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 (-;