The Trip Home

Our original plans were to leave Mississippi on Thursday and stop back by my cousins in Alabama and spend some more time with them. Then our plans changed because I woke up Wednesday morning sick with strep. :( After Bryan and I talked we decided to try and truck it home all in one day. We had never traveled so far with all the kids and wondered if it would wear them out. We planned to make a couple of long stops on the way. Our first stop was at a McDonald's in Mobile for lunch. We spent about an hour or so there and then the kids took a nap. We would be going through Birmingham about supper time so we thought that would be another good stop. For supper we stopped at Oak Mountain State Park and had a picnic. Not only was it a nice picnic but the kids got to ride their bikes on the BMX coarse there too. They loved it! We did make it home around 10 that night and the trip home was very nice (it took us about 10 hours to get home).

Elijah was having so much fun!

Elijah would even turn around and do the coarse backwards! LOL!!

Isaac thought this was so cool!

YAY for Big brother! He did so well on this coarse!

We realized Sarah's handle bars needed to be tightened up some! :(

Timothy had to try it too! Daddy is such a great helper!

Trying it all by himself!

Joanna made her own obstacle coarse! :)

Almost home and hubby had to stop and clean the window!

Timothy was so tired! See that chocolate in the corner of his mouth? We had to have a snack. :) All the kids did really well on the long trip home!

A Dip in the Pool

The condo we stayed at had two pools. One was big and VERY cold! The other pool was smaller and water temperature was just right. Sounds like Goldilocks and the Three Bears! LOL!! We didn't discover the seond pool until the night before we were leaving. :( The kids loved it! They liked the beach but I think they could have played in the pool all day! These pictures I took the morning before we left. Wish I could freeze time because each of the children were having so much fun! What a joy to hear the laughter of your children. I know that God must feel the same way when we laugh and are enjoying the pleasures He has given us!

Joanna had lots of fun in the pool. Isaac was real good about staying with her and helping her.

This little water rat is a hoot!! Timothy is so brave in the water, almost too brave!

Elijah  doesn't like to get water in his eyes but loves playing in the pool!

I think Sarah would love to be on a swim team. She would have rather stayed in the pool than gone to the beach!

The olympic gold metal swimmer....Isaac! LOL!! This boy wears his goggles faithfully!

All 5 kids swimming together and enjoying their vacation!! We are ready for another vacation!! :)

Fun at the beach!

Our time at the beach was very relaxing and the kids had so much fun!!

Sarah is flying a kite. This older gentleman was flying a kite and when he was done he offered the kite to the kids. It was neat to fly the kite on the beach. The wind was blowing just enough that it did really well!

Elijah loved playing and digging in the sand.

Isaac found this empty crab shell with....

one of its legs and one arm.

Close up of the claw!!

Bryan and I enjoyed watching the kids play. So nice and relaxing!!

These two were so funny! Here they are wearing sunglasses!! :)

The hermit crab that Isaac and Sarah found on the beach.

A Stop at the Beach

On Monday (May 14) we headed to the beach in Mississippi. We have not been to the beach since Timothy was 5 months old! We thought that since we were close enough we needed to stop and stay at the beach for a couple of days! :) So glad we did!!

When we arrived at our room Miss Joanna was ready for a nap. So as soon as we could get her play pen up she was out!

View of the beach from our room! It was so quiet and really pretty!

Sarah loves spending her time with the Lord on our porch so she was glad to be able to go out on the balcony.

Joanna was all over the place....and under the place! LOL!!

So thankful for railing! I would have preferred a room closer to the ground but our room was BEAUTIFUL!!

These children loved the water and the sand!

Caught him fixing to throw sand! What are boys suppose to do?

Sarah had so much fun playing with the others. She is always so much fun to be around!!

Timothy LOVED every minute of it! Wish you could see the video of him! It is so hilarious!

Joanna enjoyed the sand and cried screamed when you put her in the water to rinse her off. On our last time to the beach I didn't even bother putting on her swimsuit. I just left her clothes on her and it was the one time she went to the water and loved it!! She was soaked from head to toe and didn't even cry one time!! Also the one time I didn't have my camera! :(

God provided a bike rack!

The kids have enjoyed their bicycles so much that we really wanted to take them on vacation with us. This meant finding something to haul them on or in. We began to pray and look into some things. Some friends of ours were moving and they were having a yard sale. We decided to join them and with the money we made we would purchase a bike rack of some sort. Bryan went to set up our stuff for the yard sale and one of the things that our friends were selling was a 4 bicycle rack! WOW!! We were so excited and got the bike rack much cheaper than we were expecting!! Isn't God so awesome!

We said a thousand times on our trip that we were so glad we had the bike rack! It was super nice to be able to take the kids bikes. They were able to ride them at the seminary alot. It gave the kids something else to do!

Here is Elijah zooming around in the parking lot.

Miss Joanna hanging out.

Sarah riding her bike around in the parking lot. Once graduation was over there was nobody at the seminary hotel we were staying at. It was perfect for the kids to be able to ride.

Mr. Cool Daddy!!

Can you see Isaac in the back? He loved riding over the speed bumps in the parking lot! Of coarse the little boys did too!

Another thing that the kids liked was being able to watch Disney Junior in the mornings! Such a treat for our kiddos! :)

Something New

It is not my normal to do two post in one night but I had to post this to show my parents and Bryan's.

Elijah went to the eye Dr. yesterday and he has glasses now. These are not the final ones. These are just for now but I think he looks so cute! We think he looks like "George Little" from Stuart Little. :)

I will post another picture when he gets his "real" glasses.

Mother's Day 2012

We celebrated Mother's Day while we were in New Orleans. We loved being able to be with our Mom's Friday night before graduation and we gave them their gifts that night. Sunday morning my parents had to leave and head back home.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day!! We went to the IMAX theatre which is in downtown New Orleans. The show we went to started at 10 a.m. so it was not too busy when we arrived. When we came out of the movie there were people EVERYWHERE!! I am not a crowd person in a place like that, and with 5 children I was as nervous as a cat's tail in a room full of rockers! LOL!!!

My Dad and Mom before they left. It is always sad when they leave, we love having them around!

We got to the IMAX a little early so we got to look at the water and boats.

Joanna was not happy about having to stay in the stroller.

The kids loved this water fountain. It was pretty!

I am so proud of my family and so blessed to have them.

The kids looking into the water! Please don't fall in!!

Joanna is trying her best to get to that water. This is the point I started getting nervous. Honestly I am sure that the crowd that was there was not near as big as it could have been but it was big enough for me! :)

My sweet hubby has an eye for beautiful sunsets and sun rises. He took this one of the chapel on seminary campus.

Here is another picture he took!

That evening we went to the campus and let the kids ride their bikes and play on the play ground while Bryan and I took turns doing a little running/exercise. Then they took me out for supper. I really did enjoy my mother's day and loved the fact that I was with my family ALL day!

I hope all of you Mom's had a great Day!