Headed for the beach

On Monday morning, we were all ready to head out for Dauphin Island, about 4 hours south of Birmingham.

I thought it clever that Jill had the girls put their lunches in the plastic tubs to keep them from going all over. She said she got the idea from a friend.

When we arrived at Mobile, we stopped at Wal-mart to get our groceries. There isn't a grocery store on the island; only a convenience store.

We each planned an evening meal and would take our turn cooking a meal for the group. We made out our list, and with 4 carts spread out around the store picking out what we needed.

Hannah was ecstatic to get her first glimpse of an ocean.

The bridge onto Dauphin Island.

Our house on the beach.
Before we unpacked, we all had to go down to the water's edge.




Here are some pictures of the inside of the house.

View of the beach from the deck.

Upstairs sitting room.
Each room was decorated in a beach theme.

We quickly unpacked and went swimming!

When it was time for supper, it was Josh and Staci's turn. She made this pesto chicken that was just delicious!!

Pan fry chicken breasts.
Cook brown rice (or you can do any pasta also)
Sauce:
Saute 1 cup onion. Add 2 cans diced tomatoes. Simmer 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Just before serving, add 1/4 - 1/2 cup Buitoni pesto with basil.
Put chicken breast on rice and cover chicken with sauce. Add parmesan cheese.

She had also prepared some brocolli in the oven but we totally forgot all about it until later in the evening when we all smelled something burnt. So funny!

After supper Papa brought out a kite and we flew that.

A great beginning to our vacation at the beach.

Vacation, 9/11

Last Sunday was 9/11. Before 9/11 became the infamous day it is, it was an important day in our family. My younger brother's birthday. But now it is more.

Adam got out his computer that morning and we watched clips from that day 10 years ago. It is all so sad.

After we had breakfast, we went to The Church at Brook Hills where David Platt is the pastor. You can read about him here. He wrote the book "Radical". His church is just down the road from Mindy's apartment.

His sermon was about 9/11.

Questioning God's greatness: Can He prevent evil?
Questioning God's goodness: Why does He permit evil?

You can listen to the sermon at the church site above. Powerful!

Here is an excerpt from the bulletin:

"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth!" (from Psalm 46) This is a command, and this is a promise. This is a command from God for us to stop, to pause, and to humbly contemplate His sovereignty over all nature and all nations, all triumphs and all tragedies, all joys and all suffering. Regardless of what is going on in our lives, in our country, or among the nations, we know this one thing: He is God, and He is supreme. He reigns over all peoples, and He rules them for His purposes, which will always and eternally be accomplished. That's the promise. God is working all these things together - even the most difficult things in our lives and the most devastating events in the world - for the good of His people and the glory of His name. God can be trusted, and God will be praised.

So let's join our hearts, minds, and voices together today to joyfully and triumphantly proclaim that we stand on the rock-solid sovereignty of our God.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

After lunch and rest time, we headed out to the pool.

Time for bed and then tomorrow - to the beach!

Vacation!

We had planned to go to the gulf for vacation last year. But, remember this?
Well, those plans were scrapped. Luckily we had insurance on our beach house.

We were told it was ok this year. Infact, our son and his family went in April and said all was clear. No trace of oil on the beaches. So we made the trip to Dauphin Island this past week!

The night before, we had the kids over to have a smorgasborg with all our leftovers to clean out the fridge. The Packers were on so we watched (What a game!!) and had a "packing" party, loading up the van.

Allen and I rode down with our daughter and her family.

Jill made a map for the children to follow. The car has sticky tack on the back and we moved it along as we drove. In this photo, it is at Tulsa.


We met up with our son and his family outside of Fort Smith, Arkansas. We had planned to rendezvous at a fast food place, but would you believe as our highway intersected 540, Josh's pulled up right behind us! Great timing!
Here is how Elijah kept himself busy on his ride from Fayetteville.

Running off some energy for the remainder of the trip that day.

Passed a place called "Toad Suck Park". Very odd.

After 14 hours, we made it to Mindy's. She lives in Birmingham so we spent a couple nights at her place. It was time for bed when we arrived, but Saturday was a time to play with cousins and Papa!

We had a picnic lunch.

After naps, we went to the Birmingham Zoo. We have membership at the Sedgwick County Zoo and they reciprocate, so we were able to get discounts.

Look at how close the giraffes are to the lions! Only some chicken wire between them! I would think it would drive the lions bonkers!!

The children enjoyed the train ride around the zoo.



You can hardly see the owl and hawk with their camouflage. They shared a plate of mice - gross!

After the zoo, Mindy took us to a neat restaurant called Newk's. (we got "nuked") I ordered The Debra (since that is my name) - a chicken pesto pizza.

Newks gives out these cool bread sticks and we took some back to Mindy's.

While the kids were being put to bed, Al and I went on a drive with Mindy to see where she works and to see the lights of Birmingham.

More about vacation to come!