Memorial Day Weekend

Our family had been planning a trip to go to Panama City Beach over Memorial Day weekend to visit the Perrins family. The Perrins lived in Gainesville, but in January their dad went to Panama City to do some dive training for the Navy. The Perrins family joined their dad at the end of February, which made us very sad. Our children matched with their children so nicely. Their family is so well behaved and very adventuous. While we were visiting the Perrins, we were able to go to the beach, swim in their pool, canoe, visit, and play games. We all had a great time and wished we could have stayed longer.

We arrived on Saturday and the kids went straight to the swimming pool. At 2:30 we decided to go to the beach. It was a perfect day for the beach, but it could have been a very tragic day. Donovan and Adam were out swimming with the kids and enjoying the waves. There were a couple of boogie boards that the children would rotate amongst each other. I was on the shore with Jyllian and Suzanne, and her two baby girls. Donovan came back to shore, and said that he had been pulled out and had a hard time getting back. Adam and Suzanne told us about what's called a riptide. It pulls you out to sea, but you are supposed to swim with the current and get back. Donovan told us that he had not experienced that before. I didn't think much about it until, I saw Dreyton and Enoch going out on a boogie board and an inner tube. I told Donovan to go tell the boys not to go to deep. Of course, I worried about the riptide. Donovan started towards the boys, and I could see they were going farther, and Enoch had lost his board. Donovan reached the boys, but he wasn't coming back. I told Adam that I thought the boys might need help. Adam is a certified diver and a very good swimmer. He took a boogie board and headed their direction. He met up with Donovan, Dreyton, and Enoch, and I felt a little better. I could tell they were all hanging onto each other and trying to make it back to shore. Well, they were swimming and swimming, but Dreyton and Donovan were seperated from Adam and Enoch. I knew that they only had one small round floation device between the two of them. I started becoming a nervous wreck on shore. Suzanne was trying to calm me down and said she was sure they were fine. She said they have gone to several beaches around the country, and they were probably just having fun. Adam came back with Enoch about this time, and as soon as he got to shore he went right back to Donovan and Dreyton with a boogie board. This time he was going much faster. His wife then knew at that moment that Donovan was in trouble. Suzanne told all of the kids and myself to start praying right now, and ask Heavenly Father for his help. I was a mess, and very afraid of what could happen. As soon as Donovan and Dreyton made it back to shore, Suzanne said, "Let's all pray and thank Heavenly Father." She is a really great lady, and I'm glad she was there to remember to pray. Donovan had been treading water for about twenty minutes against the waves, and he was becoming very exhausted. Thank goodness he spent all those years at Lake Powell. Donovan would tread water all the time at Lake Powell. I asked Dreyton if he was scared and he said no, it was fun. Well, Donovan never told him that he was exhausted and didn't know how much longer he could stay afloat. Donovan had put the floation device completely around Dreyton so he was never really in danger. Dads are so great. I don't like to think back to the thoughts I had on Saturday. But I'm thankful to still have my husband and son. On Sunday after church, we took the scenic route back to their home. We saw double red flags posted on the poles, which is an indication that it is too windy and dangerous for any swimmers to be in the water. Adam had talked with his neighbor and apparently, there had been some crazy riptides all weekend. The beach doesn't usually experience riptides like that. I didn't take any pictures on Saturday, but I wish I could have take a picture of the waves.


On Monday, we went back to a different part of the beach that didn't have waves. It was a much calmer day at the beach. We did get very sunburned, and next time will apply sunsreen twice. This is a picture of the children surrounding a large hermit crab. The kids dove down and grabbed the hermit crab in the water. They were all anxiously awaiting the crab to come out of his shell. The crab only came out for a split second, and luckily we got him on camera.


Donovan thought he should take one picture of me. I prefer to just take pictures of the kids, but once in a while we need to post ourselves.

Donovan is holding a jellyfish, but don't worry. These ones don't sting. The kids were swimming under water for quite some time searching for the jellyfish. Little Isaac put one down Dominique's swim trunks. Poor Dominique had to swim out and undress in the water to get it out of his shorts. The jellyfish are very slimey.

