Fort Pickens

This Saturday, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather we are having and go out to Pensacola Beach to visit Fort Pickens.
On the way there we saw the infamous cross. One of the few things that remained standing on the beach after Hurricane Ivan struck in 2004. I'm sure there is a sermon in there somewhere.
"On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand"

Fort Pickens is the largest of four forts built to defend Pensacola Bay and its navy yard. The fort was begun in 1829 and construction was completed in 1834. Fort Pickens successfully served the country for over a hundred years.
Some of the main action the fort saw was actually during the Civil War in 1861.
At one time, there was over 200 cannons here.
I felt like we were in Alice in Wonderland with the walls closing in on us. The kids loved exploring in the mine chambers where the gun powder was once stored.

Fort Pickens was also used to house Apache prisoners in 1887. Geronimo was a noted war leader and medicine man who is probably the most famous of the Apache prisoners that were held here.

Now the fort proudly displays the American flag but it has been the site of many flags including Spanish, French, British, and Confederate.

The fort was built using over 21 million bricks!

Check out the beautiful view of the beach in the background.

Most of the fort consists of gun emplacements on top of and within the walls.

These rooms were originally intended for officers but they were used as a hospital in 1861.

Micah would run ahead of us and then stop at every tunnel and yell "HELLOOOOO!"

I wondered what he might do if someone actually answered. :-)

Seven acres of open ground in the center of the fort once provided space to drill troops.

Check out these biker pups we met in the parking lot complete with

sunglasses, biker jackets, and gotees~ that were bleached and dyed! Hilarious!

Brian thought this speed limit was a joke at first until we realized that the campground areas have been delared a protected animal habitat for sea turtles.

We also stopped by this souvenir shop out on Pensacola Beach. Take a close look at the floor - yep- that is sand! I love it! These people are brilliant! Why fight with nature? This is so much more practical and it certainly adds a flair of character!

Savanna and Micah thought it would be a wonderful idea to buy one of these painted hermit crabs to take home as a new pet. But seeing as we've had more hermit crab funerals than I can count, we quickly diverted their attention to something else.

Happy Birthday Tyson

Click here to view this photo book larger
This is a copy of the ABC book we made for Tyson's 1st birthday.

(Thank you Gena for sharing this fun idea with me!)

I remember one year ago today, waiting for our nephew Tyson to be born. I remember rushing to the hospital after school expecting the baby to be born ANY minute, and then watching the clock in the waiting room for the next 10 hours while we munched on Krispy Kreme donuts and watched School House Rock videos on my laptop with the kids. I remember the moment he was born and we could hear his sweet cry as all the extended family members and friends waited outside the delivery room. I remember my brother, Ty, coming out of the delivery room with tears of joy rolling down his cheeks. I remember seeing Tyson for the first time and thinking he had the BLUEST eyes I had ever seen (check out the "E" page in the ABC book), and then his mommy, Beth, exclaiming "He REALLY is a VERY cute baby isn't he?" So sweet!

His arrival gave me a brand new title ..."Aunt Sara" and I LOVE it!

What fun and laughter he has brought to our family this past year! We are so thankful the Lord has blessed us with this precious baby!
Happy 1st Birthday Tyson!

Second Grade Play

Micah's second grade class did an awesome job rockin out in the play EDUCATION ROCKS!

The play started with Micah and several classmates jamming out on their electric guitars.The kids rapped and sang about how cool it is to get an education and how it is the key that unlocks all kinds of doors in life. They all did a really great job, but my favorite part was watching Micah mouth all the words to other peoples' parts. He had the ENTIRE play memorized. So funny! That child has his father's memory for sure! It is INCREDIBLE!
Micah warned me that I might cry during the last song because it is "really sweet". Boy, he knows his mom very well!
Check out Micah's good buddy Caze - that is a rockin shirt and an awesome faux-hawk hairdo!
Micah with his cousin Gracie and his best friend Keaton. Keaton was so sweet. He saw me earlier in the day and said "Mrs. Sara - don't forget to bring your camera tonight so you can get a picture of me and Micah." These two have been best buds since kindergarten!

