Snapshots of Life

I've been realizing that I am slacking on doing blog posts. I'm not sure why? Life is busy, but I think my priorities moved and I'm not sure if that's good or not? 

This morning I took some time while the kids were doing school to catch up on some of the blogs I read. It made me want to get back in the groove. I really enjoy the nuggets I read on other's blogs and sometimes feel like mine are so shallow. But sometimes, I am ready for "shallow". It seems that God has been working in our lives {Dan & myself} and growing is painful at times! Pain is not usually enjoyed in the moment, but later we can see how it is necessary.

Our rose bushes were very prolific a few weeks ago. While most of the first flowers faded and dropped, there are more buds coming! :)

We SO enjoyed having Pete, Esther & Kenan and Miriam & Mara {Dan's sisters} here with us for a few days 2 weeks ago. This was the most time we've got to spend with Mara since she was born and I was happy that she took to us so well. Miriam said she talks about Dan and Danny a lot since they are back home! :) We miss her. She is such a cutie!! :)

Hiking at Torreya State Park

A small water fall we walked to.

Pete taught Danny how to start a fire with lint and a flint lighter.

Cutting veggies for Hobo's one night.

~A day at the beach~

It won't be long till the books will not have to follow Dan everywhere he goes!! :)

Graduation is right around the corner!! {May 12, in Lynchburg, VA} I think I could write a whole post about that, too. I am ready to be done with the planning of that trip and just get on with it, but I know it will be here very, very soon! :)

 He will still have 1 or 2 classes to take after graduation, but then that will be IT!

My men buried in the sand....see their frilly hats? 

Kenan with her daddy after he rose out of his sandy grave! ;)

Seafood supper at Parramore's Too!! Mmmmm!!

Henry cousins!

Bike rides....

chatting~

This is the 3rd year that we participated in a casual Passover celebration. It is a neat tradition....I don't think I ever really knew the significance of the Passover feast in Bible times. 

 This year 7 families participated.

One of the seder plates~

The girls....

And the boys....

A wonderful family we know blessed Danny with a 4-wheeler. It runs, but needs some TLC. On Monday, he washed it and got it looking much better! Last night, they hooked up our trailer and as Danny was pulling it around to the front yard, he sideswiped the bumper on my van and left two nice crinkle marks! :(  I guess that's life.....learning and teaching as we go!

Our exterminator sold the pest control part of his business to another company. They called this week to see if they could come out and spray....it was time....I saw a roach or two in the past couple weeks!

On Monday, we had a swarm of termites outside our house....I mean, a HUGE swarm. I don't know where they came from? Later, after they left, I was outside and saw all these wings in the hole of our front yard tree. Then I got to thinking.....this tree is not getting leaves like other years. In fact, we cut a large branch off the one side just last week that was completely dead. 

SO, when the exterminator came on Tues., I had him take a look at it and he confirmed me fear.....the tree is infested with termites!! :( {This is our only nice shade tree, and when you live in FL, shade is coveted!!}

***just hoping our house is not infested!! :P I think we would be wise to have it checked!***

Two little green anoles were helping themselves to the termites that landed on the porch! :) I was trying to capture them eating some, but instead I got this....one anole flirting with the other!! :)

So much is going on with other people right now!!

Our dear friend Scott Cloud has just been diagnosed with Metastatic Melanoma. The prognosis for that type of cancer is not good and they have a low success rate with radiation! 

Also, my BIL, Phil Bergey is in the hospital with pneumonia and a blood infection. He will hopefully be able to come home tomorrow  or Friday, but he will have to have an IV for 2 weeks. His wife, Gina {my youngest sister} has been sick, as well as their 4 oldest kids. They all seem to be doing better, thankfully. Their oldest, Koltin, had a seizure last week while he was sick! :( 

Sometimes we wonder why some people are just bombarded with the bad stuff!?? I know, we are not God and cannot see the big picture, like He can! I need to trust and just be there the best I can for those who are hurting, so maybe one day if it's my turn, I can also receive that kind of care!! :/

24 Hour Beach Party

Friday night and Saturday the Dads/Sons from church had their annual campout. Since I had the camera with me, there are no pics. :( But they had a good time, as usual! :) 

Tamara and I were trying to decide what we could do to have some inexpensive fun while they were gone.

 Then, Heidi Weaver invited us moms/daughters to join her and her daughter Maria at the house they are living in at Santa Rosa Beach. They are living there while her husband, Rocky, is building a house near there. We thought that sounded like fun and jumped at the chance! :)

Ruth Drawbond and her girls and Caroline Yoder also went. After the 1 1/2 hour trip and a stop at Goodwill, we finally found the house! {note to self: don't rely on GPS only!!} :P

We made pizza's for supper and while Heidi was baking them, the rest of us went down to the beach to watch the sunset. {Heidi joined us later} It was a nice little walk and we didn't quite make it in time for the sunset, but it was still beautiful! 

