Johanna starts school~by Beth

After many months of waiting until the new school year began, Johanna has finally started kinder- garten. She has been eagerly looking forward to this day, and it couldn't arrive fast enough. The photo is of her getting her pencil box the day before she began school. We had a great two days so far. She is so smart and quick as lightning to catch on. Teaching her will be easier than the previous student who I think is a bit dyslexic. We rearranged desks and places that we kept some school work. Joel will begin college next month, though he already has 40 some credits. Caleb will be joining him as a dual enrolled student. Zach and Caleb will be taking a co-op world history class this year. This summer they are taking an intensive American government class that just began today. David will be taking a physical science co-op class too, Lord willing. I hope I find the books that I need at our used curriculum sale this weekend. Oh, and it looks like Jon will have his math job at the Christian school this fall. So, all in all it has been a good week. We have gone back to having our wisdom search first thing before breakfast and are trying to put the Lord first in our day and our lives. Praying that we keep on track.
My next post will have to tell about Nathan's engagement this past weekend. Sorry, you will have to wait till next time.

25th Wedding Anniversary Getaway

Beth and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this month. It was June 2, 1984, that we were married in Parma, Ohio. Both of our fathers had part of the service. After the ceremony and reception, we were off to our honeymoon on Siesta Key in Sarasota, Florida.

Fast forward 25 years: Nathan, Katie and Joel surprised us with a special gift by sending us on an anniversary getaway to Siesta Key. This time around the travel time to Siesta was only an hour and a half, rather than 20 hours. We left Sunday afternoon and came home Tuesday around supper time. The older children held the fort and took care of everything. This included Joel cutting open his foot on some broken tile. We had replaced some tile in the kitchen, and it sat out by the basketball hoop waiting for the garbage man. Playing basketball in bare feet can be a dangerous thing with that tile nearby.

Anyway, back on Siesta Key, Beth and I enjoyed the beach, the pool, some good food, and the whole tourist atmosphere. The first photo is of Beth in our little room at Tropical Breeze. It was very small but fit our needs. You can see her necklace in the photo. It is made of Italian Moretti glass, Bali silver and Swarovski crystals. I, Jon, received it as a gift from the parents of one of my students. He owns a really nice shop in Ft Myers that Beth and her mom like to shop in, unbeknownst to me. She was thrilled to get it.

We walked on the beach both evenings that we were there. The first night we did not make it until just after sunset, but we determined to get there before sunset the following night. The third photo is of our feet on the beautiful white sand. Recently we heard that Siesta Key is one of the three best beaches in the world. The sand is so fine and soft and because it is white it is never hot. Notice the nice French manicure that Katie gave Beth.

All in all, it was a wonderful time to be away for a short while. We hadn’t been away since our 15th anniversary.

Thanks, Nathan, Katie, and Joel for blessing us in this way!