Thankful for Surprises...

This past weekend we had the opportunity to surprise my parents for Halloween. They live about 11 hours away in Georgia and had no idea we were coming! We showed up at their door with the kids dressed in their costumes saying 'trick or treat'!

It was worth the ride just to see their faces! It was one of the first times my Mom didn't know what to say! ;)

The crew getting ready to head out - for a 3 hour candy collection!! (We had no idea)!

I think they were still in shock at this point.

It was fun for the kids to ride in the back of the car- but it got tiring lifting the littles in and out of the car - so I offered to drive and Brian did all the lifting (what a man)!

One of the many houses...One house left a big bowl out even though they weren't home...On Sunday evening, we got to go to the Fall Festival at Mom and Dad's church. I think Mom told everyone she saw the story of the weekend! Cute to see how excited they were.

The kids loved playing on the church playground.

Free pony rides...

Yee-haw Larry Boy!!

Needless to say, it was a whirlwind of a weekend and I think we are still recovering from traveling 22 hours within 3 days but it was so fun and such a great memory. I am thankful that I had a husband who thought of doing this and then sacrificed to make it happen!

Vacation - Part 2 - Beach Fun!

Emmie and Jenny (Brian's cousin)

Ellerie just loved playing in the sand...

Brian led the way in building a huge sand castle ... sadly, I forgot to get a pic of the finished product...

Calvin was helping too...


Barefoot Landing - one of our annual traditions as well...


We always love to get a pic here too...


Calvin and Ellerie's turn...


The funny mirrors!

Coleman and Ellerie on the cow...

Carter, Calvin and Emmie

An attempt at a family shot - don't want to even talk about the weather and what it did to my hair! Frizzy is all I can say!

Another attempt...

An attempt with everyone (except Jenny, Shawn, Gwen and Casey's parents)

PawPaw and Granny with the grandkids - at least everyone is IN the picture!

Whew! See why vacation was so tiring? ;) And this is just at the end of the day on Tuesday - 3 more full days!!

Vacation - Part 1 - Expectations!

This was Carter's first walk on the beach! (Last year he went out some but was either in his car seat or my arms). He was so excited to walk on the sand. He walked all over all week long.

So sweet holding Daddy's hand.

Carter and PawPaw taking a break...




Carter and PawPaw taking a walk...

...and he's still walking...




Ella, Ellerie and Carter playing in the sand - a fun activity during the week. (And it was in the shade).




What you doing Mom? (He wasn't too big on the hat)!




Later that afternoon, we went to play Putt-Putt (an annual tradition for us). Carter had fun trying to get everyone's ball!

"I finally got it!"

Emmie making a precise shot (not really-we posed it to get the shot)!

Coleman watching the ball after following through (really- we didn't have to pose it).

Ellerie hitting the ball in her own special way! Go girl!

Calvin concentrating on his shot. (Really just taking a break from his rock climbing and water adventures).

Dad joining Calvin on his rock climbing adventure for a picture.

Lastly, that evening (yes, this was all the first day) we went to Krispy Kreme (another annual tradition).

Carter's face after his first bite of a warm, glazed doughnut! I think he likes it! You should have seen him drinking the chocolate milk!

Hunter, Calvin and Coleman eating their snack. Notice the yummy doughnuts passing by in the background! My mouth is watering even now!

Emmie is waiting so patiently for hers!

Coleman's waiting for his milk (he doesn't like doughnuts, crazy I know!) He is a little red from boogey boarding ALL DAY!

Ellerie - either she is tired of waiting for hers or Daddy was trying to make her laugh and she didn't think he was being very funny!

This is just what we did on Sunday, our first full day at Myrtle Beach! Let's just say we crammed a whole-lotta-fun into vacation week. So much fun that I'm still worn out and still recovering!

But it was such an incredible week. Brian and I knew ahead of time that we would be tired but that we would work hard to ensure that our kids would have a fun, memorable vacation. We also talked with the kids ahead of time about expectations for the week. We told them that they may not always get to do their first choice of an activity every day but that we can always have fun at whatever we do - the point would be to enjoy our time as a family no matter what we were doing.

