Blessed by 40 Years!!!

Have you ever heard the following?  "The greatest gift a father can give his children is to love their mother."  If that is true, then I am very wealthy indeed!  The highlight of our Florida trip was spending my parents' 40th wedding anniversary with them.

But I would argue that the greatest gift my parents could give me is to love the Savior of sinners.  And this is true, and I am very blessed indeed!

And since I'm on the topic of thankfulness, I also really appreciate the way they love my husband...

So for their anniversary we again headed to the ocean, this time stopping by a park to watch the drawbridge and boats...

Just love their little bums... notice Hannah standing on tippy-toes!?

We are only 7 years into our marriage, but if the Lord wills, I'd like to celebrate our 40th some day...

Isaiah never wants to be far from his daddy...

We celebrated the evening at a steakhouse, and while waiting for a seat, why not snap some pictures...

Their wedding song (Psalm 128):
"Blest the man that fears Jehovah,
Walking ever in His ways;
By thy toil thou shalt be prospered
And be happy all thy days."
 

Cute couple, don't you think?

"In thy wife thou shalt have gladness,
She shall fill thy home with good,
Happy in her loving service
And the joys of mommy-hood."

"Thou shalt see God's kingdom prosper
All thy days, till life shall cease,
Thou shalt see thy children's children;
On Thy people, Lord, be peace."

Afterwards we played a game of mini gulf...
I: "You think Selah hit the ball?"
J: "Just stay by me, Isaiah, I'll show you all how to do it.  Just watch Judah."

Feeding the pond fish...

"My got the red ball!"

Alert: crawler on the green!

Last shot to win!

 

Another Florida Post...

Another wonderful thing about Florida was the free babysitting- and we used it for a 20-mile bike ride...

Underneath a picturesque bike path bridge...

I think it was a gopher tortoise we encountered on our trip...

And we visited a park in the evening... yay!

I love this shot that captured her personality...

Here's somebody who intensely loved every second of our trip...

Practising my camera skills, trying to capture a shot without blurrr...

Hannah flirting with her Daddy...

Building towers for her to knock down...

 

Florida Boat Trip

Another post (of many) from our Florida trip last month- this time of our boat trip through Tampa Bay to Egmont Key.

Isaiah waiting with Grandpa at the marina to board our boat...

Duane usually doesn't stomach boat rides well... but this trip was a success...

Snack time with Grandma, riding on top of the engine...

First boat ride for this little one...

We didn't witness much dolphin activity, but you can just make out the fin of one dolphin that just jumped the boat's waves (sorry, it was the best pictue I had)...

I've always dreamed of snorkeling- well, it wasn't exactly coral reefs, but Duane & I did see some fish while swimming around the rocks of an old Spanish fort...

It was too choppy for the kids to try it, but they enjoyed watching from the boat...

Taking a break from shelling on the island...

 

Still used lighthouse on Egmont Key...

 

Our boat, the "Quest"...

Throwing bread for the gulls on our return trip...

 

The First of Florida...

Finally, I'm posting from our Florida trip (warning- this is the first of a few posts- we took hundreds of pictures, and some of them are just too precious not to share). Flying was exciting with 4 kiddos- one of their highlights from the trip. To them, flight is still like a miracle, mysterious and exhilarating.

And the greatest highlight? Being with Grandpa & Grandma!

Everything was an adventure... even waiting for our luggage.

Our first day in Florida... head to the beach! Pick up the sand, feel the water, gaze into the horizon, take a deep breath, smell the salt, soak in the warmth.... ahhhh, we're really in Florida!

Showing Grandpa the shark's teeth Daddy found...

Judah gazing fondly at his new-found friend...

...the starfish! (Can we keep him?)

This is what Hannah spent a couple hours doing... climb on the beach chair, climb off the beach chair, try some sand, climb on the beach chair, smile at Grandpa... (repeat the cycle)

End the day with some ice cream...