A Wonderful Opportunity!!

 photo by jennyconklin.com

Kiki (as all the littles call her) is the oldest of the youngest group of nieces...if that makes sense! :) I remember the day she was born twenty years ago....I thought my heart would burst wide open!!!! Well, it's about to burst wide open again...with pride!!! Kiki is about to leave the country to study abroad. It's a dream of hers as her major in college right now is Spanish! Will you join me in praying for that sweet niece of mine? She leaves this weekend and though our family will miss her terribly, we are so excited for this opportunity for her. We love you Kiki and we are praying for God's favor on your sweet life. 

Miss Angelove and Uncle Mike

#Beachconk2014

We spent last week at Holden Beach, NC. There were 20 of us in one house. 10 of them were under seven. It was hard and glorious. Seven of the ten got a virus with temps. and sore throats. It rained for the first four days. The smoke alarm went off one night at 3 a.m. and a run to the grocery store for a nine volt battery reminded me that a poppy's job isn't easy either. We rented a house on the beach with a clean pool and nasty bathrooms. So, we spent a lot of time in the pool and took showers in the outside shower. But it was STILL a great week!!!! It's a tradition that we go to Sunset Slush every single night of our trip. The kids look forward to it all day. They talked all week about the last night and how they could get as many scoops as they wanted and what kinds they would be. (Rainbow SA (USA) seemed to be the favorite)….all the kids loved it! YUCK. We played games at night and talked lots about Uncle J's dream of opening a business. We laughed until we hurt about eating two containers of cookies that nobody in our family made. Seriously. They must have been left in the beach house by the previous renters. We each thought the other family had made them. They were all gone but a few when we couldn't find who to thank for making them. It made for lots of beach laughter that we will never forget!! I won't lie to you…it's not a piece of cake with that many little ones in the same house…whew!! It's not for the weak at heart! But man there is some love between those cousins! They play so well together!! They all get along remarkably well and the issues usually don't lie in them arguing with each other but just in the sheer numbers of them. Believe it or not, we all braved going out to dinner one night. We left the house at 4:30 and ate at 5:00. It worked, though Provisions Seafood may never be the same!! :) Nonny and Poppy took the five big kids to the park and Walmart for a *Beach Treat* and we had as much fun as they did! It helps mommy and daddy to get them out of the house a little while dinner is being cooked. Each of the families take a night to make a meal….That way, nobody has to do all the work!!!  We ended the week with a prayer for safe travels home. Now we are all tucked in our homes and are thankful for the memories we made. Until next year sweet family……..Nonny and Poppy dearly love you.
(So thankful for the video made by Jenny)

Let's Do It Again Soon!!!!!!

Hubs surprised me with a little four day vacation to the beach.

He made the reservations and everything.

That might be a first for him.

He'll take me anywhere. He just usually leaves it up to me to take care of the details.

What a treat!

We drove to Ocean Isle Beach...and the weather was perfect!

We found a GREAT little breakfast spot between Ocean Isle Beach and Sunset Beach.

We ate at Sarah's every morning and EVERYTHING we ate was great!

On Saturday we drove to Southport. We thought about taking the ferry over to Bald Head Island but decided instead to walk around Southport. There are some of the cutest little shops there. Hubs bought me this. It's painted on oil cloth. Cute huh??!!

Love the ball fringe!

We sat on the porch swings and looked out over the water. (Hubs said "Let's sit here with the old people." I told him "We ARE the old people!" :) There were lots of sailboats and you can JUST see Bald Head in the distance.

The only down-side was the birds. I'm NOT a fan.

And besides, they seem a bit segregated to me. :)

click to enlarge...birds of a feather flock together! Too funny!

We had a little snag of a flat tire that hubs had to take care of....

But, it was a great four days!

Thanks Honey....Let's do it again next week!