Back from the break

We had a fabulous time when our son, Nathan, visited! It was 11 days packed with fun. Our dear friends from CA also came to vacation here at the same time, so that made for double the fun.

It was so great to have all four kids together again! 

While he was here:

I was very blessed to have a coffee date with my three boys and hear things on their hearts.

(this hipster bookstore/coffee shop has Jane Eyre BOARD books, for babies! I'm still not sure what to think about this)

On Wednesday, both families spent a gorgeous day at the beach, but no one captured any pics.
 Then we had a dinner party that night and then went to church.

The next day we went to Busch Gardens!!! It looked like rain so the lines were not too long.

Friday we had planned to go tubing down a beautiful river that is fed by a spring. We had been planning it for months and we had someone lined up to come and check on my Hubby's brother while we were away. But it turned out that we were all exhausted from the past two days in the sun. So we slept in. Also, Hubby thought he could take the week off, but a big project kept him at work. Until that day, when it rained so much that he had to come home! Yahoo! So, instead of tubing, we started celebrating Father's Day early and took him out to breakfast. Then he and the boys headed to their favorite place: Guitar Center.

That night we gave a party for our very dear friend, who just became an American citizen. So proud of him! -It looked a lot like the 4th of July around here.

That night, Andrew had friends stay over and Zac, Nate and Joy went to stay over with their various friends and we met back the next afternoon for a family day in Downtown Disney. -It pretty much took as long to find a parking space as it did to drive there. We ate and then did some window shopping.

Apparently you are never too old for Lord of the Rings Legos!!!

Sunday was Father's Day! Nathan and our dear friends enjoyed being in the class that Hubby teaches and then we worshiped together. After church we went out to lunch and then the boys had a Father's Day surprise for Dad. They played his favorite Switchfoot song and Nathan sang it! He love, love, loved it.

Monday, was a relaxing day. I caught up on LAUNDRY and Nathan spent time at the church with other friends in ministry.

 The next day we braved the heat to play Frisbee Golf which Nathan has been looking forward to for months. Great fun with just our four. It reminded me of our "Blessed Academy" field trips. : )

Then we went to have dinner and fellowship with some dear friends and tried enchiladas with mole. Amazing!

Wednesday, Hubby was able to take a half of the day off and came home early for our last family day together. We made Hubby's famous BBQ chicken and watched one of the kids' favorite childhood movies, Iron Giant. And the musicians had some fun jamming together.

There was also lots of laundry and packing happening because that night after church, the youth group headed off to camp. Joy and Andrew had to say goodbye to Nathan before they left.
 We had a little mother/son time watching the Sound of Music, eating popcorn and playing 2048 after church. -Isn't he a sweetheart?!

Thursday, there was more packing, but for Nathan this time. Then he and Dad went a Ray's game and had a great time together. When we bought these tickets, the Rays were good. LOL Now, not so much. But they did win that night and the guys were up pretty late.

Nathan had to fly out early in the morning so the rest of us said our goodbyes at 5:00 AM.

I miss that sweet guy already. But we are all excited about what God is doing in his life. He's happy in CA so, we are happy for him. And we can't wait until Christmas when we get to see him again! Yay!

 ~Becky