Providence 1st Grade Swim Party

In place of our typical "Wacky Wednesday" events for Providence, this week we had class "get- togethers". Stacy Shankle (Sawyer's Mom) invited the new 1st grade class over to the home of her parents-in-law to swim. It was SO-O fun. They were such generous hosts and we decided that they have the best backyard on the planet for kids (and adults, for that matter)! I felt so blessed getting to spend the day there with my kids and so many of our friends!

The kids loved the water slide...
Reagan Williams
Ruth Duncan
Avery Neufeld

Some of the moms visiting and watching the kids.

Sawyer showing off his alley-oop skills!

Riley and Abigail Fox. I was so impressed by how sweet and attentive he was to his baby sister all day. What an awesome big brother.

Sawyer spinning on the playset...with Walker and Titus having a light saber fight on the trampoline in the background.

Audra jumping off the diving board on to Ruth's raft. I'm not sure how safe that was, but it sure looked like fun! A HUGE THANK-YOU to Stacy Shankle for inviting all of us over for such a fun day!

My Little Helper

It has been unusually hot with no rain in Northwest Arkansas for the past few weeks. I had to break down and water our trees and grass this morning before they all died. Here is a picture of Justus helping me water the trees...um, sortof...early this morning.

"Whoa!" Watering his diaper!

"Yeah! This is fun, Mommy!" The diaper is now thoroughly watered. I'm not so sure about the tree.

Backyard In Bloom

I love it when our backyard explodes with color at the end of May! The kids spend tons of time in the backyard in May (especially on the trampoline) when it is the perfect temperature outside. The lillies agree. I daydream that one of these days I'll have a robust flower and vegetable garden--one of these days when I'm not pregnant with three little ones and the thought of weeding and watering it makes me want to go take a nap. Until then, I'll love on these low-maintenance lillies.

We also have a "pet" bunny rabbit this summer! We think it must live in these bushes. Audra, especially, adores it and takes food out to it regularly. The favorite seems to be slices of apples and carrots.

Pictures from 10th Anniversary Trip

I have four posts below from our trip to Turks & Caicos, but they are ordered so you can read them from top to bottom (rather than the typical bottom to top chronology).

I'd love for you to leave a comment on one of the posts below while you are here. Several of you have mentioned that you don't know how to leave a comment. All you do is click on the "0 Comment" (or 1,2, 0r 3 Comments if someone has left a comment) at the bottom right of each post. A window will pop up that will allow you to read others' comments and leave your own!

Turks and Caicos Islands

This morning I was snorkeling in the Caribbean. I ate freshly caught conch fritters for lunch. Now it is bedtime and I'm sitting at my computer in Arkansas, but I still have ocean salt in the creases of my eyelids and white sand stuck to the back of my heels.

Scott and I have never gone on a trip without our kids since Titus was born 6 1/2 years ago--not even for the weekend or overnight. On September 4th we will celebrate our 10th anniversary and with Baby #4 due to arrive September 16, I decided that we better take a trip now or it could be a really long time before we have the opportunity to do it again. Scott's parents offered to come watch our kids. (Scott's parents are actually his mom and step-dad, but they raised him and have been married for almost 30 years now.) I made the reservations that same week--before they had a chance to change their minds! :) I am so incredibly grateful to them for their sacrifice and for the value that they place on their children having healthy, thriving marriages...and for the fierce desire that his mom has to protect her grandchildren from divorce.

I chose the Turks and Caicos Islands because it is the type of place we dreamed of going on our honeymoon, but couldn't afford. Scott's only request was a beautiful beach with white sand and turquoise water. He also didn't want to go to Mexico because Mexico and Canada are the only countries he's visited outside of the U.S. and he wanted to see a new place. My "daydream" was to experience a tropical culture that wasn't too commercial or over-developed and a place that would have a combination of relaxation and adventure (as much as possible when I am 5 1/2 months pregnant). I researched a lot of places: Costa Rica, Belize, Kauai in Hawaii, St. Lucia, and St. John. I finally settled on Turks and Caicos mainly because it had the most beautiful "postcard" beach for Scott and because is still relatively unknown (therefore, not over-developed). We learned while we were there that the island didn't even have electricity until the 1980s! It was also much easier to travel there (less travel time) than many of the other places, like Hawaii. Several of you have asked me where it is, so I thought I'd post a map. It will enlarge if you double-click on it. You can see the Turks and Caicos Islands southeast of the Bahamas and north of Haiti.

