Well, the summer was great while it lasted. I find myself ready for each new season as one approaches its end. I love the fall weather but will miss the greenery and warm weather activities that we enjoy so much as a family. We had a blast with seeing all of our family this summer for the special occasions that we all celebrated together. Levi started 2nd grade at Palmetto Academy of Learning and Success, a charter school, this year. So far we are very pleased! Levi is doing well and seems to like it too. Benjamin in 3 and Ede is 2.......need I say more? Thanks to 1-2-3 Magic I am able to keep in control of most situations. Hahaha! With all of the holidays coming up I will keep you updated with pictures of my beautiful children. From what I hear, I do have beautiful children. I would ignore any other opinions anyway. LOL!!

My little Levi......Baptized!!!

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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.