04/23/25
Rachel took her drivers test today! Mom watched from behind the fence as she drove the test course:

The course is behind the DMV office.

They do not have to drive out on the public road:

Congratulations Rachel!
04/23/25
Rachel took her drivers test today! Mom watched from behind the fence as she drove the test course:

The course is behind the DMV office.

They do not have to drive out on the public road:

Congratulations Rachel!
04/21/25
We tried a new sushi restaurant for Rachel’s birthday:

It was delicious! Then we drove to Alachua, Florida to our favorite ice cream shop:

Then we had an impromptu dance party:


Time for gifts:

Lizzy gave Rachel several nice gifts:

Movies:


Grandma and Grandpa Beck sent a gift for Rachel. Grandma Beck made one for Rachel too (we all got personalized ones for our birthdays):

A hand crafted whale from Grandpa Beck:

A beautiful card!

Grandpa Ed and Grandma Joyce also sent gifts:

She was especially happy for this!

Movie “The Pursuit of Happiness”:

More gifts:

Dad made a special birthday card for Rachel:

Mom made one for Rachel too:

A stand for . . .

New cymbals for your drum set!

Then we watched movie, Rachel’s choice of course; “The Isle of the Dogs”


Happy 16th Birthday Rachel! We hope you had a great day!

We Love You So Much!
04/19/25


Lots of yummy treats!

Dad likes Necco wafers:

Mom got a beautiful plant!

04/20/25
Easter Sunday we went to church then we went to the Fleshners house for Easter dinner:

We had an Easter egg hunt too:


Lizzy and Sophie are the same age and Lizzy and Mira are the same age:

We had a very nice Easter!
04/07/25
The Lortons arrived last night. Jen Lorton is Mom’s best friend from middle school!

They are staying for several days and we have some fun things planned.
4/10/25
We all went to St. Augustine! First we went to the Fort:

We went inside and toured the whole fort:





It’s pretty high up!

Then we went to the main market area for some shopping:

They found a Trump shirt!

They turned it around. . . no Trump shirts were damaged, stolen or purchased!

We stopped at the hot sauce store. Sampling is encouraged:

Wait what is this? The hottest sauce in the world!

Lizzy had to sign a form to even sample it!


Are you sure you want to do this Lizzy!?

A took a few seconds but it started to kick in!

It took her down a notch!

Never again!

Time to get some of the best pizza in Florida:

Next stop St. Augustine Beach!!

The surf was a bit rough today:


David Lorton brought a tennis ball to play us with on the beach:


Dad and Jen relaxed!



It was a beautiful day and always nice to be at the beach!
04/11/25
The next day they went kayaking on crystal river:

Alligators:

Manatees!

That afternoon we had a hail storm like no other! The hail was so big it knocked off the leaves from the trees!






There were some dents on the cars, holes in the canopy on the deck, and the cover for the grill was shredded!
04/05/25
We had a great visit with the Lorton’s!!

Mom was so happy her friend Jen could visit!!

04/06/25
Rachel is fostering some newborn kittens!




04/05/25
Rachel helped with the prep for the big spread of food!

Ready to relax and be spiritually fed!

Franklin and Franklin Jr. came over to watch it too!

3/30/25
Today we celebrated Franklin Jr.’s Birthday! Dad made him a chocolate mint cake:

Wow! that’s a beautiful cake!

Make a wish!

We hope your wish comes true!

We made him a special birthday card:

We gave home a gift too:

Happy Birthday Franklin!
03/23/25
While Mom and Dad were backpacking on the
Appalachian Trail (they are section hiking the AT):

Lizzy went to a theater states competition in Tampa Florida and got an “Excellent” score from the judges for her group piece! Rachel watched countless movies, read books and did this awesome puzzle:

Guess it’s time to take it apart:

3/18/25
The Ashby’s use to live in our neighborhood and were also members of our church. They moved away a few years ago but were back in town for a visit to Gainesville to see friends from when they lived here:

Thy have added on to their family since they moved:

The Moms visited while were played games:

We had such a nice visit with the Ashbys!

3/15/25
Their first practice session:
