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The weather in California was perfect for exploring and enjoying. We headed to the historic Santa Barbara to see the old Mission and explore the amazing courthouse and downtown area. We were going to stop at a Botanical garden of some sort, but with the high fire hazards they were closing early. The kids were SUPER tired from our late night last night, so they dozed in the car.
The Mission and Courhouse was a photographers DREAM! Especially inside! Check out the ceiling in the courthouse.    Check out this slide show of the Mission. Do you all ever view these? I sure hope so. Its so much simpler for me to upload to a slideshow format, then waiting for each individual photo to load. :) The Courthouse was equally breathtaking and so full of history.....all the tiles were hand painted. And check out this courtroom ceiling!  
We drove by this darling shopping area, so we walked through it for a while, and enjoyed the statues and these awesome little coves between shops and restaurants.....
 Then it was time to get more serious about these darling shops, so we sent the guys on to the beach and headed down the sidewalk. We didn't get far before Drea spotted a legit French Pastry type shop. We decided to browse a bit and ended up drooling over THIS as the guy behind the counter shoved samples at us left and right.  He is very good at his job, because we ended up sitting down outside and ordering 3 desserts to share.  See that one on the right? The swirly one. OH MY HEAVENS. I still dream about it. It had raspberry in the bottom, then the most amazing meringue, not the wet kind more like powdered sugar, and then this mocha mousse on top. It was like a cloud! Second place goes to the eclaire, and 3rd the strawberry tarte. 
 This is about the time the guys started calling and asking when we were coming to the beach. Hahahah! As soon as we are done eating the best dessert you will never get to try! We headed to Ventura to see the pier and grab some seafood for dinner....  If you ever get this way, be SURE to eat at Eric Erikkson's! 5 star all the way! Check out this fish taco plate I got....   We stayed until sunset, because that is what you do in Cali, and once again, California didn't disappoint!     One more day of fun was planned with Papa and Drea before we had to move on to our next stop for about 12 classes, TEXAS! Work hard, play harder, right?!
See you next time! Hugs, T
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So after convention was over, we booked it 12 hours down to Los Angeles to prepare to be on a TV show. T.D. Jakes producers found us through our 4 little Ferguson's blog, and followed us to our new one. We have walked away from TV show offers before, but this one felt different. We approached it cautiously and held it with open hands. No doors closed, in fact closed doors, swung open as details fell into place, as to how the kids would get there from home etc. They booked us an incredible RV park and asked us to be ready for an RV shoot and studio shoot, within the few days we were there. We were SO exhausted from convention, but so super pumped to have this experience! Dana and Micheal, the producers of the show, were awesome to work with! I am not allowed to post about the show until later though, so let's hold that thought and say...more to come! :) I will FOR SURE tell you when it "goes live"....  We loved our time at the RV park with Papa and Drea! Dad had drive the kids cross country from Florida to Arizona, where they picked up Drea at the airport and headed to California. They were able to stay with us for 4 or 5 days of jam packed fun! We LOVE caravaning with them like we did last summer on the west coast!  We even snuck some downtime at the pool one afternoon. The kids wanted to play some games, so we did Pool Charades. Check out this hysterical video: https://www.facebook.com/daleandtonya/videos/10157493485050230/ Any guesses on who they are?! Bahahahah! :) So after the show, we met everyone down on Hollywood Blvd. To be honest, it wasn't very glamorous, or clean for that matter, but it was a piece of history. I can imagine back in the day, this place was HOPPING! We drove down Rodeo drive and drooled at all the cool shops too! :) Pretty awesome!  The next day we ventured to Santa Monica to visit the iconic Santa Monica Pier..... it was so fun and beautiful! Some of these beautiful images are from my step mom, Drea. :) It's nice having dual photographers on these trips.....   This place was amazing. And the sunset?! OH MY WORD. Incredible.  We decided we wanted to introduce dad and Drea to some Indian food. In theory, it seemed simple.... Drive. Eat. Go home to bed. We didn't take into consideration TRAFFIC. LOTS AND LOTS OF TRAFFIC. How do people do that every day? Drive in for 2 hours, drive home for 2 hours, repeat. We finally got to the restaurant about 8. The kids were SO exhausted but they did so good.  We called it a night, got some exhausted kids carried into their beds and planned the next days adventures to Santa Barbara and Ventura.
