Lions and Tigers and Bears... oh my!

So, we have been very busy lately. We have been spending lots of time with Joe's sister, our brother-in-law, niece, and nephew (and of course Joe's parents, too)! They were in town for the week.. so there was lots of quality time together! Between playing Frisbee, picking peas, catching lightening bugs, grilling, the zoo, playing Wii, bubbles, and so much more... we had tons of fun!

Here are pictures of our too cute niece and so handsome nephew!Andrea with Luci and Joe with Toby!
We went to a so-called zoo on Saturday.. that is in the country not too far from Joe's parents' house. It was called "Heaven's Corner". They had all sorts of animals - porcupines, a Bengal tiger, a white tiger, black panther, bobcat, wild boars, lynx, crocs, wolves, all kinds of snakes, leopard, mountain lion, bear, turtles, etc. We really enjoyed the white Siberian tiger (it was hilarious - the tiger would not come out due to not liking the stroller, as soon as we hid the stroller - the tiger came out). The best part about the trip to the "zoo" was the fact that a guy gave us an unexpected tour and told us all about the animals and let us ask questions... and the best part... I got to hold a snake!!!! Here are some pictures from the "zoo".

The white tiger... and me holding a snake! It was a milk snake, even though it looks like a coral snake!

Uncle Joe with Luci and me pointing at a python... I did touch it through the grate...

Leopard and tiger... it was so neat how close you could get to the animals.. as you could probably notice. There were only 2 fences in between... which was neat and a bit scary at the same time. The guide even got us some pictures without the fence (he was able to get between the first and second fence and then took our cameras and took pictures)!

Curtis (brother-in-law), Michelle (Joe's sister), Toby (he's 2), and Luci (6 months) all went back to North Carolina today. We were very sad.. and it feels quiet around here. We had such a great time with them and Joe's parents! Hope you all have a great 4th of July!

Fun with family!

Joe and I have been having so much fun recently! Joe's sister, bro-in-law, niece and nephew are in town. They live in North Carolina, so we don't get to see them much. We have had such a great time with them so far!

On Sunday, we had a great time traveling to Springfield, Ohio to our cousin's baby shower. The girls went to the shower and the boys went boating. After the wonderful shower, the girls joined up with the guys and we got to go boating. It was so much fun! Joe and I got to go tubing around Buck Creek State Park. We are still quite sore from tubing! We really enjoyed catching up with family and having a blast!

Aunt Donna and Luci (our niece) at the baby shower!

We will have to add some more pictures later of our cute niece and nephew... hope your weeks are going well!

Nature.... baking.... random fun!

So, we have been busy lately with ministry appointments with Campus Crusade for Christ and such.. but otherwise our lives have been pretty boring. So, that is why I haven't posted in awhile. I thought I would share with you are brief moments of fun and excitement this past month.

We have been one with nature lately. In the last post, I wrote about the friendly little yellow finch out the window. Fun thing is.. that was almost a month ago.. and the little cute bird is still around. Also, we visited Andrea's parents in Lima and really saw a different site. I (Andrea) was glancing out the backyard and noticed a bunch of bugs flying around. There were so many I had to get a closer look.. so I went out on the screened in patio. What I once thought were ladybugs, were thousands upon thousands of honey bees. They were swarming immensely and there were so many of them that you could hear the buzzing even though they were a decent distance away. They began swarming a pine tree.. and gathered there. They eventually left and actually hilariously moved to the front yard to a small branch. The thousands gathered on the branch.. and we were able to get a few pictures.

A picture of my parent's tree from their yard. We found out the bees were protecting their beloved queen and in the meantime "scouts (other bees)" were out looking for a permanent place for the new hive. Pretty interesting...

We decided on a quick whim to go to Cedar Point one day. We had free tickets and picked a day with great weather. Both of us hadn't been to Cedar Point in quite a few years. When the park opened we ran all the way to the back of the park to the new coaster "Maverick"... we didn't have to wait long in line and actually waited to ride the front car. Our favorite ride of the day was the "Top Thrill Dragster"... I think it blasts you at 120 mph up 340 ft in the air... it lasts 17 seconds. We rode it twice we loved it so much!

Cedar Point!!!!!!

Last but not least... we have been baking lately. I really had wanted to make an apple pie... so I did.. and Joe made strawberry shortcake today (inspired by an appointment we had last night).

Apple pie... are you thinking the crust is beautiful.. yah... that's probably because I didn't make the crust. Joe's mom did and she is stellar at crusts and bread. It didn't seems to take so long since Joe's mom made the crust and I did the other part.

Anyways.. that an update on our busy, but somewhat boring lives. We are having some excitement today though.. Joe's sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and niece are coming in town today. We haven't seen them for a year.. so we are so excited and can't wait!

Our niece and nephew... Toby and Lucy! They are so cute!

2 years ago....

