Rapping up our time in Hilton Head

The afternoon of Thanksgiving was spent stuffing ourselves silly. There was over 45 of us in attendance this year and each year there is always a question of whether there is going to be enough food. And each year there is so much we are eating leftovers the rest of the trip. I think I counted nearly 15 different desserts this year. Just desserts. Mmmm. We are a family that truly enjoys food, especially dessert.
We remember what it was like to have babies and not be able to eat right away because the baby needed tending to...so Isaak offered to feed little Elsie so that Keith and Jaclyn could eat hot food. And then he just kept on holding her when she was all full and fed. I'm thinking Isaak has got the baby bug...the man just can't seem to resist a baby these days. :)


and then all the "little" cousins flocked down to the water's edge after eating to hunt for turtles and fish, and the occasional alligator (we didn't actually see any alligators this year though I'm sure they saw plenty of us.) :)


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On Friday night my Mom hosted a slumber party for all the little girl cousins (7) at our condo. They went for a midnight walk with flashlights, played dress up, put on beautiful makeup, posed for a photo shoot, ate treats, and danced to Mama Mia (my kind of party!).



And while our little girls were off being little girls me and Isaak went back to eat at the KingFisher to reminisce for a while.

The KingFisher was a restaurant that me and Isaak ate at while honeymooning here 9 years ago. This is what we remembered of it at 18 years old...it was nice, and it was expensive. Flash forward 9 years, we are now 28 (or at least I am), and it wasn't exactly as we remembered it being....it wasn't so nice, and it wasn't so expensive. We laughed as soon as we walked in realizing that is was just a seafood version of Olive Garden. Ahh, to be 18 and have no money, everything seems "ritzy" when you're starting out.
This is us 9 years ago here at the KingFisher....


this is us now...we've uhhh, changed a bit over the years..we both have a lot less hair for starters.


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The rest of the trip was spent farting around. We played at the beach some more,


played the Wii ( my Mom and Aunt Jane were hilarious )

visited, ate, shopped...can't forget shopped. And that about sums it up....until next year of course. :)

Thanksgiving morning

It was sunny with a high in the 70's. No clouds. Gentle breeze. A perfect morning to go to the beach. There would be plenty of time to whip up my contributions to dinner later, but the beach could not wait. Living smack dab in the middle of the country there isn't a real beach for over 1200 miles, so we made sure to get our fill.

Before I let the girls run free I made them sit still for 5 minutes so my Mom could shoot off a couple family pictures for us. It was literally five minutes, maybe four, and that's as long as they lasted before the sound of the ocean became to much to resist.

I didn't put their bathing suits on because I figured that even though it was warm in the air, it was going to be cold in the water. It wasn't. Well, at least for us Nebraska people! There were like two other families who were actually in the water, the rest of the beach goers just looked on from the sand. But when ya live in a place as cold as Nebraska in the winter, ocean water during SC's winter still feels warm! So Isaak just hiked up the girls pants as best he could and let them splash and play.


Sydaleigh's pants got so heavy from the water that they kept creeping down and pulling her underwear down with them. But due to the fact that she is nearly four she couldn't go without pants. Marvelly on the other hand is still young enough, so we eventually just let her play in her diaper.

And boy does this girl love the water. Absolutely no fear of the water, at all.
Every time we would try to take a water break (really a break from having to continuously chase after Marvelly so the water didn't swallow her) we would try to play in the sand...


but Marvelly would run right back to it...

and Sydaleigh was never far behind...


So we didn't do much castle building, but we did look for sea shells in the water,

enjoyed the sand in our toes as we walked to the water,

laid on our bellies and splashed in the water,

danced in the water,

and remembered what it was like to be this excited as a kid.


ready or not, here I come....

Goodbye HHR....

...hello Toyota Sienna, aka, mini-van.

(looooong sigh)

I own, a mini-van.

A mini-van.

An actual mini-van.

I'm a little bit speechless, I mean I can't get past the fact that a big huge honkin' mini-van is parked in my garage and belongs to me! And Isaak is totally stoked about this. You'd think that would be the opposite.
I never.in.my.life pictured myself driving a mi-ni-van. I mean, come on!
And yes, I am totally going to blame my Mom for this after finding out today that all week she has been praying we would be open to purchasing one.
Thanks!
It's officially your fault (and God's) for making my husband think that mini-vans are like so cool, and all the rage. He actually called it his "man van". "Who.are.you?!"
So now, because my mom, God, and Isaak all decided to gang up on me and make me buy a mi-ni-van, I now own a flippin' mini-van!
This is gonna take some time.
I'm hoping therapy isn't necessary but I really feel like I need to speak to someone about this.
Now before I start getting hate mail from all my friends who own a mini-van....come on! We own mini-vans! They are not cool! Because they are mini-vans! You don't buy a min-van because they are a totally rockin' awesome vehicle....no, you buy them strictly out of necessity, that's it!
Necessity.
Not coolness.
And I know I'm an adult with kids and I shouldn't care about driving "a cool car" blah blah blah....whatever.

