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Hello friends! Long time, no chat. I apologize for that, but I have to also say, it's been such a joy to LIVE my life, not blog it.  Leading online experts teach that Blogging has moved to the back of the social media world. More and more people enjoy content on Facebook and Instagram instead for it's scroll and go convenience! Without even realizing it, I too, have shifted my efforts there for a quick upload of adventures as they occur. Rather than downloading images, uploading them to a blog for hours on lousy RV park wifi, then writing out a post......it's in the moment fun!  So, come on over! Follow our adventures on Instagram:  Or on Facebook RV Oilers page:  See you there for now!
Hugs, T
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Back to School: Homeschool Edition Let's just say after a week of being gone and just moving back in last night, everyone was a little bit tired this morning.  Haha, I really did make them get dressed after breakfast. We try to save jammies for snow days when they have to still do school. First day back called for egg in a basket and cinnamon toast rounds, after this, its up to them to get up and make and clean up their own.
Here are our REAL back to school photos: We have a 3rd, 5th, 7th grader & Junior this year!     A little real life science was happening on our porch last night, watching this spider weave her web. We are excited to observe her! Check out her web this am.  Dale has been our main teacher for the past 2 years, but I am hoping this year to be able to come down and help regularly if I can stay ahead with work. He does a wonderful job and I am so so blessed to have him home with us! God is so good!   This is our 6th year of homeschool and loving it as much as the first. I was so scared to begin our HS journey with a 3yo, 5yo, 6yo & 10yo, & so perplexed why, unlike other years, the Lord shut the door on the finances to continue to go to the local Christian school we loved. But He knew what was to come a year later....selling our 30 acres & hitting the road fulltime in our RV. He knew I needed that year of adjustment before the bigger one to come! Praise His name! How cool that our Father knows the details & cares for each of us enough to prepare & equip us for what's ahead. I am so very grateful!❤  We celebrated a successful first day with snow cones, final ones of the season.  The next day we went and helped Nana finish moving in to her new home. Easy dinners that can be repurposed as lunch, are a MUST during back to school. I have to fix them 3 meals a day and right on time so school can go on! Just call me the lunch lady! haha :) Chili Sauce for Everything  Well, that's all I have for you today. The year is off to a wonderful start! I love to watch them learn. :) 
These kids make life so fun....probably because they are giant goofballs a lot of the time! ;) Hugs, T  Lazy days, lunch at the pool with friends, day camp, Bible camp, summer camp staffing, oil classes each month at the library......we had a GREAT summer!  Our good friend, Miss Elaine, asked the kids to help take care of the horse, cats and dogs while she was gone. To pay them for their services, she treated us all to lunch and a day of swimming at the country club. It was wonderful! Paxton got to go to Kamp Kanakuk for day camp all week. 8:40-4pm everyday. They bring in ziplines and bungee trampolines, archery and MORE. The kids have a counselor that they go around with all week from station to station, as well as high energy singing, praising and learning about the Lord.  He was SO TIRED each evening - it was adorable! We packed lunch all week for him and he came up to me and sweetly said, Momma, remember how last year you wrote me notes each day and left me a treat? Can you do that again?? Awww! Good thing sister had some candy left from her party, I bet we can make it happen.
The parents were invited in the last day to observe the crazy high energy worship sess and hear words of affirmation and awards from the kids counselors. It was really special!
We finally got to take a spin on Dale's new fishing boat. It was all fun and games until a big Kansas storm rolled in & the lighting started! We high tailed it out of there, but got an hour of cruising and swimming in, so it was a nice break from the heat.  We went back out to our new land a few times. We officially close on it this Friday! Check out these treasures the boys found. Any guesses? Locals say badger, or baby coyote.  We ran errands like nobody's business, started phase one of my moms move and then hit the road for a week in Michigan.  Destiny had some back to school events she wanted to stay behind for, so we had her move in with Nana for the week. The kids took back to the RV like ducks to water, and just as if no time had passed, found a good travel routine and rhythm.  I left for TWO SECONDS to get a photo of the kids. Total CHAIR HOG!  After a second day of travel, we got to our location...... We found the COOLEST RV Park called Hidden Ridge Rv Resort in Hopkins, MI. We got all set up for the week and went to enjoy the pool then explore the park. Check out the beautiful club house anyone could use! WOW! In addition to this they had a pavilion with fun activities like Bingo, movies for the kids. Bouncy pillow was a hit as well as the yummy little ice cream shop and fresh fruit juice icy's on site!  Sweet Dale set his alarm one morning & drove an hour into Indiana for some Rise N Roll famous fluffy caramel donuts with cinnamon powdered sugar. He said, hey, we won't be closer than this anytime soon. Haha! BROWNIE POINTS....er, DONUT points for him?!  This was about when the photos from Nana & Destiny started coming in. They were having an amazing time together! Back to School paint night and coffee on the porch with Gigi each am.   I taught 3 different classes at the most beautiful community center in Byron City! Lots of new excited oilers there now. Of course, I didn't get a photo of any of it, I was up front teaching! Haha, I told Dale too, but he forgot! ;) He took me out for a nice sushi date after our morning class: Simple Fish. Oh my word! It is my new favorite in all the USA! Everything was absolutely wonderful and the staff was a blast. Talk about your hidden treasure! It's a MUST if you are in the Grand Rapids area. The last night, we enjoyed an evening of fellowship & business strategizing with our new friends. So excited to see all the Lord has in store for them with doTERRA. We pulled out early Saturday morning in order to get home in time for BACK TO SCHOOL on Monday! It also happened to be a special someone's 9th birthday!!!!! KING OF THE DAY!  We knew it was going to be a LOOONG 16 hour travel day, but we tried to make it a special day anyhow.... He even had a fun surprise waiting for him in his room from Grandma Eileen! Paxton is our miracle baby and we always like to use his birthday to give glory to God and the miracle He performed!  P Man, For 6 & 1/2 months, I lay on our couch on bed rest, trying to care for a 6, 2 & 1 yo, praying and crying out to the Father for a miracle. Asking Him to give you the nourishment and oxygen my body could not. And boy did He! Not only did you make it past your due date, but came into the world with a hearty cry and at a whopping 10 pounds. No under weight, low oxygen, baby here! Praise you Jesus! From the start your sparkly brown eyes, infectious grin and mischevious looks always made us wonder what you were up to......and boy, were you up to no good as a toddler! (and I have the blog posts to prove it) Now your zest for tackling life is an encouragement to us all!🥰 I love how you love to make us smile or laugh. You are such a little gentleman, holding doors for people, unloading the car and helping out at every turn. Until Heaven, we will never grasp the full extent of the care the Father gave you before you came into the world, but know He as a special calling on your life and we are so excited to see all He has in store for you.🎁 Happy 9th birthday to my baby boy! You are so loved!!!  When you travel on your birthday.... you open amazon and mail packages instead of wrapped when you arrive home. He didn't want to wait for me to open and wrap them. Haha! Ok that works. :) Tomorrow is BACK TO SCHOOL! I *think* we are ready?!  Hugs, T
Sooo, we did a thing.  We love our little home sweet hub so much! BUT we all miss the country life and the wide open spaces acreage brings. We also grossly undershot on how much room a 45 ft RV would take up in the shop. Let's just say I am tired of lifting up my butt cheeks over the chest freezer to slide over to the upright one. ;) We absolutely love travel life, and plan to continue. When we are pulling through home, we want to have some acreage to enjoy. Sounds like the kids want to come home each summer for camp and long for some longer periods of home. If our kids need ROOTS to have WINGS, I am happy to comply. These stirrings have been months in the processing, so we have been praying for a long time whether to buy a home here, or in Florida, build here, or just sell it all and only keep the RV. The Lord has been putting all the pieces together and nudging our hearts in ways I couldn't even express, including a trip to a farmhouse in Ohio with a family that travels to and from their home, wintering in Florida, but circling back between trips. This kind of travel sounded just like what we had been rolling over in our minds. God is so good! When we got back home, we started looking for land to just feel things out.  We looked & we prayed.....  We prayed & we looked.....  And when we found our dream acerage, we made an offer.  The land owners countered back and forth with us a while before we walked away......they were just a little higher on price than we were comfortable spending.  I will be honest, I cried. I felt so SO sure this property was meant to be ours. It just FELT so magical, so right, when we were out there. You can feel the presence of the Lord so keenly in this space. But I trust the Lord, and His plan for us, I know He knows what I need more than I do. So I let it go and crawled to bed, disappointed, but at peace.  The VERY next morning, we heard from our realtor - THE LAND WAS OURS. All 40 acres of it. They said YES!  Guys, this place checks ALL THE BOXES! It is off pavement for the RV. It has a beautiful forest. It has open pasture. It has a pond and a windmill. It has a long, tucked back, dreamy, winding lane. It has a view that takes my breath away. Everything we could've dreamed up and MORE.....  We couldn't WAIT to show the kids. (Destiny is working at camp) We spent HOURS out there just exploring and playing,  God is SO good to hear the desires of our hearts, and move on our behalf to help make them happen. EVEN with a test of faith along the way to be sure we are willing and obedient!
 It's going to be a process. Picking the right shop design, finding a home plan we all like, the actual building. Doing all the finish work we can, bringing in the pros for the rest. Ooo but I LOVE me a good floor plan hunt. ;)
Someday, hopefully soon, we can call this beautiful place our Home Sweet Hub. Our Shoresh Shed. Shoresh is hebrew for "Roots" and the Lord began whispering this to me months ago already. I am watching for glimpses of what He has in store, but plan to enjoy the ride as we put down some deeper roots here in this beautiful space.  In the meantime, people have already been calling and asking to come tour our Home Sweet Hub! They are super intrigued by our bright and cheerful shed home and are interested in making it their own....  Orange fridge doesn't stay, and the kitchen is nicely white and grey without it, for any taste pallet!   But the brand new stove stays! Wahoo! It's such a dream to cook on. 