Tamara and I ~ <3

Tamara and Maria

The youth girls ~Beth, Susan and Caroline

{It was neat to have Caroline there. She is on spring break from college}

Ruth and her girls~

Walking the beach. We saw lots of crabs!! :) Susan attempted to catch them, but since we were not dressed for the water and they would quickly head out away from the shore, she was not successful.

I must say, that is some of the whitest, softest sand ever!!! It was so lovely!

A game of Dutch Blitz.

We stayed up well past midnight discussing all sorts of topics! :)

~Saturday morning~

Pretty Oleander outside their house.

The apartment complex we stayed in. We were in the second balcony from the right...and the top floor above that.

The flags flying on Saturday~

Yellow: Medium hazard, moderate surf and/or currents.

Purple: Dangerous marine life. {probably jelly fish}

The beach was so awesome first thing Sat. morning...not many people and lots of crashing waves.

Two guys out paddle surfing. I had never seen that before!

Tamara and Maria building in the sand. Tamara said she made the land of Narnia! :)

{I sadly realized I don't have any pictures of our kind Hostess for the weekend!! :( She was busy keeping us all comfortable!! :) }

Ok, so I do have one after all! :) 

Maria, Heidi and Caroline getting ready to sit on the beach Sat. morning. :)

6th Annual Ladies Tea

Saturday, March 10, was the 6th annual Ladies Tea fundraiser for GEMS. This was the largest tea, to date! We sold 190 tickets and had table sponsors which allowed the full ticket price to be donated to GEMS. The sponsors paid for the meals. We profited around $10,000!! :) 

A BIG Thank You to those who bought tickets or participated in some way. Many hands were offered and that is what made it a success....well, that and our Father God!! :)

The beautiful tables! Candice has a wonderful gift for decorating!!

Harpist playing in the lobby as guests arrived!

Mrs. Montgomery {Chaplain Gary's wife} with two of her friends, getting dressed up for pics! :)

Brianna Rhodes played violin a few times throughout the event. She has been playing at these events for the past 3 or 4 years! :)

Veronica~ a former inmate who shared her testimony and how prison ministry affected her life.

A table of young ladies :)

Scanned copy of the photo Tamara and I had taken. {The original is not so washed out...not sure why it scanned that way? :P }

What a blessing this Tea was to help support the missionary chaplains and their families. While our family doesn't directly benefit from this, we are amazed and excited to see God supply this money for the ones who will  benefit!! I know it will be a blessing to them!

Emptying My Camera Card

So I am getting my camera ready for the weekend. Here are a few pics that were on it....

Just random stuff from our lives in the past week! :)

The check engine light came on it our van about 2 years ago when we were going up a mountain on a trip to PA. Last August when we were in PA, Dan took the van to our trusted mechanic we had up there and he hooked it up to a computer and it showed like our one oxygen sensor was bad. {I never knew vans had oxygen sensors} He said we can run on one, but if the second one gives out we might not be in too good of shape! He said it would cost around $200, I think, to get them replaced. Well, a few weeks ago Dan stopped at the Auto Zone and ordered the parts. They came and were laying around here for over a week. I finally decided that the next day I was going to call around and see who would replace them for us and see how much it would cost.

Well, that night Dan came home from work and said he is going to replace the sensors that evening. I didn't know that he had been doing some research to see if it was possible for him to do it himself.....

So, that night, he and Danny took the old ones out and put the new in!! :)

No check engine light anymore!! :)

Our trampoline net ripped and we took it down last summer, but the poles were still up. Danny took them all off one day and made some "bling" with the hardware! :) 

Blooming phlox in my front flowerbed! :)

This isn't a real good pic, but our row of plants out front is doing pretty well. We have 3 azaleas {only one bloomed this spring }, 2 knock out rose bushes {with lots of buds}, 2 new crabapple trees that survived the winter and have beautiful leaves, 3 magnolia trees and a large flowering plant that came up on its own! :)

This is the Crabapple tree we planted two years ago in the side yard. It is growing so well. Hope the two out front do so well. We'll soon have a nice privacy "fence" and dust blocker if they do this well!! :)

Made cinnamon rolls last week to take to our small group Bible study. They didn't last long!! :)

Sharing the icing beaters~

 Danny had a little bike accident Friday evening. :( He came in the house calling me to help him, but heard the water running in my bathroom and figured I was taking a shower {I was just washing my hair}. I heard lots of bumping around in the hall bath, so I went to see what was up. Danny was trying to clean up his wound himself. He had the peroxide out and was cleaning it. I asked if I should help him and he said, "yeh....and my vision is getting blurry". I hurried him to the sofa and had him lie down. We cleaned it up and it's looking much better this week! :)

That is a job I do not love! :P

Looking forward to spending the weekend at the Greenville Homeschool Convention with 2 car loads of friends!! :) The trip up and back might be interesting with 2 pregnant ladies!! :) :) :)
I'm sure it will be lots of fun!!

Just hoping everyone else here stays healthy. Dan told me last night he felt achey like he is getting the flu. By this morning he had fever, but he went to work anyway. I expect to see him home early today!!