#21 - Happy Birthday Amanda!

Before the hustle and bustle of a hectic school year begins, we were blessed with one more relaxing get-away to the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort.  Our latest (and last for awhile,) excursion, was a trip to Bonita Springs to celebrate Amanda's 21st birthday.  Our first two days were spent around their pools - first at the lazy river - then over to the water-slide pool area with the hot tub.  Our girls used the hot tub, but I couldn't bear the idea of doing the same when we were already surrounded by 90 degree + temperatures.  We missed out on the rock climbing, but David and I enjoyed going over to the resort's private island on our last day while our children did what they seem to love to do best - sleep!  :-) 

Amanda and Alexis  in our hotel room

David

We ate some outstanding pizza on this evening, not too far from the hotel.  Then we drove over to Ft. Myers beach.  Although we missed the sunset, the sky was still shining with some amazingly beautiful colors.  Alexis seemed especially happy to be heading to the pier.

Not a great picture of our family, (the humidity was not nice to our hair) however, it has all of us in the pic, which is a rarity.

Loving the ice cream from Kilwin's

Looking up at Alexis while she's in a store strongly wishing she could buy a surfboard.

Amanda - the night of her birthday.  Back at the hotel after a delicious seafood dinner, looking forward to receiving her birthday gifts and key lime pie...

Heading to Big Hickory Island with my husband.

We thought this huge pelican was going to be the animal highlight of the boat trip over to the island until we saw.........

This!

A sweet little dolphin who seemed to like racing our boat!  I really wanted a picture of it's face - it jumped many times, but I just was not able to snap a shot at just the right moment.

Past the bridge is our island!

David's walking the beach looking for seashells.  We actually found several beautiful shells that day!

Our hotel - a view from the boat on our trip back.  Not long after we arrived on the island, a storm came out of nowhere - and if it had come our way, we would have been stuck there for much longer than planned.  Yes, they have shelter, and it's enclosed. 

My precious sweet grown girl.  She'll always be my baby!

I love you, Amanda!

21 Reasons that I thank God for Amanda!


1.  She was given the gift of liveliness.  Put Amanda in the mix, and you know you'll have fun!
2.  She was given the gift of adventure.  Amanda loves to experience new things, roller coasters, new places,  meeting new people...  Her eyes sparkle whenever she knows she is about to encounter a new endeavor.
3.  She was given the gift of giving.  Amanda blesses others with her time and talents.  As a young teen and beyond, she loved to volunteer in the nursery, at AWANA, help me with my Sunday School class, and assist in our church's special needs class.  At times she has gladly sacrificed a social life in order to meet the needs of others in this way.
4.  She was given the gift of swiftness.  Amanda began walking at 8 months.  I should have known right then that she would not be slow to move or learn.  She's always been so fast!  Fast to memorize, a quick reader, a speedy cleaner!  
5.  She was given the gift of happiness.  More than anybody in our family, Amanda stays stuck on happy.  That is SUCH a good thing!  It makes being around her absolutely delightful!
6.  She was given the gift of being able to easily forgive.  I think that is partially why she stays joyful so much of the time.
7.  She was given the gift of a hard working ethic.  Amanda takes her job seriously and responsibly.  She's usually the person that her employer ends up relying on to get the difficult tasks done.  She stays dependable and a steady to her job.
8.  She was given the gift of intelligence.  I'm not just saying that because she's ours...  Amanda is an exceptionally bright girl, and always has been.  I am sometimes surprised when she is surprised of her accomplishments.  I believe that she can achieve whatever she sets her mind to.
9.  She was given the gift of friendliness.  Although she has a tendency to be on the shy side, Amanda speaks comfortably and confidently to others.
10.  She was given the gift of being practical.  She at times can get carried away with a few too many trips to Starbucks - or a shopping trip that's not totally necessary, however, Amanda most always stays extremely practical - wanting to be a good steward of what God has entrusted her with.  
11.  Amanda is witty.  I love laughing with her.
12.  Amanda loves to be pampered.  It's a joy to see the pleasure she receives when we do something special for her.  It makes it so worth it!
13.  Amanda is truly creative!  She has a good eye for decorating, likes to make jewelry, and lately she tie dyed some incredible looking shirts.  For the most part she has laid her artistic/crafty abilities to the side while she is attending college and working, but I can't wait to see what she will venture into next when she has the time.
14.  Amanda loves being with her family.  Although she totally adores the hours spent out having fun with friends, Amanda does like to be with us.  I feel so extremely blessed that my 21 year old WANTS to devote time to her family.
15.  Amanda is a daddy's girl.  From the time she was little, she had her dad's heart.  Amanda still thrives on that - and feels most confident when he's encouraging and supporting her.
16.  Amanda likes to stay busy - and is always finding ways to keep herself occupied.  
17.  Amanda is our techno baby.  She has no hesitation to attempt repair on electronics, and often will fix our problems.  She's taught us how to run new gadgets, and if it were not for her willingness to teach me, I'm sure I would not be able to do half of what I can do with my computer.
18.  Amanda wants to be her sister's style mentor.  She loves helping her pick out and/or buy outfits, and if she is asked, will gladly share her clothes.  It's fun to watch them bond like this, because my sister and I did the same thing! 
19.  Amanda is extremely loyal to her brother.  With just 17 months between them, they grew up with a strong bond of  companionship and friendship.
20.  Amanda's most lovely feature is her smile.  She walks around carrying one - always.  Even when it is not intentional, she's smiling anyway.
21.  Above all, what I love most about Amanda is that she has given her heart to our Lord Jesus.  She loves Him, trusts Him, and desires to serve and honor Him in her life.

Lido Key - A Lovely Laze

The opportunity for forty-eight hours of much needed rest and relaxation came our way this week.  A trip to Lido Key on the west coast of Florida is where we returned from our travels yesterday.  This morning I'd prefer to still be feeling refreshing salty breezes on the balcony of our hotel that overlooked the gulf,  however, I am so very thankful that my husband planned this special get-away time for our family of five.

With one child post college, another still working her way through college, and a third with a life full of activities, it is incredibly hard to find more than 1/2 of a day to spend together.  The moments that we can steal away together are incredibly treasured.  We are blessed.

Our girls walking in the sunset

A few sunset pics

So many seashells - they were very small, but pretty all the same.

My two favorite men - looking at cell phone pics.  Our hotel is in the background.

Amanda and me.

David and I walked on the beach each morning, enjoying the cool breezes and beautiful birds.

Lunch at The Columbia House - Yummy Spanish food.

Another beautiful sunset.

Proof of our early morning walks.  We were hoping to find a few large colorful shells that the west coast of FL is notorious for.  Good news!  Fantastic weather the entire trip.  Thus the reason we had no spectacular seashell finds.

Loved the many birds we saw making their early morning breakfast dives.

A seagull and it's shadow.

I had to go to whatbird.com to find the name of these unique creatures.  They are called Black Skimmers.  After downloading the pics, I was pleasantly surprised by their great reflections in the water!  I'll have to remember that when using the camera in the early AM.

Looking up the history of this 40' statue was slightly amusing - and disappointing.  We guessed at why this VJ-Day Photo turned statue look-alike was sitting in Sarasota.  Our hypothesis was way off...  As much as we hoped that one of the infamous strangers was a local to the area, we found ourselves altogether wrong.  As a matter of fact, it's problems are as big as it's stature.  After the city agreed to "accept" the kissing couple from it's artist, they found themselves in the midst of a lawsuit - as the man who was it's creator was being sued for making it just a little too much like the original photo.