Yvetta :)

You know, when we found out we were expecting our 6th child (I'm counting Christian here, so don't let your imagination run wild ;) our basic prayer was for a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby. We weren't going to find out what gender the baby was, but the ultrasound lady kept referring to our baby as, "she" and at one point she even said something like, "You say you have a daughter and 3 sons - well, I think you're gonna be happy!" She didn't say any more - especially since I quickly let her know that we didn't intend to find out - she looked a little sheepish and kept quiet :) Of course, those comments put our minds in a whirl! I knew I'd love another little boy, but I SO wanted a little girl!

And God gave us Yvetta.

Her name means, "God is merciful". The pregnancy was hard, but the reward was well worth it. We are overflowing with dresses and little skirts and flowered tights and hair accesories over here at our place. A high-pitched little voice is always trying to tell us what to do; that same voice lets us know, no holds barred, that we are loved; "Jesus Loves Me" accompanies her play; little chubby leggies, bare more often than not, make their way through our home, wreacking havoc as they go. She leaves evidence of her meanderings all over the walls. We heavily invest in Magic Eraser.

And we're loving every minute of it.

Our St. Augustine, Florida vacation

Our Florida vacation was truly a gift from a loving heavenly Father. We rested, we laughed, we talked, we shared jokes and stories and thoughts. We had a chance to just enjoy each other. And we got to enjoy St. Augustine......again :)

One of my favourite things about vacation time is seeing my hard working husband relax. He even got into a novel and thoroughly enjoyed it! Of course, nothing is totally relaxing when Yvetta is involved. If you look carefully at the picture below, you'll see that while Rich is trying to read, he still has to keep his eye on a rather independent minded little blondie as she makes off down the beach :)

Bathtime! Always takes a bit of creative thinking to determine how to get a "baby" clean while we're camping. Some parks have a nice, big laundry sink which is perfect for bathing, but others don't and we end up seeing how much of our chubby baby will fit into the dish basin. Needless to say, the little ones always think it's good fun. I have to agree :)

Last year we took a picture of Caleb with this pirate, so we had to get a shot of their reunion this year.

We visited an amazing place called the Aligator Farm. More on that later.....

It just doesn't get any better......

Corin loved to sneak into the boys tent and make himself cozy on Caleb's cot. Luke and Caleb stayed in the tent and the rest of us in the trailer. I don't have any pics of the trailer, but we borrowed Jason and Andrea's (which is significantly bigger than our ancient one) and we LOVED it! It fit us all so nicely, with plenty of room to spare. On our last weekend, we put the boys tent down on Sat. morning (b/c we were leaving on Monday, very early) and we all slept in the trailer. What good fun! I love being all together as a family - these are very precious days.

A lady kindly gave us a kite. When she saw Yvetta toddling around on the beach, she seemed to feel compelled to hand over her kite - which 'Vetta happily took. Many people stopped to smile at a little girl tightly gripping a butterfly kite which was way, way up in the sky. This is Rich helping her get her kite back up on our second day using it.

Luke and Yvetta reading Calvin and Hobbes :) She saw him laying there, said, "I lay down with you" and then promply made herself comfortable. Luke didn't mind in the least. Who would?

Yvetta Doing Charades :)

Anastasia Beach

Castillo de San Marcos

Coffee House

We LOVE having the church youth group come over for coffee house on sunday evenings! We always end up laughing very hard, and having the priviledge of getting to know them a little bit better. What a terrific, fun-loving group we have! Not only wanting to "small talk" but also eager to discuss issues (like end times.....:) and encourage each other in big and small way. What a blessing our covenant youth are to our congregation!

We played my favourite game - the drawing game :) We all put our names in a "hat", each pick a name from the hat, and then we have to draw the person we've picked. Then we pass around all the drawings and everyone has to guess who the various drawings are of. It's a riot - mostly really funny drawings, but some exceptionally good ones as well, like the above one of Kristen - done by Josh :)