It was good for me to talk about expectations ahead of time too. I knew that I would be 'working' alot since feeding people, laundering for those sweet people, and cleaning for those same sweet people (who bring alot of sand into the condo) don't stop on vacation and my heart was totally fine with that. I mean, hey, it is much more fun to clean and do laundry at the beach! But my sweet husband helped ensure that I had some relaxing times too. I was able to run several mornings by myself and sit out on the beach several afternoons just watching the big kids play while the little ones rested. We were even able to sneak out for a special dinner alone the last night while Granny watched the kids for us!

I am thankful we had this time to get away and relax - it was such a blessing for us and our kids! More pics to come!

It's That Time of Year Again...

Vacation! It's coming! I can't believe it's that time of year again! We've finished school, are making lists, packing, and getting our toenails painted tomorrow (well, just the girls are doing that last part)! But one of the most important parts of our preparation the last few years has been to read and review CJ Mahaney's posts about serving your family on vacation.

It is so helpful to remind myself that our goal is to serve our family during this time! Last year I went with a nursing 2-month old and knew that it may not be the most 'fun' vacation for me but I prepared my heart to serve and that mindset helped me so much during that week. (And the fact that my husband served me as well).

The best part is that we are all together for vacation! I love spending time with my husband and kids and we get to do that for 9 days. This intentional time away is good for my soul! I will still be preparing food, washing clothes, and cleaning but I get to step out the door to the pool and the beach!

My prayer is that Brian and I will continue to point one another towards the cross and that we can exhibit Christlike service to our family this coming week!

Two Months

(edited to add his picture - I found the camera...)

Carter turned 2 months this week. I would post a picture but I am too lazy to go find the camera. The past 2 months have been special as we have adjusted to this new blessing. He brings joy to every member of our family and is never in need of arms willing to hold him. But although it's been a blessing it's still been very tiring.

And now we are getting ready to go on vacation for a week where we will spend time with family at the beach. My family loves this time, especially the kids. I will admit that it's tiring just getting ready for vacation - especially with a newborn that needs to eat every few hours. But as I was preparing for this time, I remembered CJ Mahaney's series from last year about vacations. This time is an opportunity for me to serve my family - and to serve them with joy.

CJ says, "No one should be happier on vacation than we are. During our vacation our children should repeatedly observe us smiling and laughing, and throughout the vacation they should be the objects of our affection and appreciation."

My prayer is that I will rely on the Lord for the extra strength and grace I will need this coming week to help my family have a special vacation full of fun memories with one another. I'll let you know how it goes!!

Beach Vacation

We were blessed to have a beach vacation the last week of May. It’s been 10 years since Brian and I have been to the beach and our kids have never been at all! Needless to say, we were all excited about taking a ‘real’ vacation. Brian’s parents, along with his 2 siblings and their families, also had condos at the same place.

Thankfully, before we left, CJ Mahaney started this series of blogposts entitled “Leadership and Family Vacations.” Unfortunately, we were only able to read the first post before we left (not having internet access while we there we didn't read the others until later) but there was enough wisdom in that first post to guide us as we entered this special week.

Vacation = relaxation right? Well, not exactly. Momma first spends at least a week packing for that kind of trip (I sort of felt like I needed a vacation just from packing for vacation, know what I mean?). Then while there, the family still needs to be fed and laundry still needs to be done. So, while I may still have some ‘work’ to do during the week, I made up my mind ahead of time to do that work joyfully, while enjoying my family.

Family vacations are an opportunity to create memories for the family and CJ reminded us that we are the ones that set the tone for that. His first point of instruction focused on servant leadership. “Husbands are called by God to serve and lead…And you will know you are serving and leading effectively on your vacation when you fall into bed at night more exhausted than at the end of the most grueling day of work. The father must enter family vacations committed to serve, lead, plan, initiate, and work, and do all this with joy.”

Well, we did just that. We were exhausted at the end of each day, but it was such a good, relaxing exhaustion. We spent the entire day making special memories together as a family. It can be exhausting making memories with 4 small children especially when you include swimming, boogey boarding, Nascar riding, tiger watching, shopping, etc. But they were so excited about every-single-thing and to share those times with them was pricless.