It makes my heart happy to know that someone new will enjoy the beautiful forest views from large living room window.  And enjoy lots of visitors through the back yard: deer, birds, squirrel and a family of turkey that pass through each day. So peaceful and zero road noise!
 It is such a beautiful, happy space!! We are so excited to see who the Lord calls to make this their home sweet home! :)
Hugs, T We have a lot of summer birthday's here at the Ferguson house. Destiny is July 17, Avery & I share August 1 and Paxton is August 17th. Being home this year, in the summer, Avery begged for a sleepover with her new camp friends for her special day. We planned it a weekend early, on a quieter weekend than most, and hoped for the best. Most of the girls could come, miracle of miracles, so on we went. Avery is quite the planner and had decor, a clipboard to do list and a to buy snack list for us to accomplish in short order. The girls would be coming over after church to eat cake, hang out and would be sleeping in the RV like their own little apartment for the night! Little did she know, I had ordered her a cake and some crafts to make it a REAL BIRTHDAY PARTY. She was blown away!  
 Avery didn't know she was getting a cake, so she made her usual, Watermelon Bombe' ice cream dessert. It's so fresh and yummy! You just saran wrap a large bowl and start layering soft lime, pineapple and raspberry sorbet. Invert bowl, let ice cream come out, cut in watermelon wedges and press mini chocolate chips into the raspberry part. SO CUTE!   One of the girls attending had an ACTUAL birthday on the day we celebrated, so we were sure to add her name to the cake and sing to her too. I am so glad her parents still shared her with us! :)  The girls enjoyed their dessert and dug right into the bracelet making project we had planned. I have never tied so many bracelets in my life! Hahah but it was super fun and they did such a great job. We had snack supper all laid out and the girls spent the evening playing games, doing makeovers, watching a movie and getting all snuggled into bed for talk time.
They must have slept ok because they were up at a nice time and enjoying the hammocks and trampoline before it got too hot. We fed them a nice big breakfast and then it was time to pry them away from each other and start running girlies home. They played wonderfully together and I think they would've continued the rest of the day but alas, Monday must go on. Thursday came quickly and with it, Avery and my official shared birthday! We had already celebrated Avery's day and I was planning to go on a date with Dale Sunday, so we were going to lay low and just hang at home. Nana had other ideas! She invited us to lunch at our favorite Sushi place and then go see the Lion King! How FUN!  When we got home, daddy made us a nice dinner and had us put our feet up. Being the birthday girls can be so exhausting! ;) He made us Tijuana Torte and for dessert, my favorite, angel food cake, fresh strawberries and homemade vanilla whipped cream. YUM! Tijauna Torte Recipe is found HERE
 Just a few small things to open, party was the main gift. Press on nails from the salon and a new big girl Bible! Happiest of birthdays to my BEST birthday gift EVER, Miss Avery Lyn! Avery, you rocked our world with a giant 10+ pound entrance, on the evening of my birthday date with your daddy. He made the nurses get another scale, because he was sure it was broken. You couldn't fit in any of the tiny cute newborn clothes I packed you, and your 3 day old photo looks like a 5 month old. What a giant personality you had from the get go!  It wasn't long, before you threw your first fit at 6 months old and went limp as a noodle in protest of the highchair I was attempting to place you in. You shocked us to the core of this thing called parenting we thought we had all figured out....You were sweet as peach tea one moment and as spicy as a red hot chili pepper the next. It wasn't long until you earned the name lil' Peanut for your tiny stature. You brought so much sunny happy/stormy clouds into each and every day, and continually kept us rolling with your teeny tiny voice and antics.  Like the day you sashayed through the kitchen as a toddler, butt naked, while I was making lunch...... I must have looked at you in complete shock. "What?" you said, still walking by. And with a shrug, proclaimed in your tiny little high voice - "I need to be naked!" Or the time you told us, "I not a baby, momma. I am a toddler who pees her pants!" Your very favorite day was planning your "Birfday Pouty!" And I think it still is.....  Walking around with a clipboard list. Making decor to hang around the house and grocery lists galore for some kind of homemade goodies. Sister, you are quite the party planner! I love how you love to be in the kitchen! Your kind, sweet spirit and helpful heart blesses me every day. I love how you do life big and sparkly and with such vibrance! Jesus shines through the twinkle in your eyes and I am so glad and so excited to see all He has in store for His small but MIGHTY lil' Peanut. Hope your birthday was as special as you are! xoxo Mommy
Destiny got to pick what she wanted for her 16th birthday....a concert, hotel weekend with friends, just about anything within reason. She picked to go to Cuchara, Colorado, the sweetest little quaint mountain town you ever did see.  So on the morning of her Sweet 16, we opened a few little gifts and packed the car. Yes, I said loaded the CAR, not the RV. Some of our dearest friends have a family cabin there that they offered to let us join them at.  Here goes nothing. 7-8 hours ahead of us! Let's see if we still remember how to do this.....  The kids are older now apparently, and shocked me with how well they did. They read, slept, listened to Adventures in Odyssey CD, watched the scenery go by and only watched one movie!  Western Kansas, aka Feedlot Alley was an um, aromatic experience. And talk about flat lands, there is nothing out there and into Colorado! The temperature steadily climbed until it reached 106 at one point. Are we going the wrong way? Nope, there is the mountains! PHEW! I was worried about altitude sickness as we climbed to 9,000 plus feet so I had the kids drink a lot of water. Dale was less than impressed that someone had to pee every hour and 20 minutes. Haha! Hey hydration is important! Alas, we finally made it to Colorado.    YAY! We made it. Hi friends! I wish you could SMELL these photos. Oh the pine filled, cool crisp air was HEAVENLY!  A special surprise awaited Destiny inside. SO sweet!!!! Mena, age 11 made this AMAZING CAKE.  We had a visitor the first night and almost every night after.....a momma bear and her 2 cubs!  The next day some of our kids were up with the sun. They decided to try their hand at some hummingbird whispering. Apparently if you hold still enough, they come land on your finger! Paxton tried over half an hour but no luck. We packed up a picnic lunch and headed to Bear Lake for a day of fishing, hiking and relaxing by the water. It was gorgeous! We were up at 13,000 feet. (Brutal on the way down which equaled some bad headaches all around)  I am pretty sure this is the definition of DOG TIRED. She was dead weight on my leg on the way down the mountain! Hee hee  No one felt like cooking, so we walked down to town for some Dog Bar food....this cool outdoor restaurant where dogs are welcome to join their owners. We left sleepy Sophie at home but still enjoyed ourselves!  The kids spent the next day playing games, hanging out around the cabin and seeing the sites. Poor buddy Paxton, must have had some altitude sickness or a bug, because he threw up during the night and spent the day sleeping and oiling up. 
I took the girls down the mountain to town so we could get a snow cone and do some souvenir shopping! Paxton was awake when we got home and feeling more like himself. We cooked chicken tikka masala and garlic naan bread for the crowd and enjoyed an evening drive all over the valley. IT WAS GORGEOUS and I totally want a cabin there! Pax man was as good as new the next morning, so we walked down the mountain to the darling little putt putt golf place to have some fun!  It was all fun and games until it started HAILING ON US and pouring rain! Haha, kids quick finished the last holes with hoods up. The moms waited it out under the awning before playing the last holes and then we all dashed up the road to the Dog Bar to feed our hungry golfers some snacks. We ate INSIDE the Dog Bar this time (along with the entire town it seemed) so poor Summer the big white dog had to sit outside under the porch awning and watch us from the window. She loved the attention!
 We enjoyed the PRETTIEST nature walk! This town is D R E A M Y! We drove around looking at cabins and daydreaming.....   And just like that, it was time to load the car and head back home....but first, our traditional stair step pic! 
Back to Kansas we go.......
Hugs, T  To my sweet Destiny Joy on her sweet 16! Yesterday at 8 am we were induced in what would be the longest, hardest, 32 hours of my life. But finally, at 7:11 pm tonight, you came into my world a fighter, pink & beautiful from the start, and you took my breath away.  You were such an easy baby and just cute as a button. You know, being the first born is a tough gig. Everyone is trying to figure out their roles, parenting practices, rules, belief systems.  You were just as sweet as can be. "I'll get that for you, mom." "How can I help?" "We should ask Jesus about this!"  I must have binked...because suddenly, we had our first teenager. First cell phone. First curfew. First besties. First big blow up with daddy & I. Tears & hugs. Failures & wins. Laughing until we cry. High fiving over small victories & big ones too.  Today you turn 16. Such a grown up, yet still a kid trying to figure out where you fit in this life, this opinionated world.  Destiny, it is my utmost desire that year 16 is the year of awakening and stirring inside you. New boldness in Christ and using your beautiful gift for His glory. Outloud. On purpose. In big and mighty ways!  It is my prayer that sweet 16 is as sweet as you are, and as strong in purpose as your stubborn will, and that tenacity that I know will take you far.  You are more beautiful inside & out than you yet recognize. Walk in boldness & in truth that you are created in the image of the most High One and He calls you His Beloved......  Happy birthday, little one, all grown up!  You are loved! Momma  It's been ages since we have spent a summer in Kansas, probably 4 whole years. It's hot and some days the kids are super antsy and bored, but it's been nice to be at our home sweet hub and spread out a bit. Makes us miss and appreciate our home on wheels! We play a lot of board games, go out to the lake to fish and boat, or just let the kids use their imaginations and play to pass the time. I also have been trying to take them out on mommy dates when the other kids are busy or occupied at a friends house. Avery and I went shopping and had a sushi date! Mmmmm. I am obsessed with jumpsuits and overalls at the moment. I hit the clearance rack JACK POT! The kids still LOVE to read. I am always happy when they can get REAL books, not just kindle downloads. Being home has allowed us to go get stacks and stacks of books and read the afternoons away. EVEN momma! Eeeek! Guilty pleasure. 
