Read the Book of Mormon in 30 days!

In honor of Camille & my own children I am reading the Book of Mormon again. This time I am reading it in 30 days. I'm hoping this will not just make me a better person, but a better mother. The change & the reading starts TOMORROW. Check out the link to Cathy's site to be a part of her challenge. Who's up for it? http://yoderfam.blogspot.com/

FYI....if you don't know who Camille is check her out. You will never be the same again.

The best part

The boogie boards! Ah, my favorite part of the beach. My kids & I always love being in the water & on our boogie boards. Last year Samantha was with us & she was a blast too. My sick idea of fun is how many people I can knock down while I'm on my board. Just kidding, well maybe. I like to catch a wave & just ride in. If you're not paying attention, well, I'm sorry. I've been knocked down too. I've been fallen on & yelled at, but I love being on my little board. I realize people these are NOT like REAL monster waves or anything, but for now it's what I've got & I enjoy it so much with my kids!


Josh & a skim board























See that grin, I know I just knocked someone down.















Samantha did her share of knocking people over too. See that lady in the background. That was Samantha's victim. Unless you look feeble, are elderly or a toddler, you had better move.














GO JOSH!














The Milam boys w/ Josh!














Samatha, Josh & I


















Brent on his skim board. That thing was really cool.


















Leah was in the college mode last summer.
















Barrie & Lonnie, doing what they do best......watching. They think they're studs. Oh my.














And my best bud, Maren, had her faithful camera ready at all times. She takes amazing pics!

We have just a few days to go & we'll be headed to the beach. I cannot wait. The rest of the Groft family will be in Rehoboth which isn't that far from OC, the Milams will be camping at the beach, & my parents will be coming down during the week!! It's going to be so much fun!

why do I have to learn this way

I came across another blog today that has left such an impression on me. I read practically every post on her site. She only started it back in April of this year. A few people would blog on it each time. Then a tragedy of giant proportion occurred & now sometimes 60+ people will leave comments for her & her family. To say that God is using this unspeakable loss to maybe help some of us would be an understatement. Maybe some of our words would be of comfort to her. Stephanie hopes her loss WILL help others. God knows all & knows what each of us needs. I hope Stephanie's story will help some of you. It has kept me up for 2 hours in thought & in tears. But, if you have a child you really should look at her blog. She welcomes comments as it helps her in her time of grief. What an amazing woman. I am sure just a few months ago when she started her blog that she had NO idea that total strangers would be crying & praying over her words.

Yummy places to eat at the beach

If you know me at all, you know how much I LOVE to eat. These are some of our family favorites in Ocean City.

• Anthony's - a yummy mom & pop kind of place where you watch them carve all the meat through the window while you wait for it to be prepared. We like to go at night for dinner & sit outside. I LOVE eating outside. I don't know why. It drives Lonnie crazy. But I just do.
  

Lonnie & Josh like Dippin Dots. Yuck. They don't do a thing for me, but the guys LOVE them & eat them almost every night.













I totally prefer Dumsers ice cream or Dolle's carmel popcorn, or my FAVE are their CARMEL APPLES. The things are HUGE. The carmel is so yummy. Mmmm......
















Then, of course, we save the best for last: Phillips. This brings such awesome memories. The very day after I graduated high school I was on my way to live at the beach with my friends. (Who does that sound like? Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.) I had wonderful friends that my mom loved. Anyway, if you worked at Phillips you could also live there. It was such a fun summer. Too short, but a fun summer. Going to Phillips just takes me back to that time, those friends, & the experiences of moving away from home. There is no irony in the fact that my 18 year old moved to a beach. I hadn't even turned 18 when I moved. My mom told me the other day that she cried almost every day. She didn't like our housing at Phillips, but we were teenagers & could have cared less. Anyway, when we went to Phillips to eat last summer Brad treated us all. Totally NICE especially considering how expensive it is. Thanks again Brad. I don't think I've ever seen Josh eat so much. Hopefully we will be able to go again this year.


Oh my, what memories.

A little less than 2 weeks to go

This is the first year we've gone to the beach in July. Josh starts football this year so that changes our vacation plans. Last year as I did our countdown to the beach I showed previous years pics of our vacations. When we got home from our vacation I really never showed any pics from the vacation though because I was so overwhelmed by how many I had. My brilliant friend Maren told me at the time that I should just post them when I did my countdown to the beach this year. So that's what I'm doing. This was our last family vacation before Leah & Brent were a married couple. We took Brent with us the last two years on vacation. We have loved Brent from the get go & we were smart enough to know Leah would be more fun if he was along (sorry Leah!). Anyway, we enjoyed having him with us. He is such a sweet kid. I'm so happy that Leah chose him as her husband. I know he loves her & will take good care of her heart. I SOOOOOO look forward to going to visit them & their beach!