"What-e-ver" (emphasized with attitude and my fingers in the shape of a 'W' like we did in school).

Hilton Head-a tradition

As much fun as we had in GA for those two days we were so looking forward to relaxing at the beach, seeing my family, and staying with my wonderful mom. The girls have been looking forward to beach time and Mimi time for quite some time!

After Brent's memorial Wednesday morning we set off on one of my all time favorite stretches of road in the U.S. A quiet little country road through South Carolina that took us nearly all the way to Hilton Head. Three hours of beautiful southern back life, tree lined streets draped with spanish moss, perfectly placed clearings to see the expansive farms with quaint little southern homes placed right in the middle, broken down churches and schools dating back to who knows when, a turn of the century post office...it sets my mind alive every time I drive it. And I promised myself as we drove, that one day, even if it's years from now, I would go back to photograph every inch of it.

Hilton Head Island is a history rich island off the coast of South Carolina, and it's here that most of my mom's side of the family meets every year for Thanksgiving. It didn't always use to be this way though. We used to all gather every year at my grandma's house in Georgia, all the aunts and uncles and cousins, squeezed into her home, which somehow was always able to accommodate anyone needing to stay there. But upon my grandma's death in 2000 we needed another place to gather, and Hilton Head became that place...and this year marked the 10th time we've met there for Thanksgiving. Me and Isaak also went here on our honeymoon so this island is very meaningful to us for that reason too.

I love going back there, and not just because there is 12 miles of gorgeous beaches, but the island is also rich with culture, small but full of entertainment, and has incorporated the development of businesses around the lush landscape, which makes it feel very unspoiled. It's kind of a pain to navigate at night due to the fact that they have so many restrictions on 'development', like the use of street lights on the sides of the road :)

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Not only is going to Hilton Head every year a tradition, but somehow we've also managed to make a tradition out of going to Fuddrucker's's for dinner the first night there. It's not even a question of eating anywhere else. It's a good possibility you will get tarred and feathered if you even dare suggest another restaurant. But my family is a creature of habit so it's literally Fuddrucker's's or well, nothing, just Fuddrucker's. :)...so off to Fuddrucker's we went, for dinner, a little b-ball, a little catching up with cuddly uncles....


a little swooning over the newest baby to join our family, this year it's little miss Elsie! ( that makes 36 cousins, I think.)

and then we head back home, full and barely able to walk, to eat more food and cook more food and eat more food and bake more food to get ready for Thanksgiving.....

Brent's memorial

Georgia was the first stop for us in our three part vacation this year. We pulled into Isaak's Uncle Cesar and Aunt Sherry's home after two days of of being couped up in our ever shrinking car,
so it was nice to be able to stretch our legs for two days before hitting the road again.
Our stop in GA was both business and pleasure. We hadn't seen Isaak's family (which also consists of his Aunt Marcie, Uncle Ray and three cousins) for a little while, and we thoroughly enjoy hanging with them. Sydaleigh and Marvelly relentlessly played with Aunt Sherry's newest puppy Peppy.

We visited. We all enjoyed dinner together, Japanese style.

It was a very pleasant two days.

On the business side, we were also there to put to rest Isaak's father Brent, who passed away last October. Last year due to the financial costs we incurred following Brent's death we were unable to go to GA then for a memorial. So, we made sure that while we were home this year we would properly lay him to rest.
We've had Brent's ashes in our home since he died (wasn't weird like I initially thought it would be). And just having someone's bodily ashes in our home, and then watching them be scattered on the ground was an amazing reminder to me that once we die, that's not "us" anymore.

"Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person." Gen.2:7
Adam's body was already formed, but it wasn't until God breathed life into him that he became alive. Those ashes may have been our body, but our physical body doesn't make us who we are. Our body is an empty shell without a God given life filled soul to fill it. Once our soul is gone, the remaining ashes are simply.just.ashes.


Brent's ashes were laid at the foot of his mother Marvelly's grave, whom our own little Marvelly is named after.