Did you all have a safe and happy 4th?  We made a yummy trifle to take and share at the family function. Here is the recipe: Independence Day Trifle  I felt like I was coming down with something, so I stayed home and sent Dale and the kids to his uncles. GOOD THING, by nightfall I had a roaring fever and the infamous "camp cough" I had been treating the kids for. I oiled like crazy and was down 4 days. Thank goodness, its a viral cough they are saying takes 2 weeks to move through. Look at who came and took care of me one day, my very own butler! My sweet momma also came over and did an aromatouch (think raindrop therapy) on me and now coughing Paxton.
I got sick right after my hair appointment. We parted my hair back on the original side so the top part of my side shave can grow out. I am going for a long bob and am letting my natural curl come back out since it just showed up again! Hormones are weird. ;) I finally sent a shot of my new do to my BFF on day 4 of my sickness. Not looking too hot, but see the hair?! I have had the side shave and opposite part long enough my hair was starting to rebel against it. Love trying new things! Side note, I wear ONE contact. See how it bounced light differently than the other?! Crazy!  Back on the mend and enjoying a nice soak in the tub, I noticed how AWFUL the mineral stain on our white shower curtain had gotten and set out to make it white again.
 I dumped generous amounts of each in my HOT load and let it soak overnight. Not great. Round 2 of the same!  TA DA! Good as almost new. LOVE a NATURAL laundry room of great tools to use!!!!! Ready to make over your home and green up your cleaners?! I am your girl!!!! :D 
Looking for an easy summer salad recipe? Check out this Just Like Applebee's Oriental Salad from our old blog. We made it again and it was JUST as good as I remembered, if not better!  Out of all my children, Avery and Paxton like to be in the kitchen the most. Although, Destiny the other day announced she was making cookies and did. And Ty announced he wanted meatloaf for dinner, and did! Avery and Paxton whipped out 6 loaves of banana bread and a Texas sheet cake and it. was. fabulous.
 Destiny Joy was due like July 15. Her Grandma Eileen was born on the 14th, her Nana was born on the 16th and she picked her OWN birthday, the 17th. My mom turns 60 this year & Destiny turns 16, so we decided to have a girls date to lunch at the Airport Steakhouse in town to celebrate.
We headed to Nana's to help her pick out an outfit for an upcoming event and then headed to our house for a girlie movie and some Texas sheet cake! HAPPY day for Dale, somebody is excited about his new fishing boat! Hoping to access some fish again, cause wading isn't cutting it! Dale has been trying to restore his dad's boat but alas the cost was going to be too high. We found this sparkly beauty instead for a steal of a deal......even matches the RV colors! It's the little things & God is so good.  Already paying off! ;)  I wanted to try out our new oven, so I decided to make one my favorite meal when I was a little girl.....Italian Beef & Cheese Buns! I SPECIFICALLY recall that for my kindergarten birthday, this is what I chose for family supper that night. I also remember that I got 2 SUPER cool pair of leather high tops that night, in both black AND pink! Oh, I was in 1980’s heaven! 🤣   Cheers to the rest of July & a bit of August before it's back to school time again. We have a Colorado & Michigan trip planned yet this summer and lots of little projects to get done between now and then. Hope you are having a great summer! Until next time.... Hugs, T  Well July is off with a BANG, literally. Did you have a nice 4th of July? I cannot believe the month is almost half over! I use this blog as a travel journal and a highlight reel of our kids' lives, so hang on to your hats, I haven't blogged for a bit and it's time to catch up. When we last left off, Ty had headed to camp. Since then, Avery has gone to camp too. She had an amazing time, despite a bit of homesickness, she stuck the week out and is already begging to go back.  While we were there dropping off Avery, we got to see Destiny! She was greeting and helping around camp. We snuck into her dorm and left her an I heart U note on her pillow. The candy box you see in the photo is what we sent Avery, along with friendship bracelets to hand out to her dorm. When you get mail at camp, you have to sing for it! :) Paxton is the only not not staying at overnight camp this year, so we made sure he had some extra fun like a date with mom, slumber party with his buddy Joel. Ice cream Sundaes and more! Destiny has stayed her 3 weeks to work. She has a couple weeks off, which is good because she came home super sick with what we loving call "camp cough".  I am so grateful for essential oils to help fight and win! We did symphony of the cells treatments to help the body fight and win. Steam cup, hot on guard honey drink to soothe the throat and more. She felt better in no time! Father's Day came and went, with a whole lot of FISH. I wish real fish, although Dale was catching somes good ones when the weather was bad. It's hard to wade and get out to the fish now that it's nice. They all are out where it takes a boat to reach them. The kids and I spent FOREVER, drawing, cutting and hanging some fish for a fun garland while he was gone. He loved it!  Want an easy summer supper? Steak Gyros will hit the spot! Simply grill steak with mediterranean seasonings and slice thin. Chop baby tomatoes, seeded cucs & red onion for the relish. Mix a batch of homemade ranch with some high quality dill. Layer on flat out bread and use organic feta crumbles to finish it off. ENJOY! It has been nice to be home and offer essential oil classes at our local library each month! I love seeing our local team and their new oilers come to learn more. I had 2 sweet surprises, a little love note from Avery in my class bag. And a gift from one of the builders on our team! Look at that cute RV bird feeder! She gave me a little RV too, its out in my home on wheels. You know I LOOOOVE my orange retro kitchen, right?! It makes our house so happy and fun, but alas......... One of the old girls had to go. Hated to break up a darling 1952 pair, but I NEED one of my homes to have a legit cooking experience.😂 Haha, RV convection microwave doesn't count! We will save this darling orange stove for freezer pizzas or queso nights in a future rec room. Boys thought the packaging from the new stove made for a cool car ramp and set to work creating it on the staircase! What we are learning about Kansas is how HOT and boring it is without a pool. There is so much standing water from the floods at our house, that we can barely step outdoors without being eaten alive by mosquitoes. Thankfully, Uncle Mike has a cool pontoon! He let us take it out one day and joined us a week later to go again. It's for sale and we want it SO SO BAD, but the ol Papa truck just cannot pull it. We are not prepared to buy a boat AND a truck, so we had to let it go. Waaah! Maybe someday! To be continued.....
The blog is starting to get cranky with how photo heavy this post is. Hee hee, weakling! ;) Hugs, T www.rvoilers.com/blog We are in Kansas for the WHOLE summer! Good-bye up north (cool Michigan and Wisconsin summers are our FAVS) and hello midwest heat..... ;)  No, it's fine. The kids all wanted to attend bible camp and we were more than happy to comply! And it's always fun to see our family & friends again.
 We've had our fair share of flooding and baaad weather this summer already, but no damage, thank the Lord! Strangest start to summer EVER, that's for certain! Destiny was the first to go to camp. She had what is called LTC, leadership training camp. Intense training for being a "staffer" and one day, a camp counselor. She was less than enthused I made her pose for photos, but I simply don't care. There is no excuse not to document these awesome moments, right?! ;)  We made bug spray, bed bug prevention spray and homemade sunblock to send with our campers. After she got back, Ty went to his first ever overnight, nearly week long camp. He was excited but nervous! Avery is next week when Destiny returns for 2 more weeks of training and working.
June is barely started and here we already have so many fun things we've accomplished! Swapped out curriculum and ordered next years school. (Dale called me an overachiever! NOPE just organized!) ;) Had sibling sleepovers as well as some friend ones. Tried out Dale's new smoker grill. YUM! Had a fish fry. Went to our favorite snow cone stand x 6 times. Baby sat a baby husky named Nala. Took some family bike rides around the neighborhood. And lots of games and PLAY. I LOVE slow summer days where they can be kids and ENJOY! They always beg to crawl in my bed and read with me before they have to go to their own beds. It has been SO awesome to have Paxton finally interested in chapter books and READING! Hallelujah! All that hard work has FINALLY paid off.
My mom LOVES to have each child over for a special Nana sleepover date while we are home. So far, just the little two have had their turns. Oh, maybe Ty did, and we just didn't get any photos? I will have to ask him. It's all a blur of kids coming and going between camp and slumber parties. Haha! Dale and I got to sneak away one afternoon for our 17th anniversary date. We headed to a town about 45 minutes away to try out a new Asian restaurant that didn't disappoint. It rained the ENTIRE time! Like ran in in a DOWNPOUR and got soaked, NOT as romantic as the movies depict, that's for sure. ;) And, in true been married a long time anniversary, we also ran errands. HA! Do you do that? A little fun and function on your dates? I even changed out of my cute shoes into more comfy ones for that part. Practical is my middle name. OK no its not...not at all! ;) Dale has been hard at work finishing some details on the outside our home sweet hub. He painted our porch and it made a world of difference! You know you are a grown up when..... A Costco trip and "lunch" on the way home, is almost as fun as an all day girls shopping trip of days gone by!👏 After months of watching it go across my Instagram feed, I did it. I bought Beddy's Beds for these tricky, tall, side by side, loft beds in the boys room.... They. Are. Amazing. It's all one piece! (think mattress pad elastic edges but the ENTIRE BED is connected) No more breaking my hand to tuck in 3 layers! Easy to wash too. (Just took a while to fully dry) And in the morning? Easy zip side and they look tight and tidy! The boys loved it and slept great in them. Not too warm, not too cool and no sheet wadded in the bottom to fish out this am! The minky blanket inside is super soft! Watch for a sale, they just did a BOGO half off! Super impressed! One of my projects when we were home was to make succulent centerpieces. I went to Walmart and bought a bunch of awesome mexican canned goods! The cans are SO pretty and a lot of them stamped right on the tin. That makes it easier to wash after I dumped the food items into freezer containers. We get to host a doTERRA Dorothy Team dinner at convention this year! And we are having a FIESTA! I am so excited to love on our oil family! :) Wait until you see the full tablescape. Fingers crossed it turns out like it looks in my head <3 This CRAZY GUY keeps showing up at my house. I think Nana started something! ;)  Before I go, I MUSTACHE you a question........ Do you know who these 3 bearded men are?  Haha, hope your summer is off to a GREAT start! :)
Hugs, T Happy 17th Anniversary to my one & only! Who knew the Lord could bring you your "the one" while cruising main at age 18?!  I love that you still have my number in your wallet....  You were my first love, but listened to the Lord's nudge and broke up so He could get us both ready for what was next. When you let love go and it comes back to you, you know it's YOURS. He brought you back to me to enter into a courtship, dating with the intent of marriage, after many months apart. I was so grateful and excited for what the future held!  And at age 19, in front of a church we loved to worship in together, I gave you my best YES.  YES, yes I will! :)  Married May 24th, 2002 at age 20, before a crowd of 600 witnesses, I joined my life with yours and became, Mrs. Tonya Ferguson.
