Low Country Boil

Our brother-in-law, Greg, went out the night before we had this get together and caught some shrimp that was boiled up for a low country boil. You can't get any fresher than that! Well you can, but it might cost you a pretty penny.

We had just gotten out of our cousin Belinda's pool. That's why Roxanne, Theo's sister, is wrapped in a towel. Greg, the one who caught the shrimp, is her husband and he is on the other side of the table. Betty Jo is the lady in the middle, she has been a family friend since Roxanne was a baby.
See my plate! Shrimp, potato, corn and sausage. We also had potato salad and baked beans. Yum-meeee!
By the end of the evening, Miriam being worn out from swimming and now with a full belly found a comfortable spot on Grandma's lap. It was a fun evening.

Hitched!

The day finally arrived and my youngest sister, the baby of the family, has gotten married. She was sealed to her now eternal companion, Levi in the Baton Rouge temple. That was my first time at that temple. Baton Rouge is a mini-temple which means it isn't as big as some of the other full scale temples. And this one was very small. But I always seem to get the feeling that I am high above the ground when I am in the temple. It was a very sweet ceremony.
Here is Sheena and Levi cutting the cake.

Drinking the grape juice.

Here is little Emma ready to go looking very adorable.

Miriam is patiently waiting at the front of the line for her piece of cake. Levi is a Jazz fan since he is from Utah. That cake was delicious, they must be a good team!

It was a fun day and we are all glad that it is over! Now the chaos of throwing a wedding is over and we can enjoy the rest of our stay. And of course good luck to the new couple. I really do wish them an eternity of happiness, love and compromise. May their love of the gospel and of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ help them to overcome any and all obstacles in their lives together.

Beachy Days

Our very next day on arriving to Mobile, we went straight to the beach! The weather was hot and the water was just cold enough to cool you down, but after a few minutes it got very comfortable. Like warm bath water! Oh how I miss the southern beach!

Here little Miss Miriam is looking very chic in her Sleeping Beauty sunglasses. We had a bit of a breeze that day and we couldn't get her hat to stay on, but we sure did slather my ivory baby with sunscreen! Side note: she isn't too ivory anymore!

Here's Grandma (Theo's mom) trying to shade Emma with her wide-brimmed sun hat.

Tobie is attempted to skim board, he can actually ride it okay when he is on his knees. With practice I'm sure he could catch on and then Daddy could show him a few tricks.

Miriam loved playing in the sand when she wasn't enjoying the warm salty water. This is her cousin, Lexie. Lexie is my younger sisters daughter, she is 18 months old.

Tobie and his other two cousins, Coby and Gavin, found a pre-dug hole and tried to improve it a bit. They weren't out in the sand too much, they loved the water and when it was time to go, (after 3 hours!) it was no small feat to convince them to get out of the water.

It was such a fun day and we plan on going later on in the week. I did get freaked out once because there was these little schools of fish that kept bumping into my ankles and legs. You can see in the water, but it isn't crystal clear and the fish are transparent, so they were very hard to see. Once I got out I was better able to see them swimming up onto the sand and going back out with the tide. I didn't think it was sharks or anything, jellyfish would have been enough to keep me out of the water though. But it is still annoying having something bumping your leg and not knowing what it was.

We also had an interested air show while we were out there. First a Coast Guard helicopter flew by, then we saw two Blue Angels fly overhead. They are stationed in Pensacola and they were probably out practicing. Then an Army helicopter flew by pretty close to the ground. I could see the guy sitting in the doorway. It was pretty neat.

That was our day at the beach.

Flying High

It was a hard long day, but we finally made it. We got up at 3:45am Tuesday morning and rushed down to the Oakland airport. Tobie took a short nap in the car, but Miriam was showing no signs of weakness. We had a 4 hour flight to Houston, a one hour lay over, then a half hour flight to New Orleans. Tobie was constantly knocking things off those ridiculously tiny trays and ended up with milk in his hair after the first 20 minutes of our first flight. Miriam did fairly well until the flight from Houston to N.O. As we were descending I tried to put her in her seat, but she wasn't having any of that and screamed all the way down. Then as we hit the runway she started saying, "seat, seat". I put her in her seat and she started trying to put her seatbelt on. The little punk! People started giving me tips, like giving them Benedryl. We actually had given her some Tylenol, but it didn't do a darn thing. This is the kids passed out at the New Orleans baggage claim. After all that screaming she really wore herself out and as soon as I put her in the stroller she passed out. Emma was the best of all. If she got fussy I just hooked her up and that was that. Now I just had to buy some Benadryl for our plane ride home!

The Grill Master

Tobie is always eager to help, especially in the kitchen. When Theo was grilling some steaks he asked Tobie if he wanted to flip them. He jumped on the opportunity. Theo thought it was a memorable moment and ran for the camera. Tobie's flippin' like a pro!