Turkey Dance

As we were all preparing for Thanksgiving dinner Joey and Grace suddenly broke out in dance. I'm not sure what prompted it but I'm pretty sure Gracie initiated it! They were too cute! I wish you could hear them laughing :-D

60 Fabulous Fun Fall Photos!

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I've given up on waiting for the opportunity to update our blog on ALL that has happened this fall, so I decided to lump all the news and photos together on this posting! Thankfully a picture is worth a thousand words so I won't need to say too much (-: It has been a fun and busy fall season. The album includes football, volley ball, basketball, Halloween, Thanksgiving, two birthdays, and MORE! To open the photo album in a new window hold down your control key and click on the photo above of Christy and Gracie. In the new window (Picasa) hit "slide show" for 60 Fabulous Fun Fall Photos. Check the captions under the photos for details. Enjoy!

It's That time of Year

Well, today is December 18th and I'm still waiting for our Christmas cards to be delivered to our house, yikes!, I'm WAY behind on blogging...2 birthdays, volleyball, football, Thanksgiving, grandma visits, a beautiful ballet, and now it's almost Christmas. It's good to know things are "normal!" We are having fun despite the craziness, perhaps it is the craziness that makes it so fun. The tree is up (my new tree I bought on ocala4sale!), the stockings are hung, and the elves have almost finished their shopping. We have much to be grateful for this year as we celebrate the birth of Jesus our King who came to dwell among us. I'll do my best to update more soon...

FlutterBye Days

I was honored (-: to be invited to Joey's field trip to FlutterBye Days, sponsored by Hospice of Marion County, Inc. FlutterBye Days is a fundraiser for Camp Mariposa, the organization's children's bereavement camp. A tent is set up at Hospice that hosts hundreds of butterflies flitting here and there. Children are not only encouraged to watch the winged creatures, but to also hold out fruit (cantaloupe)for them and let them land where they will, including on arms and shoulders and sometimes faces. It's a great opportunity to learn about butterflies and help kids who are grieving get the encouragement and counseling they need.
Joey and I had a fun day learning about butterflies and being together with all his buddies from school.
Thanks for inviting me, Joey!

Back to School

Summer was fun and it flew by )-: The kids were all pretty excited to get back to see their friends at school. Michael is a junior at Forest, Christy is in 8th grade at Redeemer, Gracie is in 4th and Joey is in 2nd at Ward-Highlands Elementary. Here are a few photos from their first day.

Surprise! Joey's 8th Birthday

Sorry this post is 2 months late!!....Joey requested a "Surprise Birthday Party" a month or two before his birthday. As his big day approached we stopped talking about his birthday and he actually forgot about it when the day arrived (it was summer). He thought I had gone to work that morning (with shorts on under my skirt!) when Christy and I went to the park to set up for the party. Joey, Gracie, Michael and Johnny arrived a while later for a "planned" trip to play at the park. The plan was for everyone to arrive before Joey and the family, Michael would call me when they were getting close to the park so we could hide BUT....I did not have my cell phone turned on )-: so we were not hiding when they arrived, yikes! Johnny quickly distracted Joey with flower picking while Michael ran "to the bathroom" (really over to the party!) and we quickly hid before Joey even noticed!! We were all in place and gave him a big "Surprise" as he entered the playground. I can't believe we pulled it off!! He was completely shocked and didn't even know it was his birthday that day! It was a hot and happy party! Enjoy the slide show...

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Gramma Visits

Grandma Peggy paid us a nice visit this summer. It was a relaxing time of baking cookies, playing games, a picnic & swimming at Juniper Springs, and a trip to Busch Gardens! Enjoy the slide show....I just figured out how to add that to our blog, thank you Mister Pat for all your "blog coaching."
There are some great photos Johnny took of Gramma Peggy and the kids on the Congo River Rapids ride. We all came off that ride soaking, except for a certain teenage boy who was busy laughing at us all!!!

