Anniversary Get-Away

Dan and I have been wanting to get away for a few nights for a while now, but haven't been able to. Next month, August 14th, is our 3 year anniversary and with a toddler and another baby on the way, we plan to enjoy it to the best of our ability. Elias is heading off to Nonie's while Dan and I pack up the car and head northwest. We're going to a friend's cabin in Potter County, PA - out in the middle of nowhere. That's exactly what we want and need: A cheap place to visit where we won't feel the temptation to spend a lot of money and where we can sleep in and go to bed early and read and talk uninterrupted. It just sounds so divine. We can barely wait.

Here are some pictures of the little place:

Daddy and Eli

Weeding the canteloupe plants.

Pookie

Pookie is a "stray" cat that finds her home on the farm. She is the absolute nicest cat ever considering she's a stray. She loves people and kids and will just come and hang out when we're outside on our patio. Of course, she's looking for food, but she's also looking for company. She loves people. We're still working on teaching Eli how to be gentle and calm around her. But most of the time, they just co-exist. She'll rub up against him and he'll continue with whatever he's playing with. In these pictures, Eli's taking a special interest in her.

Eli and Jaron

Eli Eating Spaghetti

Beach Pictures

Big Boy on a Bike

Ali Feeding Her Face

I love this picture.

Eli Feeding Mama

Eli kissing Jaron

Fun Shots

Dan in New Orleans

Every year on July 4th, a local church (with help from various other Christian groups and churches) holds a semi-fair-like event. They give out free hot food and bags of groceries. They have tents and tables up for eating and socializing. They have a prayer tent and hold live Christian music. This has been going on for about 20 years. We were privileged enough to have been there over July 4th, so we were able to help out with setting up, bagging and handing out groceries, praying and sharing the gospel with people.

Here is Dan aiding in the bagging of groceries. We bagged over 5,000 bags in an hour and 18 minutes! We broke the record in the intense heat and humidity of southern Louisiana.
More pictures of Dan hard at work...

Confectioners' Fight

While chilling out at one of New Orleans best, the Cafe Du Monde, Dan and I decided (quite a spur-of-the-moment idea, I assure you) to commemorate our wedding day by blowing powdered sugar all over one another. If you were at our wedding, you might remember the wedding cake incident. I must speak up for myself and say that Dan started it both times. But what was I to do? Just let it go?! I don't think so!!

Funny Video

Washing the Car

Before the Move

Alicia and Jessica

Pictures

It's time for a picture update of the past couple months.

And We're Back!

OK, folks. The long-awaited blog update is finally here. I realize, as many of you have oh-so-kindly reminded me, that I have not updated our blog since APRIL! Here it is mid-July, and I'm finally getting around to sitting down and posting some pictures and letting the Blogger world in on what's been going on in the lives of the Simraks these past few months.

After a very stressful move, we're finally in and mostly settled into our new home. We were here for two weeks before Dan and I left our little one-year-old and headed down South with our youth group to New Orleans for a week of cleanup and ministry to those still in need since Hurricane Katrina. It was a wonderful week. The Lord really exceeded all of my expectations and I walked away so blessed by the group and our time spent in The Big Easy. It truly is an eclectic and beautiful city for the most part. Our hope is that through the relief and rebuilding of the city, all the work of church groups throughout the country that have gone to witness and be a light to those who are lost will result in the city being known as "The City that Turns to God." Those that went to N.O. last year and went back this year, saw a marked difference in the amount of people that they talked to that had recently come to know Jesus personally. They spoke to many more Christians this year than they did last year. Our goal is to help build the local churches and get people involved in them as they grow in the word.

I'll post this one picture as it just tore my heart when I saw this written on the front of a house:

We have a video of our time that I really want to post, but it's 11 minutes long so we can't upload it to YouTube. (Their limit is 10 minutes.) So as soon as we shorten it, we'll post it so that you guys can view it. It captures well the time we had.