The Beach and St Johns Pass...

On Tuesday, our second day there, we went to the beach! The kids loved the sand and the ocean! We pretty much had the beach to ourselves during the day because most people were working or in school. We would see alot of walkers or runners on the beach but that's about it!

Gene helped the kids dig the biggest hole ever! :)

I love watching Gene play with the kids!! He's such a good Dad!

After dinner that night we went to St. Johns Pass, which is a boardwalk on the water with a bunch of little shops and restaurants. We got some yummy homemade ice cream and watched the boats go by!

We got to see our first set of Dolphins here too which the kids loved!!

After eating ice cream, we went across the street to watch the sunset!

I am so blessed!!

Sunset- our first night.....

We visited the beach every night for the sunset! Here are the pictures from our first one of the week!! It was so nice because a sweet much wiser in age fellow asked if he could take a family picture for us!! I said Yes, of course since he was offering!! He was really nice and I totally think we need more people like him in the world!!

Obviously, the sunsets were amazing the whole week!!


I just love sunsets!!

God is so amazing!!

He blows my mind with His creation!!

Arriving in Florida....

We arrived in Florida late Sunday night and pretty much went straight to bed! Well, besides bringing in all of our stuff and getting the kids settled down from all the excitement of getting there! The next morning, we took a little walk around our condos. We stayed at a place called Madeira Beach Yacht club. We had the best of both worlds because it was on the bay side but also just right across the street from the ocean too!

The condos are the white structures on the right of this photo. Our particular condo was on inside so no fancy view but obviously it was only a few steps away!! The boys loved the boats so that was a bonus!

Our next stop was walking to the beach! The photo above is the first time they saw the beach! The only one who has seen the beach before was Grace so it was very exciting to take the boys there for the first time!!

We had perfect weather all week long!! It started in the seventies and ended up in the nineties by Friday with blues skies every day!

Hayden checking out the ocean!

Playing the super soft white sand!

Asher enjoying his first day at the beach and a picture of the crab we found!

Asher's squishing his sweet little feet in the sand!

Our Vacation begins.....

All of us waiting for the train!

We left around noon on Friday and arrived pretty late at Miracle and Dave's house that night. The kids were amazing in the car both ways which was a surprise to me! They are the couple that used to live here in Indiana but moved away 2 years ago to Atlanta. We miss them dearly!!We had originally planned this vacation in August but for one reason or another it kept getting pushed back and ended up in October! (Prices in Florida go way down in Oct too which was nice!) The really neat thing is that Miracle was due in the beginning of October so because we moved the dates we were able to see her precious little baby boy who born just a week before we got there!!

Dax couldn't wait for the train to come!!

On Saturday, we decided on a whim that it would be fun to go on the subway and take the kids to Centennial park. The kids had so much fun riding the "train". The only thing weird is that it was abnormally cold and windy for Atlanta at that time! We braved through it and had fun anyway!

The kids did a great job of listening or it could have been pretty crazy getting on and off the subway with 4 adults and 8 kids!!

Our family picture at Centennial Park!

Fountains at Centennial Park

Grace and Mikaela.......Eli

The kids on the way back waiting for the train!

Our two youngest!!

Miracle with baby Daniel...... Gene with Asher

All the kiddos the day we left!! It was pretty windy that day! :) (Notice Dax's hair)

Grace and Mikaela are a month apart

Dax and Faith are two months apart

Hayden and Eli are 3 weeks apart

Miracle and I with our youngest!!

Miracle has one more sweet baby in heaven who would have been a year too just like Asher! I can't wait to meet him/her in heaven!!! Baby Daniel was only a week old in this picture and all bundled up... because it was cold!! It was so good to spend time with some of our best friends! The kids loved it and we can't wait to see them again!

Family Vacation 2009.....

