Beach Retreat

So we are now home from our weekend at the beach. I must tell you that although the weather wasn't as hot and sunny as I'd hoped, we sure did enjoy our selves and are thinking of when we can plan another trip out to our new get-away destination. If you have yet to see photos, shoot me an email and (or comment) and I send them to you. (My camera is broken so I can't upload photos to my computer- I have to do it upload them to Ken's computer... long story and even longer process to do - so conclusion is, I don't have photos on this computer) :)

We arrived on Friday afternoon, just in time to make supper and take a walk to the beach (about a 10 minute walk away). We walked through the new (est 2004) town of Seabrook and admired all the homes and the construction. That night, we watched a "super" dumb movie and just relaxed in our new surroundings. On Saturday, we had no plans. We thought we'd go where the car would take us. So, we traveled south down to Ocean Shores (where we'd been only 8 months earlier) and walk around on the beach there. We stopped at a road look out point and enjoyed the scenery there before reaching Ocean Shores as well. Once in Ocean shores, we found a spot to stop and then took a stroll. At one of the local hotels, they had some kites going and we thought we'd join in but found another spot to enjoy a bit farther down the road. We were out for a total of 4 hours and Finnegan was getting fussy and needed to eat and sleep. So, we went back to our cottage and got some lunch. Just as we arrived home, the sun appeared and we had to make one last stop at the beach in the sun. So after lunch, we quickly walked back to the beach so we could enjoy it in the sunshine before Finnegan really melted down due to lack of a good nap. As we walked home, he fell asleep in the baby backpack. That night was real calm at the cottage. Another family was two doors down from us and had started a fire for some smores. So we went out after they were done to enjoy ours. YUMMY goodness, let me tell you. We also played an exciting game of scrabble, where Ken beat me, but only by 15 pts. So I didn't lose too bad. But I did have a few rounds where I only had vowels or consents. It was a bit depressing. The ride home was a smooth one for the most part. But we did manage to take a wrong turn (because there weren't any signs and we "thought" we were going the right way) and ended 20 miles south from where we wanted to be. We should have been traveling east. Well, needless to say, that made us about an hour late getting home, but no need to worry, we didn't have any thing else planned for the day. So we just enjoyed the ride. Finnegan was definitely ready to be out of his car seat and SUPER tired when we got home. So we had some crying to take deal with when it was bed time. But once he was asleep, he was ok. And slept all night long.

We had a great time at the beach and will visit again soon!

Oh, and an update on Beth... We receive text messages from her each day and it is great to hear from her. Since I posted last, her knees were doing much better, but are now in much pain. Please continue to pray for them. She has gotten sun poisoning pretty back on her face, neck, shoulders and arms. We are hoping that she is getting some coverage to those areas so that they won't be effected more and won't get worse. Hopefully she was able to find a stronger sunscreen as well. From what I understand they were in the Garden of Gethsemane today as well as the Mt. of Olives. They also went to Caiaphas' house and a museum. Two days ago they were at the Jordan River and Beth as well as some others were "commemoratively" baptized in the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized. How neat, don't you think? With i the last day or so, she's gotten pretty home sick as the trip has become emotionally and physically draining on her. We Stepletons are not the "active" type, so all of the walking is really harsh on her body. And they haven't been serving her "favorite" things to eat, so she's not getting a lot of nourishment. She Because of the places that they've been recently, she's been very emotional. There's something about the Garden that doesn't allow you to just look at it and move on. You have take it in, and doing that at site after site is pretty draining. Keep her and the team in your prayers as they travel throughout the land for another 5 days. They should arrive home next Sunday (starting travel on Saturday). Pray for God's guidance and provisions as well as safety. Because she is beginning to get home sick, please pray for her spirit. Mom spoke with her this morning and said that she sounds like she getting sick... Her voice is getting weak and she is just tired. Please pray that this will not get in the way of her enjoying the trip and that she won't walk away with any regrets.