Treasured Memories as Big & Deep as the Ocean

I've been giving hints all week as to where in the world did we go on vacation....did you guess???

Did Cinnamon Bay give it away?

A few guessed Hawaii....and oh I would love to see that someday, but that's not it.

We were blessed to go to....drum roll please...St. John in the US Virgin Islands!

We have been planning this vacation for months, November to be exact.

This trip was planned in celebration of my graduation and the joy of finishing the calling that God placed on my life when He began wooing my heart that it was time to go back to school and finish what He started in me at Baylor University so many years ago.

Mr. Incredible and I began secretly planning the trip of our dreams.

We were overjoyed when my parents, his parents, his sister, brother-in-law, and their 2 boys decided to join us. They were all so sweet to offer to throw a graduation party but my heart was set on celebrating in a different way and we all decided to make it a family vacation.

I tried to blog from St. John at night but the internet was a bit slow and I didn't want to miss a moment with my family.

Would you like to see a little bit of our vacation?

I promise, I narrowed down the volumes of pictures a lot!

Ready? Ok, here we go!

Here we all are at the airport:

And here is where we were blessed to stay:

The 2nd house just above this triangular roof in the bottom left hand corner is South Palms where Mr. Incredible's family stayed & the yellow house just above it is called Abrigado and it is where we stayed with my parents. (You can click here and here for more info about the houses. Just keep in mind that we normally don't travel this lavishly. It was a gift from the Lord and we treasured every memory we made here).



This is what we saw when we drove up to our home for the week:



I felt like a giddy little girl at Christmas. It was way better than I dreamed it would be!
And these are the beautiful views from our patio:










A few beach scenes:

Gorgeous sunsets:

Fun times in the swimming pools:

Surfer boy:

Getting ready to hit the beaches:

A view from our master bedroom windows: Sister Time

I miss this pool!

When you visit St. John, it is fun to rent jeeps for the week.

This is my dad who became the expert jeep packer.

We would take beach chairs, rafts, and a cooler filled with sandwich fixings, water (a lot of water), fruit (which is like gold on the island), and chips. Speaking of chips, have you ever tried Uncle Ray's chips? Oh, my goodness they are good!

We snorkeled almost every day. The Lord delighted us by surprising us with beautiful sting rays, a giant starfish, an octopus, sea turtles, and numerous incredibly gorgeous fish of all kinds.

And catching some rays on the beautiful white sandy beaches. Ahhh.

Sandcastle fun:

And cousin time in the ocean:
(They have lollipops on their mouths...not cigarettes...I'm just saying...now I feel better!)

This is my youngest nephew. He called all of the girls, "My Lieb." We are not sure where he got that but he tells us that it means, "My love."

And my oldest nephew:

He and I got to touch a few sea turtles while we swam with them....it was so cool!


I didn't want to miss out on a photo opportunity. So my family and my parents planned ahead and brought white shirts and khaki shorts. I had my heart set on getting a photo for this year's Christmas card. Cinnamon Bay was the perfect spot:

Now, I just have to pick one. Do you like this one?

Or this one?

I love this one:

Hannah and her Daddy walking on the beach:

I'll spare you the other 200 pictures that I took of our portrait session....you are welcome!

On to shopping. The first official day was rainy...rats! So, what's a family to do? We got in the jeeps and headed to downtown for a little shopping:

And we found these hats that are perfect for 2 Texas girls in paradise.

Poppie (Mr. Incredible's dad) planned a fun wave runner outing:

Rachel and her Daddy:

Hannah and I: (that's the only picture of me in a bathing suit that you will ever see on this blog!)

After an amazing week, it was time to go home. How is it that time goes by so much faster when you are on vacation?

We had to be down the mountain by 5:15 that morning (which is 4:15 Texas time) to catch the boat ferry that would take us back to St. Thomas where we would catch our flight home.

We parked the jeep, for the last time {sniff} and then I saw something crossing the road. What is it??? Could it be??? Yes, it was....it was a crab!

I ran after him/her {do they have a gender in crabville?} as fast as I could. It was like a cartoon....the crab saw me and started walking/running faster. This was the look "it" gave me when I snapped the picture....I think it flashed its angry eyes at me!

Oh, there are many more photos, but I think I will just stop here.

It was an amazing vacation filled with memories

to treasure for a life time....and that is quite a blessing!

One of the deacons in our church asked me if we all still loved each other after our trip together. I smiled and said yes, even more than ever...if that's even possible.

