A New Church...And A New Friend!

We've lived here for almost a year now and although we felt sure that this was where God wanted us to be, the one thing we were still unsettled about was finding a church that we loved! Bruce and I have separately and together been to know less than six different churches...we liked the kids' programs at some, the worship at others, the teaching at none. It was really frustrating and leaving a big hole in our lives! I've been reading the blog of a young woman who lives in the Tampa area (and I still can't remember how I came upon her blog), but I knew from her writing that she was a Christian, so I asked her where she went to church. Bruce visited Bay Life Church last weekend and then the whole family went yesterday...and we loved it! Amazing worship, wonderful teaching and the kids' programs look very promising! It's about a 40 minute drive, but that's how far we drove to our old church in MD and , as with Lifepoint, there's nothing that comes to Bay Life closer to us so we'll gladly make the trek!

Yesterday I also got to meet the friend who guided us there in the first place! Leslie and her husband Kyle! She's sooo pretty and sweet (I on the other hand came to church after getting ready with NO electricty because of a storm) and her husband, Kyle holds the honor as the first and only person I've ever met from South Dakota! Though we're probably old enough to be their parents, as we continue at Bay Life, I hope we can continue our friendship!

Karen Visits!

My friend, Karen, from MD came to visit for a few very relaxing days!
We went to see the manatees on our way home from the airport then had lunch outside on the river!
Karen got some much needed snooze time on the beach! We saw so many dolphins and even a few stingrays!
After the beach, we all went on a cruise up the river toward the bay.
We decided to head back to the beach the next day since the weather was just so perfect! We just chatted, gathered shells and just enjoyed the AWESOMENESS that is the Gulf Coast!
All in all, it was a fun couple of days...even with the rear end collision we had on the way to the airport (no one was hurt and no damage to the car!). So, who's next to come visit?

Fishing on the Intercoastal!

On Sunday, we went fishing near Sarasota Bay on the Intercoastal Waterway. Jonah's friend, Matt came along and he's a self-proclaimed expert fisherman so he gave the boys lots of tips! They caught SEVEN fish in less than an hour!
The boys each caught a few pin fish.
Matt caught a 15 inch Spanish Mackeral!
Jonah caught a HUGE catfish! It was so big, it snapped his line! There went dinner!
No pictures of Evan this time...he was busy napping on the stern! Dogs stayed home this time too (had a party in the hot tub doing kibble shooters with the neighborhood pooches!)! Bruce is getting really good at maneuvering the boat and finding his way around the river, bay and intercoastal! We're all really having a ball spending time on the boat!

Shuttle Launch!

Tonite we saw the space shuttle launch! From our own backyard!! How cool is that?!

Happy Birthday Bruce!

Bruce celebrated his birthday on March 9! The day before, after our awesome photo shoot (I'll post those pics soon!) we went out to celebrate in downtown Sarasota at a new to us restaurant called Caraguilos...it was the best Italian food we've had in a long time! We celebrated his birthday pretty much all weekend with a day on the boat on Saturday, out to dinner on Sunday and yummy ice cream cake on Monday! We love you!

A Day on the Bay!

We recently joined a boat club and today was the first day we all went out together! Bruce took the boys out last weekend, but this weekend we took the dogs!
How cute are Gracie and Cooper in their coordinating life vests! The both really liked being on the boat...especially Gracie (even though she yacked her lunch about halfway through the trip!)
Jonah did an awesome job piloting the boat...which he did most of the trip!
Isabella and I picked out this tshirt for Bruce's birthday!
We sailed out to the Skyway Bridge, which goes to St. Petersburg...it was very cool!

Hotel for Dogs

The Get Rescued event on Saturday was a huge success! The rescue I volunteer with, had seven dogs go to their forever homes! One of the dogs, this adorable puppy that Isabella named Emily, came home overnight with us before she went to her new family on Sunday. The kids had so much fun with her...it was hard to give her up!
Isabella pretty much held the puppy the entire day! Jonah thought that puppy smell that I love so much...smells like beef jerky!