When it rains...

 It pours.  In our case it rained and poured 20 inches of rain in a 2 day period.  We were finally on our long-awaited heavily anticipated vacation.  We started the tradition of going with two other families who happen to be some of our best friends.  Unfortunately, tropical storm Debbie decided to crash our vacation party.  We arrived in Carrabelle, Florida on Saturday to overcast skies and a gloomy forecast.  Within twenty-four hours we were smack dab in the middle of flooding rains, stormy seas, and 50 to 60 mph wind gusts.  To make things even more fun...we lost power...for about 16 hours.  It felt longer with six adults and seven kids piled into a beach house.  Even thinking about it makes me start to have an uncontrollable tick.

 By God's grace and some good humor we managed to make it through and not kill each other.  We were determined to believe God to roll the storm on through and give us a glorious ending in exchange for the gloomy start.  He did not disappoint.  You saw the ocean before the storm....

 This was the picture of complete peace just 48 short hours later.  Didn't I tell you?  Glorious.  That is what my God can do.  He is the Master of the Sea and He still calms storms.  We are fresh off of one and we had a front row seat to watch Him work.  Each day we would look at the forecast just for fun.  The storm lasted all day on Sunday and Monday but we felt strongly that God would grant us good weather.  So we believed Him to do just that.  The forecast still predicted rain for the whole week until Friday.  But God showed a different forecast.  We couldn't find a cloud in the sky....

 We spent Tuesday through Saturday swimming, laughing, eating, playing, and enjoying every ray of sunshine that God graciously gave us.  We did not take one moment of it for granted.  Shep got to kayak and fish.  Caroline got to ride waves and work on her tan.

 Ava led us on walks down the beach to our little hideaway island.  We love it because it is virtually secluded and, at low tide, it houses hundreds of hermit crabs.

 Zeke entertained us with hundreds of questions and endless chatter.  I love this picture because he and his friend were battling it out with water guns.

Part of the fun of vacation is having daddy with us all day every day.  This man exudes optimism.  His resolve and jovial nature kept us all cool during the raging storm.  Anyone that knows my man can't help but love him.  He sells me on himself over and over again without even trying.  We have our ups and downs as all couples do...but, dang, I sure am crazy about him!  We made pretty incredible memories and learned some valuable lessons on this particular trip.  I look forward to hearing this master story-teller relive them with his words for years to come.

 Me and my little man being silly....

 Me and my girls...

Our family....