Sugar cookies~by Beth

Katie sent the girls a set for making sugar cookies with lots and lots of cut outs and sprinkles. They just made them two days ago. Thanks Katie.

Christmas Day 2011~by Beth

Merry Christmas!! I am waiting for the Au Gratin Potatoes to finish baking. The children are playing with their new gifts (thanks for the scooters Grandma and Grandpa!!), Jon is napping and I am taking the time to upload our family photo. Our crew is a little smaller this year. All our Texas children could not make it to Florida for the holidays, and Joel is not here. But here is the family today. We thank God for each one.

Fall Sports 2011~by Beth

The two boys in high school, Zach and David, played football this fall. Their team went to state, though they lost the first game. But, we all had fun. Zach proved to be a very valuable player being back up QB, catching some key passes, and being the kicker. One kick was 39 yards that he made.
A week or so later we went on our annual golf outing. The children had two hours instruction with a pro, then lunch and the rest of the day on the course. What a great time we had. That same night Katie flew in for a wedding, then she went back to Texas two days later.

Flood October 2011~by Beth

Here was the most rain that we have seen in about an hour or more. Of course, the water receded by the evening and we were thankful. Here's the photo.

Back to school picnic 2011!~by Beth

Time flies. Here it is Advent season and I am behind on blogs. We have been busy. Here is a photo of Johanna at the picnic for homeschoolers. It was held at Lakes Park so the children had the joy of using the water park there. Since it was hot, we were glad they could cool off.

Zach goes to School~by Beth

We had a wonderful, relaxing summer. That is, until about 2 or 3 weeks before school started up again. Since our county moved up the first day, Jon began on August 5th this year. Just before he went back Jon and the boys put in radiant barrier in the attic. It was a long, hot job. Hopefully it will reduce the electric bill. The jury is still out on that. Simultaneously the guys also screened in the lanai. It looks really nice. We look forward to opening up the house when the weather cools. Then, because of a persistent leak, we remodeled the girls bathroom in 6 days! We put in tile, new vanity, sink and mirror, along with a new storage unit. This was also the week the younger children went to VBS. When school began, Caleb returned to High Tech North to complete his degree in culinary. Zach began at the same school in the computer class. He loves it and seems to be excelling. He has had opportunity to show Christ's love to other students just in the first weeks of school. We are doing well at home too. Abigail also began school and is catching on so quickly. Stephen joins us for the drills we do in phonics and math. He is super smart and we enjoy his presence daily. The boys are playing football, and we are back to music lessons. Christiana is teaching all 4 of her younger sisters violin. She is a natural at it. Here are some pics of first days and the bathroom remodel.

Independence Day 2011~by Beth

We are having a fun day around here. It began last night with the girls decorating their bikes in preparation to ride in the Pine Island Parade. They had lots of fun riding and throwing out candy to the parade attendees. Of course all the other kiddos enjoyed getting all the candy that nearly every one in the parade threw. Back at home we had a delicious cookout. Jon, Caleb, Christiana, Charity and I also filled about 290 balloons for a water balloon fight. Too bad the thunderstorm has been rolling in. After it passes, everyone plans to go out and try to nail someone with a water balloon. I had to find every bucket, container, and even my stock pot to hold the balloons. Here are the pics. Notice the new glasses on Christiana and Emma. They were blessed with free eye exams and free glasses just last week. PTL!!!

Jonathan and Stephen watching God's fireworks~by Beth

Just before bed the other night Stephen and Dad were watching the lighting in the clouds. They looked so adorable!!! Wish it was in focus better. The camera has not been working well since Christiana kicked a soccer ball right at the camera while I was shooting at the beach a few weeks ago.

Stephen turns Three~by Beth

Here is our little darling on the morning of his birthday, all ready for church. What a handsome guy! After blowing out his candles on his cake he opened his gifts. His sisters gave him some Toy Story goggles. We thank God for bringing Stephen into our lives.