Joyfully,

Kristi

I am thrilled to post this on Hooked on House's "Hooked on Friday's" blog party & Melissa's "The Inspired Room's "Beautiful Moments."

Just Beachy!

Our family was blessed to take a wonderful trip together.

A person can get use to seeing sights like these everyday!

It makes me want to dive back in!

Can you guess where we went?

I'll give you some hints...Cinnamon...Francis...Maho...Leinster...do you know???

(More pictures coming soon!)

It is our most favorite place on earth, if we could only find a way to live there!

So, when a girl returns home, her heart starts missing sights like these:

I decided to bring a little vacation to our tablescape. Goodbye for now roosters.


And hello beach! Ahh, I can almost hear the ocean again.




That's better....and peaceful!



I went to Hobby Lobby (My fave) and found these glass containers for 50% off.

They had colored sand for $1.99 and their candles were 50% off too. Yippee!



I used some of the shells that we brought back with us and added a few from Hobby Lobby. They were....yes you guessed it....on sale too.

I decorated the table using my Granny's white china plates, added my everyday silverware, bamboo-ish placemats from the dollar store, and a mason jar. I love the juxtaposition of the mason jar with fine china.



No ordinary napkin ring will do...a starfish is much better (we got to snorkel with a real live one; he/she was bigger than both of my hands put together).




No mason jar is complete without sweet tea! My garden is overflowing with mint, so this is fresh, sweet, mint tea.

And here is my recipe:


Thank you so much for blessing me with your visit to my blog! I hope you enjoyed your stay and that you will come again soon.



I am overjoyed to list this post with:




and:

from Between Naps on the Porch

Joyfully,

Kristi

His Faithfulness Continues Through All Generations!

Happy Word Filled Wednesday!

I am so delighted that you stopped by.

Our family just returned from an amazing vacation....it was filled with memories to treasure and we are so ready to go back!

I love this picture; there are three generations that love the Lord and each other fiercely.

Pictured are me, Rachel, Hannah, and my mom (Granny).

I am blessed with such an incredible heritage of faith. I have the most amazing memories of kneeling to pray next to my beloved Granny. She talked to her precious Savior about everything even asking Him to help her french braid my hair whenever I would spend the night at Granny and Pappaw's house.

I hear that same love and devotion for our Savior whenever I hear my mother pray...and a growing devotion and love for the Lord whenever I hear my daughters pray. I can't describe in words how that makes me feel. It is a blessing like no other!

I am blessed beyond measure. As a child, I was blessed with grandparents on both sides of my family that loved the Lord and served Him faithfully. Spending time with Him daily and going to church were priorities in their lives, in the lives of my parents, in my life, in my husband's life, in his grandparent's lives, in the lives of his parents, and now in the lives of my daughters. What a blessing!

Psalm 100:5 says, "For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations."

Deuteronomy 7:9 says, "Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands."

Don't you just love this promise! The legacy of faith and faithfulness continues to a "thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands!"

I'm claiming this in my life and for my girls, and their families (be still my heart) one day, and on and on. I've seen this legacy of faithfulness in my life! His faithfulness does endure through all generations. He is the Faithful One.

If you don't have a legacy of faith like I do, be the beginning of that legacy of faith that continues to the 1000th generation! Let Him start with you!!!!

I feel like I have to add this, for those of you that may be new to my blog. Although, both sets of grandparents, my parents, and my brother are all Christians, that doesn't guarantee that I will go to Heaven. Their legacy of faith is an incredible gift but it never would guarantee my place in Heaven one day. It's not through works or deeds or even a blessed legacy of faith....it is only through the blood of Jesus. Believing in Him is the only way to eternity one day. Please, don't miss that. (If you want to know more about becoming a Christian, please leave me a comment and I will be happy to talk with you.)

I'm thanking the Faithful One for my legacy of faith. How about you?

Please visit here for more Word Filled Wednesdays.

Joyfully,

Kristi

P.S. More vacation info coming tomorrow...and more pictures too. I hope you are ready! :-)

MckLinky Favorite Photo (I have 2 faves for now!)

Now, that I've looked through 250 of the over 600 posts and seen all the precious little ones, this momma's heart remembered an all time favorite photo. This is our Hannah playing in the mud...there is joy and delight all over her precious little face:

Welcome to my blog! I am so delighted that you stopped by!

I am participating in a fun Blog Hop and this weeks theme is Favorite Photos. This is perfect because we just returned from an incredible vacation with only a few photos...560 to be exact (I'll give more details about where we went in tomorrow's post).

