To the beach

Many of you know this past year was really hard for our family. We haven't really had the time to take a vacation with all that's gone on and we were starting to feel it. Jim decided and I'm so glad he did that it was time for us to get away! We were able to head to the beach for a week of relaxation and it was wonderful! The house we rented had a pool and we could walk to the beach each day. You'll notice one picture is Megan holding out her hand. The beach was littered with jellyfish which was of great concern to me. Jim promptly went and asked the lifeguard on duty about the danger of so many jellyfish being on the shore. We discovered that these are moon jellyfish and are completely harmless! Needless to say they loved this new discovery. Jim loved to body board while the kids napped and I actually read almost a whole book! Megan and Jim went to a minor league game one night, we went out to eat for my birthday and we shopped a little and rested a lot! We didn't really do a whole lot, but here are a few pictures from our week.....

Jacob pics!

Here are a few recent pictures of Jacob. On the move walking, riding his new scooter, matting his mac & cheese all in his hair, first drink with a straw and bathtime!

Family visit

We love having company and were thrilled when my brother John, his wife Janna and our neice Alana chose to spend their vacation with us! The kids had so much fun playing, we had fun playing cards and getting out to see some sites in Orlando too!

Water park

For playgroup one day we went to check out a new water pad park. The kids love all the water even though both are a bit cautious of the water coming up from the ground and down from spouts.....there's a great playground next to it as well. We enjoyed it so much we took Alana when she came down for a visit!

Vacations and birthdays

Well, the beach was great. I got 26 pages done in Jacob's book--all the way from birth until we moved to Florida! I feel great about that accomplishment. It was so fun to look back over this last year and see his growth and all the people who have surrounded us and loved on us! My brother and his family came last week and spent their vacation with us. I'll try to post pictures soon. (I'm having camera issues). We had a lot of fun and Meg and Jacob both loved playing with their cousin Alana. We miss being near them and letting the kids grow up together--we try to take advantage of every opportunity to get them together now. While they were here we visited Sea World, Downtown Disney, the new water pad park, had a cookout and saw fireworks and tried to eat out a couple of times. Seriously both times we went out for dinner the restraunts were closed--one for vacation and the other with new hours. We're off today for a vacation of our own, so I'll post next week and let you know what all we did. Jacob's parent commitment service is also next Sunday, so we'll let you know about that and share pictures as well. Have a great week everybody.

Just a side note--tomorrow is my 3....th birthday and I just wanted to wish my birthday buddy Stacey a Happy Birthday! She is truly one of the best friends a person could hope for--we met the first time we lived here in Florida and discovered we have the exact same birthday. Couldn't think of anyone better to share this day with!

I hear ocean waves.....

I have the beach on my brain. I won't deny it. We live in Florida, but the beach is just a bit too far to visit too often. After putting Jacob down for his nap I hear ocean waves. I stop and look around wondering what that sound is and realize he's playing with his "ocean sounds" toy in his crib. I'm packing up and heading to the beach for a couple of days to do some scrapbooking with 7 of my girlfriends! I'm super excited to get started on Jacob's book, spend time with my friends, eat some yummy food, swim, walk on the beach and get away for some quality time with my Savior. I'm excited to go recharge my batteries to be the wife and mom I know God asks me to be. I know I'll be more excited to come back to my precious family a little fuller.......I'll post a couple pics from our time away once we get back.

Playdate with friends

Here are a couple of pictures from a playdate with our pastor's sweet girls. They got to come play while their older brother had an appointment. We love adding fun to our days especially when it includes sweet friends.