started a nearby bush on fire. Tim put out the fire quickly but we still had to call the fire department to help us get rid of the tanks of propane! It was actually a pretty  scary experience but a great story to tell at the party! Thankfully we got all of the meat cooked on the mini grill and stove! :)

One of my old bus kids was staying with my good friend, Bek, while I was there, so they decided to have an all girl party. :) We played lots of game, including twister, made a pizza on a grill (the oven wasn’t working :( ), got all bit up by mosquitoes and  had lots of laughs.

The boys from FBBC make rockets out of paper towel tubes every summer and then have a big show at the end of July  to show them all off. James was in it for the first time and he was ecstatic about his rocket! It took it everywhere with him and talked about it all the time. Frankie was also in it; he is great at making the rockets! My Dad made a rocket out of Styrofoam cups and it actually flew excellent! It was a great show to watch.

We squeezed blueberry picking into our busy week and I’m glad we did! The blueberries were delicious and it was priceless watching James pick them! He kept finding, “giant ones like spaceships!”  and sang all about berry pickin’ while we chowed down on berry after berry. :)

The second week I was in NY I was actually in PA. :) I went with the FBBC teens to Common-ground Baptist Camp in Butler, Pa.  It was a great week!  I enjoyed every part: from playing “chubby bunny” on  the bus (I was the winner!) to dunking my head in a tote of freezing water to counseling with girls at the alter to giggling with the girls at night. I especially enjoyed being a counselor to the girls that came and getting to know them all better. The Lord worked in many hearts during the week through the amazing preaching. My team was the “Son’s of the Prophets”. We ended up being the smallest team on camp. We held our own in games and memory verse but the bigger teams still beat us. :( Our flag came in second place, but our team came in 7th (out of 12) over all.

We  got back to my parents Friday evening, I wash my clothes, packed up my stuff, slept for a few hours and then got up at 4:30am to go to the airport for my flight back home. I landed in Chicago at 8am and couldn’t have been happier to see my Joshua! :)

 

Vacation!

22 Jun

This past week we came back home after a 17 day vacation in New York! We had an awesome time visiting  our families and miss them already!

The first week we were there we spent time with the Maulucci’s. We surprised Mom M by bringing Elisabeth home from college with us. (She and Dad M were planning to drive out to our house that Monday to get her.) :) Since we were there on Memorial day we had a nice picnic with the family and a bonfire afterward. Also while we were there we went out on a boat..which broke down. It was still fun to sit out on the lake for a little bit while we waited  a man from a local Tiki Bar came and tow us back to shore. :) While we were there we made dinner of stuffed shells for the family. It was fun to cook together in the kitchen. It was a busy time for Grace Baptist Church while we were there too! On Thursday they had the Hyles Anderson Singing men there for a special service. They did a great job and Bro. Anthony Collins brought a great message. On Friday there was a home-school graduation for 2 of the teen men in the church. It was a beautiful ceremony and a great time of fellowship afterward. It was a really fun week filled with many memories.

The second week we spent with the Broughton’s. Since Mom and Dad B were having their bathroom totally redone we spent the first couple nights with Grandma B and Chuck. It was nice to go out to eat and be spoiled a little bit by our grandparents. :)   We were also able to spend a little time with Josh’s aunts over the weekend. We love hearing them tell stories from the past. On Monday we joined the family at Aunt Jill’s trailer to camp out for several days. We stayed in a tent right outside the trailer…the first night we nearly froze to death but the nights after that were actually nice. :) It was so much fun being able to have a camp fire each night! (Lisa loves camp fires) We roasted and cook all kinds of things over the fire. While we were camping we were also going to Faith Bible Baptist Church each evening for revival meetings with Bill Lystund and Doug Fisher. They were great meetings and a great blessing to us. Thursday we left the camp ground and spent the rest of the day at the Broughton’s house. Friday we went to Lisa’s cousin’s graduation ceremony. It was a special ceremony, we were happy to be able to attend. Saturday we went to Letchworth State Park with some friends. It was really hot out but we still enjoyed hiking to the lower falls and spending the time with friends . In the evening we took a ride out to Batavia to meet up with some of Lisa’s friends, Anna and Jay, for dinner and ice cream. We really enjoyed our time with them. We packed up and headed home Monday morning.

We were happy to be home after a long vacation filled with many memories.

 

Senior Day!

