So, my favorite holiday just passed. I love celebrating Independence Day here at the beach. There is nothing like it. I love to go down to Surfside Pier, listen to the band and watch the busy families enjoy their day together with popsicle or watermellon juice dripping from thier chins and small American flags waving in the air while they dance around. As the sun goes down the beach starts to crowd with people sitting in their chairs or on their towels. We choose towels but make a sand pillow to rest our heads on and have a spectacular view of the sky while we play with the sand between our toes. The pier lights go out and the crowd gets excited. I love to hear the whistles, screams of excitement and clapping from those around me. This night, Jeff, myself and Levi lay on the sand side by side with Ben on top of me lying on his back and Ede does the same with Jeff. Surprisingly the two little ones are not scared. The big BOOM startles them but the beautiful lights in the sky soon settle them as they watch with amazement. Ede turns to each of us everytime and while pointing to the sky says "ooooo. Pretty." Levi hardly ever lays so still as he enjoys himself, as well. Fireworks as far as you can see to the right and left but you can hardly take your eyes off the show going on right in front of you. We sit for 30 minutes or so, just watching the beautiful show of lights and then the finale!! The big booms felt in your chest while your face beams with a permanate smile. And when it's over you can't wait until next year!!

So, it has been quite some time since my last post but I am going to re-commit myself to blogging again. The summer is now in full swing for 2010. Levi has spent all of it so far with his Grandma and Grandpa in Gaffney. He comes home tomorrow and we are all sooooo ready for him to come home. As you can see, we have not been without things to do around here. Ben and Ede are either worst enemies or best buds. This day they decided to band together and cover themselves with Desitin. It was so hard to get that stuff out of their hair and still to this day the closes smell like a baby's butt.......a clean baby's butt. Jeff has enjoyed his new Post Office at Pawley's Island and I have picked up a lot of hours at the hospital. We finally sold our house in Gaffney and feel a little more of financial freedom thanks to the teachings of Dave Ramsey. I am planning on cutting back on my hours soon so I can enjoy the rest of the summer with the kids. You will soon find me frequenting the ocean and the water park.
We love our ward family at our church here. Jeff is the ward Financial Clerk and I am 2nd Counselor in the Primary Presidency. I love those children and teaching them during Sharing Time. Levi will be 8 and baptized soon. He is excited about that. I will be updating our blog more often and am looking forward to it. Hope you enjoy it too!

At the Beach

We took Ben and Ede to the beach and were reminded why we hardly ever go. It is so much work to take two babies to the ocean. It wears them out so fast and there is so much cleaning up to do and many tears are shed before you can put them down for their desperately needed nap. Next time we will just go to the pool. They are just too cute in their bathing suits to avoid the water! Ede gets a tan so fast......I'm jealous. Benjamin is like me. He burns first. So it's 50 Sunblock for us, for sure. We are missing Levi and when he gets home it is to the water park we go!

Eden's First Birthday!

Happy Birthday Eden Rose! We went to Gaffney to be with family and friends and celebrate Eden's first birthday. We had a wonderful time visiting the people we love. We had Ede's party at Thompson Park where 32 of our loved ones showed up. It was so nice to be home. Too bad Ede would not let anyone hold her, she got heavy really fast. We are still waiting for her to start walking. She is trying really hard to talk though. She can say about 5 different words and a LOT of baby talk. She can still out eat Benjamin any day. We are enjoying watching her grow up. As I have said before, each of our children bring something very special to our family and Ede is no exception to that. She loves to laugh and has proven to be able to hold her own with her older brothers. Can't believe time goes so fast. I guess that's why we take pictures!

New Pictures of my growing kids!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Levi had his last day of Kindergarten today and is more than prepared to enter First Grade next school year. His report card shows that he "exceeds expectations" in both reading and math. Benjamin is into the snack drawer every chance he gets. You never catch him getting into it, you only find empty boxes of raisins all around the house. Eden is still not taking any steps on her own. She has started "roaming" around the coffee table. She stays on her tip toes. It is so girly and cute! :) I have started a Facebook account and have been neglecting my blog. I will try to do better. Summer has started and we can't wait to get into the water! Hope you enjoy the new pictures.

Some cute kids!

I wanted to add some cute snap shots I got of the kids a few days ago. Ede was eating lunch but the light coming in the window was just right for some good shots. Benjamin always takes a good picture, when he feels like it, of course. :) Levi was outside playing on the playset. The weather has been beautiful and I can't keep that boy inside when the sun is shining. He has found a small lizard that he keeps as a pet (outside). I can't convince him that the lizard won't live very long like that, but if you know Levi, he will have to learn the hard way. Sadly, at the lizards expense. Well, just a little more update on what the kids are up to!

So far this month!

So, this has been a fun month already! We went to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia last weekend. We met my mom, Manfred, Brian and Trinity there and spent the day toghther. Ben had a great time looking at all the animals and when he saw any one of them sleeping he would put his finger up to his lips and say "shhhhh". He was so cute. Levi mostly enjoyed seeing his grandparents and cousins. Eden was such a good baby, content in her stroller pretty much all day long. Mom, it was a great idea and we had a blast!

A few days later we celebrated Easter. I was unable to get a good picture of all three at the same time, if you have more than one, you understand what I mean. Levi woke up at 5:30 to see what the Easter bunny left for him and started eating right away. Benjamin loves candy and we had to put his candy away because he would refuse to eat "real" food, begging for "candy, mama"! Eden got two stuffed animals and loved them! She still burries her face into them when she holds them, as if to say "they are just so soft". It is so cute. She pulls up to her feet but is pretty unstable and not ready to walk yet but she is as independant as she can be. She feeds herself table food, and again, she eats more than Ben even thinks about!

Last, but not least. We went to the Tax day TEA party at Chapin park in Myrtle Beach. We were surprised at how many people were there. Jeff and I are excited to get involved in the politics here and hope this was only the beginning. 2010 here we come!

The kids are keeping us busy enough. Summer is almost here and we are ready! Hope everyone enjoys the news. We all send you our love!