California sure has a lot to offer in one area! Diverse and beautiful. Hugs, T A lot of our time at convention is spent in session, learning about doTERRA and the science behind our oils. The people who make up our huge, world wide, oil sourcing efforts. I told you all about that last time, go catch up, one post back. I did as best as words could describe. I still don't know how to quite share everything I took away from that amazing convention. Did you know we even got to hear about the power of forgiveness from Genocide survivor, Immaculee Ilibagize? Have you read her book "Left to Tell"? She lived in a tiny tiny bathroom for 90 days with 8 women while everyone around them was murdered. WOAH. I couldn't put it down. It was a beautiful message of hope, peace, love and forgiveness, one that moved us all in powerful ways. You could feel the Holy Spirit so strongly in that room during her talk. Learn more about her here: http://www.immaculee.com/about/story.php  So that was what we did each day from 9 to 4. Learned. Took notes, learned from the best and cheered our hearts out as we learned more and more about this amazing company. But in the evenings? It's time to CONNECT with friends and team members and let lose and have some fun! Ever since I started looking at doTERRA as a business a year and a half ago, I had a goal: I watched a video of someone walking the Diamond Stage, and it surprised me how much it grabbed my heart. It made my heart pound and tears came to my eyes. I would walk that Diamond stage, one day, I WOULD. And so, we did. 2 years later, by the grace of God, we did. And it was everything I imagined it would be!  The evening started with a lovely oil infused, meal. There were 8,000 people in attendance, so that part took a while! I was able to eat and enjoy my meal, but boy were the butterflies starting to stir, the closer we got to walking time......
I am so so sad that I cannot figure out how to save videos from facebook so I can keep these on my computer, but our sweet team video'd our Diamond walk for us! You can view some of them here: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greta.d.smith/videos/10210341442197761/ And this one, I had emailed to me, so its on you tube: Oh my goodness, it all happened so fast! We got to pick out a special song to have played as we walked. We wanted to give a HUGE shout out to our doTERRA Dorothys, so we made a sign to hold and had a fun "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" remix song made to walk to. Have a listen: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4KJglYxbxFkdHBGX1AtdDBBWms/view?usp=sharing 
   These beautiful people, these leaders, are why we can be where we are today...... I am so beyond grateful to be able to run this race with them and watch them soar! And the best is yet to come! It was SUCH an amazing night! Great food, great friends, great team..... Check out the slide show of our evening together: This is only our second convention and gala, but last year we started the Red Dorothy Shoes tradition, and took a photo to capture it. Well, last year there were only a few of us at Gala, or convention even. This year we had a real challenge on our hands to get the red shoe shot with such a BIG group of red shoe wearing ladies!!!!!! There was lots of laughter, but we got it done eventually, just not quite as we had planned. Last year:
This year:   And just like that, the evening was done. I still carry a piece of it in my heart.....and a WHOLE LOT of confetti in my gown. ;) So many of my dreams and goals came true this convention week! I got to see my teams eyes light up with understanding and hearts burn with passion for this amazing company. I got to take the arm of my best friend and walk the purple Diamond carpet! We were interview for a featured in the doTERRA leadership magazine this month, too. Yet another dream come true! I keep pinching myself, but the Lord keeps nudging me that this is real, and this is the blessing part that always follows our obedience. We are having to build new storehouses in our hearts, to hold all of our blessings from Him. I am so humbled and so so thankful! "When the Lord Moves" is found here, just click on this link for the online version: https://www.joomag.com/magazine/magazines-doterra-issue-22-gary-kari-sammons/0380357001471552302?short  Back to fun nights: Thursday and Friday nights we had first an outdoor concert with Colbie Caillat, and a Black & White Team Party! You probably remember the music video by Colbie Caillat that took Facebook by storm earlier in the year. This one, where they wash their makeup off as they sing. Oh my goodness! SO powerful! We wore our Dorothy team shirts that night and took pics with those there....great night!