14 May

Yesterday we went on Senior Day with Hyles-Anderson College. It was a fun packed day that HAC planned for us and we enjoyed all of it! It was fun not knowing where we were going until we were almost at each stop.  Great memories where made that will last a life time. :)

Our first stop of the day was Cracker Barrel for an all you can eat buffet breakfast. They has tons of food including, pancakes, french toast, hash brown patties, cheesy potatoes, fruits, and much, much more. They even has slushies at 8am! It was a great way to start the long day ahead of us.

Our next stop was FBC to get a group picture taken with Dr. Schaap. After the group picture he stayed around to take individual pictures with couples or friends as well as sign the Hylander hats and Pennants we received. It was nice to get our picture taken with Dr. Schaap. At the end of the day they gave everyone a 4×6 picture of the group picture to take home with them.

After our stop at the church we were on our way to Soldier Field or a tour of the building, visitors lockers, and the field. They gave everyone time to take pictures on the field, which was fun. A couple was even engaged on the 50 yard line while we were there! It was neat to be on the field, but we felt bad for the guy who was going to have to fix all of the wet grass we trampled on!

Next, we were on to the Buckingham Fountain….which wasn’t on when we arrived. :) So, instead, our little group of friends decided to find the nearest Starbucks and walk there. :) At Starbucks Lisa ordered a medium size drink but received an extra-large drink with extra caramel in it. We used a friends gold card to pay for it and, we found out today, the cashier never charged us!

For lunch and dinner we were taken to Food Life at the Water Town Place Mall on Michigan Ave. It was really cool being able to go to all of the different food booths and ordering as much food as you wanted. They has all kinds of food from Chinese to southern to smoothies to crepes made right in front of you!  After we were done eating we walked down Michigan Ave window shopping.

Our last stop was a roller rink, however, on our way there our bus blew a tire on the high way! So we sat on the highway for a while waiting for another bus to come rescue us. Once we got to the rink none of us wanted to roller skate so Scott Mercer talked the lady into letting us switch to put-putting for no extra cost! Put-putting turned out to be a highlight of the day. We took 3rd and 4th place, Lisa in last by 1 point. :)

We finally walked through our apartment door at 10:30pm, tired and ready for bed.  It was a great day from beginning to end.

 

Happy Easter and Happy Spring!

06 Apr

photoHello Everyone! Well, Spring is finally here and we are thoroughly enjoying it! It has been in the 60′s and 70′s for the past few weeks here. (My (Lisa) favorite type of weather!) There is a beautiful park right down the road from our building which we have enjoyed  several times already. We live in a very cozy area, perfect for walking and enjoying the sunshine. :) Hearing the birds sing, the trees sway, and the children playing is simply wonderful. I’m so glad God put us right here!lee&josh1

Along with Spring came Pastor School and a visit from family! Pastor School 2010 was simply wonderful. The preaching was great and the music surpassed excellent! The theme was “Go, Win, Baptize, Teach”. This is the main focus of FBC & Dr. Schaap and we believe was a help to many Pastors and Missionaries. Lisa’s family was able to stay with us during this time. Frank Jr., Hannah, and Dad B. came out. It was a lot of fun to have them all here! We especially enjoyed all of the extra dishes in the sink, giant air mattress in our living room, and constant use of our little bathroom. :) Just Kidding :) We really did enjoy the time we had with them. Nick also flew in from Bulgaria to go to Pastor School. He and Josh worked tirelessly through the week on getting most of Nick’s  new missions video done. It is coming along great and looks fantastic! We also saw Dad M. and Dan, along with several other members of Grace Baptist Church. We enjoyed getting to go out each night after the services and having some fellowship with our family and friends.

After Pastor School was Spring Break! Elisabeth stayed with us for the week and we had so much fun! Elisabeth edited2and Lisa went on a picnic with some friends of theirs. They visited a park where they got to see maple syrup made the old fashioned way, took a nice, long hike, and explore an old saw mill! Another day we went to the sand dunes in Michigan City! We climbed up a super steep hill of sand and photo 2visited Lake Michigan for a bit! Later the same day Elisabeth treated us to Cold Stone Creamery Ice cream! It was so good! The Thursday of spring break Lisa and Elisabeth had some girlfriends over for lunch and a game day! We played 11 rounds of Scattergories, ate lots of food, and had a blast!

editedWe celebrated Easter for the first time as a married couple! Josh received a Easter basket full of goodies and Lisa received beautiful pink and orange roses and lots of peeps. We had a nice dinner at home  and enjoyed the church services at FBC.

We hope everyone is having a fabulous Spring! We would love to hear back from you on how you all are doing too! We love you!

~Josh and Lisa