Our first blessing baby came at age 21. Surprise! God has the most wonderful plans despite our own "waiting to try for 4 years" plan.....  Dale, when I first said I love you, I thought I understood what that meant, but as we grew a life together, and I watched you become a daddy, so my love grew also.....  As we nearly lost all we built together, and started anew, that love grew roots. Roots that help a marriage withstand any storm....  When the world told us to throw away the broken, and we made the choice to embrace a second chance at a once in a lifetime love, those roots grew deep, deep down into the soil of the Father's unfailing love for His children. Beauty from ashes!  And as you grew into the man God had called you to be, my love for you, simply took my breath away. When you almost lose something precious, you appreciate it all the more!  As we loved and lost our precious daddies, my broken heart drew closer to yours, and together we healed again....I can face anything with you by my side.
Now, as we build a traveling life we only dreamed about, and a successful business together, my respect and love multiplies again and again.  My heart, joyfully rejoicing each day we can "do life" together in such a beautiful way.  I realize that when I first said I love you, I had just begun to understand all my heart could hold for you...  17 years later, my heart overflows & I thank God for making you mine, all those years ago. Happy Anniversary to the one my soul loves! Here is to many many many more....  We left Kansas January and returned the end of May..... We loved our dreamy winter in Florida and a FUN spring run to Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee & Ohio! But alas, it was time to circle back to Kansas and our home sweet hub.  As we moved back in to our space, a blog formed in my head called: 12 THINGS YOU NOTICE AFTER LIVING IN AN RV Here we go:  #1 - Regular Water Pressure Regular water pressure feels like a HIGH POWDERED pressure washing MIRACLE WORKER! Especially after several low pressure rv park water systems! We all had to stare and comment on the amazing power of WATER on dirty dishes. Haha! :)  Speaking of water and #2.... #2 - WATER in the Toilet In an RV, you manually add water to the toilet, before you can do your business. Sometimes things are um, urgent and people can barely get water in fast enough to do their duty. We all reach for the side of the toilet to push the button to add water when we first get home. LOL! :D Hey guys, guess what? These toilets COME WITH WATER ALREADY IN THEM!!!!  #3 - While We Are STILL Discussing Water Did you know in a home not on wheels, you can run the dishwasher, washing machine, the sink AND the shower at the SAME TIME?! Shut the front door. Who invents this stuff?!  #4 - Five Bar Cell Service and Wifi You mean cell phones and verizon wifi boxes can have FIVE bars of service? WHAT is this phenomenon? RV parks are notorious for horrible cell service in park and spotty Wifi you share with all the neighbors. NO BUENO! We can hardly believe how strong our signal gets when we get home. Not always in our metal shed home, but most of the time outside it!!!  #5 - Anybody Home? I swear, I spend half my time in our home sweet hub, trying to FIND MY FAMILY!!!! After living in 400 sq feet most of the year, 1600 sq ft feels ENORMOUS.  Guys? Guuuyyyyyssss????? DALE?! WHERE IS EVERYONE?  #6 - Warp Speed Laundry It's not until I get home to my full sized washer and dryer that I realize just how HUGE they really are compared to my cute little RV washer dryer set. We do 2 loads a day in the RV, to stay on top of things. At our home sweet hub I can do FIVE GIANT loads of laundry, in the time it takes the RV washer/dryer to do ONE. No kidding! What is this time and speed conundrum?
#7 - Toilet Paper LUXURY Regular toilet paper is SO SOFT and luxurious!!!!! Rv toilet paper has to be single ply so it doesn't clog the fancy imancerator system. I JUST WANT SOFT PAPER FOR MY TOOSHIE, OKAY!? It's the little things people.  #8 - I Want My Bed First world problems, when you like your RV mattress better than your home sweet hub one. I WANT MY SOFT BED BACK!
#9 - Pooper Duty You take your dog out to do her business and by habit, reach for a pooper duty bag! OH YEAH......NO more pooper scooping when you are home, HALLELUJAH!
#10 - Bake ALL THE THINGS RV convection oven doesn't bake in the center, and it heats up the whole home, so you learn quickly to grill, OR, do skillet or instant pot meals. That means when you get home, YOU BAKE ALL THE THINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Casseroles, egg bakes, comfort foods, brownies, cupcakes.... ALL. THE. BAKED. THINGS. NOW.
#11 - A SHOPPING SPREE When you are gone so many months from what you dub your "Kansas Closet", you find clothes you like again, and get to switch for items you are tired of in your RV closet! FREE SHOPPING SPREE ANYONE?!  Yes, we all share the RV closet x 6. We just have to be choosy what comes with us! We also all share the "Kansas Closet" upstairs, full of winter clothes we only need when we are here in cold weather.  Downstairs in the laundry room is our "Family Closet". Super handy on laundry day AND when it's time to move in and out of the RV closet, seasonly.  And #12 in our list of things you notice we you live in an RV for a while......  How quickly your heart misses it...............  .......and how BADLY you want to get back in it and go for another ADVENTURE!!!!!!  We are in Kansas for the rest of the summer, barring a few quick trips here and there. So long until next time..... Hugs, T   Happy Mother's Day! We spent our morning traveling 2 and a half hours into Amish country, so we could be ready for classes here tomorrow. The kids made me cards, and made sure I didn't lift a finger all day! It was nice :)  We drove around the countryside to just enjoy a scenic drive, snagged some yummy food from one of the only open restaurants on a Sunday...Park Street Pizza.  Avocado fries, giant farm salad, and 3 kinds of pizza was on our table before we knew it. Mmmm mm good! Here is what I wrote to my momma for Mother's Day to celebrate her from far away: When I am tempted to roll my eyes during yet another multiplication flashcards review with the littles, I remember how my mom used to make it a fun game each day after school. 🎵How she'd make a sing song sergeant-esque rhyme of the ones that tripped me up.....6x4 is 24, 6x8 is 48. Sound off! 📖 Or when it was time to learn a long bible verse for church, she'd lay on a blanket with me out in the yard and cheerfully review it again and again, until I knew it well. 🏡 When I am tempted to skip due to exhaustion, I remember how every night she would tickle my back and cuddle me, while I drifted off to sleep. When Destiny and I butt heads and she blows up, I remember how mom would just hug me close and stroke my long hair, when I'd take out all my highschool frustrations on her. She was a heck of a cook and housekeeper and ran a tight ship. My messy clothing- strewn room, after a running late outfit crisis, made her crazy. It had to be cleaned up and chores done before any fun could occur. I am now that mom!🤣 Everything I know and do, is based on a bar set really high by a mom who did it all.🙌 I can only hope my children will have half the happy memories of a mom who served them with joy, during their growing up years. Happy Mother's Day, momma! I sure do love you🥰  Here is what my sweetie wrote me:  GUYS, it is COLD here! High was 55 and rainy, so we cranked the fireplace and chilled the rest of the day in the RV. I love how homey it feels!  We headed into town Monday for Mrs. Yoder's fried chicken buffet, and black raspberry ice cream from Troyers, even though it was FREEEEZING out! 51* high and 41* for the low We are total total wusses now, after spending all winter in Florida and I totally didn't pack the right kind of clothes, brrrrrr! 
Cold, grey and blustery for sure! The kids hunkered down and I headed to class......  No plans on Tuesday, but swim with the kids in the heated indoor pool......
 When the sun FINALLY came out our final day there, we drove around and saw all the beautiful countryside! Windows down, just enjoying :)  Isn't this area so beautiful?! Can you spot our RV in this pic?!  Our final Ohio stop was Findlay for some classes with a brand new builder here! We found a pretty RV park with a big field behind it that was begging for playtime. We got set up and Pax decided it was time for a game of stick ball! :)   Always nice to enjoy a little down time between classes! Paxton picked an INCREDIBLE dinner to cook this week. Check it out! Carnita Tacos with quick pickled onions 
Friday was a meet and greet at a local cute coffee shop. Our friends and biz partners, Matt & Liz and their 2 sweet kids were in town so they could connect with their Ohio team too. We had them drop the kids off, so they could all play while we went to coffee. Destiny is a great babysitter and it's safe to say the kiddos had a great time! I didn't get any photos of our coffee shop group, but Liz and I did make Dale pull over on the way home to get photos of this gorgeous bridge. A local instagram page share it as well, COOL! :)   We got a phone call bright and early the next day with some sad news from Matt and Liz..... The river at their RV park flooded during the night and the RV and suburban were half under water. It was to the top step when they got rescued 2 at a time with only the backpacks on their backs. Here is the deal, they are in a strange place an hour from us in the wee hours of the morning, so once they got to dry ground, they were literally helpless and homeless. Everything they own is back in the RV. Their home on wheels! Thank the Lord for His provision! The Lawerence had attended a local church Sunday, had dinner Tuesday with the Pastor, and attended Wednesday night church and really connected with the leadership there. This kind shepherd was there in minutes and he and his wife opened their home and loaned their car to our friends until further notice. AMAZING! Praying it all works out. The "brain" of the RV is fried. All of it was under water! Randomly flashing lights, gages moving, alarms going off, won't start, not at all safe! Totally undriveable. We hold the note on this RV still, so we are up to our ears in insurance phone calls and arrangements. They keep wanting us to drive the RV to the shop to be accessed. I guess they don't have any idea that a fried RV cannot put jacks up, slides in, OR DRIVE for that matter! It can't even be towed with all those things down and out. Sigh. God has a plan and we trust it. Just a bit of a stressful situation for all!
