I can't stop being thankful now!

Well, I had my blog set to continue being thankful last week. Those people who watched my kids all week will never understand how thankful I am for what they allowed me to experience. There's a whole other world under water that I would not have seen if I'd had kids with me!

The one thing that I really wanted to see was a starfish and we saw several! They were huge & fat! I had no idea! I was hoping to see a sea turtle also... AND I SWAM WITH A STINKING STING RAY!!! The fish and the coral were amazing. St. John has to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

I'm still working on organizing photos, remembering which beach was which and getting some captions written. When I get them up on Flickr, I'll post a link if you want to see more photos with captions. It was a truly amazing week. It was worth saving for 4 years to get there.

Beach Day!

David has been looking forward to this moment for over a year... Beach Day!

This first beach day was actually Oyster Lake, but you'd have thought we'd landed on the most beautiful beach in the world based on the kids' reactions.

Kalaya, Lavery and Brigid went with us. Sarina was at PreK. The beach was actually made of crushed oyster shells. Dad even broke an oyster open while we were there.

No, he didn't actually eat it... he didn't have the horseradish! Dad also caught a number of hermit crabs and showed them to the kids. One of them was HUGE!

They walked on the sand bar, threw shells into the water, dug in the sand/shells, David caught his own hermit crab at the shoreline, and we saw lots of wildlife.

I forgot to apply sunscreen to the kids & Elizabeth got pretty red even though we were only there for the morning hours.

Perhaps the most exciting part, for me, was seeing a dolphin! It swam pretty close to where we were and looped around, flopping & thrashing as it caught fish. You can just barely see it as it headed off into the distance here:

We picnicked in the car & headed back to the house to rest. After supper, Dad wanted to try out the fishing on the piers & jetties in Palacios.

Something was pulling on his line, but it broke before we saw what it was!

Kalaya & I try to get together at least twice a year. Usually at my house in the winter and her house in the summer. I think we've been faithful to get together every year since college. Our gathering has now grown to 10 when we include husbands & kids!


And David's last words at bed time, "Is tomorrow another beach day?"

Heading South

When Dad got off work Sunday morning, we finished loading up, and headed South. It's been over 2 years since we took a trip, so this was both Elizabeth's and Rebekah's first family vacation! Our destination: the beach!

Along the way we got some courthouse photos for my courthouse book. Some I've probably taken before, but we went ahead & took another as we drove past, just in case. Milam County Courthouse in Cameron:


While Rebekah ate, Dad rang the bell and took David & Elizabeth on a walk and I took photos out the window.


The Burleson County Courthouse was a drive-by in Caldwell:

We drove past the ruins at Independence, I sang Up With the Purple, and then stopped at the Antique Rose Emporium. Alan & I had pooled our birthday monies to buy plants for the house, so I picked out an Old Blush and a fragrant rose called Maggie. It smells like Rose Milk. Alan picked up a River Sage.


Traveling on... Washington County Courthouse in Brenham:

and the Austin County Courthouse in Bellville:

We finally arrived at Kalaya's house in time for supper. She'd been filling the pool the last few days & the kids were all eager to go for a swim. Her girls got cold & got out before I could get the camera unloaded. My kids didn't want to get out! And it was cold!

And the babies slept. They're 5 weeks apart.

Oh wait, Rebekah's eyes are open! She enjoyed being out of the car anyway! And she also travelled very well, too!

I have been blessed with water...

For weeks now, we've been living with this yucky, undrinkable water. I've been driving over to my parents' house to fill gallon jugs with their tasty, soft water. I had to clean my dishes after running them through the dishwasher due to the calcium in the water. The smell of metal (iron in the water) almost made me sick at times. I smelled it when washing clothes, showering & bathing the kids. The tub full of water was yellow from it.

Then Dad, my hero, installed our new water softener! The difference is amazing! It's clear, it doesn't stink, and while it doesn't taste as good as Momma & Daddy's it is now drinkable. My dishes are clean and I'm not worried about what long term exposure to the hard water will do to our clothes when they're washed.

But now I've been reminded that people all over the world would have been happy with what I called undrinkable. How spoiled we are to be so blessed.

A lot of people give this time of year because it's Christmas or because it's your last chance to get a tax deduction. Whatever your reason, think about giving more this year. Not because it's the thing to do, or for the deduction, but because even in hard times, we have been blessed. Pause the music & watch...

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded...

Watch the Advent Conspiracy video, too.

The Splash Pad is Open!

We made our first Splash Pad trip of the summer on Friday evening. Elizabeth was too small last year, so this was her first time ever!

David had a ball running around, splashing, getting splashed & playing with the other kids. You never knew what water jet he would be sitting on running through, or aiming at himself!

Elizabeth was a little slow to get comfortable with the splashing water, but warmed up to the concept before too long. Then she spotted some kids playing basketball at the neighboring BB court. In this clip, she's watching them yelling, "BALL!"

Check my Flickr for more photos from the Splash Pad.