Friday night was our upline, Spring and her entire teams party. It was Black and White themed and each team leg needed to POP a color. The Dorothy's of COURSE, did red. It was SUCH a great venue and fun night, complete with photo booth! :) All the photos, including the hysterical photo booth ones, are in this slideshow: We took a MASSIVE photo with all of our up up upline, Spring's and all her team members that attended. before calling it a night... When you were a wedding photographer in your past life, you help get 300 people in order. Haha! "Find a WINDOW people, if you can't see me, the camera cannot see you."   Someday we are going to have a HUGE bunch of Dorothys like this at convention! It's only up from here! We are thankful for the 49 that committed to come learn with us!!! We tore down semi early and called it a night since we all had to get up early to get to the Convention center and line up for seats. Gala, concert night, B&W party night, were all amazing! So incredible! But my favorite would have to be the last night of convention...... We ordered in pizza and met with just our team in a hotel suite and connected. We did Q&A time, shared our blessing and inspiration/take away from Convention. And then we joined hands and prayed over this amazing group of people. There was laughter and tears and many hugs...... Our hearts were unified in our desire to share oils with a hurting world and join our efforts as a team to go BIG with doTERRA! To change the world, one drop of oil at a time! An oil in EVERY home!
 We love to love on these people and invest in them!
We are always looking for motivated couples and individuals to work with. We'd love to help you with a happy home and happy finances too! Read more on the EO101 and Financial Opportunity part of this site, I've shared my heart in every section of this website and would love for you to go read more. Thanks for letting me share about our time at the doTERRA ONE Convention 2016! Hugs, T  The 49 people from our team that went to convention.... They are CHANGED. So are the 30,000 others that joined us for Utah's largest convention to date! They are not the same people as they left. They THOUGHT doTERRA was already in their hearts, but this experience left them speechless. I watched it happen. I watched it come alive for them. I watched a mission burn deep into their very SOULS, I watched passion ignite, and I watched tears fall. They changed. They changed in real and powerful ways. This company, this amazing, generous, God honoring company, does so so much for so so many people, and organizations, and charities, that it's mind boggling. They are literally changing the world, one drop of oil at a time, they are! It's not just a cute catch phrase, it's their truth. One they live out loud every day. We saw poverty stricken families working with PRIDE in a doTERRA distillery, 11 children with hungry eyes watching in awe at this company that was about to change their home forever in so many positive ways. We watched videos of how doTERRA's Healing Hands dollars are being used to release children from horrific bondage, help families start jobs with micro loans, or just be able to go to school during "that time of the month", their village being educated on the pride of becoming a woman, rather then treating her like she is unclean. Also working tirelessly to stop outdated, early age, marriage situations and teaching these girls they are valued. Stop for ONE second and think about how those people must feel about our company. OUR company...yes, the one we represent with pride. How grateful they are, for this big American company who truly cares, something they have yet to experience. How often in life do we get to live our PASSION out loud every day, and get paid to do so? How often does our joy flow from our heart and out of our mouths, and turn into something we do as our living? It's a rare gift. One I do not take for granted. One that's yours for the taking as well. We were not born to just work and die. We were born to LIVE; out loud, intentionally, ABUNDANTLY. We were born to give generously, love graciously and bless others. DoTERRA absolutely is the vehicle to get you to the life you have only dreamed of! Every day lives are being changed in health and finances, because we shar our oils. Because we saw a need and met it. It's REAL. And it's about to get BIGGER then we could ever have imagined....  DoTERRA is the #1 Oil company in the world for a reason. We are the largest science and research based oil company out there, and what we are doing with pure, natural, essential oils from the SOURCE, has yet to be done.  I loved hearing from this panel of doctors and surgeons sharing their experiences with dōTERRA essential oils on stage. They said that it should be the responsibility of all medical professionals to learn so that they can offer natural solutions for their patients. The quality and consistency of dōTERRA essential oils are the only oils that medical professionals trust, which is why they are here with us. BIG things are coming and oils are going mainstream.....it's time to take back your health with natural solutions and the world is taking notice!  