We left at 6 am the next morning to beat a line of severe hail storms coming our way. Little did we know, that wasn't going to be the end of it!  After 12 hours of driving, we made it to Kansas City, just in time to enjoy the sunset and a walk. We planned to see our friends Monday, chill at the lake where we were parked Tuesday and go hang out and teach a class Wednesday.  The more we watched the weather, the more concerned Dale got. The more time that passed, the worse the weather forecast. Flood warning for the lake we were parked at, golf ball sized hail, tornado watch and high winds. After much debate and sadness, the decision was made to not sit in the weather to come for the next 48 hours and instead, head the 4 hours home early in the morning and get the RV and trailer under cover at our home sweet hub. The last thing we need, is ANOTHER RV with a claim and storm damage! We will just take the car back to Kansas city Wed instead of getting the ol home on wheels back out again. Not ideal, we are terrible car travelers now, but totally worth it! We didn't beat the rain home, but we did beat the major wind and storms that hit that night both at our house and at the lake where we WOULD'VE been. We slept great knowing all was well! Check out our now "lakefront" home! 
No matter how dreary on the outside, we are so happy to be safe and warm on the inside and greeted by such a cheerful sight! HOME SWEET HOME Hugs, T  When I last blogged, we had QUITE the travel day adventure, but we made it to DELAWARE................the town of Delaware, OHIO that is!  We were supposed to stay in Plain City, but they called to cancel our reservation. Apparently they had to tow out a ton of the rigs staying there due to heavy rains. Woah. Not cool. Glad they let us know! We saw this on FB not long after.......  We got all set up, walked the our new rv park a bit and headed into town for dinner and groceries. MOD pizza was on our minds.... 
Proud of my little shoppers! They all menu planned with me as we drove and we headed to the store with 5 grocery lists and look, even smiles. :)  Our menu includes: *BBQ chicken, mac & cheese, baked beans & veggies *Steak, parsley garlic noodles & salad *Walking Tacos *Roasted Red Pepper Sausage Rigatoni *Cheeseburgers and sides *Carne Asada tacos with pickled red onion & queso blanco cheese *Hobo dinners (leftover hamburger patty, zucchini, mushrooms, onion, rosemary and organic mushroom soup as gravy) over the fire with s'mores cones for dessert Mmm, some good eats this round! The next morning we headed out for some play time on the RV playground, but first the kids had to get ready. Arrrrgh matey! Love when these guys get creative. Cross Creek RV's pirate ship playground was the perfect inspiration for a day of fun!   That evening, we had class, which was so fun! No pics, of course, I was teaching, remember?! :) We have lots of new excited oilers in OHIO!!!!! Speaking of oilers, we met the coolest couple on our trip to Hawaii this winter, we texted them to see if they were close by, and they were. Whoop whoop! They graciously invited us to their farm for the evening. It was BEEEEEAUTIFUL!  They also have 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls, so everyone had a buddy to hang with, and got along so so well. Such a neat family dynamic in this home! I really appreciated how the big boys, 17 & 15, stuck around and hung out with the kids and adults. That is highly unusual and a breath of fresh air, am I right?! Often the cool teens don't come home, or even if they are home, do not stick around to play or visit with everyone. I am more determined than ever, to make sure we do this as our family grows up. It's so easy to accept teenager things as "normal" when really, it's simply a choice and upbringing.   Oh my goodness, the evening flew and it got SO late so fast! We had a heck of a time and literally talked non stop, like long lost friends catching up. Talk about kindred spirits....God is so faithful to continue to connect us with the coolest families as we travel! Thanks to Jim for snagging this fireside selfie of the whole gang before we left.....  It rained pretty much the ENTIRE NEXT DAY, but we played games, watched movies and when the clouds broke, quick rode a buggy around the RV park before it POURED AGAIN. We have been doing this long enough, that we can handle rainy days like a champ! ;)
 We headed to Plain City the next day for one more class with a new builder and friend, Bekah. Our business partners and friends, Matt & Liz, came too, so we could all connect as a team. I love that they are mobile now. They are the ones that bought our black and grey rv! :)  We drove by the RV park we were supposed to stay at in Plain City, on the way over, the muddy one from above? Yeah, check out these RUTS! So grateful we didn't try to stay here.  Our final day in the area, and guess where we are headed? Back to our new friends Hicks' for a day of fishing, chilling and using their WIFI to get some work done......let's be honest, sometimes just one gathering isn't enough! :D We wanted to provide a meal for them this go around, so HOBO dinners seemed like an easy choice for feeding a crowd that includes keto folks. For ease, this is how we layer our HOBO dinners: Already grilled and seasoned hamburger patties, cut up Fingerling potatoes, thinly sliced Zucchini slices Onion, chopped or sliced thin Seasonings, generously salt, pepper and garlic powder veggie layers Butter pat Bella Mushrooms Organic mushroom soup spooned on top for "gravy" Fresh rosemary sprigs, cut up MMmmm!   We tried our hand at a Keto dessert in the IP and it turned out SO good! Mocha Chocolate Pudding Cake Recipe and image from here: https://www.ruled.me/slow-cooker-mocha-pudding-cake/ We added cinnamon, yum. Extra real vanilla extract. 3 squirts of liquid stevia, instead of the mentioned powder stuff. And used the instant pot vs. the crock pot, which we do not travel with. Non keto peeps can have it with ice cream, keto peeps can do whipped cream! SO fluffy and yummy!  Until next time, friends! May the Lord bless you and keep you, make His face to shine upon you and give you peace and abundant blessings for opening your home to us, not once, but TWICE in 3 days. Haha! :)
The next day was MOTHER's Day! We all slept in until 10 am, oh man, we have to check out before 11. We quick made smoothies, listened to live church on facebook from Florida, and packed up to head out to Amish country!  More on that soon.....hope your weekend was WONDERFUL!
Hugs, T
We had a blast in Alabama with our oil family! We usually park 45 minutes away at a huge lake, but this time, found a little local spot for our short stay in Huntsville.....
Our friends and business partners there, Darren & Angel, always bless us with the most AMAZING meal. They are from Fiji and have ALL the good recipes!!!! This time it was curry and rice, holy amazing. The kids had a ball playing outside, while the adults visited.
Sweet Darren surprised me with MY FAVORITE.....Rosie's Salsa!!! The BEST Mexican out there, for serious. I may or may not have rocked this jug and held it like a baby! ;) (and then ate it for my meals everyday! haha)
Then it was time to work! Angel and her team did a FABULOUS job filling each class....we had a ball! Lots of new oilers coming to Huntsville! :)
We even got to have a Rosie's Fajita dinner after our second night of classes, thanks to Darren dropping it off after work. SO thoughtful! I loved getting to hang out with Angel and Kathryn more before we left town.....
The next morning, the students of 4 Oaks Academy finished their school year.....WAHOO!
Time to celebrate!
We let the kids pick wherever they wanted to go from dinner to CELEBRATE.....
Is it any surprise they picked Rosie's Mexican?! You are looking at a future 3rd, 5th, 7th and Junior in HS right here...... 
Look at how they've changed since we hit the road 4 years ago, April!
They picked the TV foodie famous, Bigfoots Little Donuts for dessert. Hot and fresh off the line, Peaches & Cream, Honey Cinnamon and Funnel cake
We left early the next morning to head to Franklin, TN trying to beat a line of storms....
I just don't think we did this area any justice at all. We sat in the parking lot in Franklin, TN for a quick oil class in the local coffee shop, and from what I hear, missed a TON of cool things to do and see.
Next time, Franklin. Next time. We always try to think of fun games to play or crafts to do during travel days. Today was, a stamp the playdough guessing game! :) 
We headed to our campsite in Kentucky and got all set up....the kids were at each other, and it was pouring out, so no evening walk in the forecast.
We decided to divide and conquer. The girls and I would stay here with chocolate and a girly movie, and Dale would take the boys in to see the Corvette museum. You know, the one that had a sink hole in the center at one point? At the last minute, Destiny decided to go along. No problem! Papa would be proud. My dad was a corvette fanatic and had 17 different Vettes in his lifetime.. I stayed behind with Avery and we decided on swiss chocolate (Thanks, Elaine!) and Little Women, the movie. Not 25 minutes later, Dale calls.....the boys were fighting and despite being warned, had just lost their privilege of going to the museum that day. Everyone was headed back home for dinner and an evening at home. RUT RO!!!! Those lessons are hard on EVERYONE involved. We ate dinner and headed to bed. Tomorrow is a fresh start! 
The next day, instead of home church, we headed out to go enjoy our Creator's Creation: Mammoth Cave.
We had just read about this in Paxton's school books and one of my favorite Christian Fictions, so it was perfect timing.
Mammoth Cave National Park Facts:
Mammoth Cave National Park is a 52,830 acre park located in the state of Kentucky in the United States. It is named after the cave it partially encompasses, called Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System, which is the world's longest known cave system. Native Americans have inhabited the cave region for at least 6,000 years. It is believed that the first Europeans to discover the cave system did so in the late 1700s, although it is not known if it was Francis Houchin or his brother John Houchin who officially made the discovery. In 1941 Mammoth Cave National Park was officially established. 
There are a variety of different tours available, all varying in sites, length and exertion. They range from 2 -6 hours in length, all offering an incredibly memorable experience. A few of the more popular tours are Frozen Niagara, Fat Man’s Misery, Domes & Dripstones and the Grand Avenue.
The main Grand Ave tour was sold out, note you will need to book FAR in advance for this one! We picked a moderate difficulty 2 hour tour, Domes & Dripstones, and hung out in the free museum while we waited for the buses. I was just fine until I read all the warnings associated with this tour about those fearing heights and suffering from claustrophobia...... Ho boy! So glad for this bad boy. Balance is wonderful for times when you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or just feeling anxious about something. It's also good for days kids cannot focus or sit still! It's grounding and centering and smells wonderful! I dosed myself in it while we waited. Ahhhh much better! Now if I get nervous, I can sniff my wrist. 
