It is Finished (for now)!

Rejoice with us - Mark turned in the first full draft of his dissertation today at 3:00! Praise God- now we will get back to normal. What is normal?

Celebration Freedom or Celebrate "mudfest"

A few weeks ago we decided to go with some friends of ours to KLTY's Celebrate Freedom at Southfork Ranch. It sounded like a great idea until we had 45 inches of rain dumped on us over the last several weeks. On the Saturday morning we were to go, there was a slight chance of rain. Being the highly adventurous people that we are (HA! Mark and I would rather watch a good movie and snuggle on the couch!) we decided to tackle the adventure. We packed our lunch, our 80lb tent, towels, blankets, and we wore the oldest shoes we could find.
I knew it was a bad sign when we got to the ranch and we found out that parking was 3.5 miles down the road. Well, that didn't look to appealing with four kids (and a 80 lb tent) so Mark dropped me and 3 of the kids at the front gate (with the 80 lb tent). We only had one cell phone between the two of us and so I gave mine to Mark. We waited 15, 30, 45, 60 minutes and Mark was nowhere to be found. After we had been sitting there for over an hour (watching the big black clouds surround the ranch), I borrowed someone's phone to call Mark. He was just about to get on the bus that was going to shuttle them to the front gate (after 1 3/4 hours). He called our friends to meet me and the kids in the park-- so off we went (with ME carrying the 80lb tent). As we walked further into the ranch, we began to sink in mud while trying to carry an 80 lb tent, a bag, and keep up with three kids loaded down with chairs, coolers, etc. We must have been a pretty funny sight (Of course, I get wierd looks all of the time because I have four "wonderful" helpers with me)
We finally made it to our destination after we made it through the massive mud pit. I kid you not--mud was everywhere you looked-- people were covered in it from head to toe- getting sucked into the earth--I knew this wouldn't be good. Anyway, we set up our, you guessed it, 80 lb tent, along with our chairs (& everything else we could find in our house) in a nice orderly fashion. The kids were quickely off to the "jump land" area that KLTY had so nicely set up for a small fee of $10 PER KID (after we paid $15 to park 3.5 miles away)! I am not complaining, it is just an observation.
Soon after we settled in, the dark clouds that were looming above decided to unleash. They came on the speaker and told us that there is a "Small but intense cell coming- known to produce small hail." SOOOOOOOOO reassuring. All 13 of us hunker down under the 80 lb tent (of which I am now praising my husbands name for insisting we bring). The storm came and went and we obviously survived! The mud got worse and worse-people were falling on their rears and their flip flops (who wears flip flops in the mud!) were being sucked in by the earth. It was actually quite entertaining to sit and watch people maneuver through it.
Well, this is getting really long so I better wrap it up. You think it couldn't get any worse, right? WRONG. From the other direction, storm #2 sneaks in without too much warning. The kids were floating in and out of the kids area and I was in the tent. Three of our kids came to give me their treasures they made (paper stuff-not a good idea in rainy situations) and I asked where their little brother was and all three of them said, "I don't know." I became a little concerned. They were told to stick together. I jump up to search the kids area (as the dark clouds are looming even closer) and Joseph is nowhere to be found. I am now beginning to panic and the rain is starting to come down at a steady rate. People are running or sliding in the mud to take cover. There is lighting in this storm and my little five year old is still nowhere to be found. I called Mark (at the food stand) and told him that I couldn't find Joseph. He comes to help us look. I went back to the tent and then back again to the kids area. Now I am really panicking. We walk over to the "Lost and found" area and, praise God, he is there. I was bawling my head off and he was worried that he was in trouble for getting lost!! (He is our "give him the look" son and he quickly turns obedient.) Don't you wish they were all that way? I only got one- I guess one out of four is OK! I can't tell you the feelings that came over me when we found him. It is a horrible feeling to loose your child (it was probably for about 10 minutes- maybe longer for him). After I was over the "trama" of it, I began to think about how our Heavenly Father must feel when a "lost" child is found. What an awesome feeling!! Joseph later told us that he came out of the kids area and he couldn't fine anyone. He said he started to cry and a lady asked him if he was ok. He then told her that he couldn't find his mom-- "Her name is, Jennifer, do you know her?" Once he got to the lost and found area he told them he didn't have a last name but that his name was Joseph Yarbrough. He then told them his phone number and they called and left a message at home! We have since started training him what my cell number is!
Needless to say- that was the end of our fun for the day. We packed up our mud and left to start the journey to get our car (3.5 miles away with the 80lb tent, four exhausted kids, chairs, cooler, and now a 100 lb WET blanket that I had to carry)! Thank goodness Mark carried the tent this time.
So, there you have it-- our wonderful first time experience at Celebrate Freedom. We definitly made some memories that we will never forget! The kids had a blast in the mud. My words of advice- stay away if it has been raining--or bring an ARK!

Dissertation Days

Yes, it has been a long time since I last wrote! What do you expect-- we have been busy. God is faithful and gracious!

Here is the scoop. Mark was given a 11 week "leave of absence" from both DTS and Centerpoint to specifically write his dissertation. Once we recieved the OK from both employers, he hit it hard and wrote 10-14 hours a day for 6-7 days a week. It was only by the grace of God that he was able to write that many hours a day. It was a difficult time for the whole family. I obviously was picking up the slack at home and the kids hung in there. But-- we made it (not always gracfully, though)! Mark actually finished "writing" three weeks early. He has since been working on editing ( a long and tedious process for over 300 pages) and various other appendices and stuff that has to be in there. He WILL turn in the final "draft" on July 16th. We could not have done this without the strength of our Lord, our extended family, church family, and friends. The kids were/are very supportive of this project and have consistantly prayed for their daddy--they are troopers!

Once the paper is turned in -- we wait. He will probably get the draft back from his committee sometime late August/early September. His oral defense is scheduled to happen before September 15th. If everything goes accordingly, he will turn in his final copy on December 1st. Then you can call him "Dr. Yarbrough." Until then, it is "Crazy Professor." Speaking of Dr., here is an interesting conversation between Kayci and Jill.

Jill: Where is your Daddy?
Kayci: He's at work getting some pages done.
Jill: What's he going to be when he gets done? Mister Yarbrough?
(Janet interjects and says he will be Dr. Yarbrough like her daddy is Dr. Dickens)
Jill: Dr. Daddy Dickens- I'll just call him Daddy
Kayci: Me TOO!

To them - they are still just their Daddy's!

The next time Mark approaches me about another degree . . . well we won't go there:)!