In Loving Memory

On May 2, EJ's paternal grandmother, passed away after 5 months of hospice care at the age of 94. She was a remarkable woman: strong, determined, generous and passionate about prayer. Her strong Catholic faith was seen by all who knew her and in her prime, she was a very social lady. We will miss her greatly. I am thankful to have had 16 years knowing her and am grateful for having been a recipient of her faithful praying. 

Her love language was cooking and feeding those she loved. 

As evidenced by my kiddos at her table :)

Her happy place

 

 (July 2013- right before Avery came home)

November 2015- soaking up as much history with Nana as we could

Our entire family attended her viewing and funeral on May 11, 2016 with a luncheon following. It was an honor and privilege to hear EJ give the eulogy (his 3rd). He is a gifted speaker under difficult circumstances and he did an incredible job.

Our "shore" vacation will never be the same. We will treasure the memores in our hearts forever.

Thanksgiving Part 2

After staying with Mim 3 days we headed to the beach to be with EJ's dad and grandma.
Stopping for soft pretzels has become a yummy tradition.

Since we don't get to celebrate Christmas together, Pop Pop and Nana give the kids their presents early so they can enjoy watching the kid's reactions. And there was certainly a lot of excitement.

An early morning game with Pop Pop.

 The day after Thanksgiving is the town's Christmas festival and tree lighting. 

We found a few friends.

 We couldn't believe our eyes when she willingly approached Minnie Mouse. 

She later announced "I was so brave" which she quotes daily. 

We had a delicious dinner prepared completely by EJ's dad. I feel guilty every year but arriving on Thanksgiving doesn't allow me to help much. He is a pro. Nana joined us at the table which is a gift. Last year she was not feeling up to it.

 EJ and Nana spent time looking through boxes of old photos.

 The weather was the warmest it's been in all my 15 Thanksgivings at the shore. 61 degrees!!

 I didn't really plan for so much beach time but we scrounged around in the garage.

Talking on his shell phone :)

 "I love the beach, you know" said Avery

What a treat!

I really truly would be okay if it never got cold :)

10th Beach Anniversary Luau

This summer our JMU625 crew celebrated our 10th Anniversary of beach vacationing. We celebrated by having a luau on the beach. It was such a big hit we might just have to do it every summer :)

 EJ and Cary were the master minds behind the main course: Hawaiian style Pork BBQ.

A hole was dug by the big kids

The smaller kids found sticks and rocks. Each kid brought a rock from home as well.

They built a fire and after the rocks were nice and hot they buried 17lbs (I think) of pork shoulder following a Hawaiian BBQ method.This included wrapping the pork in banana leaves and covering with corn husks and wet burlap.

Pulling out the finished product

We set the food up on the small deck between our house and the beach. A trail of food formed between the table and our luau spot, as the smaller kids carried their own plates down the steep slope ;)

We ALL enjoyed ourselves, the ones with Rum Swizzle, a little more ;)

It was a gorgeous night and no biting flies this year!

After dinner we built a bonfire (with permit) and roasted marshmallows.

The memories made and the laughter had was well worth the effort and bits of sand in my food!

Our family's Hawaiian garb is compliments of EJ's mom :) The older two have out grown theirs :(

Some of the adults enjoyed the bonfire after the kids went to bed. One things for sure, we don't stay up nearly as late as we did 10 years ago ;) Not sure if it's our age or the additional 18 kids that makes us so tired ;)

Courtney captured these last four shots for me. I love them.

 

Her son Levi and Ryan are the cutest. I asked Ryan what he was most thankful for during our week and he said "Levi."

I love these girls. I did have a tan before Courtney sat next to me ;) Leah is on her left.

Beach Time

I learned years ago, that vacationing with young children is not really a vacation, it's living life (although ideally more fun) in another location. This summer, we may have turned a corner, both trips to the beach seemed easier, EJ and I both found ourselves relaxing (some)! YAY!

 

The kids enjoy themselves immensely and it's a joy to watch their friendships grow.

I barely saw Owen. Which isn't unusual, but this year he even made his own breakfasts and lunches.

Avery's favorite was the "bathtub" because she could "touch the bottom." Once she discovered the hot tub (at 98) there was no going back in the pool ;) She likes to keep her feet on the ground and stay warm. Hmm... sounds like someone I know.

The pool deck was usually chaos as was the inside of the house right before and after meals.

Last summer, the stress of packing, driving, unpacking, and adjusting to the volume of 21 kids sent most of us mom's over the edge. We took on a new strategy this year and it was brilliant. The mom's went out for happy hour on Sunday, the day after we arrived. It definitely helped us relax and catch-up (some of us hadn't seen each other in a year) and get more excited about spending the week together. The dads went out the next night ;)

 

I am amazed at how God has knit us together. Our friendships are a gift. I spent most of the week silently reflecting on God's faithfulness to our group; in our friendships, our marriages and our healthy children. As you will read in my next post, this was our 10 year anniversary of beaching it together. WOW! It hasn't always been easy, but what relationships are? 

God is doing more than blessing us with vacation time. He is giving us time to encourage one another in our walk with Him, allowing us to walk alongside couples who are committed to their marriages, giving us time to share our struggles in parenting as well as granting our children time with other Christian adults and families.

These 4 ladies are awesome. I am blessed to call them friends and thankful to spend a week with them. I am certainly missing them now!

I painted these wine glasses (at home) as gifts for each of the ladies, so we could toast to our 10 year anniversary and our ever growing friendships. My kids had fun trying to think of sentences using all the initials ;)

Loving the OBX

We spent last week with friends in the Outer Banks of NC. 

Day 1 proved the most time we'd spend together as a family ALL week. 

The drive down and loaded up with extra groceries to share.

We took our chances at a roadside seafood food truck (per ye1ps recommendation). 

It was YUMMY and the perfect pit stop.

 

We opted to leave early to avoid traffic and then killed time in Manteo, NC until we could get into the house. Thankfully the weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed the calm before the storm of 21 kids ;)

 Later in the week, Courtney took a few pictures of our family, it was too sunny but I wanted it done!

 it was also Avery's 4th birthday

 

She enjoyed a doughnut with lots of friends

 and later that day, a LOUD rendition of "Happy Birthday" from 21 children!!

        

I promptly burst into tears at the joy on her face and the love in the voices of our friends. I only wish I had zoomed out and taken a picture of those surrounding her. 

More beach pics to come!