We arrived at the cave entrance and the descent down began.......and kept going and going and going.
I have never gone down so many dark, damp, steep, slippery stairs in my life! Avery's eyes were HUGE and her teeth were chattering!
The formations are incredible and vary in size, color and size. The Drapery Room looks like pleated drapes in a pale limestone. The Snowball Room has the appearance of hundreds of snowballs, varying in size. Frozen Niagara looks like a waterfall, frozen in time. These are just a few of the unique formation waiting to be seen at Mammoth Cave. Each area seems to be a doorway into another new world of shapes, colors, sizes and creatures.
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When you are done with your descent from the cave, you walk through this nasty soapy stuff that gets your socks wet. It is supposed to help you from spreading a disease to other places since its present in the mammoth cave bats.
Since we were so close to the Corvette museum, Dale decided to take the boys to it, attempt 2. He dropped the girls off at the mall and took off. It was fun!
Avery found some cute magnetic earrings. She wants to get her ears pierced so bad, but we are looking for some improvement in responsibility and clean up first, so these will do.
We pulled out the next day for Ohio!
BUT, not all travel days are fun and relaxing....... Let's do a little travel day math, shall we? 30 ounces of water x 5 Ferguson stainless steel cups = 150 oz of cold refreshing water ADD to that equations, the Mother of ALL POTHOLES and that equals.... Over a GALLON of water flying out of said cups, and rushing all over the floor and under slides! ?????? 
BONUS: We lost all our dash gauges too. But never fear, Mr. Fix It is on the job!
Hidden blessings:
*The floor will be oh so clean when we stop tonight. *My cup jumped across two open laptops before spilling. Thanks, Lord! *We may never know why the Lord needed us off the road that 30 minutes but we trust it! * askdsf *Dale got it fixed and we are back on the road again! OHIO - Here we come :) Hugs, T 
This is what travel day looks like when a huge, unavoidable, pothole sets off a high pitched sensor alarm for your air ride system, and the part you need is still 2 hours away and no one on the phone can help you shut it off.
3 brave souls remain out front, utilizing noise cancelling headphones from the races. Everyone else is hiding in the back bedroom!? ? Never-the-less, we are Alabama bound!
UPDATE 1 hour later:
Dale was pushing buttons on the dash and cleared the error code. (Why didn't the guy on the phone tell us to do that?!) We still need the new part but don't have to hear the alarm! Hallelujah! :) 
When we come to Birmingham, our favorite park is called Oak Mountain State Park and it has the NEATEST things for families to enjoy.
Like a working farm petting zoo, hiking trails, horse stables, places to swim and fish, and even a BMX track to jump your bike on if you are into that sorta thing. 
We grabbed dinner at Jim N Nicks, some groceries and called it a day....
Score! $50 worth of blackberries for $10 at Publix. I checked the tag like 5 times. Yup 98 cents a carton!
We saved some out to eat fresh, but the rest went into baggies with other fruits for smoothies....
The next morning we watched our Florida church on the big screen, while it wasn't as wonderful as sitting in the auditorium, we still received the Word of God and powerful messages.
Ones I wanted to remember, so I made a couple new cards for our fridge door....Powerful stuff, right?! Church inspired fridge words to live by! 
I headed to class, again, no pics because well, I am working. Haha! It was a ball, southern ladies are SO FUN and funny to hang out with!!!!
It was about 8 pm when Dale came to pick me up, and he told me about this cute little hole in the wall he read about called Pho 280. He said Destiny had the kids in bed and he was taking me out! We decided to share the Shaking Beef dish as well as the oh so famous, 24 hour simmered Beef Pho. HOLY AMAZING! We left, promising ourselves we'd come back ASAP.
I had Monday off, so we decided to quick get school done and have an adventure.....
But our morning was interrupted with some EXCITEMENT! The horses got out of their pasture and went flying by. Dale ran out to herd them away from the main road... he had a oh shoot what have I gotten myself into moment as they ran full boar at him, but they turned at the last minute and kept running. Here the stable hands were trying to chase them down:
Once everyone finished up their work, we headed to do the hike to Peavine Falls.
Sophie was excited to get included! A lot of parks don't let dogs on the trails, but this one did. 
The kids picked the more challenging blue trail and off we went...no, we didn't do all 7 miles! ;) Just the falls and back.
The path was very rocky and we spent a lot of time manuvering over boulders and down steep slopes, but man was it cool!
And then, we could hear it, the FALLS!!!!!!!!!!
We were the only ones there too. So we kicked off our shoes and waded around and enjoyed the peace and quiet before a group found us.
My adventurers had a little less pep in their step back UP the rocky slopes. We had to sit a couple times to rest. Hee hee, everyone is sleeping GOOD tonight!
On adventure days, I think planning ahead an easy supper is CRITICAL to everyone's happiness and success. We had a yummy cold pasta salad waiting for us in the fridge! Here is the recipe.
We added rotisserie chicken, and increased dressing to acommodate the addition. This is a simple and yummy recipe! Season to taste.
Knowing I was teaching class the next night, some of us took a walk down around the lake and enjoyed the sunset.
Before my evening class, we took the kids with an early dinner at Pho 280. They are big asian cuisine fans, and wanted to try it after hearing us rave about the food.
I had the Ramen bowl with soy sauce soaked hard boiled eggs, YUM. Everyone loved what they got! If you are ever in Bham, you have got to go check it out!
I had a lovely class with a back porch full of lively southern belles, and we chit chatted the evening away until all of a sudden it was almost 11pm. MY GOODNESS, time flies when you are having fun!
That evening, while I was gone, Avery made friends with the new neighbors, and Dale told me of their plans the next morning to go pat and ride the horses at the stable. Sure enough, the next morning, Mr. Hollie offered to take Avery for a ride. He later, let her lead Funny Face by the rope while we were packing up to get ready to go. Pretty special stuff for my little horse fanatic!
Our kind neighbors took this photo as we pulled out. Until next time!
We are off to Huntsville, AL for some more oil classes with our awesome team here. 
Hugs, T
Feel so good to be on the road again! There is nothing like hearing the beautiful diesel start up. 4 years later, it STILL makes my heart go a flutter.
We eased back into the swing of things and kept our first day shorter than some, with 8 hours of travel. Kids did a great job working on school and it was almost as if we hadn't stopped traveling for 3 whole months. Dale found us a beautiful place for the night called Fair Harbor in Perry, Georgia. 
Once we get our home on wheels set up, we like to get out, stretch our legs and explore the RV park a bit. This one had horses, a play area, and a big pond for fishing.
We took a nice long family walk before dinner and bedtime. We were going to hit the road at a good time the next day. Travel days go easier when they start early, don't you agree?
Buford, GA, here we come!
We had never been in Buford before, and there wasn't many options in the way of RV parks we could fit at. The Shoal Creek Campground on Lake Lanier looked promising. We usually don't fit at state parks, but they thought we could swing it......
It didn't take Dale long to realize with the map of S curves handed to us, the route leading to our site, was NOT going to be an option.
So, he backs us back down the hill, around the corner and then proceeds to back back up, into our spot with the trailer, despite their advice to drop it. Guess they don't know Dale has got some backing up skillsssss.... Thanks to Paxton for recording this video!
IMPRESSIVE. I would NEVERRRRRRRRRR. Thank goodness I married someone who can back like a champ!
We get to call this stunning forest home for the next few days, and I am ECSTATIC! Forest is my FAVORITE....
Once we set up, the kids were begging to go explore! 
It was fun to see the kids use their imaginations and hang out together and just chillax outside in the cooler weather.
Hammock shenanigans and a picnic dinner: Chicken Tetrazinni, mmm!
We enjoyed a cozy fire before bed.....
Kids couldn't get out to the fire circle fast enough the next morning, but BRRR was it COLD! We got wimpy over the winter in Florida, I think. ;)
We did school out there, then off they went to play the day away! 
I sat out for a long time after everyone else found something to do. It was just so peaceful.
Reminded me of a verse, hearing the trees clap and praise in the breeze. I Chronicles 16:33a "Let the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD...."
Check out these sweet buddies, playing orphans and cooking over an "open fire"......
At this point, I headed into town for class at a darling local coffee shop. NO photos, of course! I always get so distracted. Guess that's good, since I am there to share my oils and do my job to empower people to use them! LOL :) We had a lovely time.
Back home for dinner and one more family walk through the park and fire with the kiddos. We had to head out early the next day for our next location.....
Alabama, here we come!
Hugs, T
It has been a fun winter and time has absolutely FLOWN. It's time to say bye to Florida for now!  As it came close to our departure day, our list of "one more thing" & "one more time" grew...... *Eat Der Dutchman for breakfast, one last time *Go to Mexican with Grammy, one more time *Do an evening swim (we have meant to do that but just now getting it done) *Final bike rides around the park *One more fishing day *One more afternoon at the pool We ADORE Florida and hope to one day make it our home 5 or so months a year! Traveling is too fun, I cannot imagine giving that up at this point. ;)  April 14th came and went without a blog, so late Happy birthday to Dale! Birthday pics in the slideshow along with some lizards, yummy food, pool day, Mexican night, bike rides...... We knew we had to hit the beach, one more time too, and dig our toes in the sand, so we did that before Easter weekend.....  It's just SO lovely here! The beach has this dreamy white sand and teal water. Nice and warm now! Last Mexican night with Grammy and Uncle Dan, Aunt Torrey had to work. BOO! The food was delicious as always and we had a great time!  I had a flashback of an old photo while the kids were hanging by the fountain. I found it on our old blog on the way home from dinner.....2014 & 2019 WHERE does the time go?
