Beach Week!

We started something this year that may just have to be a new tradition. :) After an awesome Christmas not because of "stuff", but because of the people that were here this year:) ...the whole group headed over to New Smyrna where Grandma and Grandpa had 2 side by side condo's waiting for everyone. We had an absolute blast just being together and playing..building castles, finding crabs, fishing......some crazy people even ventured into the 64 degree water! The rest of us thanked the Lord for the heated pool!! Our son Jason and his uncle Steve (there's a 20 something year age difference:)) were both competitive swimmers in their day. Steve still swims 'Masters' and recently swam across San Francisco bay from Alcatraz. Anyway, he and Jason decided to test their skills in the condo pool which was fun to see. They're both in great shape (uh..still:)) and the lungs are hangin on!! Julie's 'courting buddy' Jon came as well...we definitely missed the rest of his family as they had to head back to Carolina.:( Next time guys!! The weather couldn't have been more perfect....and at night we took our lantern out to see "God's Show" every evening right after dark. The beach is VERY dark because of turtle nesting....so when you stand near the water and turn off your flashlight/lantern you are immersed in the amazing glory of the nighttime sky. This nightly adventure was a highlight!!This mommy came home kicking and screaming!!Here are some pictures from our stay at New Smyrna Beach. We had a great time playing and swimming with our cousins from California and relaxing before the new year began. We love our Florida beaches!Even Eloise behaved herself....mostly because we ran the little 5 year old bleach blonde ragged everyday...so she just fell over at night. Good plan heh??!! The last day we went to Smyrna Dunes State Park. They do not offer camping there as some readers have asked...but it was by far another highlight of our trip. See for yourself! In fact...we've already been back for another visit since then!!Our nature girl (Leni) would live there if we let her."Mama...we have to help the gopher turtles! They're 'most expinct! (almost extinct:)....actually endangered...but she's apparently worried about the Florida turtle population). The park is 73 acres with boardwalks all around it. 1/2 of the park is on the Indian River and you can walk around to the Atlantic (where all the sharkies are!!) The tide pools are full of marine life and we found starfish 'calling' our names to pick them up! If you haven't been yet....by all means GO!! Thanks for indulging us with all our pics. As you can see......it was grand!.....and next week...the Charleston cousins are coming for the whole week!! We can't wait!!

P.S. I know we have some new readers. Just FYI and to avoid confusion:) we have 2 bio children...the oldest Jason is married to Mel and they have a 2 year old son Cade. Julie is 20. Then per the prompting of the Lord, we adopted Leni at 7 months...she's now 7...then Kristin at birth...she'll be 6 next month.(they're both domestic adoptions)..and one month after Cade was born, we traveled to China to pick up our 5th child, Katherine (Katie) Mei in Nanchang, Jiangxi. She is Cade's aunt...yet they're only 10 months apart to the exact day. God works in amazing ways!! It's lively around here:)to say the least....and isn't God good!! I started this blog to stay in touch with relatives and because there is absolutely NO time to scrapbook. (we also homeschool:)) anyway....I'm amazed that people follow us...but thank you and believe me...there's never a dull moment!

P.S. AFTER the oxyclean incident (see post below)....a water pipe burst in our master bath. Apparently the builder did NOT install a turn off valve under the soaking tub...so emergency call went out to husband to GET HOME PLEASE and figure out how to unflood the flood! After 24 hours with no water....we now have water back. But no master bathtub. Oh well. I'll take flushing over a bathtub:) I would've made a lousy pioneer:) Oh yea...ChemDad suggested going to Costco and BUYING Oxyclean. Brilliant. But not as cheap.:)