God has blessed us again. Our two teens (a middle schooler and a high schooler) had the opportunity to go on a youth retreat called D Now at a local church here in San Antonio which we’ve been attending. (Being on the road and traveling to different cities and different churches has made it challenging to connect with others to say the least.) God in His faithfulness, blessed us with the opportunity to attend Crossbridge Community Church which has been the most outgoing church to newcomers that I have attended in a very long time. We all were made to feel welcomed and encouraged to participate even though we were to be here only for a short term. The kids have made friends and grown in their walk with their Savior, which blessed our hearts as parents. The retreat was done in such a God honoring way. We felt privileged to be able to participate. It will be fun to see how the kids' walks continue to deepen and their new friendships develop via email and such.

I highly recommend this church if you are new to the area and are looking for a place where families can connect with God and with other people who are following Jesus Christ, just like their web site says. The people here have a heart for God, for community and for missions. Thank you so much Crossbridge. You have all indeed been a blessing to us.

While the big kids were away on their retreat, I took the younger ones into the city to the San Antonio Botanical Garden. They enjoyed it way more than I had anticipated, finding all sorts of examples of what we had been studying with Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Botany. I think the author Jeannie Fulbright would have been proud. They liked it so much, we went back again on Monday with their notebooks in hand so they could draw their favorite examples of monocots and dicots, note all the pollinators they could spot and more. It was a happy homeschool moment for us. Their favorite part was the Japanese garden where we were able to have a private picnic lunch amidst the little waterfalls. The kids wished they could have a garden like this back home.