Familytime at Bald Head Island, NC

After our family opened up stocking stuffers early we headed to Bald Head Island, NC to meet up with the whole family(Brown's, Steffens, Tennyson's & Gehman's). It was such a fun trip! We were blessed to be able to stay in a Huge house right on the beach. The "big" boys (Caleb, Josh & Eli) were basically on the beach all day everyday. They played endless games of ultimate frisbee and loved to fish each day. Thankfully the weather was great!! The little ones (Lauren, Will, Lilly, Abby and Zack) also enjoyed building sand castles, digging holes to play in, and eating the sand. Lauren and Will loved playing follow the leader walking up and down the sand dunes in the itchy grass. It is so much fun to be able to see the cousins play together and build memories. It makes me miss my family and wish we all lived a lot closer so we could build these memories more often!! It is such a blessing to have a wonderful family who love the Lord and each another so much!! It's always so hard to say goodbye!! Being able to enjoy the beauty of God's creation and the awesome time we had together as a family made me think... I thought about how this could be a glimpse of what heaven is like but it's probably not even close. So imagine how amazing it will be when we are all together in heaven for eternity enjoying each other and all that God has made, I can't wait!!

Christmas at Thanksgiving

Each year we swap between our parents houses for the holidays. This year we were at the Brown's home and we celebrated Christmas early.



Gramma got Lauren a Hello Kitty umbrella which she had to carry around inside of the house and outside as well.


Aunt Virginia got Lauren a horse outfit (how funny is that), since she is obsessed with horses! Ever since she rode a real horse at Oma's house she is forever talking about riding them again.



This is Lauren's new baby, Toby, who she loves to mother!She really warmed up to Toby at Gramma's house.



And Joshie as well!! They both fell asleep!! How precious!!




Shaun with all the girls, well almost, Hudson had to get in on it!! Where is Josh and Caleb?



Paige has a thing for Josh and they are cousins. But Lauren has a thing for Paige!! They were always together. It must be a "girl" thing!

Our New Family Addition

We have a new little family member a Yorkipoo who we named Toby!! He's so sweet!! And you ask they replaced Nicki so quickly, but I found a great deal on a non-shedding dog!! I had to get it since that sweet face captured my heart!! I must be losing my mind, it's only a dog. This was the kid's early Christmas present and they were so surprised. The poor thing was so worn out by all the attention it feel asleep in Josh's arms and almost every one's by the end of the night. We still miss our Nicki though!!

Sad News...

Yes, our dog, Nicki, died on Tuesday morning! It was a sad day (Shaun and I had her since we were first married 14 years)!! Look closely and you can see her in the background of this photo. That's the only digital picture I have of her, I'm so bad!! We really do miss her though!! She was always so excited to see us especially the kids. To comfort them I told them she was in heaven with Jesus and Pops!! After I said that, Lauren said she wanted to see Jesus and go to heaven. She was a great dog!!




Some sweet photos of the kids at the fall festival. They had a bubble machine which Lauren loved. Gramma & Grandad were in town and also got to go with us!

Exciting News...

Yes, our church property is starting to get cleared so we can start building!! I don't know if you all know, but our church (Coastal Community Church) has been meeting in a school for about 7 years now. We purchased land a few years ago, paid it off and just haven't been able to build. The land is right off of a main busy road which was a total God deal. Here is a picture of our land and the clearing that has begun. We are all so excited and praising God for all that He has done and will do through Coastal!! Thanks to everyone who has not only supported our church financially but have been prayer warriors!! Please continue to pray for God to get all the GLORY!!


Shaun's 39th Birthday!! We had to celebrate it right with a "cold stone" ice cream pie!! Wow, he's almost 40!! What an old man!!




Josh & Caleb learning to play piano. They love their teacher Mrs. Noble and are excited to learn. They are now able to play a few songs!!




The other day Josh & Lauren were riding around in the jeep and she wouldn't stop kissing and hugging him. Just so it's her brother and NEVER another boy!!

The Norfolk Zoo

This was our first "official" field trip with all the homeschoolers today. We had so much fun with our new friends, Miss Ashley, Jonathan, Jacob and Benjamin. The boys favorites were the lions, snakes, turtles, and graiffes. Lauren's favorites were the bunny, monkeys, zebra and elephants. Lauren wasn't afraid of petting the snake either(she must have brothers!). God made such beautiful, cool and scary animals!!

Our Mountain Getaway

Thanks to the elders from our church who got us this little cottage getaway in the Blue Ridge Mountains! It's been four years since Shaun and I have been overnight without ANY of our children. We had a great time of rest, relaxation and yes lots of exercise!! We hiked up Crabtree falls which we thought would take 2 hours and ended up taking over 3! There was a sign in the beginning of the hike which stated how many people have died while hiking. We couldn't believe how steep it was and extremely narrow at parts. I was very nervous to say the least but we did it!! It was so worth it because the views were amazing!! The mountains are such an amazing part of God's beautiful creation, it makes you wonder how in the world can people still not believe in God?! At night we would soak in the hot tub and be awed by the billions of stars (God's Majesty), it was just breathtaking!! It was truly a blessing and much needed time alone with my man!! Thanks Mom and Dad for watching the kids and blessing us with such a great gift!!

October - It's fall!!

I love the fall!! Josh is already asking, "when can we make pumpkin pie", his favorite! The kids love it because we get to pick out pumpkins!! That's what we did today. I guess we took a field trip. I don't know if all of you know but I am homeschooling this year. Yes, I'm crazy! It's been really hard to juggle especially having a two year old in the mix but I know God will get me (us) through!





Josh's playing soccer and he scored 6 goals that game. I think he's trying to be like Poppy's soccer players (like he's a pro or something!).



Here is a random picture of Lauren which I thought was so cute. She is always pushing her stroller filled with many animals, as well as carrying her purse, typical girl!!