I'm Bored!

 This is why I let my kids be bored:

Painting the play structure, homemade avocado toast and pretzels with cheese sauce....yeah, go be bored and find something to do ;)

Apex Trail

 Camille and I went with our friends on a gorgeous, new hike that we had never been on before. It was wonderful! Nature is so healing to the soul!

Canyoneering

Audra says Canyoneering has it all- repelling, jumping off waterfalls, white water rafting...and she loved it!

 

HXP: Day 1

 The motto for HXP is "Love God, Love People" with the tagline, "There will be miracles." The whole story of how the kids got to Miami after flights all through Texas were canceled, and of course Audra being reunited with her luggage, are already miracles we have seen.

Let me tell you a tender mercy from God that Audra got, too.

When she decided she wanted to go on an HXP trip, I told her we had to choose the cheapest one. There's trips all over the world, some way more expensive than others. After NYC, her WDW trip for band, and her wanting to do NYC again, I told her she had to go as cheap as possible for HXP.

So, we literally looked only at the cost of the trips and picked the cheapest 10 (which is what you do- you pick 10 trips, and then a lottery places you). After she got assigned the Dominican Republic, I said, "I guess we should look to see what your project is."

She's building a music school for children.

God is so good.

If you know Audra at all, music is her joy. This project is perfect for her.

They start building on Monday. The first few days they do sight seeing. Isn't it gorgeous??? And, she's smiling- and they look like genuine smiles, though Claire says they might be fake.

Oh, and there's a kid from her seminary class on her trip, too! She doesn't know him well, but it's still super fun (at least for us at home). Claire pointed him out as we were looking at pictures. Such a small world! We have no more contact with Audra outside of the Instagram posts as their phones were confiscated for the trip.

HXP Team

 Here's her team, ready to board their plane to the DR!

HXP: Not Off To A Good Start

 This girl is embarking on an experience of a lifetime- a humanitarian trip to the Dominican Republic through Humanitarian Experience.

This did not start off well.

We woke up to find out her flight had been delayed 3 hours. I panicked. If a flight gets delayed that much, often it is canceled. So, I switched her flight to an earlier one that had a layover in Houston. I hate layovers, but at least it was on time. We went to the airport, checked her baggage, then I got a Gate Pass to go back with her to the gate. While waiting for her to board, we found out that her Houston to Miami flight was cancelled! YIKES! I immediately rebooked her back on her original flight.

We went home and waited for 5 hours, and watched as the flight got delayed again and again. I reached out for prayers. Suddenly the flight was earlier- not by much, but it gave us hope.

We went back to the airport and re-went through security. When we got to the gate, there were about 10 HXP kids, none of them from Denver, but all heading to Miami, and then headed off to various projects throughout the world.

We quickly realized that these kids were supposed to fly through Texas, but ALL the TX flights for the day were canceled because they had massive storms. They were all rerouted through Denver, because that is the only flight that would get them to Miami today. If the original flight for Audra had not been delayed for 5 hours, these kids would not have made it to Miami in time for their international flights tomorrow. The original flight was delayed not at all because of weather but due to a small mechanical problem and a medical emergency. Miracle #1: The original flight was delayed so these kids could get to Miami. However, Audra had a problem. Her luggage was in San Antonio! If she didn't get it in time for her international flight, she would be without her luggage for a week, waiting for the next group of kids to make it to the DR. Not the end of the world, but also definitely not ideal. She was already scared out of her mind, to not have her luggage just added to the stress. Again, I enlisted prayers. Lots and lots of prayers. Her luggage had to make it from San Antonio to Atlanta and then finally to Miami. There was a 30 minute window from when it needed to land and when Audra could get it in time for her international flight- not a lot of wiggle room for multiple things to fall into place.

But, it fell into place!!! She was reunited with her luggage!!!! Miracle #2.

Claire is Highlighted!

 Claire was highlighted in her basketball gym newsletter. After only a week, she is twice the player that she used to be. This gym is a perfect fit for her, and so far she seems motivated and is working really hard.