Hurricane Season is Just Around the Corner...

And with that said, I thought I would share some pictures from a few years ago. I believe this was 2005. It was an active season. These pictures were mostly taken at Travis's parent house. The brown brick house is across the street. The whole street was pretty much flooded, as was most of Palm Bay. Our apartment complex never lost power and we had a big truck with 4 wheel drive so were could drive around and survey the damage. Most cars would stall because of the water. We saw the palm tree on that car on the way over to my in-laws house. Pretty crazy right? We were very blessed through all the hurricanes. And yes, I am that red neck. My boys played in the ditch out front with their equally red-necked father. Alex would have been only one so he stayed inside with the smart ones while it continued to rain. Having said all this, I am praying for a mild season. Heaven knows nobody can afford any more troubles right now.

On a side note, the next few posts will probably be out of order, old and new; due to that fact that I am a relatively new blogger and, I am behind. Enjoy my randomocity!

Spring Plantin'

While my parents were here, we also planted a garden. It has become a big thing with many people in our ward. Plus, I won't have to buy so many vegetables, hopefully. Travis had already put up the wooden frame for our garden box and brought in a load of dark, rich soil. Now we just had to plant. We waited until my dad came, because he is an awesome gardener. He taught us a lot and the boys had fun placing seeds in the rows. We ended up with corn, peas, cucumbers, beans, carrots, a variety of peppers, tomatoes, strawberries and we put raspberries and blueberries along the fence. I am so excited to see how well we do. Thank you Mom and Dad for all your help with getting us self sufficient!

Did I mention that closer half of this garden (corn, peas, beans, carrots, and cucumbers) were seeds and sprouted in 4 days!! I love gardening in Florida! Good soil helps... Wish us luck that we don't kill much.

Spring Breakin'

This past week was spring break for the kids. My parents also came in to town. We didn't do anything super-duper crazy but we managed to have fun. We went shopping, mostly for groceries, cardboard sledding(we don't get snow so we have to make stuff up. This is like ice blocking, sort of), a little more shopping, planted our first garden, and leads us into Easter weekend but that is a different post altogether. Although we mostly hung around the house, I was so grateful to have my parents here, with Erika, to help put my house back in order. I have gotten significantly behind lately. To get dressed, we all have to dig through the clean, wrinkled clothes mountain in the family room. Not anymore! And that odd odor coming from the kitchen sink...Gone! They cleaned or entertained while I cleaned. Plus I took some extra days off work. If only I didn't have to go back! Anyway, here are some pics to illustrate our spring break this year...

Alex had the most fun hiking up the hill and speeding back down.

We usually go with our FL cousins and this time was no exception. Andrea brought a few friends. This was Katelyn and Andrea trying not to crash!

Wyatt and Alex on the verge of a spill!

Westin never sleds. He loves fishing with Uncle Philip at the nearby levee. He usually catches a fish, and did a great job this time!

Alex tried his hand at fishing but didn't catch a fish. Bummer dude!

We saw a ton of manatees though. At least 12 were swimming around. I forget sometimes all the cool stuff we live around. Like Manatees, Alligators, and the Beach. Our Spring break was picture perfect with sun and warm temperatures.

Pickin Wildflowers...

Near the cabin there was this huge patch of wildflowers and the little girls discovered them. Amelia and Olivia loved picking, and sharing the flowers. Travis went in to get them and stuck around for a few minutes ( the smudge on his nose is from the goggle he wore while 4 wheeling). I couldn't pass up the chance to capture such a precious site.

4 Wheels + Dirt = Fun!!

Some of us went in on a couple of 4 wheelers to rent for the day. Some of the best $$ we ever spent! Everyone had a blast taking turns and giving the kids rides.

Jana & Olivia

Grandpa (my dad)

Cole and Chuck

Chad even talked my mom into taking a ride!! That was amazing, and I think

she even liked it a bit.

Travis and Mil

Charlie is truly his daddy's boy, he LOVED the 4 wheelers!

Chad and Charlie

I took Ethan for a ride and he liked it but I couldn't talk the other boys into riding. They hung out by the campfire with Grandpa.

Travis and I even got a bit of time to go out alone.

Blake

This is Chad with his rental car. Let's just say they may be washing mud off that SUV for a long time. It may or may not have found some mud.

Row Row Your Boat

We took advantage of all the possible fun at the cabin, canoeing was one of them.

Cole and Bev (and Blake "rockin the boat")

Someone had to flip and of course it was Derek and Megan. I say of course because this was Megan's first canoe trip...

Blake and Troy went out to save the day.

Chad and his girls

My brothers are crazy, they jumped in that frigid water many times.

Blake has always been a show off. : )

And Cole, enough said

Even Amelia wanted in the water, for a minute anyway.

Ethan jumped twice and that was enough for him, that kid has no body fat to insulate.

My boys mostly played along the shore in the rocks, trying to skip them.

Blake, Chad, Cole, and Troy. Derek must have been inside trying to warm up after

the capsize of his vessel.

The kids loved running the dock, the first part was bouncy.

Chad and Cole (Crazy!!) did a night jump! This is the before...

And after.. I don't know which is more frightening.

WIthers Family Pictures

During our three week vacation to Idaho we did a ton of stuff. One of which was a family photo session because it had been a long time (and many new grand kids) since all us Withers kids and family's had been together. ( That is the cabin our awesome friend Beehive Bob let us use.)

These are all the "men": my 5 brothers, Chad, Blake, Troy, Derek, Cole, plus Travis and my dad.

Grandpa and Grandma with all the blonde grandkids, I didn't notice until now that they are all shades of blonde...

Ah... the group shot. As you can see, this was quite an undertaking, with decent results. My mom was pleased with the outcome and that is all that matters.

My little cuties! Amelia wasn't loving the coldish weather ( remember, we live in FL and this was taken in Island Park in August, colder than normal. I am partial to Westin's grin, a bit like a kid in a J. C. Penny catalog.

Our family shot, which is pretty nice. We took 8 or so but in each one someone is making a face. I guess they captured our true personalities, lol.