Moving??!!

We are ready to get out of the Sunshine state and head for quieter and more rural territory:) Hopefully we will be moving out by my mom in Washington State at the end of the summer/early Fall! Yay! So much to do, moving is such a pain, but it will be so nice to be close to my mom again. Hopefully we will eventually be able to get some land and have some animals in the near future. I am not really looking forward to winters again, but will be nice to have the seasons, esp. Autumn.

Camper

We sold our camper today. We've lived in Florida for three years and only used it once during that time, so thought it should go. Plus, we can't afford it keep it any longer. We got it in November of 1999. We took a road trip to the factory in Amish country of Indiana to save $600. I remember how brillantly cold and snowy it was but the Amish buggies were out in full force. Brrrr! We pulled it back to Iowa and looked forward to many adventures! I think our first trip was to Texas in February of 2000. We went with Jesse's Mom and Dad (they pulled their camper, too), and made stops in Oklahoma, East Texas, Austin (to see friends) and Galveston (where we camped on the beach!). What a fun trip. We had four kids at that time and they fit perfectly in the four bunks. We also took the camper to Florida for a vacation in July of 2000 and camped at Ft. Wilderness in Disney and then went on the Mississippi to see relatives. Our longest trip was out to Washington in August of 2003 to see my Mom and her new husband. So beautiful going through the mountains and we got to see Yellowstone, too. My favorite trips were not long ones though but times we spent camping in beautiful places around NW Iowa. Fowlers Preserve in Smithland, Stone State Park in Sioux City, to name a few. So many good memories from those times. Once during a Spring thaw in January, we took the camper out to Nebraska to a little campground in a small town (out in the boonies!). We saw a movie that night in quonset hut theatre from the WWII era! Here is a photo of our very last camping trip. We took it to Ocala State Park in December of 2005. I was still suffering from Morning sickness (being pg with Thomas). It rained the whole time and we brought our crazy dog, Charlie. It was kind of a miserable trip all in all. Oh, well!!! Fair adieu to our dear camper who brought our family closer through the years and carried us on many grand adventures.

Et tu, Brute?

I am teaching a class on Julius Caesar to Colton and two other boys his age, thus I have been reading the book, Cliff notes, etc. I never studied Julius Caesar in school, so it is interesting to read it and understand all the underlying symbolism...one thing that I have learned from reading is that humans and human nature does not change, no matter the century. Praise God for our Lord, Jesus Christ who brings salvation and eventually will usher in a new world!!! I can't wait!!! Will keep you posted on how the class goes.

Lots of birthdays!!!!

We celebrated Thomas's birthday on June 26th....he is one!!!! YAY!!!! A year ago on that day I walked into Parrish Medical Center in Titusville, Florida 9 months and 10 days pg....7 hours later I was holding little Thomas Levi in my arms....8 lbs 2 oz, 20 inches of him. He is a darling little boy, so active and fun. We all love him so much and are so blessed by him being in our family. We had a little party with a Jay-Jay the jet plane theme. He slept through most of his party, but it was enjoyed by everyone else.

15 years ago on July 2nd I gave birth to my firstborn, Colton James, in Sioux City, Iowa. That was a wonderful, scary experience.....amazing that those years have passed so quickly. Colton has a strong personality with a mind of his own. He is interested in being a film maker and is very opinionated!!! We got him a paintball gun for his birthday so he could play paintball with his friends, he has had to borrow a gun in the past.

Happy Birthday to my two beloved sons!!!!!