Monday, June 24, 2013

Fun with My Family!

This past week, my brother and his family came down to visit us! It was their first visit to Miami!  I was so excited to finally have some of my family come down and show off Miami to them!  Our house handled all 11 of us pretty well!  Our house is in no way big so this was a huge feat!  We packed a lot in during the week and I think we all had a great time.  Here is our week in pictures!

Monday we went to Matheson Hammock (AKA Circle Beach).  I love this beach especially for the kids!
Job and Riley enjoyed eating sand and salt water together.
Me, my baby, blue skies, and palm trees - perfection!
I became known as the Riley Whisperer. Seriously, my nephew is too cute for words!
Mj & Bria enjoying squeeze pops on the fort.
On Tuesday, we took them to the zoo.  Watch out for adorable cheetahs!
Job & Riley checking out the splash pad.
This was the first time I had Job try out the splash pad.  He's definitely a Florida baby.
The highlight - feeding the giraffes!  My kids have been begging me to do this so we thought it was the perfect day to get to feed them!
So cool!!!  Right after this pic, the giraffe breathed very loudly down my neck!
Cousins on a frog.
Tuesday night was $2 shave ice at Tropical Sno.
Delicious treat!!
Bria and Gabe enjoying the rides at the mall.
Wednesday we went to Bill Baggs Park on Key Biscayne.
Job and Bria enjoying the shallow water.
Perfect beach day!
Zach getting thrown into the water!
I love this pic!!  Jadyn loved having Uncle Dutch throw her up in the air!
Job enjoyed the sand!  It's all over his face!
Cousins having a blast!
Thursday we went to the Alligator Farm in Homestead. 
Mj holding the snake after the snake show.
Bria was brave and touched the snake.
It was so hot on this day!  Bria and Gabe tried to stay cool under the fans!
This guy is crazy!
Bria conquered her fear of crocodiles and held an alligator!
Julie and Bria on the airboat ride.
So much fun!!!!
 
A little scary how close the alligators were to us on the boat.
Totally rockin' the sunglasses and ear protection.
Enjoying some water fun in the afternoon!
Riley's favorite spot in the backyard was the bottom of the fort.
Thursday night - the Miami Heat won the NBA championship!  This was our backyard at 12:30 at night.  It lasted til almost 2 am.
On Friday we went to Virginia Key to enjoy the last day at the beach.
Uncle Dutch caught a school of fish.
Job decided to play peek-a-boo with me instead of take a nap.
Bria and Jadyn read some books while we got ready to go to South Pointe Park.
Riley & Job played with the trains while they waited for their parents.
We had dinner down at South Pointe Park and watched the cruise ships leave port.
We love watching the cruise ships.
Job is so adorable! I could just eat him! =)
The kids loved the cruise ships.
I love this man!
Jadyn showing Bria the splash pad.
We walked down to the beach and enjoyed some water and sand one more time.
We had such a fun time with Dutch, Julie and the kids!  The week went way too fast! It's so sad to think that we won't see them til Christmas!  I'm so thankful they made the long trip down to visit us!

 

2 Years

On June 15, we marked 2 years of living this life in Miami.
2 years ago our house was filled with boxes.
Our front yard was full of our church family working hard to pack up that huge moving truck.
We had a lot of stuff!
We said goodbye to good friends.
We said goodbye to family.
We said goodbye to our house which we had made so many memories in.
And we drove many, many hours and many, many miles.
The kids were crammed in our car.
I had my furry buddy by my side.
And after 3 days of traveling we made it to our new house.
And then we had to unpack. (We still have boxes that are unpacked)
We did some painting to the rooms.
 
And our house is looking like our home.
And you know what, after 2 years.... Miami is our home.
We have made many friends - these are our craziest friends (AKA our youth group)
Our kids have made some great friends, too.
And for that, we are grateful!
Friends make life happy!
It's crazy to think how much we really do enjoy living in this busy city of Miami.  Yes, we do miss the slower pace, open fields, and farmland of PA, but we can truly say that Miami is home.  And we know that it's only God Who can give us that feeling.  Knowing that we are in His will, gives us the peace we need when we miss our family, when we miss our HBC family, when we miss the quiet and slow pace of PA.  We're looking forward to many more years serving with our friends here in Miami!
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