Meet the 39 scientist behind our amazing in house on going research as well! Everyday they study and test our oils to make sure you are getting the best from the biggest science and research based oil company in the world. Be proud. Be doTERRA proud. ❤🌱💧 After that we got to hear from researcher, Dr. Nicole Perish. ESSENTIAL OILS ARE GOING MAINSTREAM!!!!!!   Not only did we hear about the science and the doctors behind doTERRA, but like I mentioned above, we also got to hear about doTERRA's HUGE heart and ministries they give to. Their #1 goal is to get families out of debt, and they are doing it every day. They also utilize Co Impact Sourcing to give back to the farmers and communities in which they live in the form of clean water, education, fair on time wages and even clinics. Please explore the tabs on this website for more info about this extraordinary company! We change the lives of empoverished communities all over the globe!  The doTERRA goal is to be "Free to Give" and empower you to do the same. That is a dream of my heart! Did you know we heard from just 3 of the over 35 causes doTERRA gives to and partners with regularly? These 3 ministries were given $750,000 total, by doTERRA just this year!! The wept on stage when they recieved their check. Please take time to explore these AMAZING ministries doTERRA has joined with that came and spoke at convention: *Days for Girls, empowering young women about their health and feminine hygiene in antiquated areas with outdated beliefs of this cycle, going so far as to have them sit outside on cardboard so they don't bring death to the village, or dry up the river with their touch. http://www.daysforgirls.org/  *Mentors International Microloans Blessing small business owners with small no or low interest loans, so they can start and grow a thriving business in their community. Using this money for things like flour by the pallet rather then the bag. Taking families from $2 a day to $20 a day income. https://doterra.com/US/en/brochures-magazines-living-winter-2013-2014-healing-hands   *Operation Underground Railroad Freeing children and rehabilitating them after slavery in the sex trade industry. https://ourrescue.org/about This incredible man {pictured below} is a former CIA agent that turned in his badge to help these children. He came and wept on our stage. He did an amazing facebook Live Post about it! Watch it here: https://www.facebook.com/OURrescue/videos/1812938422277248/  The movie is found here: http://theabolitionistsmovie.com/ And this is only the beginning, I am so thankful and proud! THIS is what life is about, giving generously and making a difference. Not hiding our head in the sand about the worlds woes.  My friend Kelly said it best: "Expensive cars, ginormous paychecks, glamorous incentives....... NOPE. I have been at doTERRA's convention for 3 days and there has been ZERO mention of any of these common network marketing topics. (You won't hear it. It's not who we are.) Instead, we've heard story after story of giving, generosity, and impactful stories of forgiveness and healing. At least half of this event has been about how we can and are changing the world. I am so grateful to be aligned with a company who has a huge heart and to be surrounded with 30,000 wellness advocates who pretty much share the mission of changing lives. DoTERRA Convention attendees just this week have donated over $300K to The Healing Hands Foundation, which goes to support many worthy ministries just like the ones mentioned above." We talk alot about the doTERRA difference. This is just a small small piece of a HUGE humanitiarian effort happening everyday from doTERRA. Listen up, this is SO much bigger then a bottle of essential oil.......always has been. Talk to me if you're curious. We are ready to partner with new friends who want to make a difference too. ❤️ "I am only one, But I am one. I cannot do everything, But I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I WILL." ~Edward Everett Hale Let's do BIG things together! Hugs, T  I truly don't even know where to start with describing to you what happened in Utah. My heart, and the heart of our team, was changed forever. I suppose I should just start at the beginning...... For the last 2 years, we have been privileged to attend doTERRA's convention with our team. Year one, we had 13 girls with us and were beyond excited! That was a huge number for first timers, what a blessing!  Year 2? Our Dorothy team had 49 there!!!! WOW! We had so many husbands join us too! You guys, we love our team so much! The family culture, and the heart of these beautiful people.....just moves me to tears. What an honor to call them not only team mates, and business partners, but FRIENDS!  