Friends + Florida = Memories

Yes...we went to the beach again! I'm noticing that there seems to be a common beach theme throughout several of our posts!;) We certainly don't mind! Anyway, last week we enjoyed a relaxing, memorable week at the beach with some awesome family friends from church. It was sort of a graduation trip for a friend who graduated this year. The rest of us definitely benefited from him graduating high school!  It was great to take a break from school, jobs, and other stresses of life for a short bit. (Some of us still had school, but we won't complain...;) Let's just say that it has been difficult to get back to normal life after our fantastic week! We enjoyed kayaking on the ocean, seeing dolphins, going shark hunting (yes, I actually went but we didn't see any sharks which was good because I'm not sure how I would have reacted;), going crabbing, beach football and Frisbee, shopping, reading on the beach, late night laughter, a talent show, and, of course, A LOT of sand volleyball! I got hit in the face by the ball 5 times...but who's counting?!?;) Overall, it was an unforgettable week that we certainly won't forget!

 

This isn't good quality but the moon was beautiful on the beach! There was a silver moon path across the ocean. 

 

The day was just as beautiful!

We sang on the beach one night...

...it was beautiful and everyone loved it!

Sun kissed smiles...

  

...Beach waves...

...and eagerly waiting to head to the beach!



Most of the Atlanta kids!

 

It's a pretty great group!

 

We played football one evening!!

 

Yep...this is pretty typical!

Annalise West, Paige, and Haven West 

They had so much fun together!

The last day there were a lot of jellyfish in the water! All of us were crowded around filling up a bucket of jellyfish

Paige holding a jellyfish!

Too much relaxing can make you tired...;)!!



We actually got a good family picture on the beach!! That's a rare phenomenon for us!;)

We already miss the beach! The more we go, the more we love it! Now, it is back to normal life!;)

~Lexi



 

Our Weekend Trip

This past weekend we took a short "vacation" to the Creation Museum. It was a wonderful weekend of much needed relaxation. We always enjoy our visits to the Creation Museum and we left this time feeling inspired, challenged, and excited to see how God will use the museum for His glory! Reading all of the information, seeing the displays, and watching the presentations leaves us in awe of our amazing Creator! The planetarium and the Last Adam presentation are our family's favorite parts of the museum.

 

It was a hot day, so we walked through the lovely gardens in the morning.

Riding a dinosaur!;)

No, they are not perfectly nice and quiet...;)

Paige loved feeding the animals at a petting zoo!

A Zorze and a Zonkey!

We got ice cream at the museum and shared in pairs according to who liked what kind of ice cream! Some of us like chocolate and some of us like fruit and nuts...who eats that over chocolate?!?;)

Micah and Joshua sharing ice cream!

Seth and Caleb...

And dad and I shared! Paige was sleeping;)

 

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend! After our time at the museum, we went to visit the Lanzs in Ohio! We had a wonderful time getting to know them a lot better and can't wait until we can see them again! One of our highlights was playing ultimate Frisbee both nights we stayed with them, despite a few injuries. Needless to say, Dad learned to watch out for brick walls...;) We headed home Monday morning and told the Lanzs goodbye. We hope they will come our way sometime soon!

 

By Tuesday night, we were all exhausted!!;)

~Lexi



These Happy Golden Years



Well, this is my first blog post and I'm finding Lexi is much better at it!  A couple weeks back we enjoyed a quiet Sunday.  After a great day of worship, Matt & I had little time to sit and chat.  I never realized how rare those opportunities would be.  We enjoyed an early supper, finished with two skillet cookies (we went a little overboard).  After supper we had an euchre tournament involving everyone but Paige.  Would you believe Joshua and I won?!! It has become more and more real how quickly the time of having all seven children around the table is going. We are so blessed and I am grateful for each moment! These years all home together are precious and few and I am realizing more and more that I need to cherish each one of them!

 

 

 

~Dana