Our Week at Blue Gable

Some of you may remember reading about the last time we were at Blue Gable. It was the year 2007, and it was a wonderful time! I thought for sure we'd go back (as we had almost every year) around Labor Day weekend since 2002. Little did I know that was the last time there with our ever expanding Mathew family.

When we were offered to stay at Blue Gable this year as guests of the owners, we jumped at the offer! What an amazing blessing it was! This was the first time (except for the occasional overnight camping trip) that we had ever gone on a vacation together as just the five of us. I guess it wasn't as much of a vacation for Josh. New Tribes was already back into full swing, and he went back during the day for ministry, and traveled back about an hour to spend the evenings with us.

Except for the Josh traveling part, this was the BEST vacation I could have ever asked for. The girls spent their days riding bikes, jumping off docks, fishing, doing crafts, and just plain having fun. I read a total of three novels (THREE!!!), and enjoyed doing some writing, fishing, and a whole lot of sun bathing. We even made a trip to town to one of my favorite coffee shops, found an awesome Mexican restaurant that served incredible fish tacos, and had a tour of a dairy farm, complete with free ice cream!

We made memories that week that will last a lifetime. It was an amazing gift from God to have this peaceful, quiet time away, and I am so thankful.

I painted the girls' finger nails and toe nails.

Sisters and friends!

Fishing with Daddy is always fun!

Emma got the biggest fish that week!

Incredible sunrises on Marble Lake. I liked to go fishing in the mornings with Josh before he would head out. This was the view pretty much every morning.

View of the cottage from the beach.

My favorite spot, and where I spent a lot of time! If I wasn't at the lake, I was here. :)

Blue Gable is one of my favorite places in the world!

Marble Lake also boasts amazing sunsets.

Soccer, or Sock Her?

Emma is playing soccer this fall. Her first game was today and we were so excited getting out the door that I totally forgot the camera. :( It was a great day for a game. It was warmer than any game she had last year, and it was supposed to rain, but it stayed dry. I was glad for that. It's no fun to stand in the rain, although I hear it is fun to play in the rain.

The game went without too much excitement. Their team, the blue jays, won 3-2! There was one noted difference in this game from years past. Some how the soccer ball hit Emma in the face. It knocked her glasses off, and she was pretty stunned. She was more upset that they took her out of the game than the huge welt that was growing on her face! She was very happy they let her back in. I haven't figured out if she just didn't see it coming or went in for a header or what. I'm just glad she didn't break her glasses, or something even more important, like her nose! Not exactly what we meant by keeping her head in the game. That girl is so literal. :)

As I said before, I forgot my camera, but I took this one with my phone.

Can you see the soccer ball imprint?

Back to School

Okay, so I totally realize that I haven't blogged in over a month. I am a blogging failure. :(

In attempt to get back on here (hopefully more regularly too!) I wanted to at least share a bit of our life.

September 6th was the girls first day of school. Emma is now in third grade, and Josie is in first. Addie is going to preschool for three days a week as well.

It was a gloomy morning the first day, but luckily their moods did not match! They were excited to go!

Here is a picture of them all dressed and ready to go. They are all growing so fast!

Summer Spectacular

This summer was filled with special times with friends and family. Even though we didn't make any trips away, we were able to have plenty of fun!

The third of July was one of those memorable days. We went to our good friends, the Munden's house, along with Lee and Kayla, and spent the day on the lake. We went on their boat to the sandbar to swim, then back to their house for a fabulous dinner, that has topped all other meals in my book, and then back out onto the lake for the best fireworks display I've ever seen to date!

It was so much fun, and so relaxing. We went home during the wee hours of the morning, after our kids crashed on their couch. One of my favorite days ever.

Josie got a little cold swimming, so she decided to take a break.

Mindy and Caleb enjoying the ride.

Josh and I love the water!

The newlyweds entertained us with stories from their honeymoon trip to Italy!

Seriously, this is what I would request for a last meal. WOW!

The kids getting excited about the upcoming fireworks show!

Just simply the best display ever.

Ellie and Chris driving us back to their house.

Goodbye Kindergarten!

