~Our FL Vacation, part 1~

Hello! Hello! Hello!  I have not died, just have been running 90 to nothing, enjoying life, Memories, Family, and Friends.
But I HAVE MISSED BLOGGING, so here I am!
I hope all of y'all are well!

 ~Little Ava looks like how I felt after COMARGO CAMP.  I just wanted to SLEEP!!!
But instead...we quickly washed up our camp clothes and left the next day for Tennessee to see my Grandmother and then on to Florida for our vacation.~

Our family was very much in need of some RESTING TIME AFTER RUNNING FOR JESUS FOR THE LAST 12 YEARS, and how we THANK THE LORD for giving it to us. :-)

HE gave us such a wonderful time in FL, in a vacation home loaned to us by some dear people! 

I have soooo many fun pics to post, even after I sorted thru them. :-)

~Our vacation started off with supper at Wendy's and some frozen custard from Culvers.  Then we drove to TN to see GG.~

~It was so NICE to be with Sweet GG!~

 ~A little "Uncle Sam" that holds his hand out and you put a penny in it, and he drops it into his briefcase. :-) ~

 ~Grandmother's beautiful antique furniture!~

 ~Phillip took this pic of GG and I visiting!!~

 ~Her wall of pics....and at the top Susan made a sign that says, "All Because Two People Fell in Love!!"
Granddaddy and Grandmother had 3 children,
they had 10 grandchildren,
and now (If I counted correctly) there are...35 Great Grandchildren,
and 1 Great Great Grandchild. :-)

 ~GG and Mary hugging!~

 ~Snugglin' with Abigail.~

~GG always stands at her front door and waves Goodbye to us!!!  So Sweet!~

 ~Here's what Kimberly said about her GG!~

 ~We stopped and Abigail crawled up in between Phillip and I...expecting to get to travel there. :-) ~

 ~Enjoying a yummy cold coffee together...going down the road toward FL~

  ~A pretty church in Atlanta, GA.~

 ~So fun traveling to FL with my sweetheart and family~

 ~Abigail ran across the parking lot into Mommy's arms.~

 ~Stopping for supper~

 ~Such a pretty moon.~

 ~Then after traveling alllll night...we arrived in Hobe Sound, FL at 6:00 A.M. Thursday morning.~

 ~Kimberly's pretty room in the home where we stayed.~

 ~The beautiful kitchen in that vacation home.~

 ~The Master bedroom.~

 ~The family room.~

 ~The formal dinning room.~

 ~The fun room where the boys stayed.~

 ~Sarah's fun place to stay...complete with a record player!  Sarah LOVES RECORD PLAYERS!~

 ~The great Master bath.~

 ~We enjoyed Argentine Mate Tea in FL.~

 ~That home was complete with a pool...which our kids LOVED!!!~

 ~And so did the rest of us. :-) ~

 ~Another pic of the fun master bath.~

 ~Driving down to the beach to eat our Pizza the first night.~

 ~Pizza for supper on the beach!~

 ~And we watched the moon come up over the ocean.~

 ~Family devotions and relaxing together.~

 ~PURE PARADISE!~

 ~Then on Friday we got to see our beloved Uncle Scott, Aunt Libby, and family!!!
HOW FUN!!!!
We haven't seen them in YEARS!!!
In fact, they had never met our Elijah, Mary, OR Abigail!!!
THANK YOU, DEAR JESUS, FOR LETTING US GET TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH U. SCOTT, A. LIBBY, JACOB, BETH, RACHEL, AND LEAH!!!!~

 ~Trying out Leah's pull-up bar.~

 ~Uncle Scott, Aunt Libby, Rachel, and Leah. (We were missing Jacob and Beth.)~

 ~Then Jacob pulled up and we got to throw him into the cousin picture!!~

 ~Look at SARAH driving! :-) ~

 ~U. Scott, and A. Libby took us to YUMMY CRACKER BARREL for supper!!!

 ~Sarah and Kimberly TOGETHER...got this game down to one peg...so TOGETHER they are a Genius!! :-) ~

 ~A. Libby and Elijah playing Checkers.~

 ~Hanging out at U. Scott and A. Libby's house on Saturday.~

 ~On that SATURDAY....our ABIGAIL TURNED 2!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET ABIGAIL!!!

I cannot even express what JOY that little girl brings to our family!!!!

 ~Abigail struggling to show you that she's TWO!~

 ~U. Scott and family took us to the private beach and we enjoyed a swim.~

 ~U. Scott trying Argentine Mate Tea.~

 ~Building Sand Castles.~

 ~They built it...and Abigail tore it down.  :-( ~

 ~Thankfully she didn't tear this one down.~

 ~Saturday morning I ran to Dollar Tree to get some plates and things and some gifts for Abigail for her birthday. :-)
I didn't know it, but Rachel had run to Dollar Tree too, and we ended up buying the same gift bags...which made a great CENTERPIECE for my table.~

 ~A. Libby picked up an ice cream cake for Abigail.~

 ~Abigail wasn't really impressed with wearing the birthday hat.~

 ~Sweet Leah and Abigail.~

 ~Then Jacob and Beth showed up with BUBBLES AND M&M's for Abigail!!! YUM!!~

 ~It was so fun to have U. Scott and A. Libby and their family with us to celebrate Abigail's birthday.~

 ~Sweet Beth and Abigail.~

 ~Sarah helping Abigail open her gifts.~

 ~Abigail LOVED her baby doll.~

 ~Mmmmmm!  M&M's!~

 ~Patient Jacob tossed the ball to Abigail and she got pretty good at catching it. :-) ~

 ~At Comargo Camp Gramp and Gram gave this neat little wooden box to Abigail for her 2nd birthday.
It was a perfect little gift because there is an "A" on one side and a "2" on another side. :-) ~

 ~Inside was this pretty little white tea set for Abigail!  

We opened it right before we left for our vacation.  Abigail was too tired when she opened it for us to get a pretty picture of her with her gift. 

THANK YOU, GRAMP AND GRAM!!!~

 ~On Sunday morning Bro. David Bubb preached a good sermon.  During his sermon he said this:

While God desires to use our pain and trouble 

as a way of purifying our faith, 

satan desires to use it as a way to BREAK our faith!

 ~It was sooo fun to see my good friend Liz again.~

 ~My Dear friends Phillip and Liz whom I haven't seen in for-evah!!
Liz and I grew up together some years in LA, and then Phillip and I attended school together in SC.~

 ~Bro. Jim Howard and Phillip.  Bro. Jim Howard was Phillip's principal in AZ.~

 ~A. Libby made such a DELICIOUS SUNDAY DINNER!!!~

 ~Look at A. Libby's homemade rolls!!!~

 ~YUMMO!~

 ~Then we went with U. Scott to the nursing home where he holds a service each Sunday afternoon.~

 ~These people LOVED our children!!!!!~

 ~It was sooo wonderful to hear U. Scott testify.  He always makes me CRY!!  THANK YOU, DEAR JESUS, FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE IN U. SCOTT AND A. LIBBY'S LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~

 ~Our family sang 3 songs.~

 ~Abigail was falling asleep...~

 ~So Phillip took her to Rachel during our specials, and this is what happened. :-) ~

 ~Phillip spoke.~

 ~Kimberly playing her violin for the nursing home service.~

 ~It was so nice to have Ostyn and Serge at the nursing home service as well.~

 ~Elijah holding Baby Andrew after church on Sunday night at Hobe Sound.~

 ~Phillip praying at Hobe Sound.~

 ~This precious couple PRAYS for us everyday!!!  We surely depend on their prayers as well as other's prayers.~

 ~After church, I stopped by the kitchen to see my Dear friend Kayla.~

~Becky Stence is a missionary to the Amazon, and has been for years. We got to meet her when she was flying through Bogotá one time and came to our house! Though there were a lot of miles between where she was working and where we were in Bogotá, it was encouraging to know she was down there working for Jesus too!!

Mrs. Becky's daughter came up and introduced herself to me. ~

 ~Visiting after church at Hobe Sound, FL

 ~Everywhere we go the kids BEGGED to ride with Rachel in her truck!~

 ~Me playing the piano that I would have grown up playing.~

 ~So neat that U. Scott and A. Libby have still have this piano.~

  ~I can't tell you how MUCH this down time in FL meant to our family!!!~

 ~I got to write in my journal and read my magazines...things I haven't had time to do at home.~

 ~On Monday we got to be David, Emily, and Andrew. ~
First Emily came and picked Kimberly up and took her out for coffee and they ran around together.  That was fun and Kimberly really enjoyed being with Emily!~

~Elijah holding little Andrew.~

 ~David came by picked up Phillip and the boys and took them to some nature trails in his fun Cobra car.~

 ~Mary and Abigail loving on Baby Andrew.~

 ~We went to Chick-fil-a together.~

 ~Then the girls and I walked down to Wendy's and got their 50 cent Frostys.~

 ALLL those pics were just from our first Weekend and Monday in FL!  :-)
More coming soon!~
~Heather~