 Aww, such sweet memories! You know, our first winter down here, staying at a new place instead of at Papa's farm, was something we were anxious about. But we needed not worry, God knew that we would make amazing new memories down south, too. And we cannot WAIT to come back and make some more...... Until then, we are on the road again heading NORTH to teach some oil classes!!!  Our FREE educational classes are in: *Atlanta area: Buford, GA - April 27 - 11 am Birmingham, AL - April 28 at 3pm, April 30 - evening class time TBA Huntsville, AL - May 2 & 3 at 6:30pm Plain City, OH - May 7 & 10 @ 6:30pm Findlay, Ohio - May 18 at 2 & 6pm If you are close to any of those areas and want an invite, just say the word. I would love to connect with you! I will message you the address and as my guest, you will receive a FREE gift! :) Hugs, T 
Did you have a Happy Easter? Celebrating a risen Saviour with you! What a precious gift, eternal life. We had a wonderful weekend!
First up, Family Fun Day on Friday.... Off to see Breakthrough, what a fabulous film of faith and the power of prayer. Cried the whole way through! It is a must see! I am loving the theatre down here. We rarely budget to take the whole crew to a movie because for that price, we could just BUY it, right?! it is only $6 a ticket regardless of when you go, or what ages, and it is a really nice reclining seat theatre to boot!
Some families dye eggs, we used to. NOT in the RV! LOL! This year we picked something different..... ;)
TIE DYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Outside. ;) 
It was messy, our hands were many colors and several outfits had whoopsies. (nothing a little lemon oil couldn't get out, worked like a charm!)
Once we got out old lake swimsuits to wear during the rubber band clipping/rinsing process, I could relax a bit more. It took 2 days in all from start to finish, but in the end, cute and fun summer clothes can be enjoyed! 3 library bags, a ball cap, bandana, swimsuit coverup, 2 kitchen towels, and several t-shirts and tank tops were made before we ran out of dye. It was a lot of fun! :)
Our church has several service times to choose from, and we like to go on Saturday night. Easter was a bit of a different schedule, so we went late Saturday afternoon, for the 4:00 service.
IT WAS AMAZING! Wow. SO powerful.
We had tickets for early entry so we got to skip some of the crazy lines. We are so thankful to have found a wonderful church home down here for the winters. 
They closed out service with this amazing song........ CHILLLLLLLLS
With church done on Saturday, that left Sunday to sleep in, and have some fun before we had to make ham, cheesy potatoes, steamed green beans, etc. We had already made our dessert Saturday so it could get cold.
You might remember the recipe from our old blog, 4 little Ferguson's, all my favorite recipes are there and we use them every week! God is good to give me a digital cookbook for our simple living! White Chocolate Lemon Blueberry Trifle We use our doTERRA essential oils for everything! So instead of messing with the zest, we just added 2 to 3 drops of doTERRA's pure lemon oil to our fluff. YUM! You will love it! 
Before it got too hot, we played a game outside, like Capture the Flag, except we did it EGG style. Each kid had to go get their 3 eggs, ONE at a time, without getting tagged and frozen by their opponents. We had a ball! Boys won round one, girls round two, then we mixed up teams and kept playing until we were too hot and hungry.
The night before, Dale and I stuffed 3 eggs with 2 kinds of candies from the local farmers market, and a $5 bill per kid. They don't get candy often, so we knew they might be more excited about that than anything. ;)
The girls found the CUTEST tablecloth, paper goods and even a matching pillow, for our outdoor dining area. We eat most our meals outdoors since we all fit comfortably at this big picnic table.....
Avery set the table so nice and made everyone a name tag. She placed some peeps at each spot.....somehow Paxton's didn't make it to lunch?! ;) It was all delish!
Boys headed to go fish and girls headed to the pool to read and relax the afternoon away.....
When the boys got home, we finished up our Easter celebration. We don't do easter baskets for resurrection day anymore, just simple things like a candy treat for our small RV lifestyle. So I hid their chocolate little bunny in the RV and each kiddo got a clue card where to find it.....
Can you figure out the clues?
They found them pretty quickly and then we played "Warmer" until they found the final gift. You know the game, cold, cold, colder, warm, warm, warmer, warmer, WARMER< BURNING HOT, you are on fire....depending on how closely they get to the hidden item?
Well, let's just say things got noisy when Dale started clanging and screeching like a broken fire alarm. They laughed and laughed as they hunted ALLLLL around him. Sneaky ol' daddy had his foot on the rug, on the movie the whole time. They were SO close the entire time they were searching!
We watched our movie, went on a family bike ride and called it a day.
Hope you all had an amazing and happy Easter! So thankful for a Father who loved us enough to send His son that we might have LIFE... Hugs, T 
I cannot believe how fast winter has gone! I guess poolside and bike rides make for a smooth transition from winter to spring? Time flies when you are having fun!
We took the girls to see the movie Unplanned with some friends of ours. It was gut wrenching and eye opening and a wonderful conversation starter. We found an amaaaaazing church down here that we are so excited to plug in to, of COURSE, it's right before we go for the season, but at least we know about it for when we come back. AND, online church for travel days is always a plus! Destiny has grown so much this season, taller then MOM by FAR, and literally outgrew all the things. SO, we planned a huge girls day and hit the discount stores and the mall. Daddy took the boys fishing and told us to take as long as we like......aww, thanks honey! Seven hours later, count 'em SEVEN, we were done! PHEW! That was HARD WORK. We ended the day with some cheesecake factory. The girls have never been! That's its for now! Our time here is rapidly coming to a close and while I am super excited to get back on the road, I am sad to leave this place that feels so much like home......  Hugs, T
 Florida life is a good life! We are so grateful to be here, just in time for Aunt Ashley's wedding to her fiance, Clay. We drove an hour and a half to go celebrate with them. I packed up all our wedding clothes and decided to try curly hair. The bob side is getting longer now, and I hope to be able to switch things up once in a while! :)  Uncle Chad and Aunt Lauren let us use their hotel room to change and then we were off to the ceremony in the backyard of Ashley and Clay's lakefront home.  Everything was stunning! Check out these cool seating areas! 
 The center aisle was totally dreamy.......
The ceremony was sweet, touching and funny.....and then, they were Mr & Mrs!  We ate yummy BBQ and desserts, and listened to incredible entertainers, sweet toasts and then the dancing began and lasted well into the night. Congrats to the Clingerman's! Wishing you all God's best.... Hugs, T   You know these days, it seems to be all about the BROWS. Lashes too yes, but brows are back, baby! I have always been blessed with long eyelashes, and at one point, full brows..... But alas, as a teen of the 90's, it was NOT "in" to have bushman eyebrows. IN FACT, we paid perfectly good money every month to have our brows waxed into tiny little strips and drew the rest in. OH.MY.WORD.  By the way, this is Dale and I the first summer we met. And the rose photo above is the night he told me he loved me for the first time. I told him I needed to think about it before I said it back! Haha, what can I say?! I wanted to be sure!! :) This is also the summer he sweetly asked to kiss me, and I said nope. I was waiting until I had a ring on my finger, and he said he thought I was worth waiting for. AWWWWWWWWWWW, how tiny are we? Like 17-18? Haha, ah young love. :)  Needless to say, I have spent the better part of my adult life, drawing eyebrows into spaces that literally, no longer grow hair.  And when the bigger brows came fully into style, the time to draw them in, also grew. It takes like 15 extra minutes on a "bad eyebrow day", and YES, when you draw them in, that IS a thing!  Soooo when my sis in law told me all about her new eyebrows and I got to see them in person, I knew it WAS TIME! It was PAST TIME! I needed new brows. Hers looked SO awesome!!!!
It was time to go under the blade.... THE MICROBLADE. Eeek! Scary! I made an appointment in Ocala, FL at Michelle's Glam Studio.  Michelle was kind and explained what she was doing to this newbie. She was meticulous in making sure I was happy with the shape and fade of my brows and touched up areas several times, until we both agreed, they were just right. She did both microblading AND ombre powder, so it looked like real brows, but also had nice dark pigment like makeup covered brows. Everyone wants to know if it hurts, right? I have never had a tattoo in my life so I found it to be very strange. I could hear the needle scrape (Ewwww!) and the first passes didn't hurt at all, but after an hour of it, then 2 hours, it felt like razor blades and ombre powder pen were scratching and scraping sore, raw hamburger, skin. She numbed it several times though, and that helped immensely!  My before and after on Michele's social media page:  The end result was the brows I had only dreamed of being able to draw in, and I get to wake up like this! No more spending 15 minutes trying to shade and draw matching 2 eyebrows in. I should've done this ages ago! You let the first round heal up, follow her directions for cleaning & care, like no swimming, scrubbing, picking scabs etc. before going back for a touch up at one month. I followed her healing directions to the T! Even buying a hat to hide my brows from the sun (they will fade), saying no to hot tub and swimming (hello! we live in Florida, this was hard!), and being extra careful in the shower not to get them wet.  They dried and flaked and it was GROSS. I was embarrassed to go out in public for a few days!! No wonder she says don't pick, it's tempting. But if you do, it pulls off pigment, and no one wants that!
Once healed, they looked nice, but see how they are a little pale in the middle-back arch where I have no hair left? No worries, because remember, you go back in at the one month mark to refill all that.  My sis in law, Lauren, was scared to tell me that her touch up hurt badly, since she knew my first round was painful, but funny story...... I fell ASLEEP during my touch up, because it was just relaxing and didn't hurt at all! Haha, guess I am opposite?! I love the final results and this touch up round, I tried a new method my step-momma, Drea told me about, she said really coat the tattoo, or in this case the brow, with the little healing cream they give you and keep it moist with it at all times, as opposed to waiting a week to start that part per the salon instructions. I figured it was worth a shot! Guess what? I had minimal itching and ZERO flaky peeling and it healed up a week faster! I am a believer in the moisture method! And here is my end result:  If I continue to keep my brows out of the sun, microblading lasts 6 months to a year and ombre powder can last up to 2 years! HALLELUJAH!