Thursday, May 21--We woke up at 4:00am to catch our 5:45 flight out of XNA. I, of course, was packing until about 12:30 the night before. Then Scott and I laid in bed and talked for nearly an hour because both of us were too excited to sleep!

On our way!!! We had two easy flights from XNA to Charlotte, then from Charlotte to Providenciales, Turks & Caicos. I was so excited to have some time to read that I devoured a book I had bought for the trip and finished it right before we arrived! It is one of the top two books that I have read this year. The title is "The Furious Longing Of God" by Brennan Manning. The way this man has lived out his Christian faith rocks my socks off! I'll have to devote an entire post to it soon. I actually brought two copies of the book (one for each of us) and I ended up giving my copy to the girl sitting next to us on our second flight. I hope she actually reads it and that God uses it to radically change her view of God and our time here on Earth.

Here is a link to the video trailer for the book: http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=483ec483645ec809cee0

On a side note, she was originally seated in between us. When we walked up to our seats and saw her there, Scott asked if she would mind switching seats. Then Scott laughed and offered, "Or we could just hold hands across your lap." I love Scott's sense of humor and it definitely came out on our trip while he was relaxed and away from the stress of work.

Our new passports and the magazine that they gave us on the flight about Turks & Caicos (along with all of the customs and immigration forms). My old passport was expired. I hadn't used it since 1994. For someone who spent her teenage years daydreaming of being a world traveller and teaching English abroad, I haven't been out of the country in 15 years!!!

This is the sign at the front of our immigration line. I thought it was fascinating that they call the natives "Belongers" and you see it on the sign. I saw a sign a few steps later that said that we weren't aloud to use cell phones or take pictures in the immigration area. Oops!

We got a rental car (which, incidentally, looked like a soda-pop can on four-inch wheels) and had to figure out really fast how to drive on the left side of the road. Aaaah!

Here I am taking pictures of everything. We arrived right as school was getting out and in the background you can see children in uniforms walking home from school. We later learned that all of the schools, both public and private, have uniforms based on the schools colors.

The sign reads "Car Wash: The Best In Provo." We drove by this everyday and I never saw a car or a person there, so this claim may surprisingly be up for debate. :)

When we arrived at our hotel, we were exhausted and laid down for a "short nap" and didn't wake up until dinnertime. I was really thankful that I had studied the guide books because their restaurant recommendations were spot on. We had dinner the first night at Coyaba:

The food and service at this little restaurant were amazing! They served everyone gazpacho followed by raspberry sorbet before the entree. Scott had blackened Mahi-Mahi and I had Tandori Mahi-Mahi in a coconut curry sauce with mango salsa. Both were awesome. We had some divine something-or-other for dessert with a praline ice cream and carmel sauce on top. Even if I hadn't been pregnant, I would have looked it by the end of that meal. Yummmmm.

Afterwards, Scott bought a Cuban cigar in our restaurant and we walked down to the beach in the dark. It was probably my favorite memory from our trip. We walked down the beach in the dark, found some chairs, and sat and talked for 3 hours. I took in the sound of the ocean waves, the deliciously rare smell of my husband's cigar, and raw discussion about life. We mostly discussed the Brennan Manning book. I'd had Scott read the poignant parts that I had cried through. We reveled in the complicated concept of authenticity and in Brennan's discussion of "the reckless, raging fury that they call the love of God." We discussed the drone of stale religion, which would be the opposite. We dreamed of the reckless, the radical and how it would change everything: our marriage, our life, and our children's experience of God.

Okay, I was trying to save it for another post, but I can't resist putting a quote in here from the introduction to the book:

I’m Brennan. I’m an alcoholic.
How I got there, why I left there, why I went back, is the story of my life.
But it is not they whole story.

I’m Brennan. I’m a Catholic.
How I got there, why I left there, why I went back, is also the story of my life.
But it is not the whole story.

I’m Brennan. I was a priest, but am no longer a priest. I was a married man but am no longer a married man.
How I got to those places, why I left those places, is the story of my life too
But it is not the whole story.