Ever wondered what Joe and I were doing 2 years ago? Probably not... but in case you wanted to know, we got married two years ago! We celebrated our 2 year anniversary May 27th.

Since we have been living with parents for the past year, which is a blessing, we thought it would be great to get some time away alone. Joe told me he was taking me somewhere relaxing, but that is all I knew. I had thought we were going to a place we were at as students with CCC at Toledo for a retreat up in Michigan. Guess again, we went to Perrysburg, OH to a boutique hotel. Basically meaning, it was a small establishment that waited on us hand and foot. Only problem was -- they were repaving the parking lot (so we didn't get to use the personal garage we had) and the Internet never worked. We had a great time because we got to be together, but were frustrated with the service and amenities we didn't get to use (Internet and garage) and no one ever said sorry for the inconvenience.

We had a gift card to Biaggi's.. oh my goodness... the food was amazing! We dressed up, because we thought it would be fun! :)

We also got to visit the spot where we first started dating and where we were engaged. It is in downtown Toledo on the Maumee River. We went to the restaurant where we ate for our first date and after our engagement! Joe eating at "The Navy Bistro". The food is expensive, but we wanted to remember our first date and engagement. The food was amazing. Here is Joe with his salmon and I had the best steak I had ever eaten in my life! It was neat... we were walking by the river and the draw bridge went up.... we were hopeful for a big boat or barge, but no luck. I made Joe stand in the middle of the bridge.. and thought the picture turned out pretty neat.

Ok.. this is semi random.. but as I am typing this blog.. this small finch keeps coming up to the window. I think he sees his reflection in the window or something. It's pretty neat though how close you can get to him.

Hope you are all doing well! We are excited as we have quite a few appointments this week to meet with individuals about our ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ! Enjoy the weather!

We're back!

We are back home from Pennsylvania. Thank you for your prayers.



We really had a great time with Joe's grandparents, relatives, and talking with people about our ministry. The last day in PA was Joe's birthday. He was 24 on May 16th. His grandparents took him out to eat and we also had cake and ice cream.



We are trusting God for big things in the upcoming weeks... we can't wait to update you on what He does!

Lewisburg, OH to Lewisburg, PA.....

This past weekend we left en route to Pennsylvania. We left on Friday for the Akron area. We were able to go to dinner with one of Joe's relatives and supporter that we had never met. We really had a great time! That night we got to see some of our best friends. We had a great time with them Friday night and Saturday. We played hide and go seek and enjoyed spending time together. Saturday night we went to a wedding together for one of Andrea's friends from college. It was beautiful and a great time catching up with friends!

At the wedding reception

We now are in Lewisburg, PA! We made it safely to Joe's grandparents place Sunday afternoon.

Half way into the trip, a light turned on on Joe's console. We were figuring it was a symbol for low washer fluid, but it was for low engine coolant. We were nervous that the engine could overheat. We kept contemplating stopping and adding coolant (but we would have to wait awhile to put the fluid in because the engine had to cool all the way down). We kept watching the temperature gauge like a hawk, and it never got in the red zone, so we made it in safely! Praise God! So, today is engine coolant adding day to our car!

Sunday night, we were very tired, but got to speak at a church that Joe's grandparents used to pastor at. It was a small church, but was very encouraging. They prayed for us and we met some really neat people.

Monday, we got to hang out with Joe's grandparents. We went with them to a dinner at a local church. My goodness, the food there was abundant. They served subs (with so much meat) and other goodies (such as 2 whole tables of desserts). We were some of the youngest ones there.. but it was very fun and a blessing. We went out for some amazing ice cream afterwards and played games with Joe's grandma to end the night. Oh.. we also fixed the car today.. put more coolant in the car, and all is well with that!

Joe and his grandma (Alma)

So, today... we made a trip to Lancaster, PA to Hershey Farms. Joe's grandparents went with us and we met up with a special lady who had known Joe and his grandparents for a long time. She has been a blessing to us and our ministry. We really had a great time and have been enjoying exploring new places, meeting new people, and time with Joe's grandparents.

Joe and I at Hershey Farms in the Amish buggy....

Joe's grandma (Alma), Maryella, Joe's grandpa (Raymond), and Joe

There were goats at Hershey Farm. It was hilarious... Joe's grandpa kept feeding the goat. Not really food, but a gum wrapper, piece of gum, and mints. We are praying the goat makes it.

Pennsylvania here we come... !

Lately, Joe and I have been super busy traveling. We have been speaking at some churches and have been back and forth numerous times from Lima (Andrea's hometown) and Lewisburg (where we are living with Joe's parents).

We just wanted to update you and let you know we will be traveling to Pennsylvania the week of May 11th to connect with some individuals about our ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ. We are excited as we will be seeing some of Joe's relatives and connecting with new people out there.

Please pray for our time in Pennsylvania... For safe travels, that we would be able to connect with many people about our ministry while out there, and also spend some quality time with Joe's extended family.

We will update you on our trip when we get back!