Do you have eyebrows you love? Or were you a child of the 90's as well? ;) There is hope for us! Hugs, T It's Spring Break, baby! Exxxceeeeeeppppttt..... The 4 little Fergusons already HAD their Spring Break with Grammy, while mom and dad were in Atlanta. No worries! We have a plan......school as normal and then Uncle Chad, Auntie Lauren, the cousins and Nana are all coming down for a long weekend! YAY! We had to scramble, but found a last minute adorable rental nearby.  We beat them to their space on Friday and used the code to get in and start making dinner.... a fiesta!!!  Instant Pot Carne asada, mexican street corn, fresh lime mojitos and a frozen layered fried ice cream dessert. YUMMO! Street Corn Recipe Fried Ice Cream Dessert
 We had a nice time and the cousins loved getting to dig through the driveway to find the sea shells..... Slideshow: The next morning, we met for breakfast at our favorite place, Der Dutchman.
 Waited for the rain to pass, cut up a bazillion local strawberries, then headed to the pool all afternoon.  Dale made us yummy burgers and sides and the kids enjoyed the rv park golf course while we waited for dessert and games....  Have you ever played Tenzi? We picked up a couple sets of dice an some cards at Der Dutchman and were so excited to get to play.  It was a HOOT! We were in hysterics! We all said our goodbyes and planned to meet (sans rain) at the beach for a day of fun in the sun!  We woke up to cloudy skies, but NO rain, so off to the beach we went. Chad's car full made it first and they found us a great spot right by the water....  Time for some Vitamin D & "Sea"  Slideshow: We picnic'd, read books, built volcanos and sand castles and had a ton of fun! The sun kept peeking in and out but it was a really nice day overall. Slideshow:  The sky got darker, the kids got redder and everyone was ready to call it a day. We headed to the showers and then over to Grammy Drea's house. She heard Chad's were in town and invited everyone, including my mom, to her place for dinner. What a blessing!  Dale started grilling and the kids started playing.....lots of fun things to do and see at Grammy's house! It takes a special set of ladies to come together, as different pieces of the same family, in so many different combos and ways represented, to break bread and fellowship...💕 Grateful for an amazing night at Grammy's house with Nana and the whole gang! God is so good. 🙏   Uncle Chad asked for a photo recreated.......2010, 2015 and 2019   Guess who got "the big one" out in the golf course lake after dinner? This guy! He was so excited!
Our guests went home the next day. What a fun weekend!
Hugs, T Every year doTERRA invites their Silver and above ranked leaders to a leadership retreat on the west or east coast, to connect and learn together. It has been held in Orlando, FL recently, but this year was in ATLANTA! Atlanta is about 7 hours from here, so we packed up the kids to head to Grammy's for the week. Packed up ourselves for a looonnng car trip, grabbed our Hawaii themed leaders gifts and headed out! :)
We have a doTERRA friend living at the same RV park as us, heading to the same retreat, so we had her hop in. We picked up my momma in central Florida on the way through and made it a car full. Poor poor Dale, surrounded by women that have to stop to pee often, LOL! He did well.
 We checked into our darling apartment on the top floor, grabbed some dinner right next door at Pho24, ate some amazing beef pho (pronounced Fhu), a bbq bahn mi sandwich and my favorite, bubble tea! Wow, we got to enjoy quite the view!!!!  The temperatures were dropping rapidly and the wind chilled our bones, we knew before we headed out to the retreat tomorrow, we were going to need to try to find a scarf or hat or something. Coming from Florida, we had NO warm clothes. Thank goodness, Drea had sent me with her sweaters and boots to borrow!!!!!! We grabbed the car and headed to a cool 2 story Target. We didn't get very far, traffic was backed up like crazy. Apparently Bad Boys 3 is being shot on our block.  We only found a scarf, since they had all their swimsuits out instead, headed back home to call it a night and settle in for some good sleep...  NOPE! I woke up out of my first sleep to a HUUUUGE explosion and rapid gunfire. I grabbed Dale's arm. OH NO! I KNEW Atlanta was dangerous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dale ran out to the screened in porch. Traffic and people walked and continued as usual. Hmmm........  Then it hit us, OHHHHHHHHHHHH - THE MOVIE! We found out they shut down the city streets from 7pm - 7am to shoot the movie. The war zone continued every hour on the hour. This is NOT how I wanted to start a busy week! Thank goodness for oils that support clarity and energy, because we needed it. We headed to register, see our team and get the day started. It love the energy of these big events!  We heard some company updates, new products coming soon and then Rachel Hollis BROUGHT IT...so good! We ended the day at the diamond banquet. Thursday was jammed full of topical break out sessions, then doTERRA rented out the entire Atlanta aquarium for our Luau party. It was amazing! Loved getting to wander around and see all the exhibits!   The next morning we got to walk the stage as new Blue Diamonds. I am so beyond blessed and excited to be doing this with my best friend and moving up in this fabulous company to now represent the top 2%. God is so good!  We got out at 1 and went to Publix to pick up some food we ordered for our team to come hang and eat.....we would be leaving bright and early the next morning! Silly Dale ;)  Well Atlanta, it's been amazing, but I am so happy to see my Florida home again and be 5ish hours away from home!  Guess who had so much fun at Grammy's they didn't even need us to come home!? Haha, these guys. I am so glad they had such a great time. Grammy gave them a rave review, so let's hope they were as well behaved as she says they were. ;) Check out all the fun adventures they had. The beach, ice skating, putt putt, hibachi grill, a beach day, hair dying with Aunt Torrey....no wonder they didn't want us to come home yet! LOL :) My mom and brother and the fam come down this weekend to hang out. I am so excited! :)
Hugs, T Hello Sunshine! Time for a Florida update.....we have settled into a nice daily routine of school, swimming, dinner and bike rides with a lot of friends and fun in between. This blog is a travel journal of sorts. A day in the life of the Ferguson family. Today we will get all caught up on Valentine's Day, Tylan's 12th birthday, some road trips we took, and so much more....  When I last blogged, we were in Ocala to see Chad, before we left, we stopped by our favorite bakery for a "Betty Cake". (secret recipe famous cake, chocolate ganache & frosting amazingness) It was a little too early in Feb to count this one for Ty's b-day and Valentine's Day was nearly 5 days away, but they personalize it for free, so I told Dale and Destiny to just have them do something fun...... Boy did they!!!! Check out what Destiny requested....
YES, you are reading that right. Ty is a fart. Love, D We all had a good laugh though until we were crying!🤣 Even Ty. Cake was still delish! :)  We always like to have a fun Valentine's Day party and fancy lunch at 4 Oaks Academy school, and this year was no exception. The kids begged for it again! Our craft time took an interesting turn! ;) LOL! Lots of fun lunch preparations were made for this multi course meal....so I sent out crafters out to play until I called them in for lunch.  First course, they were served Raspberry Sweeties. You may remember those from the old blog, we got 2nd place in a Driscoll's raspberry contest with those. Super easy and delish! https://4littlefergusons.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/raspberry-sweeties Next course was chilled Strawberry Soup. Then, Turkey Munster Sandwiches or Cream cheese Cucumber Dill, vegetable medley and sparkling juice. We got too full to get to the strawberry cheesecake pie I made......Maybe later!😋 Next on the agenda was a Scavenger hunt, they followed the picture clues to their CHOCOLATE treasure!
 Last but not least, we headed outside to paint some rocks. We dubbed this our "love rocks" project. Get it? #loverocks Once they dried, the kids rode all over the RV park hiding them and handing them out to the sweet people around the park.  This project was so fun we had to go to Lowe's and buy more rocks! All the neighbor kids wanted to help too! We kept the painting station out for DAYS! Remember that yummy Valentine's day pie I mentioned? Here is the oh so easy recipe! 1 qt organic strawberry ice cream 1 box instant cheesecake pudding powder 1 oreo crust Mix melty ice cream and pudding mix. Scrape into oreo crust. Fridge until cold and set. Can be frozen for firmer texture. It was so simple and SO yummy!😋💗
Tylan's birthday is the day after Valentine's Day, and we celebrate by having them be the KING of the day! We wait on them hand and foot, they don't have to do any chores and they get to pick a few gifts or an experience. He turned 12 this year!!!  Ty picked going to a car museum with his dad, brother and friends from the RV park. But first, we met Grammy, Uncle Dan and Aunt Torrey for breakfast at Der Dutchman. While we were there, he picked a fresh made strawberry pie for dessert! It was a great day! Uncle Daniel's 30th birthday was a few days later, so Grammy cooked up a scheme that involved us visiting him at his work. We jammed to the live music, played games, ordered pizza and got the band to sing him happy birthday! It was so fun. Grammy got enough cupcakes to share, so the kids went around and passed them to hungry takers. We had a blast! We got to sneak up the gulf a bit to go see our beloved Mrs. B, Mr. B and the whole oiling crew up at Bay Aire RV park for lunch and then an oil class. It was so good to see our Ohio friends in sunny Florida and catch up!  They filled a GREAT class with a ton of happy oilers and future oilers. I think we had nearly 20 there! And sweet Rebecca sent me home with the CUTEST Dorothy slippers to hang in the RV. We are the doTERRA Dorothy's from Kansas, you know! :) The kids have made SO many neat friends here at the park, plus our buddies the Knights from Ohio that also do doTERRA are here as well. We are so enjoying this winter home! (here I was worried for nothing) God is good! The RV park we stay at, has a huge pool, 2 hot tubs, mini golf, a park, amazing places to ride bike, fishing, a work out facility and so much more. Here my buddy, Pax and I are, enjoying a little mini golf!  Lest you think RV life is all relaxation and roses.....we have had to fix a window, the washer and the toilet is up next once a part comes in. Haha, big pieces in small spaces make it interesting to work on!
It's also been such a blessing to be close to Grammy so we can pop over for dinner and hang out often. Dad would be so pleased to know life and love and laughter live on despite his absence. You know, I used to dread Mondays with hubby gone, big kids off to school and a busy scheduled week looming. 😫 Not anymore! So grateful for a leisurely life that includes my love and kiddos home with me! I walked through the RV and this sight stopped me in my tracks and made my heart overflow with thanksgiving that my Heavenly Father gave me the dreams of long ago as my new reality.....  Praising Him continually!
Until next time..... Hugs, T |
Tonya Ferguson
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