Myrtle Beach 2007

Saturday morning approximately 3:30 a.m. I ran out to start the stuffed-with-luggage car while Jay locked up. I slammed the door shut and turned the key. Nothing! That is not the sound (or lack thereof) that I wanted to hear at 3 in the morning. Thankfully, Jake (the car) must not like me because he did start for Jay. It must have been the early hour.

Mom, Dad, Dani, Brent and Ally stopped by my cousins house in North Carolina on their way to the beach. Paul and Candy allowed them to drive one of their four wheelers. Here dad tries to show his expertise on the four wheeler.

Jay and I hurried down to South Carolina, with a small pit stop in Pigeon Forge TN for breakfast at the Apple Barn. Little did we know that at 7:30 the restaurant had yet to open, so we both sat in a nearby gazebo and read our bibles and did our devotions while we waited for the restaurant to usher the hungry patrons into the farmhouse. We weren't the only ones there waiting to eat. Once inside, Jay requested the swing, so we started off the day sitting in a white wooden swing eating eggs, bacon, pancakes, apple fritters etc. It was all yummy.

This was the view from our ocean front patio. We were on the third floor of a condo building. Dad did a great job picking the location. We are pretty modest people so when we go to the beach we tend to want the least crowded area. Our condo sat almost exactly between two big hotels but they were about a mile apart on either side of us, meaning there weren't a ton of people on the beach right in front of us.

Believe it or not, between all the digital cameras that were on vacation I ended up with about 500 pictures of our week. I didn't get everything but I was able to download a ton of photos from Dani's and Ally's cameras also. I am going to try to pick and choose some of the better pictures to give you an idea of our week. Enjoy!
Yes, We defied the laws of gravity and with the help of a giant "balloon" we parasailed along the beach. I thought it was going to be scary, but once we were up in the air, it was so quiet and smooth and we just sailed along.

Dad and Jason took on the girls in beach volleyball. It was a blast to play by the ocean.

Yes, that is my mom you see in the waves. This is the first year my mom has joined us in the water. She absolutely hates water, but I will have to say that since she her surgery and problems back in December she has changed quite a bit. We had so much fun with her in the waves. She amazed us with her willingness to join us. She ended up buying a yellow tube to help her stand up in the waves. One of the scarier things happened when she and I were out in the waves. The others had already gotten out of the water, when I saw something swimming right beside us. My heart did a little flip flop and I couldn't figure out what it was, then there was two of them. Without making any sudden moves, I told mom we should head in. She turned around and then she saw them swimming around us and this time there werent just 2, there were more like 22. She grabbed onto my arm and I thought she was going pull me down into the water. I told her not to panic but to just keep walking towards the beach. I mean they were EVERYWHERE around us. We found out later and even swam some more with them , that they were Manta Rays and apparently they get washed up toward the beach during high tide (which it happened to be at that time.)

I decided Jay and Dad both needed their hair trimmed up so I gave them their first ocean front hair cut. I don't think you can beat that. You think maybe I should have done something with my own hair huh? Then Jay surprised me and took me to a little shop he had found. I bought a bunch of beach and sand print paper along with a neat scrapbook for our vacation memories. What a sweet guy!

Below are a ton of pictures that we took one evening on the beach. Last time we were here, my parents spent a ton of money on professional pictures. We decided we could do our own pictures and not spend any money.

Two years ago, Dad and Brent drove stock cars on the Myrtle Beach Speedway. This year, Jay and Dani joined them on the 1/2 mile concrete track. I believe they had some fun.

We all boarded the Jungle Princess for a dinner cruise which included BBQ ribs, sweet tea, carrots, bread etc. I loved the beautiful houses along the river. One house had a deck with a 12-15 foot barbecue grill combo counter. It was hard wood and stainless steel. I am pretty sure they had more money wrapped up in that grill that we do in both of our cars combined.

These pictures don't include the yummy ribs Dad made, the fishing trip that some of us took, the fish that Brent cooked up for us and tons of other things we did. Each of us did a devotion every day which included hilarious games and some tears. You would have had to be there to understand it all.

Quilting with a view.

Have you had an "alone" moment with God lately? While the rest of the crew was at a baseball game, I sat on the patio and enjoyed a few moments with God. I sang songs to Him, thanked Him for my family and just enjoyed the wind in my face and the full moon. My camera couldn't really catch the calm beauty but I tried.