Shopping and eating out!

Yes, we are going to have to go on a diet when we get back to Zambia! We have really enjoyed all of our favorite places to eat out and shop. Here are a few pics. We will begin our journey back to Zambia on Monday, Aug. 3rd and will arrive Tues. night around 9:00pm. Please be in prayer for us as we travel and get settled back into our life in Zambia. It is always a little tough the first couple of weeks back-not just for us but I'm sure for our families we have left behind in the states as well.

Hannah at CiCi's pizza with her grandmoma in the background.

Target was a blast!

One thing we really enjoy while in the states is fountain drinks and Free REFILLS!

While we were at the beach we had Krispy Kreme donuts and they were delicious. The sign outside said "hot donuts!"

I hear my elliptical calling me!

Memories of the beach

Here are our last pictures of the beach. Sorry there are so many but it was hard to choose which ones to put on here. We will always cherish the memories we have from being at the beach with our family.

We only had one small umbrella so everyone was trying to squeeze under it so they wouldn't get too much sun. Kevin is sitting directly behind my mom.

Zach in the lazy river.

this man was out on the beach every day creating something new in the sand. I only had my camera twice. One is of a camera and the other is of a whale.

me, my mom and sister

Suzie's mom and dad

Kevin

It doesn't get much better than this...

This is Zach and his Uncle Mike riding the waves. I took this pic. from our balcony.

putt-putt fun

Gram french braiding Hannah's hair.

This is a pic. of the storm that came up on our last day.
The clouds were beautiful.

On our way back to Kevin's parents house in Oriental we stopped by to see the Conards in Jacksonville. They used to serve alongside of us in Zambia. Mark is now a chaplain in the Navy. We had a great lunch and visit with them. It was great to catch up with them all.
left to right is Mark, Isaac, Stacey, Grace, Ben, and Katie(and then Digger the dog).

Beach Fun!

We had great weather during the week. It only rained our last afternoon there and it wasn't so hot that you couldn't stand it. We are so thankful for the week we got to spend at the beach. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Since we had such a big group we split in two. Kevin and Mike tied with the same score.

Zach and his Gram

Michaela and Hannah coming out of the water.

Justin enjoyed going out on the boogie board.

Macey and Gram enjoyed walking looking for sea shells.

Hannah enjoying the ocean.

Mike catching a wave.

Zach with the girls.

Mike and Micaela

swimming in the pool was fun.

building sand castles

playing putt-putt with the dinosaurs

Angie, Macey, and Michaela

Myrtle Beach 2009

The Beach: the sound of waves crashing on the shore, gentle breezes, the smell of salt air, digging my feet in the sand, feeling the water cover my feet and then sink into the sand as the water goes back out, feeling the warmth of the sun on my body, the smell of suntan lotion, watching the sunset, watching people, building sand castles, playing with family, watching movies, playing putt-putt, jumping in the pool or lounging in the lazy river, and going out to eat. These are all things that we experienced this past week at N. Myrtle Beach. I have a lot of pics. so I'll add some more during this week.

Our first night there was my mothers birthday. We went out to a seafood restaurant for dinner and then had cake back at our place. This is Suzie's family from left to right on the back row: Mike, Angie, my Mom, my Dad, Suzie, Zach, Justin, and Kevin. In the front is Michaela, Macey, and Hannah.

My mom blowing out her candles.

Our friends the Cooks who served in Zambia happened to be at MB our first weekend there so as they were heading home they came by our place and took us to lunch. Then we got to hang out together for the afternoon. It was fun catching up with them again after being away from them for 7 months.

Kelsey and Hannah reunited again.

Papa and Macey

Michaela is a great little gymnast. She entertained us a bit out on the beach.

Angie and Michaela

Justin and Zach in the Jacuzzi.

During our trip home there has been jokes being played mainly on my father because he put an alarm clock which sounded like a rooster right at my sisters ear early one morning. So the girls in our family have been busy playing tricks on him. One of the things they did at the beach was to hide small boxes of cereal in his room under his pillow or in his drawers, even on some reynolds wrap in the toilet. One day Papa tried to get the girls back with big boxes of cereal under their pillows. They laughed so hard! They thought that was pretty funny!

Zach and Macey watching cartoons.

One night several of us showed different tricks that we could do.

Uncle Mike putting the girls to bed-doesn't look like they will be sleeping anytime soon.

Macey riding the waves.

Frisbee was a favorite past time.

My sister used to be a NC State cheerleader. She showed us a cheer and then her husband imitated her. We all got a good laugh!

Zach enjoyed playing the guitar while we were at the beach.