This past Sunday I had the
privilege and blessing of witnessing my daughter get baptized by her dad and
PopPop John! She has been asking to be baptized for a couple years now, but that also means having family over for lunch afterwards. Well, first we were invaded by the dreadful bed bugs, then our house was a DISASTER afterwards for several months, then I was pregnant and had a baby! So, life was a little crazy there for a while. We finally had a date that we could all work with and Sarah was THRILLED to finally be able to take that step in her profession of faith in Jesus Christ! I am glad we waited as I believe it really meant more to her now than it would have when she was 8 or 9. She has matured and grown in her faith and I believe that she understands more fully what this step means. I am proud of the young lady she is becoming and it brought tears to my eyes to witness her walking in her faith. I keep praying that she will cling to Christ all her days.
It was also an honor to have her
PopPop John participate in the baptism.
PopPop helped baptize Matt five years ago and Sarah wanted him there for her too. He has been a tremendous influence on their lives and encourages them to continue in their walk. More than the words are the prayers that both he and Grammy put up for them. I am glad they have such God-fearing grandparents! I am so blessed to have others praying for my children! Please continue to pray that Sarah would continue on her walk with the Lord.
Daniel LOVES the beach - has since he was just an infant. He is a true beach baby!
Matt is out in the ocean - he's the one on the far right. He has really become quite a fish!! 
Drew doesn't care too much for the beach right now! He just SAW the water and started to fuss. Here he is lifting his feet as high as he can so he doesn't have to touch it! We'll keep trying!
Sarah LOVES the ocean as well! Hard to believe this girl screamed her head off if we even went NEAR the sand when she was two years old!! Glad that didn't last long!
We discovered that Drew had acquired two new teeth! His fangs have come in before the two top center ones! Matt and Sarah did the same thing! Daniel was my only "normal" teether!
He is 26 inches long - that's in the 25th percentile - so he is SHORT! But Andy isn't worried - he thinks he'll grow up nice and tall! Time will tell!
The kids are really excited he's eating food and can't wait until he can try some real food. Daniel has been funny wondering what baby food tastes like - I let him try the bananas - he liked them! But he says he'll stick to the real thing.
WHEW!!!! It was CRAZY!!!! I think I am getting OLD!!! The party went well - it just seemed to be A LOT more active and busy than I remember! We had A LOT of help - for which I am extremely grateful for! I don't think we would have been able to pull of the party as well as we did without the help of Clover Hill Baptist Church. This group has been AMAZING! They helped me pack 55 bags full of school supplies yesterday....
and did various jobs - such as serving dinner.....
checking to make sure each kid had the right school supplies.....
and playing with kids on the playground - throughout the entire party - and it was HOT!!! But each of them has such a servants spirit and are really here to work! It has been great!!
Special thanks to Pat Folk, Louise Dotterrerr, Doris Heim, Martha Metz, and Lois Schultz! These woman were incredible at finding the deals! Back in May Aunt Louise and Aunt Doris each went to their local Wal-Marts and found $9 backpacks for $1!!! 
Needless to say - they snagged all they could and we have plenty for next year too! That was a HUGE load off of me as that is the one thing that costs the most and I have to hunt around for! It was such a blessing not to have to lug Drew all over creation to find backpacks for the kids!!! Thank you so much!! The other ladies went to Staples and Wal-Mart and got other much needed school supplies. I really only made two shopping trips this year because we were so well stocked from last year. God knew we would be having a baby this year and I wouldn't have the time - or energy! - to put into the shopping aspect of things. He is so good to me! Thank you ladies for your hard work and love for the kids we work with!
They seemed pleased with all they got which included: 1 backpack, 5 folders, 2 packs of loose-leaf paper, 2 spiral-bound notebooks, 2 composition books, Crayola broad tip markers, Crayola fine tip markers, Crayola pencils, Crayola crayons (24 pk), 2 glue sticks, 1 white glue, 1 ruler, 1 pencil sharpener, 2 packs of pencils, 1 pack of pencil top erasers, 1 pair of scissors, 1 pack of index cards, 2 pink erasers, and 1 pencil box! Each kid earned it! They worked hard and did well. I think it was our best year yet!
He can't read yet so he needed help. A volunteer would read the story to him, ask him the questions, and then write his answers down for him. He did well! Sarah also earned an overall Fruit of the Spirit Award for Great Focus! She also did well. 
Matt was too old to participate but volunteered. He did well in stepping out of his comfort zone and worked with little kids reading books to them and helping them answer the questions. 
Even though he has younger siblings - he doesn't enjoy working with young kids. But I'm proud of the fact that he tried it this summer and found that God can use him even when he isn't comfortable with the task! Drew just hung around with Daddy looking cute most days!
My husband enjoys the beach. Me, not so much!!! I am a red-head and I BURN!!! I have found only one sunscreen that actually protects me - and I forgot it!!! I used what works for the kids, but found out by that afternoon - it wasn't working as well for me. So I am a little crispified - but nothing serious and nothing that will blister. Just a bit of tender skin for awhile. 
My poor boy, Daniel, is also a burner. My husband screened him up, but somehow some of the sunscreen was either rubbed of by the ocean and sand or never really took to his skin. He is a bit blotchy and looking quite a mess. Thankfully, it wasn't a bad burn, just a bit more pink than I like. But he sure had a blast! He loves the beach more than any kid I know! 
He loves the water, the sand, the boardwalk - everything!!! He was one tired little boy!
Mostly because they didn't have to do school - but they really enjoyed the people we went to see. 
Everyone slept in today. I think Sarah finally got out of bed sometime around 11:00 am!!! In her defense, though, we didn't get home until midnight! So we were all pretty worn out!! But it was great to spend some time with great friends and enjoying God's creation!! Thanks friends!!!
Toward the end of our time on the beach we did dip his feet into the ocean. He didn't think too much of it!!! I'll have to figure out how to upload the video we took. He was pretty funny!! He kept pulling his feet up as high as he could to avoid the water! I wonder if he'll end up liking the beach or hating it! Only time will tell!