I’m Brennan. I’m a sinner, saved by grace.
That is the larger and more important story.
Only God, in his fury, knows the whole of it.

So, I drank in this rare moment and smiled. I smiled because I knew it would be my favorite memory from the trip and because I had a feeling that my mother-in-law had been praying for this exact moment since the day she offered to keep our children.

Somehow even in the perfection of the moment, I was surprised at how much my chest ached for the presence of my children. I honestly wished they were asleep (so they weren't all needing my at once), but the mother in me longed to have them near. I suppose that was my paradox and I knew it was right.

If you actually made it to the end of this post, I'm sure you are as worn out as I am. :) Come back tomorrow for my first view of this stunning beach!

Turks and Caicos Islands (Day 2)

Scott's mom sent me this email in response to my post yesterday:

"Wow! You really put a lot of effort into your blog. I read every word of it and only cried three times. He smoked a cigar....I had a hard time imagining it.

Actually, It will be 32 years on Oct. 25th...which continues to amaze me when I remember His words to me were "Who the hell are you? I don't know you."

Heh. Heh. Heh. In answer to that question: "I am the woman who is about shake up your world by introducing you to one of the most dysfunctional families you will ever encounter! By speaking to you, I am invited you into my life to travel to emotional places you have never been before.....and through out the journey YOU, Keith Allen Bjorkman, will show yourself to be my Rock on Earth, my tie to normalcy, my encourager, my provider, my promise keeper, my caregiver, lover and best friend. You will show me Christ Himself through your servant's heart, devotion and sacrificial life.

Tony (Scott's older brother), through his confession of faith and baptism, will lead us back to the Lord and then you ultimately will become the Godly leader of many generations to come....
Who knew it would all start with such offensive words? Only God....and I believe He ordained it."

I am so thankful that these are the grandparents of my children. They are a legacy of redemption, hope, and transparency. Their family's story is a powerful one. No one could convince me that our God no longer does miracles today.

So, back to day two of our trip...

Friday, May 22--We spent our first two nights at an older, local inn that was 1/2 a block from the beach and was very affordable (in order to justify staying at a very nice spa resort on the beach the last three nights). It was so nice to have the freedom to sleep in, but I really wanted to see the beach. I got up about 8:00, went down for our continental breakfast and decided to head to the beach. Scott decided to go back to sleep for a while and meet me down there. (I have often laughed at the differences in our ideas of a vacation.) The pool was surrounded by palm trees and bushes with these beautiful flowers.
Whoa! This was my first view of the ocean in Turks and Caicos! It is difficult to describe the water here. The color changes drastically based on the sun, but when it is sunny it is a fluorescent turquoise and as clear as pool water. It is also a perfect temperature. I was surprised that there wasn't as much marine life as other beaches I've visited where you see lots of little fish, crabs, seaweed, and sometimes jellyfish. Once I swam out into it I did see several larger fish that were about 8 inches long. For some reason, the salt taste surprised me. I guess I expected it to taste like pool water, too! I left all my things on a chair and went for a long walk for about a mile down the waterline. It is the first thing I do when I visit a beach and I've done it since I was a little girl walking Pensacola Beach with my mother. It was serene and peaceful and I felt extravagantly spoiled.
Scott joined me about the time I returned an hour or two later. We went for a swim in the ocean and laid in the sun on a couple of beach chairs long enough to dry off. Then we decided to go try out Mango Reef for lunch. It was in a beautiful outdoor setting around the pool of a hotel. The food and dessert were delicious. Here is a picture of my dessert. It was similar to Tiramisu, but with a coffee and chocolate flavor. Yummmy!
The highlight of our lunch there was actually entirely different, though. While we were reading the menu, I noticed that the two guys sitting next to us prayed before their meal. I confess that I eavesdropped a little and their prayer sounded like "the real deal." I had been interested in visiting a church service on the island, so a few minutes later I asked them if they knew of a good church. They both began to laugh. One was the pastor of a church and the other was the pastor of the Salvation Army on the island. I guess I asked the right people! It was obviously not an "accidental" meeting and we sat and talked to them for 30-45 minutes while we ate.

