From here to there and EVERYWHERE!

Much to my humiliation and dismay, I just realized that I have not posted anything since Father's Day, which was also the start of our vacation. As nice as it would be to say that we are still on vacation, it really only lasted a week!
I'm trying so very hard not to be a voice of negativity, but I quite simply came back from our family vacation and felt like I needed a VACATION! I was so exhausted when I got home that I thought I would just sneak off to my favorite vacation spot...the beach....and have myself a nice nap and curl up with a good book, which would most likely be a Karen Kingsbury, and go off on an adventure where I don't have to think or sit in a car for 9 hours. So, now that I have gotten the negative out of the way, let me catch you up on our lives. After all, this is called The Hickman Happenings!
We set out for Florida in grand style. We spent all day packing up last minute stuff and moving every piece of furniture out of our living and dining areas so we could have our floors re-done while we were away. I was so exhausted after all of that, not to mention the realization that I'm not cut out to move furniture, so I won't be applying for the delivery positions at my local furniture store! We had to delay our leaving early on Saturday because Jeff had to preach a wedding. Let me just stop and say here, we thought our adventure had already begun because of the craziness of the packing and moving, but little did we know that Jeff's adventure would begin at this wedding! He kept telling me that the wedding was at 7pm, which I felt a little odd because I'm old and I thought people sure would be tired getting home later because of a 7 o'clock wedding. Well, Jeff called me to say he arrived "right on time." The wedding was really at 6pm. What??? On the happiest day of a bride's life, and the preacher is late! Ugh! Not good! Thankfully, he had five minutes to spare, delivered the message and he was back on the road home quick-like! The girls and I started our vacation off much better. We went to a pool birthday party for Avery's very best friend, Addie. What a way to relax before vacation! And, so it goes, and off we went on the road, with our two stinky dogs in tow, to Green Pond to spend the night and leave our dogs before hitting the road to Orlando!
We loved our time in Orlando! Sea World is a great place to take younger children. Quinn even loved it. That is saying a lot, too, because we chose to sit in the "Soak Zone" at the Shamu show and we got drenched. Quinn just sat there with water dripping off of her nose, staring in disbelief. She almost looked a little offended, even! Anyway, I highly recommend Sea World if you haven't already been. It was awesome! The highlight of Orlando for Jeff and me, though, was hitting every Starbuck's we passed! Thanks to our sweet friend, Barbie, for a giftcard she gave me before our trip, we got started off on our journey on the right foot!
After Orlando, we journeyed to Boca Raton to spend a few days with Jeff's sister and our brother-in-law, Sandra and Barron, along with their two boys, Gray and William. We had such fun with them, and Jeff and I came across our second love of the trip....we now officially are addicted to Wii. If there are any friends out there reading this who may be asking yourself, "what can I get Jeff and Amy?" There's your answer! I love Wii!!!!
Being a video game addict as a child quickly reared it's head when I took the controls to bowl, and I was out to win! OK, so about the children, though...they loved hanging out with their cousins and they enjoyed nightly slumber parties and lots of candy, judging by the enormous amounts of wrappers we found each morning!
We went to a new place, for us, while there. We took the girls to Wannado City, a place that kids can try any job they could possibly imagine, in a city just their size! It was so much fun.
Vacation was wonderful, and yes, Jeff and I are hoping to get away soon for a couple of days alone, but I wouldn't trade the joy on the girls' faces for anything in this world. They had a once in a lifetime trip. I have to say, too...for the most part, they were wonderful. We had such a good time together.
Now that we've been back, we have hit the ground running. We had a concert at church the night we got home, and then I helped organize a night for the women of our church, called "This Night." We saw 115 ladies come and saw many lives touched with the Gospel.
The highlight of our time home, however, has been the "Celebrate America" event that LifeSong hosted. If our count is correct, we saw 1500 people come for an outdoor concert and fireworks. It was one of the best times we have had at LifeSong. I loved looking around at the faces of people in our community who were just enjoying being together and worshiping Jesus! It was so nice to have my parents, Katie and Missy and her family join us, too. I love having my family at church with me. It was a great time to spend together, and then go over to Missy's mother-in-law's house the next day for grilling and swimming, to top it off! It has been a great weekend to remember the sacrifice made for our country, to remember Who it is we serve, and to spend time with family and friends.
Our summer still holds lots and lots more, but one thing is for sure...our hearts can only get more and more full in the process! Catch us up on your summer. What have you been up to?