Over the next few days I am going to post stories and pictures from our vacation! I know I am still way behind.... like a month... but eventually I will get caught up!! ;) Well, I knew at the beginning of the summer that I wanted to plan a family vacation to the beach so we began saving little bits here and there. It was definitely a budget vacation but so worth it and fun!! God provided for the whole thing and we are thankful!! We stayed with great friends on the way down and back, in Atlanta, which saved us money! Thanks Miracle and Dave!! We got a great deal on a condo in Madeira Beach, Florida, near St. Pete/Clearwater on the Gulf side. All of our meals except for one were made in the condo which saved us a bunch of money too. Plus, we was basically just played at the beach which was free!! We had so much fun and we hope you enjoy our pictures!!

Asher's walking!!!!

At the end of September, shortly after his first birthday he decided to start walking! Here's the proof in video! He's pretty much walking like a pro now (end of Oct) and is soo cute doing it!!

Cake Decorating Course two...

Starting in September and ending in October, I took my second Wilton cake decorating class at our local Michael's. I, once again, took the class with my sister and law Melissa! Here's a link to our first class post!

We had 4 classes and we only had to bring a cake to the final class which was nice! (as opposed to the first course which was 3 cakes!!) We mainly learned how to make flowers out of royal icing! We mainly used buttercream during the first course so it was fun to see what you can make with another type of icing!! Up above is a few examples of the flowers we learned how to make!

At our final class, we put all those flowers to good use and made a pretty cake!!

We also learned how to do the basket weave which actually turned out really pretty!!

Our instructor is going on maternity leave and won't be back until January so I can't take course 3 until then and I can't wait!! I have loved all the things I have learned during these classes!! It is so handy and practical since I love making my kid's cakes and all!

Women's retreat

Women's Retreat 2009

In September, after a few months of planning, we had our women's retreat!! God is so good and faithful! It was so refreshing and seriously one of the best retreats that I have ever been too! I really believe that the prayer team and all the prayer that was put behind it really made the difference!

God answers our prayers!

We had so many beautiful things that were incorporated into the weekend that made it even more special! On Friday night, we had a candlelit communion service which was so powerful!! My main job for the weekend was the speaker and I am so glad that God led me to her website because God showed up when she spoke! She is so in love with Jesus and only wants His name to be Glorified!! She allowed God to speak through her and He touched our hearts!! Her name is Tammy Smith and her website is here!! :) (She is in picture at the top on the left)

Not only did we get some awesome God time that weekend but we also got to have some really good fellowship and fun with some pretty awesome ladies! Staying up late playing fun games and talking was a highlight too!

We even got to do some adventure stuff this time at the retreat which was exciting!! I love stuff like that!! In the picture above, I'm rock climbing to the top!!

Here I am climbing this pole to do this........

walk across a rope bridge!!

It was so much fun! I had such a great time getting to know some new women too and all the encouragement that comes with that!!

God is good!!

Rocket shoot.......

At the beginning of the school year, our friends from church had their 2nd annual Home school rocket shoot. It was a lot of fun last year and we always enjoy getting together with other homeschoolers so we knew that we definitely wanted to attend this year too.

Basically, we all bring an empty two liter bottle that we use to make the rockets. After we design our rockets then we shoot them off!!

Gene attaching the rocket.....

Dax helping to launch the rockets....

The kids making their rockets and then all kidslined up ready to go!!

All my little kiddos with their rockets!!

Not only do the kids get to learn about Science but they also get to have some good fellowship!!

Asher's First Birthday Party......

We had Asher's birthday party at the local state park and it turned out wonderful! It was really secluded in the woods and even had a playground for the kids. We grilled chicken and ate lunch there as well!

Now to the fun part!!!

CAKE!!!!

In the first picture we were singing happy Birthday and in the second he has just gotten his first taste of his "little" cake!

In these pictures he is getting a little bit messy but not bad........

I turn my head for second and turn back to see my dad painting Asher's face with blue icing!! My dad, the troublemaker!!! :) He even painted Asher's arms with icing! LOL! Asher had fun eating his cake and probably would have kept himself pretty clean if it weren't for my Dad! (Wink wink)

Asher's super sweet face!