There were 15 in the house . ..

and the little one said 'roll over!' It was tricky fitting so many people in my sister's house but it was so nice to be all together! Thursday after my sister Holly got off her night shift at the hospital Laura, Titus, Holly and me headed to NJ to join the rest of our family, who had left Wednesday. When we got there, my first time, I saw what a neat place and house they live in with a part of the ocean on their right and left side, about 3 blocks either way. That night we even went to the calm side to walk on the beach and found a starfish and horseshoe crab. Friday we went to their little zoo, Caleb and my favorite would be the Galapagos turtles, who were being quite active, then while the kids were sleeping most of us headed out to ride some waves. That evening we went to the Wildwood boardwalk where we went on some amusement rides and had some funnel cake and fudge. Went to the beach most days and got a pretty nice tan (especially for someone who was been pale for the last couple years due to living in Buffalo and WI). One day I finished reading Elisabeth Elliot's book "Be still my soul" while enjoying the quietness of the beach I came across this thought - "Day after day Christ is formed in me in the midst of my circumstances of my life, because those circumstances are the visible evidence of the will of God. An all-loving and all-wise Father apportions everything to me, measuring it out with care to achieve a holy makeover." Joe had a rally good message Sunday morning on being an example/a hero others can look to and follow spiritually as well as having right heroes in our life. Our last day in NJ we went to Cape May and shopped the cute little shops - I bought some scones for myself and my hostess and Dad bought me a pair of Holly Yashi earrings (silver with cherry blossoms), then we went by pebble beach and took some pebbles and watched the dolphins playing in the water. Caleb loved the week getting to play with his cousins he rarely gets to see. We had a great time with the family. Laura, my ride home, decided to take the ferry the next day down to SC - for time in the car sake - I got pretty sick so it wasn't too enjoyable for me but the boys thought it was great fun going back and forth. I was glad Laura was there to help me with the kids. We also ended up crossing the Chesapeake Bridge/Tunnel which was really neat! Mike met us in Florence, SC where we got a hotel for the night and swam the next morning before heading back to Jacksonville. I took so many pictures on vacation I ran out of room on my camera. Joe took some really good ones that I'm hoping to get my hands on as well.