Hot Hot Summer....and Luci's 2nd Birthday!

Uncle Jeremy helps Luci cut the birthday cake.

Luci with her great-grandmother, Lorene, at her b-day party.


Shane loves to make funny faces!

Abigail and I watch Luci open her gifts.

Luci with her parents.

Savannah helps Luci with the gift opening.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

It has been one HOT summer! I know folks all over the country have suffered this summer with the heat and little rain. I am not a big fan of summer so I am looking forward to fall. We had VBS in mid-July and unfortunately, my camera is broken so I don't have any pictures from it. We celebrated Luci's 2nd birthday on July 30th. It is hard to believe that she is 2 years old! Luci brings much joy to our entire family and we are so blessed to have them home in Virginia with us.

The summer has actually gone by pretty quickly and schools starts on August 24th. Shane is going into the 1st grade and Abigail is going into K-5. I traveled with them to Cinicnnati the week of August 1st for some medical tests. It was every bit as hot in Cincinnati as it is here.

John and I hope to take the two little ones somewhere for a long weekend next week and hopefully I will have a new camera by then! I attempted to order one off of Amazon.com but my order was canceled.

Naghead Vacation 2011

"Beach Baby Luci"!

John and I enjoying spending time together.

Kelsey with her friend and Abigail relaxing at the Light House.

Shane is exhausted after a fun day at the beach.

Abigail with her grandparents.

Me, Luci and Melissa enjoying the beach.

John with his parents

Andy, Sharon and Nicholas enjoying the beautiful day at the beach.

John Anthony, Melissa, and Luci enjoying family dinner with us.

Poppy, Sharon and Luci working on their tans.

Nicholas just loves the beach!

Luci loved spending so much time with her great-grandmother.

Whatsover a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Galations 6:7

We have had a cool and wet Spring and I have enjoyed it, though some others have not. We were very blessed to have great weather when we took our family vacation at the Outer Banks in April. It was a wonderful week of relaxation. John Anthony and his family joined us, along with John's parents, and Sharon and her family. John Anthony could only stay for several days as he started his new job as the Sports Editor for the Daily Progress that week. We all very excited for him for this opportunity that the Lord blessed him with. It was an answered prayer to have him return to the career that he loves after being home for a year. Melissa and Luci were able to stay the week, however. That baby girl just blesses my heart beyond what words can describe.

The only thing that would have made the week better was to have Jeremy with us. He could not take off from work this year but we can always hope for next year! Shane, Abigail, Nicholas, and Luci had a great time in the water. It was freezing cold and I don't know how they could stand to spend hours in the water but they did. Luci would spread her arms wide and say "big ocean". It is just the cutest thing.

We all can't wait until next year as it is one of the highlights of our year!

Shane's 6th Birthday Celebration

Shane and I at school for his birthday lunch at school

Jeremy hanging out with Roy & Carol at Shane's birthday party

Susie and Savannah at the birthday celebration

Sharon being the faithful cook at the celebration

The proud grandparents with Luci

Me with my oldest and firstborn child-John

Bernard and Lorene with Andy

Daddy with his little princess-Abigail

Me with the birthday boy and Jeremy

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22: 6

The last 3 months has been difficult....but we have survived and the Lord continues to give us strength. Our family has had to adjust to life without our father. The weekly visits to my house on my days off with me sending him home with a hot meal is a void. January has 3 birthdays in it for our family and normally we would have had a birthday celebration with all the siblings and children. We just could not bring ourselves to do it. We all knew that we would be thinking of daddy too much.

Sharon had a tonsillectomy on January 28th. She had some bleeding complications that resulted in an overnight stay, several ER visits and finally a 2nd trip to the Operating Room. It was a trying month for our family. I have battled one cold after another this winter and for once, am more than ready for Spring. I usually enjoy the cold but with all the sickness that has gone around this year, I am ready for a break.

There are no birthdays to celebrate in February in our family any longer as mama had the only birthday in February for our family. Buddy, Cody and Shane all have birthdays in March so we celebrated all of their birthdays on March 19th at my house. We also celebrated Abigail's 2nd anniversary of being adopted into our family. The weather was nice and we all had a good time and Shane really like being the center of attention. We leave for the beach on April 16th and are all looking forward to some rest and relaxation.