Our Home Away From Home

Well we finally made it to Texas and have been having a great time.  We ended up staying at Bluebonnet Ridge RV Park & Cottages, which is one of the best RV parks we have stayed in so far.  

It is rated as one of the Top 100 Good Sam Parks in America and Top 100 Parks nation wide.  We have really enjoyed our stay here and will hate to leave.

Facing the 5 acre lake from our RV lot.

The family next door has four children around the same ages as our older ones and they have become the best of friends.  They are a really great family with Christian values and we are blessed to have met them.  God is always guiding us to others, who share our values and beliefs and through that we experience encouragement for continued enrichment and spiritual growth in which we are very thankful.

Our main reason for being in this part of Texas is due to our daughters, Courtney and Tia who needed some orthodontic work.  While in West Virginia we were given an estimate of close to $5000.00 for each girl to have a palatal expander inserted to widen their upper jaw and face masks to pull it out.

Plus there was the time required for the girls treatment in West Virginia which threw a wrench into our travel plans to see America.  So we decide to ask around to see if we could find an orthodontist who provided the same quality service, but at a cheaper cost and would work with us on the treatment timeline.

After checking around and finally putting a post on Fulltime Families Facebook page, we were directed to Orthodontic Avenue in Coppell Texas.  We called their office and after discussing their prices and services, we decided to drive down and get the girls evaluated by Dr. Dipak Chudasama.  It was well worth the trip for both price and service and we are happy to report that the girls are receiving excellent orthodontic treatment.

Courtney and Tia with their face masks on.

We are very happy with Dr. Chudasama and his staff with the handling of our daughters treatment.  They are very friendly and professional and we always feel very welcome when we visit their office.

The whole LivelyRV family with Dr. Chudasama at Orthodontic Avenue.

On our way down to Texas we made a stop in at the Duck Dynasty headquarters in West Monroe, Louisiana to see Willie and the rest of the crew.  Well they were no where to be found, so we just posed for a picture next to their warehouse.

Don, Chloe, Misty, Courtney, Tia, Avery, Ethan, and Ian at Duck Commander headquarters.

While we were there we thought we saw Si standing in the yard across the street, so ran over real quick to try and get an autograph.  Come to find out it was just a standup advertising Uncle Si's Iced Tea, which is very good by the way!

Posing in front of Uncle Si's bottle of tea.

Another thing to do while in the area is go to Six Flags Over Texas and ride some rides.  Even though I'm getting too old for such foolishness, Misty and the kids really enjoy it, so off to the park we go.  Luckily we all had shirts from Clendenin Advent Christian Church which made it easier to keep track of the kids while in the park.



The kids at Six Flags Over Texas.

Tia practicing for her driver license in a Chaparral Antique car.

The Chaparral Antique car ride at Six Flags are themed on the Chaparral Motor Company of Cleburne, Texas which started producing cars in 1911.  They made three or four models, but are best remembered for the Chaparral.  Unfortunately they could not compete with Ford and other manufactures of the day and soon went out of business.

Ethan trying his hand at driving.

Of course some of us did not have as much fun as others as is apparent in this next picture of Avery on one of the roller coasters.  He said that he was not scared, but the picture says otherwise.

Avery having more of a thrill than he expected.

The rest of the kids do pretty well on all of the rides and I'm pretty sure that the ones they have not ridden yet because of fear will soon be a thrill they request to seek out during the day.  We plan on making plenty more visits to the park before we leave the area.

Ethan and Courtney enjoying the ride.

Also while staying in Terrell, Texas we started going to The Refuge Church which meets in the Hometown Theater in the Tanger Outlet Mall.  They are a great group of Christians who preach out of the Bible which is God's word to us.

One Sunday we went out to Lake Tawakoni for church service, a baptism, and a picnic.  It was a very fun time and two of our neighbor's girls got baptized in the process.

Unforeseen to Pastor Darren and Pastor Todd was the mud which was knee deep and like quicksand, so wading out into the lake was a no go.  Luckily they rented jet skis for the day and so used them to transport the individuals being baptized out into deeper water.

The kids at Lake Tawakoni's muddy shore.

Jane and Jill getting baptized in Lake Tawakoni.

One area of concern was that the lake's water level has receded so much that the original docks are no longer usable.  It has lost around forty percent of its water and as of 9-24-2014 is only 59.8% full.

All of this should be under water at Lake Tawakoni.



We also helped The Refuge Church at the 2014 Flight of Our Fathers Fly-In at the Terrell Texas Municipal Airport supporting the baby changing station.  We, of course, did not have to change any diapers or anything, but provided parents a secure location to change diapers or breast feed their babies.

Afterwards we enjoyed watching the planes fly in and on static display.  The church also provided all of us shirts, which will be handy for the next time we go to Six Flags.

Tia, Ethan, Avery, Courtney, Chloe, and Ian at the Terrell Texas Fly-In.

Courtney, Tia, Ethan, Chloe, Avery, and Ian enjoying the Terrell Texas Fly-In.

We also celebrated Chloe's fourth birthday on Sept 19th with our neighbors.  It was nothing special, just a princess cake, ice cream, and presents, but Chloe was more than happy with it.  Of course, the lasting memories created during her birthday will always be treasured!  She is growing up so fast, just like all of our kids, and will be going off to college before you know it.

Chloe's Birthday Cake.

Our four year old enjoying her day with her Mini Mouse outfit on.

So that is what we have been up to for the past month.  There have been bumps in the road, but not any that we could not get around or over.

Just to show you how small of a world it is, our kids started walking a pair of dogs for a couple who were staying the next lot over.  After meeting the couple, come to find out the husband retired from the New York Army National Guard and knows many of the same individuals I do.  He has also been to West Virginia many times and worked at our Regional Training Institute at Camp Dawson in Kingwood, West Virginia.  It is a small world after all.

If you like our blog, say so in the comments section.  We love to hear from you.  You can also follow our blog and become friends with us on Facebook.  The more the better!

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful lifestyle and God is the reason why. He keeps and guides us and all we have to do is listen.  All we have is because of Him and His son Jesus.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Philippians 4:13 NKJV

Thanks!
Don, Misty, and Kids...