So, lets back up a bit.... Before we left home for SLC, we enjoyed time with my BFF and her kids, got hair cuts and just generally ran a BAZILLION errands. Nana took the kids to the State Fair day one, so we could pack and get ready and then we were off. We decided not to take the kids with us to convention this year. Our PRECIOUS friends in Kansas agreed to care for them, alongside 6 of their own kiddos. Our families get along great, and our kids lived together for months when we parked at the Bible Camp they help run, in our RV while we waited for our home base to be done. They had all kinds of adventures planned, including the state fair with TEN children, hiking and more! I LOVED getting these photos during the week.... On Thursday, Papa Clay drove ALL the way from Florida, to the midwest to pick up the kids and drive CROSS COUNTRY with them alone, before meeting up with Grammy in AZ, and us in LA, California after convention was done, for a really cool opportunity. I can't blog it until the show is about to air, but let's just say, when we prayed for the Lord to expand our territory, we had NO idea it would include a TV show feature. I can't wait to share more with you later, but for now, stay tuned and watch TD Jakes new talk show on the O network!!!! Dale and I made Diamonds with doTERRA in November, praise Jesus! This is the 3rd from top rank in the company and we are so honored to get extra training and together time with our leaders in the company now, before everyone else starts to arrive. The trip over there started with a BANG, a literal bang of a HUGE rock from a farm implement shattered our windshield and would have gone through had it not hit half of the rubber lining around the GIANT windshield. SIGH. We were not going to be detoured so we kept going while I made calls to see who could fix it. It was driveable as it was clear at the top, but as we went it split downward about 4 feet windshield. Thank you Lord for safety!  It's a pretty dull drive, but we did get into some STUNNING scenary as we got closer. It sure is quiet traveling without our 4 little Fergusons! We arrived at got settled and headed over to a lunch time luau at one of our up up up up uplines beautiful backyard. They are the most generous, salt of the earth, good people. We also had dinner with several of our amazing up up uplines and sister legs, and even squeezed in a date night for some Indian food that rocked our world. WOW, I am so in love with Veggie Samosa, Chicken Tikka Marsala over butter rice, the chips and chutney on the tables, the gorgeous colors, the rich spices. OH MAN! I am hungry! We found a beautiful RV park to stay at just outside of Salt Lake. It was ideal!
Dale and I were able to use this time to prepare for our team, get gifts ready and slip over to doTERRA for a tour of their campus. All built debt free, and all amazing! This is when our team started arriving! It was like seeing your kids anticipate CHRISTMAS!!!
We were GIDDY for the amazing experience to begin for them.... :) Much more to come.... Hang tight! T Today, is a travel day! That means we need to get up early, get the RV "tore down" and hit the road ASAP. Sometimes we travel 3 hours, sometimes 10. 5 is about my limit, but we do what we have to do, to get where we need to go for class!  Dale does the outside stuff, like loading the car into the trailer, packing up chairs, putting in awnings. He also checks tire pressure and all that jazz, as we have found ourselves on the side of the road with a flat tire or MISSING tire, that's a funny story, FAR too many times this year.
 The kids and I clean, and work on the inside stuff. We move the Berkey water filter up on the counter, clean windows, vacuum rugs, open up shades and curtains. And then, when it's ready, put the slides back in.... Living room slides OUT, for when we stay somewhere.....  Living room slides IN, for when its time to hit the road!  BIG difference, right?! We feel so thankful to have enough room to function going down the road, and then enjoy open spaces when we stop. A lot of the RV's we looked at, were soooo tight when they were "in", that a family of 6 couldn't function going down the road. That is because most people that live in RV's, are retired folk that sit up front the whole time. We'd love to help the industry change that, and be a part of designing a new Family Friendly Class A RV Pipe dream! :)  Once Dale gets back in, we work on final details. Sliding doors locked. Decor fixed and laid down so it doesn't go sliding off as we make turns. Back slides get put in, see how the bed touches the dresser now? If you want to see the RV all opened up, go back on over to the RV Home Tour post. Use the categories on the side to navigate there.
Dale starts up the rig and let's it idle a bit to let the air pressure build up......  While he does that, we do final details, like getting all 3 diffusers going. Using oils aromatically like this, can really change the ton of a travel day, or home. We usually do something super happy like Wild Orange and Peppermint or Citrus Bliss and Spearmint for their uplifting qualities. We have 1 in the back, 1 in the kitchen, and a cute cup holder one up front by Dale and I. I love that they are not chemicals, rather pure essential oils being put into the air of our home!