OH, the torture of having to pick only 1 favorite photo. I am blessed with 2 daughters, so I had to pick my favorite photo of each one of my girls.
Rachel & Hannah are blessings from the Lord and they are beautiful inside and out!

I can't wait to see your favorite photos and read your comments. Blessings to you and thanks for stopping by!

Joyfully,
Kristi

For DIY Fireworks You Need Hamburgers and a Grill!

Hey ya'll! How was your 4th of July celebration????

We were blessed with a day at home to relax, giggle, bake, grill, and almost call the fire department...fun times and memories!

Our day started off fantastic. We slept in a little (you know you are getting older when you can't sleep past 8 am; I can remember sleeping in until at least 10 when I was a teenager) and we had a wonderful coffee cake (a Paula Deen recipe...yum!) and then the girls and I started baking.

We made 2 delicious homemade apple pies (except for the crust because how can you go wrong with Pillsbury...we rolled it out ok?!) and homemade ice cream. I enjoyed using my new kitchen aide mixer so much that we actually made 2 freezers full of homemade ice cream. One was vanilla, for the pie, and the other was peach from all of the peaches we put in the freezer last summer.

We watched Serena beat her sister in tennis and I wondered how their mother could possibly cheer for either child. I would have made myself dizzy clapping after every point for each one of my daughters. After that, I took a little nap because it was raining and taking a little nap during a delightful rain just seemed appropriate.

After my little siesta it was time for the games to begin. Mr. Incredible lit the grill, I formed the hamburger patties and then made Pioneer Woman's pico de gallo w/ guacamole...oh my goodness it was awesome!

Hannah and I were giggling about all of the smoke coming from the back porch...there was so much smoke that Mr. Incredible decided to lift the lid to see what was going on with the burgers...and that's when I saw it....a flame almost as tall as my man!

I though he had probably caught a burger on fire (which is way out of the norm for him) and had Hannah grab my camera. We always joke about men "fighting fire" for their families when they are grilling because it's macho and manly and he is good at the grilling.

Hannah jokingly asked her daddy if he needed the fire extinguisher and he just scowled.

So, being the excellent wife that I am (I'm smiling here) I grabbed my camera and took a picture of the flame:

I only got part of it because my man said in the sweetest voice ever, "Sweetheart, the grill is on fire, we have a grease fire and I need you to pretty please grab the fire extinguisher before we burn the house down!" (If you believe that is how he really sounded, I have some lakeside property for you on the moon!) It was more of a growl and why am I taking pictures...blah blah blah!

I snapped back into reality and realized it wasn't a simple little patty on fire, it was the real deal...closing the lid to the grill and turning off the gas didn't help, flames shot out the top. So, I pulled the little red thingy on the fire extinguisher, that I bought in 2000, and prayed that it would do the trick. Just in time, my quick thinking husband pulled the burgers off the grill and saved our dinner...wasn't that brilliant?

He threw me the burgers and extinguished the flames. Whew! I would have hated to have called out the volunteer fire department on the 4th of July to extinguish our homemade fireworks display because....well because we would never have heard the end of it and Mr. Incredible would have been banned from grilling forever and I like it when he fights fire for our dinner!

So, what do you do with 1/2 cooked hamburgers? You light the grill again, after cleaning off all the fire extinguisher stuff. Can you believe that? I offered to pan fry the charred burgers that were crispy on the outside and raw on the inside, but he wouldn't hear of it.

He lit the grill only to hear a loud "Boom!" "We are going to die," I said...I wish you could have seen the lovely look he flashed my way....all was fine, it was just the grill asking for us to please just give it up for the day....did we? No way, Mr. Incredible finished grilling the now Cajun burgers and we had a delightful meal.

We worried that the fire exinguisher stuff might somehow poison our burgers....so Mr. Incredible ate his first...what a man!

I have other photos too! Here is my version of the pico de gallo:

And here is my burger:

It wasn't too bad with jalapeno cheese and a lot of pico de gallo!
I made armadillo eggs too (jalapenos, cream cheese, & cheddar cheese, wrapped in pepper bacon and then baked in the oven). They were amazing....

...until Hannah ate a hot one and the tears streamed down her precious little face. She downed 2 glasses of milk like it was nothing and still felt a little burn. But, it was kind of fitting....our 4th of July was anything but boring...it was burning hot! How was yours?

Joyfully,

Kristi