My parents started coming down to the beach a few years ago & we have LOVED it! It is going to leave wonderful memories for us all. I adore my parents & hope they continue to go with us. They don't stay the whole week, but I'll have them as long as they'll stay. They also bring along my step-niece (?), Samantha. Awesome kid! If her mother ever wants to get rid of her, I'll take her! She is just a joy to be around.

The girls: Lori, Mom, Angelia & Samantha















The guys: Josh, Lonnie, Brent & Brad














And of course, our friends. Last year the Milams came to the beach the same time we did. THAT was awesome! Josh LOVED it! I'm hoping they will be coming again this year. Every year we seem to have friends at the beach the same time we're there, but this was the first time that Josh had friends there as well. It was a real treat for him. Thanks guys!

just not the same

This holiday weekend was our first holiday without Leah. Our family has celebrated it the same way for several years & we always look forward to it. This year the rain caused us to have to change our plans. For me it helped me miss Leah less or so I thought. When the fireworks started & she called us & sent us text messages saying "Happy Fireworks" we were in tears. Lonnie always acts like such a rock, but he was the one sending her text messages back. My mom & I cried as we watched the fireworks, & poor Josh just sat in a slump. We were all still watching the fireworks together just thousands of miles away.

Ah....makeup

Angelia leaving was MUCH harder than I thought it would be. I thought I would be living in this life of bliss because she wasn't digging in my stuff, taking my makeup, clothes, shoes, & jewelry. I thought walking through her empty room without her junk piled high was going to be heaven. WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sure she is happy to hear this. The words "I told you so" will be ringing through Florida when she reads this. Anyway, after 3 days of no shower, cleaning up the wedding items & cleaning out her room with my mom.....I was totally depressed. I also had to go to work yesterday. Work for me on Wednesdays entails preparing for my Mary Kay meeting during the day & then holding the meeting in the evening. My consultants come & it's my job to train, motivate, & excite them. I LOVE my job. BUT when you feel like crap your soda loses it fizz if you know what I mean. Can I just tell you the words "I don't feel like it" were ringing through my head all day. Once I actually started to prepare for it & get my mind distracted I started to feel better. THEN.......came the shower & makeup. Ah.....beauty items....call me vain. I could care less. If putting on some makeup makes a girl feel better it's a good day. When evening arrived & my consultants came, I held my meeting. We all did marble foot spas, soaked our feet, gave ourselves foot massages, & got rejuvenated. By the time it was over I felt like a new person. When you concentrate on making others feel better it really turns you around. I told them how I had felt BEFORE the meeting & how much being with them had made me feel better. So in honor of my awesome Mary Kay job I thought I would entertain my friends & family with my before & after pictures that I show at my appointments. I had these taken a few months ago & got quite a kick out of it myself. I know, I know, some of you are gorgeous 24/7. Uh...not me. I need help.


Don't you love the hair in the first one?










I'm sorry, but not enough can be said for makeup.

Our family story

I decided I am going to try to be so much better at reading the scriptures with my children. So today after we were done, I asked them to share something about our family that they liked. So here goes:

Kirsten said, "In the summer I like to swim with my family. It's fun to play with my brothers & sister. Leah & I play dress up. Josh & I play football. Aaron and I play with toys together in the house." Sadly, it might be a long time till Leah's home to play dress up. :(








Josh's family story is about going to Codorus. He said, "I like to go swimming with the Milams. I like to have picnics too. My family goes there a lot, & I always have fun."














Aaron's fun summer things were said in one word, "Pool."





My favorite things we did this summer so far were watching Josh at his games & Leah's wedding! It left such sweet memories. I have talked to her more in the last 24 hours than I have all year. They call us every 2 hours or so to update us on where they are & how soon they will be to Florida! I can't WAIT to post pictures.

With Josh, I loved seeing all the different positions he could play. His debut as a catcher is below. He thinks that might be his favorite position now. His team ended up with an undefeated season & won the league championship as well. He was a happy boy. This was a season he will always remember because it doesn't happen every day.