Tierra Verde, FL

Our little family jumped on a plane Christmas morning and headed South to Tierra Verde, Florida (just south of Tampa).  David's aunt and uncle built their dream home on an inlet of the ocean.  It is an amazing home.

It was comical everything that went wrong though.  Numerous times we found ourselves laughing because if we didn't laugh, we were going to cry.  The weather was freezing for the first 3 days, we found out on Christmas that someone stole our credit card number and spent over $6,000, David and his dad got the stomach bug (the boys and I had already had it, along with my oldest brother), Miller got croup and slept terrible, and their cat was in heat and howled all day.  Because of all of the above, we only made it to the beach a couple of times but it was still wonderful.  There is nothing like the beach to take all your cares away.  Listening to the sounds of the waves crashing, searching for shells, watching your 2 year old run and laugh.  I could stay forever at the beach.


Our first walk on the beach.  It was cold so we had to bundle up.

Mommy and Austin checking out the birds. He loves to see birds and calls out to them.

My precious little guy walking along the beach.  He just ran until his little heart was content.  He loved it.

A beautiful shell

A small seastar

Aunt Deborah sharing her wisdom of seashells.  She and Uncle Jack walk every morning on the beach and have for years.  She has an amazing eye to see the smallest shells.  Anything that was live we were instructed to throw back but not before she gave us some information about the shell.


Watching the water.

I know I say it alot but David is the most amazing father.  He is so patient with our boys.  Always teaching them, loving them, and pointing them in the right direction.  He is such an active part of parenting.  We both feel so strongly that the most important thing you can do is help mold their little hearts to love and serve Jesus before anything else.

Did you know Starfish are now called SeaStars?  I didn't.  Supposedly it was confusing because they aren't fish so that is why they changed their name.  We saw a lot of them.

My little guy is quite the explorer.  He loves to check out new things and I love his curiosity.


Austin and one of his favorite people, his Dingdad

Austin loved riding on my shoulders. I think he likes being taller. I don't blame him at all. =)

Dingdad took Austin's pants off to let him splash in the water. He LOVED it.


One night we took a walk on the beach and Pier before the sun set.

My precious family on the Pier.

Take my breath away seeing the love of my life love our boys so well

He found a piece of tree and played with it for a while.  He loved swishing it in the air.


Uncle Ryan (David's older brother) telling Austin something. Ryan was so good with both of our boys. He would play with them, change them, feed them, and even help get Miller to go to sleep when no one else could because he felt so bad.  His wife Corinne was so helpful as well.  She is a NICU nurse so it was nice to have someone else in th medical field helping when everyone got sick.


Diane (YaYa) with some of her boys.



Austin asked to be picked up and then kept giving me the biggest hugs for the pictures. I was in hog heaven.

Thank you Deborah and Jack for opening your new home to us.  We really appreciate it.