Course, I don't always get the front seat! It's a pretty popular spot!  Probably because it has the best view, AND a nice recliner feature with foot rest that pops out! There is a step cover that you put out to keep people from falling down the stairs too! Pretty neat!  When I do get the front seat, I will often bring up my lap desk and work on editing photos and blogging our adventures.  So travel days can be long and boring, or fun and exciting or bits of both. We pass the time by playing games.....Trash is always a hit! Have you played? Check out this post from our other blog and learn how to play Trash with your kids: https://4littlefergusons.wordpress.com/tag/how-to-play-trash-the-card-game/
Everyone must read an hour to earn an hour of media....we try to be a bit more flexible on travel days because they can get long, but screen time is still my least favorite activity!   Lunch is always a bit of a challenge, but you get good at using arms and legs to hold things on the counter while making a big corner. I have dove for many a lunch item! We usually to keep it simple like a pasta salad, or sandwiches. Often, we use leftover Mexican food and heat it up for burritos in the convection oven. Remember, bread lives in the microwave oven, so its always all over the counter too, during cooking time.  Well, that's it from here! We are almost to our location, and then it's all hands on deck to get set back up again! See you next time! Hugs, T  As you know, we love and use My Father's World curriculum for our schooling. We were so honored when they extended an invitation to us to tour their facility and park the RV at their GORGEOUS conference center. Check out this photo from their website: http://www.kabekonahills.com/ Yup, that was our view for the week! VERY nice place. Great place for retreats and events for SURE!  There is our home, across the lake from our tour we took of the conference center.   While we were staying here, we were able to slip out for early morning sunrises, fishing sessions and devotions, while watching the sunrise. Absolutely BREATHTAKING!   One morning, we got to head to the My Father's World offices, as well as the warehouse, the printing press, meet the owners, and see anr office full of shelves and shelves of books. Each section representing the study and literature, that went into each year of curriculum. WOW! Wish I had gotten a photo of that room! The kids even got to help bind some teachers manuals and curriculum books while we were up at the printing shop! All photos are in the slideshow below. And wait till you see the photos of the amazing barn and gorgeous mansion that is converted into a retreat center now. Pretty stinking awesome! I wish I had thought to take my big camera! Check it out! You know you just connect with some people? Todd is who I talk to every year on the phone, when we order our curriculum. He is the reason we ended up choosing doTERRA, because he is the only one from all the companies I called, that offered to pray for us and our decision.  We were blessed to get to meet him and his beautiful family, while we were in the area! Oh my goodness, we had SO much fun with them, it's like we have been friends forever! We had dinner together several times, coffee, crashed a birthday party with them, shared oils with their friends and did an impromtu essential oils class at a local 24 hours McDonalds. We are so excited to help build a team with them and their community in the near future!
 The kids had so much fun playing around the lake and fire, while we waited for everyone to get off of work and after school program. We played Blind Artist for a while. Have you ever played? You close your eyes and illustrate a story someone is telling you. Pretty hysterical!   Once everyone arrived, we just hung out, ate hot dogs, made S'mores and enjoyed the fire, the company, and the beautiful views. 
Todd's wife, the beautiful Marzetta, made the MOST AMAZING CHOCOLATE CAKE I HAVE EVER HAD. Oh my goodness gracious, my mouth is watering even now. I need the recipe! But I am afraid it's a secret....... ;)   The evening got away from us, and we failed to get a full group photo before dark, so we had to improvise with a self stick and a cell phone in the RV. Hahah! It's all about making memories anyhow, right?! We love this family!   I absolutely cannot WAIT to see what the Lord has in store them in the future! Todd and Marzetta have SUCH a heart for ministry, I know the Lord is going to use doTERRA not only to bless them with health, but healthy finances too.
This has to be my favorite part of my job, meeting precious believers with a heart for the Lord and a hunger for natural living.....and getting to invest in them and in a business designed to bless their finances. Life is all about CHOICES. And financial freedom, brings lots of those! I'd love to help you live financially free too. That's doTERRA's number 1 goal....to be known as the company that gets the most families out of debt. They want you to be free to give, and they are doing it every day. What are you waiting for? There is no better time to move towards a healthier, happier YOU, then right now with Dale and I, and the biggest research and science based, natural essential oil company in the world!!!! :) Hugs, T We spent our final days of summer, in Missouri, hanging out at the pool and the super cool playground at Basswood RV park.
