Julianne's special Day

Julianne turned 8 last Monday! Where has the time gone? She is now in 3rd grade and is a ball of fun! She definitely keeps us on our toes. We had a birthday party for her on Sunday night since the kids had no school on Monday including some of her favorite adult friends, the Garner boys (a family we love to spend time with), and three girls that were able to spend the night. I am so grateful to have such a fun-loving, but God fearing daughter!

Julianne at the beach on her birthday. It was a beautiful day! She is passionate about the ocean. It is difficult to keep her out of it. I love this picture!

Julianne is also crazy about horses. This is the present Victoria made for her. She used a pair of old jean for her canvas and we bought a bamboo frame to put it in. Victoria usually makes all of her gifts now, but Julianne specifically asked if Victoria would make her a gift and not buy it.

These are the girls that were a part of Julianne's slumber party. I thought it would be great to have a picture of them with the ocean in the background. This is Gayle's deck (our landlord who lives right next to us. We love to go up there and view the ocean. We are grateful to have such an amazing friendship with Gayle. All of the kids love her!

These are the boys who attended the evening portion of her party! In the back: Nathan (Julianne and Nathan are a little over a week apart in age), Jacob, and Aaron. In the front: Nate and Jaden.

The Beach

The Burch Children the last week of October. I am amazed at how big they are getting. This is the beach where we live. There are dunes between our home and the beach the kids always want to play on, but it is not allowed. This is as close as they get :) We have truly been blessed to live where we do and have the amazing landlord that we have. It makes it difficult to want to move from the tiny place we live in, but we know the time is coming. We were fortunate to spend the summer here at the beach and have now been here over 8 months. It really opens my eyes more and more to the majesty of the Lord.

Charles and Victoria chillin' on the beach. Victoria is growing up way too quickly. She is very helpful around the house and is considerate of others. I can't believe she is going to be ten next month. Where has the time gone? Yet she also seems so much older!

Charles playing on the beach with the kids. Look at the amazing throw that Julianne had and of course they were all excited when Charles hit it! They all wanted to run and "get him."

Jacob and I spent time playing at the water's edge. I am truly mesmerized by the water. I can tell it has the same qualities for Jacob as well. Jacob has sprouted past me over the last couple of months...I know it is not long until the others are looking down at me as well.

Charles took this picture when he had possession of the camera. I love taking these types of pictures. I 'm glad he took this picture because there are not very many pictures of me floating around because I always have the camera. I enjoy taking prayer walks on this beach, watching my children play in the water, inviting others to spend time with me at the beach, and just watching the power of the water. I fell truly blessed by my family and the location we live.

Father Daughter Dance...

The second week of May our church had a dance for Father's and their daughters. It was a bit of a struggle to convince Charles that it would be a terrific thing for him to take the girls to, but alas they went and had a fabulous time! The girls look beautiful and Charles look dashing as they drove off...

Nate wanted to be in all of the pictures, but I told him he could be in the last one before his dad and the girls left.

Nathanael was all dressed up because he was ready to take me on a date. I told him it did not matter if he wore a t-shirt and jeans, but he insisted on changing into a collared shirt. The picture below is after we arrived home from our date. We were suppose to go to McDonalds and perhaps to the bookstore. He said a date had to be to a real restraunt. We went to a sit down restraunt and he even took me out to dessert afterwards. He wanted to play marbles on the floor of Panera Bread;) My "date" fell asleep on the way home. He was wore out from all the on the spot planning. He will be great at those encouraging dates when he gets older!

The close of another busy weekend...

Funny I was just surfing some other blogs, trying to get my bearings on what I wanted to start with since it really has been a long time since I have posted some content on my blog. I think I make myself feel way too guilty for not doing it. So I ran into this other webpage that talked about blogging without obligation. Now I did not like some of the pages content on the border so I will not post it for others, but some of what it said really hit home. My life has been very busy over the last few months; often I feel like I don't have time to breathe. I certainly want to keep family and friends up to date on pictures and activities (by the way, Charles and I quickly hop on Facebook almost everyday). I downloaded the pictures from my camera on Friday and there were 141 pictures I had taken since February.

It has been raining a lot lately. Honestly I love the rain. I am a bit tired of it, but I know we have needed it. It was beautiful on Friday and Saturday. I went to the beach with my girlfriends on Friday and with my family and friends on Saturday. We pulled out the barbecue on Saturday night and had a great night with friends over. Jacob and I walked to a baptism in the ocean yesterday! Actually two! It is great to be able to walk on the beach with my son, or run in the sand with him. He and I are the same height now. Crazy... By his birthday he will be ginormous!!!

Two Months! YIKES!!!

Julianne and the skateboard she received for Christmas.

Over two months since my last post! Well most of you who really know us well, know that we have A HUGE amount of things going on currently in our lives. Charles is getting out of the Navy on the 29th of February. We are still working on a lot of logistical things. With 10 years and 11 months in the military, separation is not easy. We have been praying about this for almost a year now and know that we are making the right decision, but beyond knowing that God has a plan for us and trusting in His plan, there are still a lot of unknowns. We are staying here in Virginia Beach. We have an amazing church family and our chilren, especially Jacob, are doing fantastic in school. I have not forgotten about keeping the blog updated and as soon as I have the opportunity, I will get some pictures posted and will be current once again.