Busy Weekend!

On Thursday, four of Amy's friends from Dallas and one from Alabama met Amy in Destin, Florida, for a fun get-away to catch up on all the news and renew old acquaintances.  These girls have been best friends for years, and I know that Amy has missed them all so much since moving to Florida. 

The husbands were so kind to watch all the kids.  George and I did what we could to help Jeff out for the three and a half days Amy was gone.  Believe me, it took all of us--and we're all exhausted--but we're so glad Amy got to get away!  Here are some of our activities with the kids:

Swimming

Going to the park

Riding bicycles and scooters

Visiting our favorite place--the Green Cove Caboose Park

We had a great time--but, we're surely glad Amy will be home soon!

Riley's Blessing Day

Today was such a special day.  Baby Riley was blessed by his daddy at their church in Gainesville, and George and I, Jeff and the kids, all travelled to Gainesville to attend the special event.   

Riley Chet Copeland

Riley's middle name was chosen to honor Craig's best friend, Chet Rodgers, who died when they were roommates at UVSC their first year in college.  He died very suddenly, and his death has left a hole in all of our hearts since then.  He was such a special young man with so many wonderful talents and abilities.  He is such a worthy person for Riley to be named after. 

Here are Chet's parents, Bishop Larry and Marian, at the blessing.  Chet's dad is Craig and Cassie's bishop.

Marian and I have always been the greatest of friends.  I just don't get to see her that much anymore since we moved from Gainesville nine years ago.

George and I with Craig, Cassie, and Baby Riley

Some of the friends who were at the blessing:

The Harrells

The Toblers

Walmir and Craig

Afterwards, we went to Craig and Cassie's home where Cassie fixed us a wonderful lunch.  We brought this little "Congratulations" cake for Riley.  He's not really a baby anymore--he is already three months old, so nothing too babyish!

Garrett and Isaac said they weren't hungry, but could they just have some cake?  Hah!  Anyway, it was a beautiful day.  We are so happy and blessed to have little Riley come into our family. 

Cruisin' Afterthoughts

I have covered the cruises pretty well, I think, but there are a few afterthoughts I wanted to add of memories that I will not soon forget:

Hannah making sure Great-Grandpa always had his favorite donut in the morning.

Watching the fantastic ice show together.

Watching the kids have fun at the pool.

Seeing what animal would be on our bed when we came home at night.

Seeing the fancy ways of displaying food--however, knowing that I would never take the time to do it myself!

Watching the great evening shows together.

Looking forward to dinner as a family, laughing, being entertained, and coming away stuffed!

Eating hamburgers and fries at Johnny Rockets--a change was really nice!

Spending time with my husband and dad--I don't get to see my dad that often, so it was a real treat!

Spending time with those we love so much--and wishing the other 15 grandchildren, 5 children, and 5 spouses could have been there, too.  Next time, hopefully we can all go together!

P.S.  After the Cruise

So George and I are about 1 1/2 hours from Ft. Lauderdale riding in our car back to Jacksonville when we get a call from Kevin that two of their children got bumped and were each receiving $600 vouchers from the airline.  Would we mind going back to get them?  Of course not!  We readily turned around and went back the 1 1/2 hours.  Instead of two kids, it turned out to be four of Kevin's and one of Kyle's!  We were  ecstatic!  We now drove the five hours back home.  When we got home, Kyle called and their flight was delayed on the run-way for an hour causing them to miss their flight in Atlanta, so he asked if he could fly Kim and the other two kids to our home since they couldn't get out for two days.  Of course!

This is our bonus room--wall-to-wall beds! 

Oh, I forgot to tell you, Craig, Cassie, and Riley were staying with us for two weeks while Craig did rotationals at the dental clinic for homeless at the beach and downtown Jacksonville.  This is our new centerpiece--isn't it great!

A really funny story--Craig was so good to wrestle with all the boys on the ground.  They all piled on him.  Isaac watched and then jumped on Craig's arm.  Craig started throwing his arm all around and Isaac just kept hanging on and proudly called out, "I've got this part!!!"  We laughed so hard!

This was such a great time for the cousins to see the new little ones.

We took the kids to see gators, but we only saw this one. . .

Lauren was so brave!

And a few turtles.  With over a million gators in Florida, you'd think we could have seen one, but not today.

We went to the park--all the grandkids know this is my favorite place to take their pictures.  Garrett loved being with his cousins.

Well, that's the last of the cruise blog.  Where are we going next?