Three Wishes

I love blogger! I have always been REALLY good at taking tons and tons of pictures and I even do all the scrapbooking to go along with it. But I have never, N-E-V-E-R, been any good at journaling and recording the details of daily life. You know, all the little things that are oh so special but your memory just cannot contain forever. I even remember buying all kinds of fancy diaries and journals as a little girl that I never wrote in. Full of good intentions, but no follow through.

Well, so far, blogger seems to really be helping getting me motivated and recording the memories that I don't want to get lost in the business of life. Here is a GREAT example...

Savanna was given a writing assignment at school where she was to write what she would wish for if she had three wishes. I started reading expecting the wishes to be something like

I wish I had a million dollars, or a fancy car, or a fancy house, or a trip to Disney, etc...

Imagine my excitement and pride when I read:

"If I had three wishes, I would wish...

1. That everyone in the world had a home

2. That everyone in the world had a Bible

3. That everyone knew Jesus as their Savior so they would have a forever home in heaven"

Sweet Savanna,

I love you so much and I am so proud that not even ONE of the wishes was something for yourself. You have the most generous heart of ANYONE I know! You challenge me to become a better person. Thank you for always thinking of others and knowing what is truly important in life!

I love you BIG bunches ~ Mom

Micah's Tribute to Uncle Alfred

Brian's Uncle Alfred loved to sing, tell stories, and entertain. The family has not been the same since he went home to be with the Lord a few years ago. But his wonderful legacy lives on through the music he left behind. The last few weeks, everytime we get in the car, Micah requests this song from Uncle Alfred's CD. I just had to share with you what I can see in my rear view mirror EVERYWHERE we go. TOO FUNNY!

By the way, if you can't understand the words,

we THINK they go something like this:

"If a man answers your phone now when I call

Baby I'm not a jokin Lord that ain't small

If the voice is baritone, then baby you're not alone

Just wastin my time, not to include my dime

If a man answers your phone then baby I'm gone

Everything you claim just seems to be fine

But this ain't no party for this single heart of mine

Baby listen now...

I'm gonna hang this telephone up and dial again

There better be a soprano on the other end

If the voice is baritone, then baby you're not alone

Just wasting my time

not to include my dime

If a man answers your phone then baby I'm gone

Whoa~~~~~

I need your lovin every day"

Tennis Time

We played a little tennis with the kiddos today. What BEAUTIFUL weather!

They have both improved so much since the last time we played.

We actually played doubles and they really kept it going.

Micah crashed and burned several times trying to get the ball.
He has a very competitive spirit

(hmm... I wonder where that comes from)
and leaves it all on the court.
Micah liked to pretend the raquet was a guitar.

I felt like I took a trip down memory lane.
I remember some of our very first dates 15 years ago
were out here on these very same tennis courts at UWF.
The tennis courts are also right by the Baptist Student Union building
where we first met. SWEET MEMORIES!

Dog-gone good bath

Brian getting Toby ready for his bath

The kids enjoy this MUCH more than the dogs!

Why is it that dogs run from the bath and start rolling around in the dirt?

It just makes me crazy!

Oh well, at least they were clean for a moment in time.

Pumpkin Patch

It feels like it is officially fall when we take

our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Savanna and Micah on our front porch

with Snickers, Toby, and their pumpkins.

I remember when Savanna was 10 months old and we took her to the pumpkin patch for the very first time. It has become a bit of a family tradition. They will probably be in college and I will still be trying to get them to pose for pumpkin patch pictures.

I think Micah was looking for the heaviest one he could find.

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere.

Savanna couldn't decide which one to take home.
Micah wasn't too sure about this one - yuck!