Cousin George

My "long lost" cousin, George, took Michael under his wing for the day. After an email encounter with George I told him Michael was interested in engineering and George, an electrical engineer, offered to show Michael around where he works!! We wasted no time taking him up on his kind offer! Michael and Johnny soaked it all in as George filled their heads with ee info. George was very kind to give Michael his day and field all of their questions. Thanks Cousin George! We look forward to seeing you soon, and getting to know you better. Come visit! xo Hey, do I see Spiderman??

Camp Kulaqua

Can you spot Christy in the photo??

Christy loved her second year at Camp Kulaqua. They have a crazy time! You'll have to ask her about the "blob." Here's a fitting shot of Christy with our most distinguished youth pastor, Michael!

And here is Christy with her oldest friends (one since before birth!), Kalin and Kaitlyn. Kalin just moved to Iowa, but came back to go to camp with her Florida buddies....we miss you, Kalin!

And, no doubt, Christy's camp highlight...she was the winner of the beauty contest!! Why am I not surprised?! You go, Georgous!


Was this activity on the schedule?

High School Youth Camp 2008

Covenant College was the destination for high school youth camp again this summer. Michael and Johnny went with the h.s. crew from our church (along with a few extra friends). They both came home worn out! It was a full schedule, breakfast was served at 7 and "lights out" was around midnight. It was a good bonding experience for our group and a time of spiritual growth. Tim Melton was the main speaker and the theme of the week was the Kingship of Christ. One of the activity highlights was caving....yikes, yes with a guide!! It was dark and dirty, and dark, and dirty, but the kids liked it. Michael thought everyone would probably do it again.


The send-off hug!


Something's funny.....



Hi ho hi ho......


Our guitar hero (-;

Extreem Makeover Michael Edition

While Michael and John were away at camp Christy, Grace, Joey and I did a makeover on the boys' room....it was in desperate need of help. We cleaned up, organized, painted, and decorated the room to make it a little more personal, livable and practical for the boys. We framed some of Michael's artwork, I stole a cool idea from a friend to hang Michael's guitar in a frame (thank you Suzie), and we found Michael a cool desk and bookshelf on my favorite website, Ocala4sale.com!


This is the only "before" photo I could find, we didn't think to take one before we started working. Notice the dark blue paint...we even painted the ceiling that color! What was I thinking? Bat cave?!

Vacation!

We spent a weeks vacation in St Petersburg Beach. Our condo was beautiful, right on the beach AND on the inter coastal. It was good to be in St Pete again, Johnny and I lived there for 2 years when we were first married. We spent most of our vacation days at the beach and the pool, but we managed to get away to the grocery store 5 out of our 7 days there! (We can never remember everything!)


We visited the Dali museum, we all enjoyed that! Even Joey was squinting his eyes to see Abraham Lincoln.


Another outing lead us to Johnny's vacation favorite...we stumbled upon the Candy Kitchen! Johnny really was like "a kid in a candy shop!!" One of his former student's parents used to own the shop. It is filled with weird old toys, strange candy like cigarette bubble gum (is that even legal any more?), jaw breakers the size of softballs, home made fudge, ice cream, did I say weird old toys?! Johnny was so happy. It was the tiniest little place, I waited outside because the place was so full and people were lined up outside waiting to get in to taste their treats!





Michael was given the go ahead just before our trip to take off his brace, so he was able to swim and play with the crew. He continues to recover nicely.
On the way home from St Pete we stopped in Tampa and played at Busch Gardens. It was very hot so we took advantage of the water rides, yahooo!
We were not ready to come home (-: but here we are. The kids are having fun with friends, camps and NO homework. We are tackling some much needed home improvement projects and are looking forward to summer visitors!! Come and visit!