They were both from the U.S. and had been living on Provo for about a year. It was fascinating to learn about the island from them. One thing that surprised me was to learn that there are over 100 churches on this tiny island with a population of about 30,000. He said that it is definitely a Christian culture and almost everyone goes to church somewhere. They also said that living on the island has made them realize how thankful they are to be Americans. They mentioned immigration and how difficult it is for most people to get visas to even travel to the U.S. It is also very expensive to live and eat on the island. All food (except seafood) and merchandise is shipped there and costs 3-4 times what it does here: $11 for a package of toilet paper, $8 for a gallon of milk, or $4 for a Coke.
At lunch with Stephen (originally from Arizona) and Brad (originally from Texas). Brad is living on the island with his wife and three children, who are in elementary school there. As you can see from the picture, I quickly noticed that the "Belongers" do not have a lot of experience with cameras, either. Every time I asked one of them to take a picture it was either blurry, completely off-center, or in this one Scott's head is also chopped off. Oh well. :)
After lunch, we explored the island in our rental car a bit, found our second hotel, and then took a brief nap. We went back down to the beach around 5:00 so I could take Scott on the walk that I had gone on that morning. I was surprised at the difference in water color when the sun is going down or behind the clouds. The above picture is of some people doing yoga on the pier of their resort. If you're going to work out, that looks like the place to do it!
We tried to find Da Conch Shack for dinner later than night. It is a casual, native restaurant and they dive for the conch after you order your food--that's fresh seafood! It is quite a bit east of where the hotels are and we got pretty lost in the dark trying to find it (although we did see all the churches everywhere the guys were talking about and many of them had packed services on a Friday night with people even standing outside on the steps listening). We finally found it around 8:30 and it was closed--pitch dark closed. When we inquired about it the next day, we heard that they close early if they run out of food. Good to know. We found a spot at the Turtle Cove Marina and had dinner outside there. (Once again, our picture above is completely off-center, but I ended up being thankful because you can see one of the boats in the background.) You can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger.

Turks and Caicos Islands (Day 3)

Saturday, May 23--We planned to take a boat excursion on Saturday from 9am-1pm that visits a couple uninhabited islands in Turks and Caicos. They stop a few times to snorkel, dive for conch shells, and they make a conch salad lunch on board the boat. Unfortunately, when we woke up it was overcast and started to rain, so they cancelled our trip. We rescheduled for Monday and went back to sleep. We slept in and had a lazy morning packing up our things to switch hotels.

Here is a picture of Scott out on our balcony reading, praying, and enjoying a cup of coffee. It is raining in the background, although it is hard to tell in the picture.
We went to lunch at a fabulous Mediterranean restaurant called Lemon Cafe. We each ordered a bowl of soup: I had a Creamy Asparagus; Scott had a Tomato Lentil. That doesn't sound very good, but they were both wonderful. Above is a picture of my lunch: Lemon Chicken with Cous Cous Tabouli Salad. It was SOOOOOO delicious. I could have eaten it for lunch every day of our trip!
When we arrived at our second hotel, it was still raining. We were a little early and our rooms weren't quite ready. They suggested that we go over to the spa and get massages while we wait. We thought that was a brilliant idea! The hotel was a "boutique spa resort" and definitely the nicest hotel that I have ever stayed in. It was incredibly beautiful and the service was over the top. For example, as we checked in someone brought us each a tray with fresh juiced fruit punch with pineapple, orange, and a cherry and a warm towel roll to clean our hands and face (assuming that we had just gotten off of a plane). Everything about The Spa was incredible. They suggested a special "Maternity Massage" for me and Scott got a 90 minute "Deep Tissue" massage. They only had one person certified to do the "Maternity Massage" and it was a guy who was born and raised in Jamaica. He was as friendly as you'd expect a guy from Jamaica to be and I loved hearing all about his experience growing up in Jamaica. He described the countryside of Jamaica and how the kids would be on their own all day in the summer exploring the island. When they got hungry they would pick fresh fruit off of the side of the road and catch seafood out of the rivers or ocean and grill it over a fire. He described the people as happy, laid-back, careful to watch over each other, hard working when it was time to work, and their love for good food and good music.

The picture above is of me relaxing in The Spa after my massage in one of those huts next to the reflection pool. Have I mentioned that I felt rediculously spoiled? I was literally and figuratively a thousand miles from reality. :)
A view of part of our room. When we arrived they had a personalized letter and a tray of homemade cookies waiting for us...which took us about 5 minutes to devour.
The view of the pool and ocean from our balcony. My favorite part of the pool was the swim-up bar and restaurant. You can see the stools under the water from here.
The sunset. It stopped raining about the time we checked in and we went down to the restaurant around the pool for dinner. Pretty awesome view.