Princess

I am not a big fan of many of the wall decorations and t-shirt sayings that are out there for little girls. Many of them have that "I'm all that" attitude behind the message. My mom and I recently found this wall decal at Hobby Lobby and I just LOVE LOVE LOVE the message! Obviously we got it for Savanna's bedroom and I just got it up. What a precious message to be reminded of every night before drifting off to sleep!

Sweet Dreams Savanna!

Our Cartoonist

Micah drew this cartooon at school during art class. I know I am probably quite biased, but I think the illustrations as well as the hillarious story line are AMAZING for his age! Check out the attention to detail like the worry wrinkles as the bug enters in one ear and then the sweat drops as the bug travels to the other ear! What a HOOT!

interior designers

Okay, so both of our kids have recently put signs on their bedroom doors and I just had to share. Both of the signs tell so much about their personalities. Savanna, being her organized, thoughtful self, typed her sign and put a lot of thought into the "knocking codes". Micah, let his creative juices flow with the various "cool dude" illustrations. Now I am not exactly a big fan of door signs - for MANY different reasons. But I think I'm going to make an exception for just a little while and everytime I see these signs I will be reminded to thank the Lord for the two very unique and very different personalities He gave to our children.

creativity at work

I am so thankful that the Lord has given me a creative mind, and I give Him all the glory and praise for that. But I also want to give my mom the credit she deserves as well. You see, while we were growing up, we were constantly encouraged to just "create"! She would give us random objects - (trash to some) - and let our creative juices just flow. Sometimes it was a box of buttons, scraps of foam or material, cardboard, sequins, etc... She really never let our age or even ability stand in the way of trying something new.

Well, this morning I woke up at Mom's house to find Savanna in the garage at the sewing machine. She did an amazing job sewing her very first projects. She made tissue holders and a beach cover up out of an old towel. She is already planning on what her next project will be ~ making outfits for her dolls. She did 100% of the sewing herself. I was so impressed!

Micah jumped right in too but decided that the hammer and saw were going to be his weapons of choice. (Check out the little pencil behind his ear -- too sweet!) He made a Bible stand for his daddy and a box for me to put my shoes in. He really knows what is important to his parents! I could analyze this and become concerned that he might be thinking that shoes are as important to me as a Bible is to his daddy, but I think I will just sit and soak in how sweet it is to see their creativity blossom.

Thanks Mom for planting these sweet seeds in the children like you did for me! I think the Lord delights in our creativity - after all, we serve a very CREATIVE CREATOR!

crusin cousins

The family congregated at Mom's house this weekend to celebrate Meme's 84th birthday. It is so fun watching the babies that are starting to walk and run EVERYWHERE! Nothing is off limits when Tyson and Kaylynn are around.

Maddox, Papa, and Micah waiting for the DEE-LICIOUS birthday dinner.

It is so special to watch the boys have such a neat relationship with their GREAT-GRANDPA!


Football Fun in Dede's front yard!


Micah and Maddox with their acorn treasures. This is Maddox's fake smile. I asked him what happened to his smile and he said this was his
"NEW smile."

Maddox tried so hard to climb the tree like Micah

Ty is to blame for Tyson's new "hair-don't". Apparently if the guard slips when you are cutting your baby's hair, you end up with a BALD BABY! Oh well, he still looks as cute as could be!

Piggy Back Rides

Savanna and Kaylynn - our beautiful girls!

Savanna was a super "babysitter/baby-entertainer" for the babies!
Wooden puzzles are a family favorite! My mom - the mathematician- is a strong believer in puzzles "exercising" the mind from a very early age. I think Tyson and Kaylynn haven't quite caught on to the mathmatical benefits yet since they both seem to prefer using the pieces as cymbals!

BANG BANG BANG!

Micah had fun keeping Maddox busy. In the first 20 minutes of playing outside, they played football, hunted acorns, chased the dogs, climbed a tree, and ran piggy back races. I was exhausted just watching them.

Our family is truly blessed with precious children!