27 Years Together

On June 2nd, Beth and I were privileged to go to PF Chang's for our anniversary. It was the last day of teacher in-service for me, and so I was officially done with school for the year. Beth took two pictures of the event. The lighting wasn't the greatest, but I think you can make out what the images are in the pictures. When we came we mentioned two things to our server--one, that it was our anniversary, and two, we don't drink. So she was kind enough to bring us a couple of glasses of ginger ale with fruit mixed in. It was so appropriate for us. I am blessed to have a wife who has put up with me all these years, and who has blessed our family with twelve beautiful children.

Father's Day Treat

What a great day Father's Day has already been for me! For the second year in a row my lovely wife has blessed me with a delicious pie for Sunday dinner. With lime and chili chicken, home-made french fries, and green beans as the main menu, we enjoyed dinner together. The pie was raspberry again this year. Yummmm! Caleb grilled the chicken on the new grill the children bought me for Father's Day. Christiana helped Mom with the pie. Thanks, Beth (with the help of the children), for making the day special!

Caleb is Using His Culinary Skills

Memorial Day was another day when Caleb showed off his culinary skills here at home. He took charge of our holiday dinner, and made shish kebobs and rice for our enjoyment. That, along with the cherries and corn-on-the-cob that Beth picked up at the store, made for a great Memorial Day dinner.

Caleb's Graduation

On Saturday, May 14th, our fourth child graduated from high school. Caleb Joshua was one of 17 young people who were part of the Christian Home Educators of Southwest Florida (CHESF) graduation. Each of the young people were given an opportunity to either give a speech, perform some musical piece, produce and show a DVD presentation, or any combination of the above. Caleb gave a speech where he was gracious in thanking the LORD, his parents, and siblings for all that had been accomplished in his life. At the beginning of the ceremony, there was an introduction of each graduate along with pictures as he or she walked to the front of the church. Mr. Gerry Peterson said, "When I read all that Caleb had done, I said, 'He's been involved in a lot of things!'" Well, yes, Caleb has done several things during his school days. Some of those things include: being involved as a Character Coach in Character First training at a Christian School; playing basketball, soccer, and football for both LCHS and in the rec league; accompanying our church on the piano; taking culinary arts classes at High Tech North here in Cape Coral; refereeing soccer; being a squad leader at ALERT Cadets during our yearly regional conferences. He just did this again two weeks ago when we were in Texas.

We're very proud of him. Plus, he got to graduate with one of his life-long friends, Kenneth McDonough, who is pictured in the top photo next to Caleb. Next to Kenneth is James Peterson, one of Caleb's teammates in football and basketball.

Easter 2011 with our Texas kin~by Beth

We had the most awesome Easter this year. On Good Friday we left for Big Sandy, Texas and arrived at 6am the next morning after driving through the night (thank you Jonathan). After moving into Nathan and Hannah's, and Katie and Stacey's apartments at ALERT we had an enjoyable day with them and getting to know our new granddaughter. She is so precious. She is sleeping through the night already so that makes for happy parents. On Monday, after Katie got off work, we went shopping for groceries and out for coffee. It was just Hannah, Lydia, Katie and I. We had a wonderful time. Tuesday we started the conference which continued on through Friday evening. The kiddos had a marvelous time in their programs. Saturday we left and just arrived home today. Here are some photo highlights. There were so many good ones it was hard to choose. Hannah's sister Stacey is on the far right in the family photo. She is a part of the family. We are only missing Joel here. It was taken on Major Behr's back deck facing the lake after the Easter service Sunday. It was so beautiful. During the conference the boys' got to rappel on the tower and climb the rock wall, among many other activities. Katie has her "registration boy" behind the desk here. Many great memories.

Boating Part II~by Beth

Here are more photos.

Boating~by Beth

Yesterday was our annual boating trip with some friends from church. They are so wonderful to take us out, let the children fish, swim on a sandbar, feed us, then we head back and the children swim in their pool. We always have a wonderful time. It was a perfect day for it as the temperature was 92 degrees. Last week we had off from school and did a ton of Spring cleaning, so this fun day was well deserved by all my helpers. We saw several groups of dolphins, some manatee, pelicans, osprey, and other birds. The fisher people caught mangrove snapper, lots of catfish, a sheepshead, a pogy (spelling?), and Caleb almost got a lady fish and several other large fish but they broke the line or got off the hook as he was reeling them in. There were so many good pictures that I am posting a bunch.