Here is Dominique holding a jellyfish. To the left of Dominique is Hannah. She is two, and Isaac is directly behind Hannah. Isaac is Jasmine's age (7). He was the teaser of the bunch.

Dominique and Eli are the same age, and they are good friends. The boys wanted to build sand caves, but they didn't have very good digging supplies. They worked for an hour and a half on this cave.

Dreyton and Enoch are the same age as well. They were digging their cave too. I wish we could hand select families and have the Perrins live in our neighborhood. Their family matches up with our family so well.

Jasmine was learning how to snorkel. She was able to see a few fish and jellyfish. She had a great time at the beach. She even rode the waves on the boogie board.

Jyllian was trying to dig her own tunnel, but wasn't making much progress. She did win the contest for the best ostrich impersonation at the annual Panama City Beach Aussie Bird Festival, though. She refused to wear her swim suit, so we put her in a tank top.

Later, I put a cover up on her. I didn't want the sun to burn her fragile skin. Lily is the 11 month old baby. She is behind Jyllian. Jyllian loved to play with Lily and Hannah. As you can see, Lily came in 2nd place in the annual Panama City Beach Aussie Bird Festival.

Jasmine and Ella had a great time swimming at the pool. The town house had a pool, and the kids swam a lot. I didn't take any pictures of Jyllian in the pool, but she is by far my bravest baby in the water. She wore arm floaties and swam all over the pool. Jyllian would jump in the pool and would go completely under water. She didn't even care that her face was submerged under water.

Dominique, Eli, and Dreyton were having a great time swimming.

Donovan took the girls on a canoe ride. The Perrins have a canoe and a kayak that they keep on the beach of the bay that is only ~100 yards from their back porch. The boys had gone earlier and seen dolphins. The boys wanted to catch fish, but didn't have any luck. They were using fiddler crabs (that they caught on the beach) as live bait.

All of the kids played at the park area. Jyllian was covered in sand the whole weekend. She would throw the sand, and it would land in her eyes. Her eyes are still red from all the rubbing.

Dreyton at the Park area.

Into Sissy's Stuff

Jyllian is always into Jasmine's things and it makes Jasmine so upset. I heard some loud noises coming out of the girl's room and I found Jyllian into Jasmine's makeup. She loves to put on lipstick and make a mess all over her face. She was also into Jasmine's hair collection as you can see all over the bathroom floor. We try to put things up high, but she learned how to use the stool. Jyllian has also learned how to unlock the dead bolt, so we put a plastic covering over the door. Oh! That didn't work either. She figured it out on the first try. I guess we are all being out smarted by a two year old.

Band Concert

On Tuesday, we attended Dominique's band concert. He was in beginning band at the first of the year, but his teacher moved him to concert band (a step-up for the Mozartesque) mid-year. The band did a great job with their performances. The concert band has to play for 8th grade graduation and Dominique's not too excited about that. The picture above would not come out very well due to the lighting in the gymnasium for the concert. Dominique is in the middle of the picture playing his trombone. Below is the handsome brass instrument player.

Jyllian is starting to do everything her older sister does. It is a little scary! Watch out boys! Here come the Corida Floridas. Me-OW...
Dominique was able to go to Blizzard Beach (see http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/parkLanding?id=BBLandingPage) on Friday with the school band. It is a water park owned by Disney World and part of their parks. I put sunscreen on before he left, but he wasn't very diligent about applying it during the day. "Mom, I think I have a boob boo on my shoulder. Do we have any cream for it?"
Dreyton's Soccer Team (not exactly undefeated, but not too bad)

Dreyton's Birthday

Have you ever sent your children to bed and found out they weren't sleeping? I thought my girls were in bed. After being told to go to their room, the girls decided (Jasmine decided) it would be fun to dress up. The girls were giggiling and when I went to check out what was happening, this is what I found. They both said they weren't tired! Dreyton's birthday started out at the soccer game at 8:00 a.m. Yes, it was a very early game, but we made it. Jasmine wanted to take a picture and this is the result. I guess her picture taking skills need improving. My neck isn't so beautiful, but Jyllian is cute.

