Leopard Geckos

Mason and Mallory got Leopard Geckos today. (I have my dear friend Amy to thank for this!)

Let me introduce you to Chewy. He is Mason's gecko.
Meet Bucky - Mallory's new pet!
Here is Chewy eating his first cricket. We now also have 40 pet crickets to feed to our geckos over the next week.

More favorites

Hermit crabs! I hope they like their new home- we relocated them to a new habitat.

Beach Olympics- thanks Deb!

Kelly tasting the fish.

If I couldn't find Shelby, I just needed to look for the birds!

Pretzel making- thanks Ryno!

Some of my Favorites

Let me start by saying that I can't believe that Kelly's DELETE button is broken and she couldn't get rid of that hideous picture of me in the last blog! Seriously though, we had such a great time laughing, sharing and playing with everyone and I feel so blessed to be in this family! The only thing that would have made the trip better would have been the Andersons! Here are some of my favorite memories, besides of course my comment to Kelly- thanks for being a good sport with that Kel!

The girls praying together during church Sunday morning.

Family meals- Shelby was happy to pose for this one!

Here we were waiting for the Sea World want-to-be's in their too small black speedos. Really, that was hysterical, while at the same time a bit offensive!

This one is one of a series of "there's Jodi eating ice cream again" pictures. But really I loved the family blessing time and how we shared how we felt about each other.

A tribute to Jodi from Kelly

What is wrong with this picture?

Nice!

Jodi certainly deserves this fine tribute. She was such a source of delight on our trip.

When we went to the grocery store our first day in Florida, we saw a huge scale. Jodi and I both decided to weigh ourselves. Jodi, at 7 months pregnant, weighed the same as I did. This, of course, was quite horrifying for her as she is not used to seeing a number over 100 pounds.

Days later, after Jo had so lovingly taken many Smith family pictures, we were climbing the stairs that led up from the beach. As Jodi got to the top, huffing and puffing, she said to me,

"How do you climb stairs at your weight?"

It was quite possibly the funniest thing I have heard in quite a while. We laughed for days! A few family members got tired of us repeating the story, but Jo and I never tired of it!

Jo - as you finish your last two months of pregnancy and exceed my hefty weight, I certainly hope that you will be able to climb any stairs that you encounter. I feel quite certain that if I were to gain a pound or two that I would have to take the escalator!

More from Seaside........

We had a great time in Forida! Thanks, Dad, for the wonderful vacation!

We sure missed Julie!

Are you sure you can do this, Dad?

"Sure I can!"

"HELP - Where is the lifeguard??"

Exciting day!!

Today was full of fun and new experiences!! We started off the day with rain and a trip to Gulf World, a mini aquarium/zoo type of place. We went to several shows, and 3 times we had a pick from our family to volunteer!!
We ended the day with a lot of fun at the beach, clear and sunny skies were such a blessing to us all!! Mark got a good sting from a jelly fish....he's recovering nicely.
Still miss you, LJLJ, and we love your new room!!!
-Deb & Sisters/Bro-in-laws/Cousins/Grandpa

Room

Kel asked me to post this a while ago...sorry it took me so long. I'd like to put an artificial tree or something on the left of the tv to hide cords (any suggestions??). Missing you all! LJLJ

Back to School

We had a Back to School Bash here at the house last night. Jake was so excited that he asked for medicine to help him sleep so morning would come faster. Luke finally admitted to being excited, too! Love, Julie. P.S. Loved the beach photos!

Fun Times

We were blessed with a sunny day yesterday, and had lots of fun both at the beach, and playing around in the house!! Wish you were here, LJLJ!!!!!!!

First day of classes at Schola

Mason and Mallory had their first ever academic classes outside of our house. They are taking Spanish and Science at a "school for homeschoolers." Mason will take math out at a different location starting next week, and they both are taking a writing class from a lady at church. It sounds like they are taking a bunch outside of here, but we still have a big load that I am teaching. This is going to be a heavy academic year for them. Let's hope we all survive it!

I did have a few sad moments today while they were gone. The classes are from 9:00-1:15. I really missed them!! I know that God will certainly have to show me His plan for my days when M & M are gone. I LOVE my life now and will greatly miss my kids when they are off to college! I know that all of this sounds sappy, but it was my first taste of what's to come in the future.

First Day of School

We are starting our first day of school right now. Mason is working away on his math and Mallory is writing her spelling words.

Slumber Party

The girls had their first "real" slumber party (not with cousins, they've had lots of those!).

"T" turns 6!!!

Sweet Thomas had a wonderful 6th birthday, thanks to our wonderful Father in heaven for His blessing of our creative, imaginative"energetic" boy:) Thanks to all of my precious sisters for your phone calls and gifts. We kept it simple, spending the day together (Corb took the day off:)

and just invited neighborhood kids to share the birthday brownie- outside of course:)

I have NO IDEA what happened to my camera, but when I downloaded the pictures, it seems they were taken on the lowest quality and they stayed tiny, as in 1 inch by 1 inch! I can't seem to enlarge them without ruining the quality!! I'm going to try to include.....we'll see! Pics are: Indiana Jones on a horse (action figure) on the brownie, Indiana Jones birthday banner, birthday doughnut- sorry about the microscopic size- bummer!!!!

I love you all very, very much~ Deb