Gingerbread houses

Blake & Leah sent Gingerbread Kits to the boys. The boys in turn challenged them to a House Building Contest! Here are some photos of the fun....

The boys can only assume they won since we haven't seen any photos from Blake & Leah yet....

Happy Anniversary / Celebrating 25 years!

And to Charleston we went!

It was uH.....okay - Nothing Special!



We left Myrtle Beach, stopped by Pawley's Island, (It was fantastic!!!!!!) we wish now we would have just spent the day there.




Anyway, left there.... went on down to Charleston. Battery Park was awesome for history stuff.
WE didn't go over to Fort Sumter or anywhere like that because we are taking the Scouts for an overnighter there in OCT. So we just stayed inland.










We went "Hyman's" Seafood Restaurant (rated #1), NOT IMPRESSED!!!!! only made TO (note: not through) the apps.... one taste and we were done.....very disappointed and expensive.... so we We then walked through a awesome open air market and had an excellent Chocolate Eclair at a little Bakery there. We looked around the area for another place to eat, but nothing good struck our fancy...










So we left early and came back to Capt. Benjamin's in N. Myrtle Beach for Calabash. We had a great time just simply because we love spending time together exploring new things,


but we have decided that we are due for another foreign affair... so a trip to the Swiss Alps will be our next adventure.

Natural blessings

These are my tomato plants.... The left one is Cherry Tomatoes and the right one my Yellow and Orange Heirloom.



This Cherry Tomato plant sets almost 4 feet from base to tip. It is hard to get the whole thing in a picture up close. So far the boys have counted 221 tomatoes off our one plant.

This is my Heirloom Tomato Plants that I have been saving the seeds from year to year. This is the sixth growing season. And the interesting thing is each year I get less and less tomatoes from my two plants.



See the fruits of our Labors.....

Things I have learned about the south...

Fact #1 - That Flies & Frogs are the same size (about 3 inches) and both can be bright green or neon purple....
















Fact #2 - That Red Crabs are blue & Blue Jays are RED...






(They call these Red Bellied Blue Jays. They are really pretty, We have Blue Jays, Red Cardinals and these in our back yard.)






Fact #3 - Spiders are still big & ugly even in South Carolina....
It is called a Banded Argiope or Orb Spider.

Dock diving on the Waccamaw!

We had a great time for Father's Day...










Marty wanted to get a way a little bit, so we decided to take the boys and go to Conway and check to the Waccamaw River.






The boys had a great time diving from the dock and swimming in the river.






The stories tell of the Waccamaw River being the color of Molasses and I would have to say.... The stories are all true!

B-day 2009

OKAY! now I am starting to feel older... My middle baby turning 18 today! Does that make me really old or what???? He makes me feel really old... He acts so grown-up. He is so excited to be officially independent. He has his own job... He got his first Apartment all on his own... He pays his bills all on his own... He say that him and his Girlfriend can have a LIFE now all on their own.... hehehehe.... little does HE know!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SON!!!

WE LOVE YOU LOTS....

My lighthouse on the hill...

Okay... so it's better late than never.... right?

Here is pictures of the project that the boys and I made last week before we left for New England. I laid them out in a scrapbook page and uploaded them that way for Jenn's IFC: "Red" Challenge. Also just to note that the poem is my own original work, so please don't copy it for anything but personal used.

Blue crab festival

Down at the beach where the Blue Crab Festival was being held there was a Guy making homemade Ice Cream with the Old machine pictured below... It was really cool.I have found my new Food Heaven.... CALABASH (southern fried seafood) and deep fried Blue Crabs. I have included some before and after shots.... They are so good!

Down at the beach where the Blue Crab Festival was being held there was a Guy making homemade Ice Cream with the Old machine pictured below... It was really cool.

Mother's Day on the beach

I had a great Mother's Day... The only thing that could have made it any better was if all my kids could have been here with us. We spent the day at church and then Marty and the boys took me out the lunch at a very nice Sea Food Buffet. I swear we ate crab legs for three hours... We then went to the beach, hung out and lit fireworks. It was a good DAY! Here are some photos of us at the beach on Mother's Day. It was cool and overcast so no summer beach attire for us.

Cake bake

Parker had his very first, all-alone, Cake Walk / Bake-Off for their Boy Scout Camp Fundraiser. I just had to post his cake photos here. His cake sold for 25 dollars. We had a lot of fun...

B-day 2009

Look OUT!!!!!!.... we have another driver at our house. Happy Birthday to my fourth Baby. He is traveling along that "Sweet Sixteen" scene. First dates... First drives... First Group Parties... First at a lot of things for him... He is starting to express his way into adulthood very quickly and we are very proud of him...


Happy Birthday my almost grown-up little one!

Cinco de mayo

Fiesta Time.....

Myrtle beach 2009

Here are some before, during & after the Fire pictures....

Visit to the beach...

Here are some pictures of the guys at the beach...

Life has begun in Myrtle Beach

Wow.... If I could have only dreamed! ..... If someone, a month ago would have told me that I would now be living in on the beach in South Carolina, I would have probably either ignored them or maybe beat their craziness with a big stick... But Here I AM.... NOW LIVING ON A BEACH IN SOUTH CAROLINA!!!!!! In many ways a dream come true, we are once again employed, once again insured, once again in a fantastic ward, once again living by the ocean, once again becoming more empty nested, and the plus side is Marty Feels great. His blood pressure is way down!!!!

Anyway here are a few of our new surroundings...

Our New Itty-Bitty Living Space....