Grandparent's Day Beach Time!

It was so awesome to be able to get all together and spend some time at the beach for Grandparent's Day! - the water was perfect - clear, not too warm, smooth - it was just an overall fun day!  I wanted to share a few pictures:

Out in the water - Krista is shark tooth huntin!

Found a good shark tooth!  yep - we find them all the time down here! cool, huh?!

Nothing like 2 little sisters playing together on the beach!!  don'tcha just love it!!!

CHEEEESE!

Cheeeeeese again! lol  she loves the camera!

AHHHH yes - this is why we live in FLORIDA!!!!  Love It!!

Otherwise, all is well here!  Love to all our friends and family back home! 

Love,  Cheryl

Summer Goes Fast!

Geez - where has the time gone?  So hard to believe it is the middle of August already!  And August in FL means School Starts!  And this year, Charlee starts kindergarten!!!  WOW - can you believe it?!!!  Justin & Krista were able to get her into a private Christian school under scholarships - what a blessing - and she started on Monday.  The night before we celebrated and she wanted to make strawberry cupcakes and decorate them - so here are her creations!  She told us all that she did not want Mommy and Daddy walking her into school because she's a big girl now! lol 

Here is her picture from her Second day of school - they were with us - which I will explain later - so we got to see her off and she was excited!  Yesterday (Friday) her teacher sent a progress report and said she puts letters together to form words in her journal, which is advanced for kindergarten she says!  We have a budding scholar here! 

 FIRE - Before I go any further - I do want to let you all know that Justin & Krista had a fire in their apt. on Tuesday.  Luckily, Charlee was at school, Justin at work, and Krista and Bailey were at the library.  Apparently it was something wrong with the hot water heater.  They have smoke damage, water damage, not sure exactly right now what else - the complex cleaned the carpet, they also replaced the hot water heater - but giving them a very hard time in other ways.  They have stayed with us all this week and went home today as they said it was ready - I think they were tired of being here!  haha I don't blame them!  We only have a 2 bedroom townhouse, so we were all spread out on the bed, air mattress, couch, wherever!

These kids just cannot catch a break and are really struggling, but their faith is keeping them strong.  They know God's faithfulness and know that He will provide.  Their faith grows stronger, so of course other forces are trying to pull them in another direction.  I am so proud of them - they are very involved with the Youth ministry at our church and very well loved and blessing many kids with their love for God and their life experiences.

Of course I could not post without putting pictures of our Little LadyBug - Bailey!  Boy - what a redhead she is!  Quite a little joy and so funny - but STUBBORN - Lordy - and definitely has the redhead temper!  lol  She definitely keeps everyone on their toes!

She loves when Pap gives her horsey rides:  (she calls him "Hap")

 And Charlee makes a good horsey too!

Justin and Krista read to her all the time and she takes a book to bed with her every night!  They are good Mommy and Daddy!

And what a blessing these little ones are!  We always look forward to spending time with them!  We took them to Sarasota Jungle Gardens not long ago and took a picture with them!

So that's the latest update from here!!  Hope all is well with everyone reading this!  I will try to be more diligent with the updates!

With Love!
Cheryl
 

What are we up to these days?

So - I feel like I haven't posted in forever and I do apologize - it has just been very crazy busy and I guess I have let FaceBook take over my logging of events!

Not too much new going on - The girls are getting BIG!!!! Hard to believe this fall Charlee will be in Kindergarten!! 

She is definitely a Girly Girl and such a great big sister to Bailey!!!

We definitely love the time we get to spend with them!  They are growing up so darn fast!  Bailey is already a little chatterbox and definitely lives up to the reputation of a redhead with a little temper for sure - but it rarely comes out, which is good - well sorta!  But oh my, that head of red curls!!  She so reminds me of Dawn when she was a baby!!  So glad she carries on the Phillips legacy!  But of course, she couldn't go wrong with such a beautiful Mom and Dad!!

She is also a phone diva!  She loves to "chat" on the phone and once she gets a hold of the phone - it's hers!! lol

Last week Dave, myself, Heather and Alan embarked on a cruise!  We were so excited to spend a week on the Carnival Dream to Cozumel, Roatan, Belize, and Costa Maya!  The Dream is a new ship and it is HUGE and beautiful!

On the way to the port we pulled over the side of the road and we got to watch the final launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis!  It was so awesome!  You could hear it too - we can usually see the launches from a very far distance where we live, but this is only like about 6 miles from the launch pad - so it was awesome to experience the sound!

While we were in Roatan, we got to go Ziplining through the jungle!  OMG - it was so cool and I can't wait to do it again!  

 

 Heather and Alan showing off ziplining together!  Heather was always zipping upside down!!  Dave was too!  

We did enjoy a few drinks at Paradise Beach in Cozumel, FL!! 

I have a ton of pictures from this cruise - check out the link to the right - or just click here:  Our Cruise - 2010

I hope all is well with everyone!  We continue to stay busy - working, babysitting, doing things with the kids, Heather and I scrapbooking when we can, I still love to do stamping and cardmaking, and love being involved with our church!  We will be heading to Daytona in July for the NASCAR race, as we do every year - always look forward to that!  Sure would like to make a trip "home" soon!   Definitely miss everyone back home!

Until next time - Hugs to you all!

David & Cheryl

I Lose Track of Time!

Geez - I can't believe it is the middle of February already and I haven't updated in a while!  Where does the time go?!!

Nothing really new going on!  All is well with everyone!  One exciting thing is Krista has graduated from beauty school and is embarking on her career as a very talented hair dresser!  How cool to have a beautician in the family!!  She does a great job and I trust her with my hair!!