Brent was an artist, and we are blessed to have two original works of art of his hanging in our home. But, we couldn't let his ash pile look so shabby, with just one lonely flower. So, Sydaleigh and Aunt Sherry did the honor of spiffing it up a bit. (those other grave sites won't even know their flowers are gone :) )


this memorial finally brought some closure and for that we are thankful.

(the feet thing is an inside joke)

rewind to November 19th.

My 28th birthday! Whoop whoop!

I didn't have enough time to post about my day before we left on vacation, so I'm doing it now because this birthday was simply the most awesome birthday EVER!

This is my 1st cake that Isaak and the girls got me.
Isaak insisted on putting all 28 candles on board, so we were blowing them out for a while. Well, I gave up after the first blow and let Sydaleigh huff and puff till they finally extinguished, which of course she had no problem doing.
I totally got hooked up with a super cute new beanie and scarf, which I totally picked out, and wore later. Then, Isaak got me some New Moon merchandise, which I brought with me later.

and later, after celebrating with my best little girls, I celebrated with my best big girls!

while waiting in line for many hours to see the New Moon premier!
Hence, my 2nd birthday cake, a mini version of Bella's cake on screen! (courtesy of Holly)


We were for real the first people at the theater, arriving at 5:30 sharp. Only to find out that they weren't letting anyone line up until 7pm, so we very quickly went across the street to grab some food, literally eating it as fast as we could in the car while spying on other people to see if they were thinking about lining up ahead of what was supposed to be our spot.
After 5 minutes of eating in the car we couldn't take it anymore and went inside and lined up anyways. We were going to be first! Four other girls ended up sneaking in front of us, so our group was second in line, but that ain't too shabby!

Me, Holly and Kara across the street at Quaker Steak and Lube getting food. Holly totally puts that fake poser biker chic to shame!


The time flew by pretty fast, thanks to the New Moon game I brought, and accompanying movie guide, plus loads and loads and loads of girl time. Something that we don't get too often because we're all busy being mama's, so getting to just sit, and talk about trivial non-important things was the best.
I was serenaded to while Becky listened on and sang along from D.C. (we missed you!)


I was graced with more goodies-I mean a girl can never have too many accessories, and check out this spiffy New Moon tote that I toted around with me everyday while at Disney, it didn't leave my shoulder. :)

Even though the movie was a huge disappointment ( I will not go see it at the theater again, but will be renting it as soon as it comes out on DVD and rewatching it in the hopes that it grows on me), we had the most fantastically fun night. Sitting around for hours with my favorite girls, eating cake, playing games, talking, laughing, was just simply so fun.

I mean, for real, check us out, there was no one behind us in line for quite a while, and they call themselves Twi-hards, ha! Getting there 7 hours early makes you a Twi-hard!

and to top off the night Isaak met me there around 10:30pm, because, real men watch twilight, okay?!

For my mom

Before I start posting the last three weeks in chronological order, I'm breaking my rules and posting two pictures of the girls from Disney now, so that my mom can see them.


they were in heaven

Glad I have a good husband

I am. Even when I don't want him to be at a particular moment.
So, after listening to some wise words from my hubby, I deleted my last post.
I shouldn't have written about the incident with such harshness.
Even though it felt really good at the time to get it off my chest, it just wasn't cool for me to do that.
So deleted it went.
This type of thing (swallowing my pride and admitting when I was wrong) doesn't always come easy for me, and because it's not particularly easy it's clearly an area to I need to let God do some work on. But despite the fact that I'm mad, the internet was not a suitable outlet to lash out in this instance (sometimes it is, just not this time).

Almost home...

...we're in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
It has been a very long, extremely fun, exhausting vacation chalk full of the most awesome memories.
But all good vacations must come to an end sometime, so we're on our way home.
I'm just not sure if I'm ready for what awaits us.
And what awaits us is below freezing temperatures, bone chilling winds, and possibly snow.
I'm shivering just thinking about it.
This is going to be a stark contrast to the 70/80 degree sunny days we've been soaking up in Florida. We've seriously been living in a false reality for the past 2+ weeks.
It didn't even occur to me to pack winter attire for our re-entry back into the ice age, so the girls and myself will be gracing our home state with jean jackets and flip flops.

....48 hours till our hands and toes are freezing cold, till the wind takes our breath away, and the uncontrollable shivers begin.....
I have a feeling I'm going to be dreaming of the beach to get me through the winter!

this beautiful southern island beach specifically.