Azaryah's Hospital Stay

Poor Little Guy!  Our trip to see family last weekend did not go exactly as we had planned.  Our Little Man had some seizures and spent the weekend in the hospital.  All is well now and he is back to his energetic self!

Azaryah enjoyed the gluten-free food the hospital provided.  He was spoiled with mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets, waffles, and a host of yummy snacks.

Although he was not able to leave the hospital for a few days, he had LOTS of visitors :)

Harvest Fun

A Lion, A Ninja, A Pirate, and a Cheerleader...The kiddos had a blast putting together their own costumes from costumes we already had.  They are always in some sort of costume on any given day!  I love their creativitiy.

We all enjoyed the Dowlings hanging out with us on Wednesday night. Friends are a gift from the Lord!!

Bert and Mary Poppins...TOOOO cute!!

21st Anniversary Trip

My Man took me to the Plaza for three days to celebrate our 21st anniversary!  He treated me to a delicious meal at one of our favorite places the first night, the dinner theatre the next night, shopping a couple of days but most of all just being alone with him was a real treat!  Thank You, Lord, for Glen and for blessing our marriage. 

Precious Start to Each Day

One of the most precious parts of our day is having our devotion during breakfast.  So sweet to watch Corbyn lead his siblings in the Joseph study.  Azaryah sits quietly and listens and even offers answers from time to time.  Moments that I will treasure forever!!

New Jersey, New York City, Philadelphia, Gettysburg, and Hershey 2012

There are FAR TOO MANY pictures for me to post...All together, I took over 800 pictures of our entire trip.  The Lord was so gracious to have allowed us to travel safely, hang out for an entire week with our dear friends the Houses, see lots of historical sites, enjoy beautiful weather, and take our children to several places we had always hoped to go.

Our trip began on Friday, September 14th.  We traveled for two days to get to New Jersey.  We were able to take the children through 9 states, 4 of which they had never been in.  On Sunday, the Houses took us into New York City!!  What a fabulous day!!  We began by stopping on the Jersey side to see Manhattan.  We saw Jersey City, Ellis Island, and the Twin Towers Memorial on the Jersey side.  Then we drove into Manhatten where we walked through Battery Park, rode the Ferry across to Stanton Island passing the Statue of Liberty.  After that, we walked through Ground Zero, explored the Subway, drove through Little Italy, Soho, Chinatown, ate at Katz's Deli, went to Rockerfeller Plaza, went to the Top of the Rock, walked around and shopped on 5th Avenue, and hung out in Times Square after dark looking at all the lights and people watching.

Monday, we enjoyed a restful day.  Susan and I took the kiddos to a beautiful park where they played, climbed trees, explored waterfalls, and enjoyed climbing around on the rocks.

Tuesday, Susan and I head out to Chester to walk around the shops and a treat at a local coffee shop.  That evening, Glen took the big boys to the new Batman movie and Susan and I took the younger ones to the mall to shop.

Wednesday, Robert and Susan to us all to Philadephia, PA.  We stopped at Washington's Crossing, saw the Liberty Bell, toured the Senate, Congress, and stood in the room where the Declaration of Independance was signed.  We also stood in the spot where the first peaceful tranferance of power happened between Washington and Adams.  We walked through historical streets, saw the United States Mint, Benjamin Franklin's home where he penned the Declaration of Independance, Betsy Ross' house, and run up the steps to the Museum where Rocky was filmed.   We ate dinner at Tony Luke's.

Thursday, we enjoyed a day at the house so the kiddos could play together.

Friday, Susan took all of us to the Jersey Shore.  We had a BLAST playing in the water, building sand castles, a picnic lunch, and walking along the Broadwalk.  The waves were huge and the kiddos loved playing for several hours before we headed back to the Houses' for a yummy dinner.

Saturday, we headed out on our two day journey home.  We stopped in Hershey, PA for a quick look around the Hershey Musuem and then off to Gettysburg, PA where we took a bus tour through the Battlefields.  It was a LONG day but so worth it!! 

Sunday, we arrived home late.  It was a great trip but it was nice to be back home again.

Happy 16th Birthday, Corbyn!!

I cannot believe that my Baby Boy has now turned 16 years old.  It seems like yesterday that I gave birth to him.  Corbyn is such a blessing to our family.  He is a young man of character and he loves the Lord with all his heart.  Corbyn is intelligent, creative, caring, considerate, responsible, and so much fun to be around.  He truly is a delight and I am honored to be his Mommy!

Corbyn's day began with Breakfast in Bed prepared by all three of his siblings.  Eden, Keziah, and Azaryah LOVE serving their Big Brother!! It is precious to see their heart's desire is to bless him.

Here are a few pictures of Corbyn playing his guitar...This is one of his greatest joys and his Daddy and I LOVE to sit and listen to him play and sing!!

Azaryah wanted to buy a gift for his brother...He picked it out himself and bought it with his own money.  It was so cute watching Azaryah as Corbyn opened the gift!!  Corbyn LOVES his Lego set!!

Corbyn got a set of wheels for his birthday!!  He has wanted a "cool" skateboard for several months. 

 His sisters picked out and bought the pads for him...They want to make sure he is safe :)

Some money to spend in New York City!  Part of Corbyn's celebration will be our trip to New Jersey to see some of his best buddies.  While we are there, we will head into NYC to shop, sight-see, and enjoy the Big Apple!!

The cake was a group effort.  The kiddos and I made a gluten-free carrot cake with homemade icing.  Glen to the decorative icing and wrote on the cake.  Such a good Daddy!!

Hope he likes it!!!

 HaPpY HaPpY Birthday, My Love!!  We sure love you!!

Sleepovers Are The BEST!!