Charlee & Bailey are growing like little wild flowers!!  Charlee is loving going to school and is now doing karate at school!  She loves going to church and LOVES JESUS!!  I'm so glad Justin & Krista are raising them to love Jesus!!  We took them to Chuckee Cheese last week (oy, what a nightmare that place is) and Charlee had such a good time!!  She LOVES Chuckee Cheese and is already planning her next birthday there!

 

Bailey didn't care at all about all the Chuckee Cheese stuff - she enjoyed sitting with Mimi and eating pizza and drinking Hawaiian punch!!

Well, as I said, nothing else is going on!!  Just wanted to say Hello and give a little update!!

Love,
Cheryl

It was a Fantabulous Christmas!

So, how was your Christmas?? Ours was super! It was such a blessing to be all together and enjoying each other's company and sharing the holiday spirit!

The Christmas season started with Charlee in the church kid's program - she was a beautiful Angel!!
It was a very special evening!!

I FINALLY MADE A GINGERBREAD HOUSE!!! My very first one ever! I made from scratch - cut out my own house pieces and everything! I'm pretty proud of it! can't wait to make another one next year! Don't laugh!! It's my first time!
Christmas Eve, myself, Heather, Justin & Krista and the girls attended Christmas Eve service at our church - Church of Hope in Sarasota! It was a beautiful service! This picture is in front of one of the HUGE lit trees in the sanctuary!
And this picture - it is the first time in many, many years that Heather & Justin attended a christmas eve service together - what a special night!Now, of course when we got home from church, Mrs. Santa had come to visit - she left 1 present for everyone - which of course was new PJs!And the girls relaxed in their new PJs and colored together on the floor - is this too cute or what - Bailey only 14 months old and she like to sit and color with her big Sister!! Charlee is such a good Big Sister!Bailey was cuddlin with the "Abominable" from Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer! Isn't she just too cute for words?!!Christmas morning and the Tree is ready!Here are a few fun Christmas morning pictures!

And after all is said and done - Krista takes a nap - which she can never resist on my couch! lol
We went to Heather & Alan's for dinner and just relaxed - there was no stress - it was a totally Blessed Day!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas is On It's Way!

Wow, can you believe it is December/Christmas time already? How fast the year has flown! I love this time of year! We started the month of December off with 2 Birthdays - Dave's (12/5) and Charlee (12/7)! We went out to dinner at Mi Pueblo's to kinda celebrate their birthdays - it was fun!! Charlee turned 5 years old! Wow - how time flies! She was so excited to get a new bike - she had totally outgrown her old one! Her Hannah Montana birthday party is tomorrow - and Momma and Daddy got her a bounce house for her and all her friends to have fun in!! It should be a good time!



This is a very crafty season for me - lots of projects to work on and I'm finishing up my Christmas cards to get sent out! I'm even in the process of making a Gingerbread House - from scratch! I've always wanted to do that! I should have it done by Wednesday - I'll post a picture here after I finish it!

Of course, the best part of Christmas is the little ones! We were so thrilled last night to attend a Dinner/Show at church with the show being the Children's Christmas show - which Charlee was part of!She said that she was "the most beautifulist Angel!" And Yes she was! She was part of the nativity scene and they were singing Happy Birthday Jesus!
That's all I have for right now. Here's one last picture of Bailey at the church dinner totally enjoying her dinner roll! This little one loves to eat!

Well, don't know why this is underlining and can't figure out how to turn it off. I'm going to sign off for now! I will do updates as we do our Christmas thing in the upcoming 12 days!!

Thinking of you all this Holiday Season!

With Love!
Cheryl

Thanksgiving 09!

Hello Everyone! So sorry I have been neglecting my blog! I am so much into FaceBook these days that I forget about the blog! It's just the same old, same old here!! Everyone is doing the same! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were all here together and the food was all good! We are so blessed!

Charlee spent the night with us the night before and she helped me make Apple Pie!! She's a great pie crust pincher! Special Times! Here's a video of her helpin me!!

It is so fun being Mimi (grandma!)! I am totally enjoying passing traditions on like this to Charlee! Loves when she comes to our place and her and I bake and do stuff like that! How precious she is! She is in our church Christmas show - she's an Angel and she is singing with the little choir - Happy Birthday Jesus! And she sings it to practice while at our house! We are so blessed!

I can't tell you how blessed I feel having everyone here and around the table giving Thanks on Thanksgiving! Bailey was totally into it! This little one loves to eat!! She loved anything we gave here! So glad she is not a picky eater!Hello From Heather & Alan!!! They didn't each as much as usual - they cooked their turkey and stuff in the morning and actually ate a few hours before they came to our place - brats! lol They had a good time!
It was a great day!! Heather & Alan and Justin & Krista made their own turkeys and stuffing, so we got to keep all the left overs this year! We'll be eatin turkey for a week for sure! lol

The weekend before Thanksgiving we all met up at Venice Beach and did some family pictures with a photography friend of mine! We had such a good time - here are a few pictures:

Of course we had to incorporate a little Christmas into our shoot:

The guys got into it too - with no moanin and groanin! It was so super duper fun - as Charlee would say - everything is Super Duper now! lol

What an absolutely fun day we had!!! There are a ton more pictures! If you'd like to see more, you can go to my Web Album - just click here:

LETNER FAMILY BEACH PORTRAITS!

Well, I'm wishin I was home right now. Miss seeing family. Tonight is also my 30th Class Reunion - yes, I said 30th!! Hard to believe. Sure would have like to have attended, but the cost to travel on a holiday weekend was just too much!

I'll try to do better with my updates! Dave's 50th birthday is next weekend - I'll make sure I post pictures from our little gathering at Heather and Alan's!

Love you all!!