Turks and Caicos Islands (Day 4)

Sunday, May 24--We visited Pastor Stephen's church on Sunday morning. He had mentioned how lengthy and expensive it is to ship things to the islands, so Scott decided to give him our other copy of Brennan Manning's book, The Furious Longing of God.

We went back to the resort and I headed straight for the beach. Scott decided to go work out in the fitness center in The Spa and make another appointment for a massage.

The beach.

My view of the ocean (and my toes) from my lounge chair. I could not believe the beach service at this resort. Two guys from the Philippines were there to serve us. They gave each of us a cabana for shade, covered our chairs with towel covers, gave us beach towels, brought us cold bottled water, and would bring us drinks or food from the pool bar. So I sat there feeling spoiled (again) to have someone wait on me and drank virgin pina coladas with this view!

I loved getting to know these young guys from the Philippines. They were incredibly friendly and hard-working. (All the people on the island were SO FRIENDLY AND NICE--much more so than Americans, even Southerners. It's hard to believe that people could be friendlier than Southerners, I know.) We learned that about 20-30% of the people on the island are from the Philippines. In their country it is considered "the ultimate sacrifice" and very honorable to go away to find a better job and send the money home to your family. The Philippines are over-crowded and the jobs do not pay well (and their currency is not worth much, so the money from other countries will go further in the Philippines). I met two mothers at our first hotel who had left their children behind with in-laws to come here to work. They had not seen their children in two years because it is too expensive to fly home. (None of them had visas to enter the U.S. so they have to fly through London and it makes the trip cost about $1000 more for them!!!!) They talk to their children every night online through skype and email. My brain can't even wrap around that.

Scott and I had lunch at the swim-up bar in the pool and then he went to get his massage. I went back to the beach!

A picture from my walk on the beach. Scott came and joined me later and we took some sea kayaks (of the resorts) out on the water, which we both loved. Scott spent most of his time swimming laps out to the buoy...while I watched. :) I tried that once on the first day and realized that this pregnant body is out of shape!
Later that evening we took some pictures on the beach before we left for dinner. (You can click on it to enlarge it.)

Isn't it interested how the water changes colors as the sun begins to go down or dark clouds roll in? We are standing in the same spot as the pictures taken above.

At Magnolia Restaurant. We both loved this restaurant. I read on http://www.tripadvisor.com/ that it had the best view on the island and it was right. It sits up on the hillside (most of the island is very flat) overlooking Turtle Cove Marina and the ocean behind it. The food was also amazing. I forgot what Scott ordered...some type of steak. I had Sesame and Pepper Crusted Ahi Tuna. It was cooked perfectly, even the rice. (Have I mentioned how much I like to eat out and not have to cook or clean up the mess?)

I'm being indecisive. I like the other picture better overall, but this one is better of Scott (and he likes it better) so I just put them both on here.

We went back to the resort and borrowed some movies from the front desk. We watched My Cousin Vinny in bed. I forgot how hilarious that movie is!!!

Turks and Caicos Islands (Days 5 and 6)

Monday, May 25--We woke up Monday morning to overcast skies and rain again, so our 2nd attempt at the snorkeling boat excursion also got cancelled. We decided to go back to sleep and didn't wake up until 10:00! We ordered room service for brunch and basically just had a lazy morning since we couldn't really go to the beach in the rain, either. Around noon it stopped raining (although it was very overcast and gray) and we decided to go exploring the island. I had read about a couple of beaches in other parts of the island that I hoped to see before we left. So we set out to find Sapodilla Bay on the opposite site of the island.

We quickly discovered that the island's streets have no drainage system and parts of them were very flooded. The wheels on our car looked like they belonged on a scooter and every time we drove through the flooded parts, we held our breath just hoping we wouldn't end up floating down stream. I kept looking down at my feet to see if they were still dry. We conquered the map (they tend to use landmarks--"go to the round-about at the 2nd Texaco and take a left"--rather than street signs). I was very impressed at Scott's driving skills on round-abouts and on the left-hand side of half-flooded streets. He reminded me that "when you see a car coming straight at you in your lane, it doesn't take long to remember that you're suppose to be in the other one." I spent most of our time in the car laughing! With the number of foreigners on the island, I'm amazed that we never saw a car accident. Surely they have lots of them!