We also had a nice home church, everyone was asked to share a passage and what it meant to them... We utilized the RV parks movie screen as our stage.  Our main objective and mission on the Missouri/Kansas border, was to get the first week of school under our belts. I didn't have any scheduled classes, so we could really focus in on getting it right. We pretty much hid out at the Hillsdale lake all week, focusing on school all morning, swimming all afternoon, and hiding out from the storms every all night. We were in a flash flood warning several times! And BIG ol' thunderstorms, ahh, welcome back to the Midwest!  We started school Monday morning, bright and early. Sophie is always my little school helper, close by at all times.   After school and lunch each day, we pretty much spent the rest of our time here, just fishing, swimming and relaxing...  
 I cooked most of the week, but Thursday night we took the kids out for dinner to celebrate a GREAT first week of school. We went to the #1 Trip Advisor restaurant, Joe's Kansas City. WOW! Yummo.  Have you ever made the Million Dollar Spaghetti that goes through facebook all the time? WOW. Was it ever good! Serve it with a HUGE green salad to make yourself feel better for eating all those amazing dairy fats. Cream cheese, cheese, cottage cheese and BUTTER. 4 main food groups, right? I used this recipe, but did linguini noodles, a lot more seasonings, including seasoning up the cream mixture. Everyone went crazy for it! http://sugarapron.com/2015/10/21/million-dollar-spaghetti/
The highlight of our time in MO/KS, was reconnecting with some friends we made along our journey this past year. Meet the Fercho's.......  So we are in Texas last Spring, waiting for the Midwest to thaw out enough for us to go back home for a while. We are just chilling, enjoying the Texas sunshine and teaching classes. We park for a few days at an RV park and as we awoke, look over to see a family our age, piling out of an RV. Everyone else is in school, so right away, the kids are intrigued. They have kids! They have kids! they shout to us. Dale walked to the bathhouse and noticed they had Kansas tags, and struck up a conversation with the dad, who handed him a cool Meet the Fercho's calling card. Dale looks down at it and says, That's funny, our last name is Ferguson. The conversation proceeds to, my name is Dale. Oh wow, my name is Dawson. What's your wife's name? Tonya. What? My wife's name is Tiffany. Crazy. Turns out, they too, hit the road for a year of Adventure with their 3 children. They too, were road schooling and seeing the United States from the comfort of their RV. WHAT are the odds? We all go about our day, and the next morning, Dawson Fercho, walks up to Dale Ferguson, and says.... OK, what's your middle name? Dale says, Lamar. Dawson, No way! Mine is Lee!!!! DLF meet DLF. Hahahaha!! HOW crazy! :) Our families spent the next 3 hours together talking as fast as we could get words out, before we had to pull out to head to classes in Amarillo. We had so much in common!!!! Their 3 kids, all similar ages to our 4. We found we had so many things alike, even down to their dog named Summer and our dog named Sophie. White and big, black and small, but still "S" dog names to match the theme. :) We love how the Lord works to bring people together! Turns out, we had literally been staying at the Florida Sun N Fun RV park the same week, and just never met. Thankfully the Lord brought us together in the Lone Star State! Well, as soon as we pulled out, we knew we had to get the Ferguson's and the Fercho's together again ASAP! Fast forward 5 months, and here we are, within 30 minutes of our new friends home base. We HAD to see them! The kids were shy around each other for like .5 seconds, then went right back to where they left off....... We spent the day at the lake, then the evening having pizza at their place. We stayed way too late, and had way too much fun. We could barely drag the kids apart by the end of it all. Love love love this family, and how the Lord just brings Brothers and Sisters in Christ to encourage and fellowship with each other, in every state we go to. We are already talking about some winter trips, Ferguson-Fercho Style! Love this crew!  Bye friends, see you soon!
Hugs, T |
Tonya Ferguson
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