The Big 45

The big 45! For Johnny's birthday celebration we went to see th movie Prince Caspian, based on the C.S. Lewis book from the Chronicles of Narnia. We all liked the movie but our die hard Chronicles of Narnia fans found some fault in it as the movie was not as true to the book as they would have liked. After the movie Johnny grilled pork chops for a yummy dinner and we ended the evening with peanut butter brownies and ice cream. We gave the smoke detector a break and decided to have just one candle for Johnny to blow out this year (-; Happy Birthday, my Prince!


Birthday morning as the kids shower Daddy with the coolest cards in the world!

Pat & Nyna Tie the Knot!

Mr. & Mrs. Patrick J. Borter!

Our dear friend of many years married his lovely bride, Nyna, May 17th. Nyna is from Brazil and they met each other through a mutual friend. The wedding was beautiful and the ceremony consisted of many traditional Brazilian elements. They had a translator there for Nyna so she would know what she was getting into (-; Johnny and I were witnesses (similar to American attendants) and Joey was like a ring bearer, but didn't carry the rings (the little girls do that job in Brazil). We are so happy for our friend, Pat, and we look forward to getting to know Nyna better and better.

Jacob's Ladder

Gracie loved her role in the ballet this spring. Her class performed the part of the ballet where they 'prepared for the wedding.' The girls set out food, flowers and made other preparations when Gracie and her dance mate, Whitney (in photo above), came tiptoeing onto the stage shushing (shhhhh....) the audience, because they were late. Gracie and Whitney were quickly spotted and scolded my the wedding coordinator. The two girls were silly and naughty throughout the dance, mocking the bride and groom! The audience loved it. It was a perfect part for Gracie, and her first dramatic role, she did a great job. She will continue to take ballet twice a week through the summer. She is always happy when ballet day arrives!


Gracie and our friend Mrs. Borter


Gracie, Whitney and their teacher, Megan


The naughty wedding workers!
Remember, you can click on the photos for a bigger look.

22 Years of Bliss!

Johnny and I have crossed the line...we have now been married longer than we were single! What a great marriage it has been! We celebrated in a nearby town called Micanopy. We spent the day checking out antique shops, ate yummy Cuban sandwiches at an outdoor cafe, and ended the day with ice cream cones. Michael and Christy kept things under control back at home. We are so thankful for our marriage and family. God is so gracious to us as we learn and grow as a family. A special thanks to our photographer, Gracie! It's not too often we end up in a photo together (-;

Bionic Boy!

The $26,000 screws!


Our Michael had a little mishap during football practice Monday. He was jumping for the ball and unfortunately (for all but the orthopedic surgeon) landed on his right elbow. The doctor's appointment on Tuesday revealed what the doctor described as "an unusual and worrisome break." He broke off a portion of his humerus right where it connects to the elbow joint (that was the worrisome part). An appointment to see the orthopedic surgeon on Wednesday was followed by out patient surgery on Thursday. The surgery was VERY successful, better than Dr. Farr had anticipated. The break came together like a puzzle and most importantly the cartilage cap came together (that's what might have given him trouble in the future).
Michael is now the proud owner of two screws valued at $26,000! He will get a brace/cast type thingy at his post-op appt. on May 19th and after that begin physical therapy. Dr. Farr was very pleased and now thinks Michael will have full range of motion in his elbow. And believe it or not, he said Michael should be ready for fall football (job security?)!
Michael's attitude and cooperation through this has been stellar. He is getting use to doing many things left handed and is good at figuring out how to do things with the ability he has. He is careful and conscientious to keep his arm elevated, take his medicine, etc. The good news is that he can still hold the controller for his XBOX 360 and now has a little extra time to play (-;

Busch Gardens

We ended our spring break with a trip to Busch Gardens. It was cold and rainy, but not crowded (-; We had a great time spinning and swirling on the roller coasters. Here's a shot of us looking up at Sheikra (check out the Youtube video link on the right) as it plummets straight down toward earth!

They have a special for FL residents, you pay for a day and you can come back all year for free! Hopefully we will catch a few sunnier days between now and then. Come visit and we'll go!