The second point we were able to discuss before we left was that of a ‘Tone-Setting Attitude.’ The Father and Mother are the ones responsible for setting the tone for the family vacation. There would be plenty of opportunities to let circumstances rule the day, but we wanted to be intentional about trying to exhibit grace throughout our trip. CJ says, “no one should be happier on vacation than we are. During our vacation our children should repeatedly observe us smiling and laughing, and throughout the vacation they should be the objects of our affection and appreciation. Your attitude on family vacation will be changed when you perceive the graciousness of God that surrounds you in the form of your family.”

So true. I knew I was still to serve my family and do so with joy. We did what we could to keep things simple, like cereal of frozen waffles for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. We tried to make sure everyone had a chance to spend time doing what they enjoyed (one child LOVED the ocean waves while another LOVED the pool). It helped us to set out with the mindset that we were going to serve one another during this special trip and we were able to do just that.

We have come back refreshed and relaxed and are longing to return! More stories and pictures to come!

We were able to recognize so many evidences of God’s grace in our lives through this special time with family. We are truly blessed. Even though we

Weekend Getaway - Final Part

Alright, it's about time I finish this series before I forget. So, we went up to Reddish Knob to watch the sun set about 10 1/2 years ago. When you are at the top of the mountain after the sunset, you can look to the west and see the night; then look to the east and see the end of the day. So we really wanted to try and experience this again.


Brian couldn't remember exactly how to get there so I did a search on the Internet (because we all know everything on the internet is TRUE) and found some directions for us. So after a filling dinner at Outback, we headed out to find Reddish Knob.


The directions seemed to prove true as we took the first few steps of the trip. The directions said to stay on a certain rural road (6-hundred something, well, it didn't actually say 'hundred something' but I just can't remember all of the numbers now) until we run into a different road (9-hundred something) which takes us to the ridge. Well, all of a sudden, a street sign says that this 6-hundred something road makes a sharp left and you have to turn to stay on it. If you don't turn, then you are on a 2-hundred something road. So of course, I thought we should follow the turn and stay on the 6-hundred road. But Brian said, "honey, that's going away from the mountains, we should stay this way and go towards the mountains." (Me - yeah - whatever.) So after a few minutes we see a small country store and I beg Brian to stop and ask them directions so we won't miss the sunset.

He comes out from the little store and says that the man inside said the directions were wrong. He said we were going the right way, all we had to do 'was to stay rite thar on that 2-hundred road til you come round that yonder mountain, then take a sharp left and you're thar.' Oh - OK.

So we go round that yonder mountain and it was hard to find a real sharp left. I thought there was a sharp left but Brian didn't think that was it and saw a different sign to follow. I didn't actually see the sign he saw but he promised that it had "Reddish Knob" on it with an arrow. But which way was the arrow pointing, I wanted to know?

So we keep winding and winding on this lonely, narrow road. At times, I thought we were even going down. I kept asking if this was the right way ... are you sure ... Well, then we started going up ... and up ... and up. Let me just inject here, that I'm not that big on heights. I don't like to fly (more like won't do it because I'm scared), I don't like high bridges, I don't even like the shaky stairs on the big slide at the County Fair because it has a teeny rail that I could just flip over in a secon if I slipped the wrong way.

But anyway, as we're going up I look off to the side of the road and there is nothing there but the tops of trees. Ohhhhh! I can't even see the bottom of the ravine. Just one slip of the wheel and we're toast. Those teeny old trees won't stop this car! I keep asking him to slow down (although he's already going really slow, or so he says but I'm too sick to get a good look at the speedometer) and then I had a serious thought. What if this isn't the right way? There are no turn arounds here and there's nowhere to turn this big ole car! I ain't going down this steep mountain backwards! If we are in the wrong place I'll just have to walk down and meet the car at the bottom.

But since we can't turn around, we just keep going up and up. And I start feeling sicker and sicker ... I kind of lay down so I can't really see where we're going anymore. Then I sit up and look out in front of the car and all I see is the sky. What? Just the sky? There was this surreal feeling like we were flying (which I hate) but we were in a car (which is worse than a plane if you're in the sky). I just laid back down and closed my eyes. I don't remember all of this drama from before but I guess I have just gotten a little more skittish as I have gotten older and gotten life insurance, ya know?

But finally we made it to the top and I got over the sickness and was able to enjoy the beautiful view. Brian captured some pretty shots of the sunset. It was a wonderful to spend the evening, once we got up there! And I will have to say that the trip down was much more uneventful, probably because it was dark and I couldn't see the danger we were in ...