In The Books

3 Years, 12 Weeks.


This past Saturday Tangie and I officially hit a big milestone anniversary:  our 10th.

It's hard to put into words what the past decade has been for me.

For us.

I can still remember seeing her for the very first time on our wedding day, dressed in white and draped on her dad's arm as they came out of the clubhouse.  I was admittedly nervous, but more excited than anything.  And extremely exhausted.  Nevertheless, just the sight of her smile as she fought back her own emotions when she walked down the aisle, gave me comfort in knowing that she was the person I wanted to be with for the rest of my life.

How can one quantify all the years, the experiences, the adventures, the surprises (twins!), the highs and lows, and the hopes and dreams we've shared together?

The key word here is together; our commitment and love for each other, and to our beautiful family, is what makes this marriage work.

I look forward to our next decade with great anticipation!

Here was our week:

• Sabbath we attended church, our first time officially out of Cradle Roll and into our new Sabbath school class with the twins.  Kind of surreal, because we had been going to Cradle Roll for 6 straight years, with a small hiatus between when Braelyn turned 3 and when we finally started bringing the twins to church.  Anyway, we celebrated our anniversary with the kids and had lunch at Kobe's, and then back home for naps, before we were joined with some friends over for roll-your-own sushi night at our place.  

Maddy's point of view of Kohl en route to church.

New Sabbath School class.

Growing tall like a flower.

Story time with snacks still a favorite!

The twins were a tad bit surprised with the fire.

Checking out the koi.

Nothing beats catching up with friends in the kitchen.

The ladies finish prepping the sushi materials.  Don't know if you can tell,
but Corey is pregnant with child #4.  Congrats you guys!  ;)

Duncan happy with his rolls.

William and Tangie show how its done.

Uncle Richard plays babysitter to the 14+ kids there!

• Sunday early we got up at the crack of dawn and got ourselves changed and out the door for a family outing to Melbourne.  Tangie had purchased a Groupon for a dolphin tour back in March for half off the regular price, so we took advantage of that and brought the kids to see if we could spot dolphins playing in the water.  Not unlike those awesome whale tours you see on tv with the creatures breaching the waves and splashing around, we saw 2 dolphins after three quarters of the tour was finished.  It was pretty slow too, on a nice covered pontoon tour boat with about 20 or so more people, we ended up just listening to the tour guide talk about the homes and trees on Merritt Island, before actually spotting the 2 dolphins.  The kids behaved and seemed to enjoy the boat ride at least.  We rewarded them with a trip to nearby Cocoa Beach, which turned out to be wonderful because 1.  It was a perfectly sunny day, and 2.  We chose a location away from the crowds.  It was as if we had the entire beach to ourselves!  A very long day, but a fun one.

At the marina checking out the docked boats.

On the tour boat waiting to embark on our journey.

Keeping eyes peeled for movement in the water.

The girls relaxing on Daddy's lap.

Finally!  We see one!

A gorgeous day, on our own private beach!

• The rest of the week in pictures:

Tangie doing some sorting, sorta.

New Blue Man Group exhibit at the Science Center.

The love doing the race cars.

Kohl the Brave loves to ride his knight.

Maddy went straight to Emily Elizabeth to give her a hug.

Braelyn sorts the mail.

Finishing up lunch in the cafeteria.

The old timers in their rocking chairs.

Playing with the animal bones.

Water color painting craft.

Maddy shares her colors with a new friend.

Tuesday we met up with the crew for a birthday party for Jennifer at Mimi's Cafe.
Tangie had to work late so she missed out.

The youngest three arm wrestling.

Besties.

Showing their silliest faces.

Showing their serious faces.

Working on her computer skills.

Working on his coloring skills.

Working on her drawing skills.

Maddy enjoying the pool while

Brae and Kohl enjoy the pizza!

Showing off her cannonball.

Returning our books to the library.

Uncle Mike joined us for our bedtime story.

Brae was treated to a special storyteller!

An owl and penguin at Joann's.

Showing her scary face.

Going to fix something.

Super Brae takes flight in her red cape.

Found Maddy taking her nap like this.

Food:

Kids' afternoon snack:  fruit and cheese.

Randoms:

The largest soft-shelled turtle I've seen!

The kids were fascinated by it.

Quote:

• We were passing by the power plant on SR 528 on our way to the beach and Tangie had pointed out the steam that was coming out of the stacks so I explained to Braelyn the process that created the steam and she said, "Oh.  I thought that place was making clouds."

• We were driving around for errands this week:

           Brae:  "Daddy, is it hard to drive?"

           Me:  "Yes.  You have to learn how to drive and then pass a test."

           Brae:  "What test?"

           Me:  "Well, Lolo taught me how to drive when I was 16, and then I had to 

                    show someone that I could drive."

           Brae:  "Hey!  When I'm 16 I can drive myself to Taylor Swift's concert!"

           Oh boy.

• Kohlden was goofing around, and threw his toy saw tool, hitting me in the knee:

          Me:  "Ouch!"

          Kohl:  "I sorry Daddy."

          Me:  "It's okay.  I accept your apology."

          Kohl:  "No!  I accept YOUR apology!"

          Um...wait a minute...

Goofing around as usual!

Have a great week!