As Promised...............

As Promised I have included a picture of our family at its best.......RELAXED.  We are enjoying every moment with our children and each other.  I am so thankful for my husband and children and parents.  There is nothing quite like family.  Here is a moment that we want to remember !

What Does God Do in His Office and other Memorable Vacation Quotes

We're trying to capture some of the funny things Kate has said while we're on vacation.  She picks things up now so incredibly quickly, and it's impossible to capture everything.  Here are just a few of the more amusing things.  She's learned the difference between the word "elevator" and "alligator" with one simple phrase; "Don't feed the alligators on the elevator."  This morning she woke up, crawled into bed with her mom-mom and pop-pop, and they talked.  She looked at mom-mom and said, "Mom-mom, what does God do in his office?"  They said he helps people.  I thought that was just as good an answer as any.  She's becoming a little planner too, like her mom.  While we were riding through the resort, we heard her in the back seat say, "Mom-mom said we would go to the beach.  That's the options.  Yep, that's the options."  She's a sponge, and if we stop for a second, we'll miss it.  That's all for now.

What is to come.......

Our last post was in March.  Yes, quite a long time ago.  Ironically, this post is about the same subject - vacations. 

 It's funny how during the summer, "we" talk as if, we can barely make it to the weekend or week of our vacation.  What is it?  Do we have less stamina in the summer or is it that we push ourselves through the fall, winter, and spring, and when summer gets here, we are barely crawling.  It makes us sound weak, but nevertheless, it "feels" to be true.

Our vacation is next week and it feels as if the days are slowly passing.  I am so excited and I know Josh is even more so.  Kate has been talking about her floaties (the arm floats) for two weeks now.  Pictures will come to capture our vacation for your sake and ours.  If the ideas mentioned earlier are true, we'll need these pictures to hold on to until next summer's vacation.

Funny Vacation Sayings

We had to write this down or we'd forget it.  Sometimes kids say things and you have absolutely no idea where they got it, where it came from, what was going on in their mind when they said it. The place where we're staying is undergoing some off season renovations.  So there has been some mild noise as the construction goes on outside our suite.  This morning at the breakfast table, Josh, me, and Kate were having cereal.  Outside there was a pretty loud noise, and Kate looks up at us, and says "What that?"  She always asks this, and we said something like, "I don't know."  And matter of factly, with an air of confidence, Kate spoke back up and said, "Boys...Must be boys."  Then she brings her juice box up to her lips to take a sip as if she'd just nailed it.  We laughed like no tomorrow, and have quoted it all day, and tried every chance we can to get her to repeat it.  Where she got that?  We don't know.  The answer to every ruckus, however, we found out today, is always, "Boys...Must be boys."  Later she was out on the back porch playing by herself.  I suppose she wasn't getting enough attention, so she invents a new story.  She comes running up to the back door, yelling, "Daddy, come out, daddy, Turkey. Turkey out there."  Josh goes outside to have a look, and seeing no Turkey or even a bird, realizes she made it up.  He said, "The turkey must have gone away," and Kate agrees, and proceeds to ask him to color with her.  Love it.  Love it.  Love it.

A Perfect Day at the Beach

Today was our first day at the beach.  It was every bit of perfect.  It was a little chilly and the clouds rolled in at lunch but nothing ruined our day.  We walked, we played, and we rested.     After countless discussions on where to go and what to do as a family...... the beach was a perfect choice.  

This vacation was highly needed.  Josh and I have revisited our childhood vacations.   We see how differently we view "just getting away."  It always seemed so simple to go on vacation, but with children, we pretty much had to pack an arsenal to just get away for a couple of days.  It was worth every trip to and from the car and every step we took with our hands full of children and bags.

We will be home soon but will be able to look back on these few days and smile.  They were such a blessing!

Brooke

We're laughing!

Valentine's has come and gone. I admit that I, like any other girl, likes to be doted on, but with children that doesn't happen as easily as it used to. Josh and I had the opportunity to spend last Friday night with our church for a special Valentine's dinner. There we had wonderful music by a talented church member, great food, and fellowship. Our church members also took part in a game that tested their knowledge about their spouse. It was hilarious. All in all the night was a success and all for the Lord! Josh shared how important it is that we see what TRUE LOVE is. It isn't in any Meg Ryan movie (although I love them) and it isn't in the soap operas that are on tv. It is in Jesus, and only through Him can we love effectively other people that are imperfect and sometimes impossible to love. To look at our picture, please understand that we are silly people, but if you heard us at our house, you would believe that the picture matches us perfectly. We find that laughing helps us enjoy each other more. I hope that you had a great Valentine's Day but that you ask Jesus to help you love someone either for the first time in a long time or more effectively this year!

New poster, and it's NOT the pastor

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.  I don't know who was happier, Josh or Kate?  While AG and I were inside making muffins, Josh and Kate played in our first snow. 

I, Brooke, will be taking on the family blog as my little hobby.  I hope to keep up with all of you better.  I know I have been doing a poor job of sending pictures, but I HOPE this is the answer.

More pics and posts to come. 

Brooke