Dreyton plays defender on his team. We would like to see him be a little more aggressive with the ball, but he does a good job. The team won 5 to 1



Jyllian wanted her picture taken too!

Party guests from left to right, Dominique, Jonah Perez, Dreyton, Jordan Rudd, and Jasmine
We served hotdogs, chips, soda, and of course a birthday cake. Yes, that is an Elder's tag in the picture. They stopped by during the party to get a drink of water. Donovan was very kind and asked if they wanted to stay and eat. The missionaries were out tracking on bicycles and it was quite humid on Saturday.
The boys at the Skate Station. We bought the boys rollerblades a month ago. I was trying to get them outside to do some physical activity. They have fun racing each other, but they had a few falls.

Jasmine had her first experience on skates. It was funny to watch her. She was very unstable and fell a lot. She got the hang of skating by the end of the session.

Dominique fell and hurt himself, luckily nothing was broken.
The birthday boy posed for his picture.

Spring Break

Here we are at the Fort Wilderness Campground in Disney World. Jasmine and Jyllian thought the sand was pretty cool. Dominique and Dreyton helped put up the tent you can see in the before dad's help and after dad's help pictures. Don't be fooled by the look of "fatigue" on the faces of our boys in the after picture. They still had enough energy to run all over Epcot to find their Pokemon toys later that afternoon. Our friends told us that it was fun camping here, but I would have to disagree with them a little. It took us a little while to set up the tent, and the kids were very hot in the Sunshine state. It was a very nice campground, but if you are in a hurry to get to the parks, don't try it! We only spent one night here, and I didn't get very much sleep thanks to the go-lucky camping neighbors we had. I haven't camped in a tent for a very long time. In fact, I think it must have been at least twelve or thirteen years. I forgot how much noise there is at night with other campers, and it's hard to sleep with your children in the same sleeping area as you. Jasmine and Jyllian are definite "jimmy leg" girls.

It was a very warm afternoon, and we were all wanting an ice cream cone. As you can see, Jyllian wasn't eating her ice cream cone fast enough. Jasmine's cone was dripping from the bottom. Don't you hate it when your cone starts dripping from the bottom?

Don't tell mom I spilled chocolate ice cream on my clothes!!

This was Jasmine's Hello Kitty book that she purchased with her birthday money while visiting "Japan."

In the Epcot center, there are different countries to visit. I took a picture at this same spot within "Italy" in 1992 and sent it to Donovan on his mission. He thought I looked so hot! (Donovan typed that last sentence) I came with my family in the wonderful motorhome. I believe this was my last road trip with my immediate family, before I was married. The boys always try to pose or do something silly when we ask them to take their picutre. At least, they still allow us to photograph them. Luckily, none of our children drowned in the fountain of King Neptune although they nearly fell in when we took the first picture.

Quick, look! You can see Dominique being a kind and great big brother here. Actually, Dominique is a wonderful big brother most of the time. We are very pleased with his example for his younger siblings.

Here is the whole fam damily at Magic Kingdom on my birthday.

King Arthur almost met his match when the three mousketeers...um, I mean three muskateers grappled with Excaliber!

While Dominique does his best Fonz impersonation, Dreyton finally was able to purchase the hat he has been wanting to get since last summer. I think we may show this picture to Dreyton's first prom date and ask if if she would like him to wear the hat to dinner and the Prom ball...

There is an All Points Bulletin (APB) for the whereabouts of Corida Florida's (AKA Jasmine, AKA Ho-ta Bedota, AKA Dad's princessa) front teeth. Any information leading to the safe recovery of the aforementioned dental anatomy may result in financial compensation.















Have you seen this lost girl? She may come up to you on the street corner trying to sell you some chiclets. Please be generous as she has a trying childhood.