Settling In...

We have internet now in our house that we are renting, so I can be more up to date with blogging again. Our stuff arrived safely on Sunday and we have been busy unpacking only the things that we absolutely need for the next seven months. That is trickier than it sounds.

As for the white legs seen above, we did break out the sunscreen! On Saturday we went to the beach and had so much fun watching the kids run away from the waves, fall down and generally get filled with sand. Unfortunately, I didn't cover myself very well with the sunscreen and I am still in pain on my back and the backs of my legs. Next time I will enlist the help of Robert. Poor Brendan too suffered from sunburn, but he is already healed. He had so much fun trying out the boogie board and seeing how far out he could go. Robert and I both agreed that this was a new side of Brendan we had never seen and we really enjoyed it.
We have been driving around, getting familiar with Vero Beach and found a great park on the barrier island called Riverside Park. They have great trails and a great view of the Indian River. So far, I would say that we are very glad to be here!

Florida!

We arrived in Florida this morning and went to the welcome center. We were warmly welcomed and asked if we would like some orange juice. Who doesn't want some orange juice? Then they told us if we would have our picture taken, we would be entered in a drawing for a year supply of orange juice. That sounded like fun to us, so we all had our picture taken of me serving o.j. to the whole family. I also got to keep the apron, what a deal, huh...


After we checked in to our hotel, we went straight to the beach. We were all like kids jumping, and screaming in the waves. The sand felt so good between our toes, and Katie kept stopping to play in the sand. The waves were really neat.

This is our new buddy here in Florida. We will be seeing lots of buddies like him in the future.

Traveling Day 3 and 4

We made our way out of Iowa on Wednesday. The car was fixed and ready to go at 2pm. We were so thankful that we were able to get on our way. Our day ended in Illinois at about 8:30pm. As we drove through St. Louis, MO, we saw the Arch and we were all really excited. I was unable to get a close up picture as I was driving, but this turned out pretty well! It was a nice drive.

Driving through Atlanta, GA was not as much fun. We happened to be coming through when it was rush hour traffic and there was an Atlanta Braves baseball game that night as well. I realized that my stomach was hurting because I was so tense from the drive through there. I am not used to driving through such congested areas. We made it out safely and spent the night outside of Macon. The rest of the drive through Georgia was quiet and pleasant. We saw lots of signs about Civil War sights that we will have to come back and see.

Traveling Day 2....

We left our house in Vermillion, SD on Monday at about 4pm. The movers were really fast and cleaning went really well too. We made it to Clyde's house (Robert's Dad) in Ames, IA at about a quarter to nine that night. The kids had fun playing with their grandpa's things and went to bed pretty tired from the driving. I was amazed at how fast I got tired of sitting in the car myself! We left Clyde's this morning at about 9am. I am sorry to say that we did not make it very far though. We made it only as far as Grinnell, Iowa not too far to the east of Des Moines when the Suburban stopped working. We waited about an hour for the tow truck and now we are safely ensconced in a hotel. The SUV was taken to the Chevy dealership where it was discovered that our fuel pump was broken. They will have it tomorrow morning, so we will be on our way some time after lunch I am hoping. Robert and I both felt very calm and peaceful about it. Robert said, "Either you believe that God is Sovereign, or you don't." I like that. That is exactly how I feel about it.
We have already been swimming and now the troops are hungry. I hope to have some exciting pictures to share later. Hope all is well with all of you!

Brendan, Katie and Becca enjoyed being outside today. The park was full of people, soccer players, families, and kids playing. I think we were all a little bit sad that this was our last time to come and watch the boys play soccer. Since we are leaving on Monday, there will be no more soccer or ballet or homeschool group. I am content to know that the Lord will bring us new friends and activities in Vero Beach. We will miss our South Dakota friends and family in Iowa and Minnesota. We did not get to visit with them as much as we would have liked. Tomorrow is our last time going to Grace Baptist Church as well, so yet another goodbye is needed to made. I am hoping though, that many of our new friends here will find some excuse to come to Florida, like say, Walt Disney World?!


Katie is attacking her Daddy with gusto...

Rebecca looked like she was having some deep thoughts...

Last Soccer Game...

Justin had his last soccer game today. It was a beautiful morning at the park and a great day for soccer. Justin played soccer for the first time last fall, and when it started back up again in the spring, Justin was ready to get back to the game. He was so much better and bigger, he just jumped right back into the game as if he didn't have a 5 month break. The boys are both eager to start trying more sports, which I am personally glad to hear.

We are Moving....

Yes, it is true, we are moving and this time we are moving to Vero Beach, Florida. We will load up our stuff on Monday and drive to Florida. Robert has a job there teaching flying and we are all excited about it, as you can imagine. The Nasons are great explorers, and we look forward to this new adventure. We plan to blog this trip just like last time. Wish us well!

Rocket Launch Successful....

Brendan was able to make a rocket in our homeschool co-op group this semester.
The class was supposed to launch them on Friday, but due to weather, he was unable
to do so. Today Brendan's grandpa, uncle John and cousin Adelaide came over and we
thought it would be a great idea to make our launch today.

First there must be an untangling of the wires...

Robert successfully places the rocket on the launch pad.

Cousin Adelaide is very cheerful and not at all afraid of the weather...

This time I was able to actually able to catch the rocket, as there was an official countdown.
We were able to track this rocket, but the parachute took it very far away. We launched a smaller rocket from earlier in the year also. We didn't see where it went, but as we were walking home I spotted it in the grass, firmly planted. It looks as though we may get another launch.
We had a great time, I think rocketry is a very worthy endeavor. I am glad that Robert knows what he is doing...

A Spring Day in South Dakota

Notice the heavy coats, (excluding Justin) shivering hands in the pockets as we go outdoors this fine April day. We watched snow fall all morning, all has melted. I would like to know when spring will really arrive...