Josie had a very successful year in kindergarten! She learned to spell her whole name (Josephine Laura is not that easy!), learned how to add, and to read! She had to amazing teachers who made her year a great one!

This has nothing to do with kindergarten, but I liked the picture. :)

Josie gave her teachers big long hugs.

It's official. She is a first grader now!

Josie with the best kindergarten teachers ever!

Field Day Part 2: Crazy Legs

After Josie's field day events, Josh, Ben, Addie and I went for lunch and came back for the afternoon events when Emma's class would compete. I have all these great pictures thanks to Josh and Ben, as I wasn't feeling very well at all, and really not in the mood for picture taking.

Emma "crazy legs" Mathew is

the nickname she wanted us to use. We do call her that a lot. :)

Her sponge toss buddy was not really getting the point of the game...or maybe he just wanted to get soaked with the sponge each time.

Emma stepping up to the plate to soak a fellow classmate.

She did it!!! Good shot Emma!

Field Day 2011

We had the great privilege to go to the girls' field day this year, and cheer them on.

They were so excited about it this year. We made t-shirts with them for the big day, and enjoyed a warm day.

Josie did an awesome job!

She is such a fast runner! She outran all the kids in her class.

Here she is playing a wet sponge toss game.

Check out the back of her shirt sportin' her nickname "Josie Fro-zie" :)

Whatcha Got Cookin' This Independence Day?

Summer has been flying by so far! I finally have just uploaded the pictures from the end of school. I will be posting soon about field day, and Josie's kindergarten celebration, but first I was wondering what your plans were for the holiday weekend?

We are going to a friend's home tonight for a BBQ and boat ride, and tomorrow we will be watching the parade and fireworks up with my family. Should be a good time, with good food and good fun.

So, whatcha cookin' up for the weekend?

What IS that on your forehead?

"It's Jesus!"

Um. Okay. I love you my strange child. :)

Saying Goodbye to our Grandpa

I haven't blogged in a while. Josh's sweet Grandpa has passed away.

Death of someone who trusts in the Lord is such a complicated thing. Complicated in that we are rejoicing that Grandpa is in no more pain, and sits at the feet of Jesus. Grieving that he is gone from us. It is also so hard to see someone loose a parent. Josh's mom lost her mother six years earlier, and now her dad.

What an amazing life he had. Friend after friend came to the funeral home and shared stories of Grandpa. He was such a hard worker. This farmer had a fun side too, and it was neat to hear the stories of him when he was young.

We will miss him.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Grandpa that I took two years ago at his farm.

Memorial Day Merry Making

Memorial day weekend was one for the books. We had a wonderful time at Johnny and Susie's wedding!

The girls had a four day weekend, and we decided to make a trip out of it. I made more money at the yard sale than I expected, so we decided to get a hotel room with a pool to stay at, for a little vacation with the girls. With Josh's deal savvy skilz, he was able to get us booked for two nights at a place for cheaper than one night usually is. Go Babe!

The girls had an amazing time swimming until they could swim no more!

We also had the BEST visit with a few former students (who have become like dear family to us) and it was SO good to see them again!

David and Kristi came from North Carolina. Kristi did all the hair for the wedding, and also sang. She is multi-talented. David tried to help me with my camera, and tried (to no avail) to help me fix it.

Lizzy and her baby Jamin came all the way from Colorado. It was so great to see them again, but we missed her hubby Michael a lot!

We were able to hang out with them for a good long evening. It was the greatest. I am so thankful that the Lord allows things like that to happen. When you think you just may never see everyone together again, and then out of the blue, here we were, eating Mexican food and laughing and talking like old times.

I wish I had amazing pictures for you, but I am having some camera trouble as of late. Here are a couple of pics though.

Mr. and Mrs. Benz

The girls all together again! (my three were sleeping after a LONG day of swimming. :) )

The boys. Jamin was more interested in the floor apparently. :)

Goin' to the Chapel...

Two weeks ago we were able to witness two dear friends of ours become one in marriage. Josh had the distinct privilege of marrying them!