We finally made it to Sapodilla Bay...
We heard that the water was a beautiful color and they were right...even with the dark overcast skies. It was a surreal juxtaposition in person. The water almost seemed to glow in the dark. I can't even imagine what the water looks like on a bright, sunny day.
This part of the island was private homes and vacant land. This little spot where Scott is standing is for sale, if any of you are interested.

After exploring this area, we decided to go see Malcom Beach. About half way there, our car finally met its match and we encountered a flooded road that neither of us thought our car would survive. We surrendered and decided to head back for an early dinner.

After dinner, it stopped raining for a while so we went down to the beach for a swim and sat in the hot tub for a while. (I'm actually not suppose to get in hot tubs while pregnant so I just put my feet in.) We met the nicest couple from Arizona in the hot tub and talked to them for over an hour. Then we went back up to our room and watched another movie before turning in...and prayed that we'd have sunshine on our last morning.

We did! We had to leave our hotel at 1:00 in order to get to the airport for our flight so we got an early start on our last day. Here is a picture of the "complimentary" continental breakfast at our resort. The fruit, especially the mango, was delicious.

Our view at breakfast of the courtyard between the concierge and the restaurant.


We had several hours before we had to leave, so we quickly packed our bags, and decided to use our last few hours to go snorkeling at the coral gardens down the beach. We borrowed snorkel gear from our resort and drove down there. Neither of us had been snorkeling before and I am so thankful that our last morning was sunny so we could go. It was definitely a highlight for both of us! We loved it!


Turks and Caicos is suppose to have some of the best reef diving in the world, but you can't scuba dive while pregnant. (Maybe on our 15th anniversary!) I was thankful they had good snorkeling so close. We bought an inexpensive underwater disposable camera and attempted to take pictures. The pictures definitely don't do it justice, but I included a few of them for fun. It was actually much harder than I expected to take pictures underwater while trying to figure out how to mouth-breathe through a tube!
Here we are underwater laughing at our attempt at a self-portrait (thus all of the bubbles).

We snorkeled around coral gardens that are actually a protected national park and a natural feeding spot for many types of marine life. We couldn't go inside of the buoys, but you could see in and the fish came out to swim with us.
These fish are much larger than they look in these pictures. This one was about 10 inches long. We saw many other colorful tropical fish later. My favorites were a school of fluorescent blue ones and a really large black & white striped one. The highlight was getting to swim over a sea turtle that was about 18-inches long.

More of this type of fish. For some reason, these are the only ones that turned out clear.

A scuba diver down below me.
Thumbs up! Good times.

After snorkeling, we went back to the resort to return our gear, quickly change clothes in the Spa bathroom, and raced off to the airport--saltwater, sand, and all! "Back to life, Back to reality." (Remember that song from the early 90's?) What a fun adventure--and an awesome way to celebrate our 10th anniversary! I'm so thankful we were able to do it!

White Chicken Chili

I love making White Chicken Chili because it is easy and it is one of Scott's favorites. I got the recipe from my sister-in-law, Jennifer, and adapted it just slightly...

White Chicken Chili
4 cans Great Northern Beans, don't drain
3 large cans Swanson Chicken, drained and chopped (or rotisserie chicken chopped up)
1 T olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 med onions, chopped
2 t ground cumin
1 t ground oregano
2 4.5 oz cans mild chopped green chilies
4 cans Swanson chicken broth (I use one box organic chicken broth/stock)
20 oz Monterey Jack cheese, grated (separated-12oz for soup, 8oz for topping)

Sour cream
Tortilla chips
Avocado chunked
Cilantro
a few splashes of Tobasco Green Pepper Sauce (Scott's favorite-it's milder than Tobasco)

Heat oil, add onions- cook until translucent. Stir in garlic, chilies, cumin, and oregano. Saute' 2-3 minutes. Add beans, broth and 12 oz cheese. After cheese melts into soup, then add chicken. Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve in bowls. Top with toppings that you like: cheese, sour cream, chips, avocado, and/or cilantro.

Enjoy!