We met Kayla as she was a student here at New Tribes Bible Institute. She quickly became part of our family. When she met Lee, we got to know him too, as his visits from out of state made our guestroom his new weekend home. :)

It was such a special thing to see there love for each other grow, and then to take part on their wedding day. We look forward to their return from their honeymoon so we can have some fun this summer with them!

Here they are saying their vows to each other.

I had to include a "kissy" picture! :)

Our Little Shining Star!

Last Sunday was our little Adelaide's first ballet recital! Following in both her sisters' footsteps, Addie took ballet classes this past year.

I was so proud to see my little girl on stage! She worked very hard at learning the routine, and she did great!

Daddy giving his little ballerina a kiss as she gets ready.

She cracks me up! I did not tell her to pose like this!

Doing some stretching before we go.

It was hard to get any good shots of her on stage, but I have a few okay ones.

Don't mind the heads in the picture! :)

Such a Purdy Girl!

We have a new member to our family, of the furry variety. Her name is Purdy. The girls named her that from the movie 101 Dalmatians.

We adopted her two weeks ago. She has been such a good dog! We can hardly believe she has only been with us for two weeks!

Purdy is a dalmatian mix. She is about two years old. She is really mild mannered, hardly ever barks, and thinks she is a lap dog, although she is roughly 40lbs!

Come by and meet her sometime!

"I can't believe you told them my weight."

A New Look

Josie wanted to get her hair cut to have bangs. I couldn't believe this as I hated having bangs all growing up.

She really wanted them though, so we thought, why not? I think they look really cute, but make her look a little older. What do you think?

Before

After

Bahama Mama

I could not believe how beautiful the Bahamas were. I guess I never really thought there could be water so clear, and sand so white! It was truly a tropical paradise!

The resort that we got to stay at was simply fabulous. :) I kept thinking that it wasn't real, and that this trip must be a dream. I mean, who gets free trips to the Bahamas?

We are so thankful for God blessing us this way through very generous friends! What a great time together we had.

I wish I had taken more pictures, but when I was there, I didn't really feel like taking pictures. I just wanted to take it all in. Here are a couple from our time on Grand Bahama Island.

This was the view from our room. If you want to hear a funny story sometime, ask us how we got such a nice room. :)

The morning sun.

This was when an insane rain storm came in. Look at how it seems to just be hanging over us!

This was the view at night of the resort's lobby. It was so pretty!

This is inside. Couldn't you just see James Bond walk through the door at a place like this?

Here is some proof that we were there together. Not the best picture, but we weren't very happy. This was right before we left the Bahamas.

Road Trips and Cruise Ships

Our dear friends Clint and Keisa were given a gift from Keisa's grandmother of a fabulous vacation on a cruise to the Bahamas for four...and they invited us!

This was a trip of a lifetime, and what a gift from God it was! To have ten days to road trip and cruise, and relax with good friends doesn't happen for many people, and we got to go for free?!? Wow!

While Clint's parents watched their kids, and Josh's parents watched ours, the four of us made the drive down to Florida. Keis and I really had it easy...riding around in the back of their Suburban, while the guys drove the whole way. :)

We stopped in North Carolina to visit our friends David and Kristi, and had a quick meal with them. Soon we were in warm and sunny Florida!

We stayed there for a couple of days, laying by the pool, site seeing, and finding incredible little places to eat. On the third day we boarded our ship bound to the Bahamas...

We were so excited to be driving with our windows down!

The guys were excited to see all the big, shiny boats in Miami. (Check out the bridge in the back!)

Josh and I aboard the Bahama Celebration.

Here is our ship. It was smaller than a lot of cruise ships, but it was perfect for us. We had nothing to compare it to! :)

This was our room on the ship. It was bigger than I had imagined.

Vacation Holiday!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. Josh and I were invited as guests to go on a cruise to the Bahamas with some dear friends of ours. Who could pass up a free vacation, let alone one to the Bahamas?

I can't wait to tell you about it, but it is a little late to start that sort of post tonight. Let me just show you this:

Yeah, that isn't even in the Bahamas. I took that picture in Miami. The whole trip was fabulous!