The Wards of Palm Bay

2011-05-25T12:48:00.004-04:00

Happy end of school, everyone! C.J. has had quite the year--he is now officially in junior high school--wow! He finished up the year with a new experience--being in the school talent show on the last day of school! 6th grade is the first year the kids can do the show, and CJ was ready with a song from Phil Joel, that God wonderfully made us! He did great! We had an awards breakfast yesterday for the 6th grade, and the character trait they gave him this year was prayerful! CJ has grown so much this year, and we are so proud to be his parents!

CJ gets his "diploma" with Mrs. Bowen & Miss Hebert (his teachers this year) and Ms. Heckler; Elementary Principal.

CJ gets his awards.

CJ receives his award for being a prayer warrior.

Singing in the talent show.

CJ sings "A Plan" by Phil Joel.

2011-03-05T14:30:00.005-05:00

In February, CJ had a few days off school. One of those days I took off work and wanted to do something nice with CJ. We ended up taking a friend of his for the day, and we went up to Daytona Beach. I thought it would be nice to take the boys to the speedway and see the car that won the Daytona 500 just a few days before. We went to the track several years ago, and took the tram tour, where you get out and walk on the track, Victory Lane, and some other cool places. Well, the same tour that cost $8 the last time we went, now costs $15-$22--ugh! So I decided I didn't want to spend the money right now, and we looked around the gift shop, which is the only thing up there now that they closed the simulators and movie stuff they used to have. I asked where the winning car was--go figure, they said it was at the END OF THE TRACK TOUR!!! Well, they have to get back the $20 million dollars they paid to repave the track, I guess, but they're not going to get it from me--ha, ha! So we were a bit disappointed, but we moved on to lunch at Red Robin--yum! CJ's friend said it was the best hamburger he'd ever eaten! :) :)

After lunch, we went to the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse and got some good exercise--203 steps! I always enjoy a good lighthouse climb! All in all, a good day!

CJ and Trey at the Dale Earnhardt statue.

#43 Petty Blue!

Messing around as their favorite drivers.

Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, Florida

Just under the lens--cool look!

Before the climb...

CJ at the bottom of the lens--the boys took a break after
climbing all the way to the top.

Trey at the lens.

Not the best picture--it was REALLY windy! But proof
that both boys made it to the top successfully!

The boys pose after the climb and descent.

2011-03-05T14:13:00.003-05:00

Wow, people are going to think we've abandoned the blog! Sorry, folks! Well actually, we've been very busy; just not doing anything noteworthy that anyone else cares about! :)

We are still trying to settle in to a routine with the church in Orlando; we're out there most of the day on Sunday. It's hard work but we are enjoying it, and we love the people.

Christmas came and went, but Eric got to take time and enjoy it for the first time in many, many years. We looked at lights, got to go to Christmas parties, and actually spent some time together during the season, instead of Eric working 6 days a week, sometimes 12 hours a day!

At the end of January, Eric took CJ for his "last Christmas present", tickets to Monster Jam in Orlando. CJ has really gotten into monster trucks recently, so this was a real treat. CJ made a poster to take with him, with several of his favorite trucks and drivers that he had drawn. He got quite a lot of comments about it!

The Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida

Maximum Destruction is CJ's favorite!

I think Grave Digger's been around since my brothers
were watching monster trucks! :)

This guy's night didn't turn out quite the way he wanted.

Backdraft is getting some air.

2010-11-22T13:29:00.003-05:00

Well, another year of NASCAR has come and gone...alas, all you Jimmie haters--he's done it again! Yea! :)
CJ and I were again treated to the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday. Eric stayed behind because he didn't think the pastor should play hookey, too. :) Thank you, once again, to our NASCAR/Ford "benefactors"--we had a great time!
If you think NASCAR'S boring, wow--what a finish to the season! This race had everything...a 3-way nail-biter race for the championship that came down to the very last race, separated only by about 50 points, old rivalries rearing ugly heads in spin-outs, trash talk designed to psych out opponents--and--oh, yeah--a fiery wreck that took out the guy most likely to wreck you if it got him ahead! :)

Jimmie Johnson makes it an unprecedented FIVE championships in a row!

Carl Edwards does his burnouts and spins after winning two races in a row.

Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards "face off"--after one wins a championship, the other the final race.

Lowe's 48 car--awesome! (Can you tell who mom roots for here?)

New 2011 Ford Explorer pace car leads the way to a green flag.

CJ's favorite sight will soon be a thing of the past--Dupont will only be a partial sponsor in 2011, and will drop out in 2012. CJ wants them to keep the flames, though. :)

Look, ma, not a scratch on it!

Carl Edwards in the front all day long--cool!

Matt Kenseth got tired of Kyle Busch's antics and drove through him when Kyle came up the track right in front of Kenseth. Kyle went sailing into the wall and went halfway around the track in a fiery scene. Too bad--his day is done. Of course, it wasn't his fault... :)

Matt Kenseth was too fast entering pit road once, and the penalty really ruined his championship chances.

Juan Pablo Montoya--the sport's most popular driver--not!

Denny Hamlin--poor guy got psyched out by Johnson's tough talk, and couldn't catch a break after spinning into the grass early on.

2010-10-09T14:37:00.003-04:00

Well, we've had an exciting week in the Ward house! CJ came home the other day and said he won a poster contest for the fire department. I thought it was just a cute drawing thing the class did for art, and didn't think anything more about it. Then Thursday, when I went to pick him up, everyone was congratulating us, saying, "He won a bike!" I said, "What?" :)
Anyway, it was a citywide contest for Fire Safety week--from ALL the schools in the city! CJ won the 6th grade division, and won a new bike! Each school chose a winner from 4th, 5th, and 6th grades, then sent those 3 winners to the Fire Department, who chose one winner overall from each grade. So this morning, we went down to Walmart, where an engine company was waiting for their photo-op with the 3 winners. They took the kids' pictures, then gave each of them $100 gift cards and told them to go pick out their new bikes!
So CJ had a new incentive to finally learn to ride his bike--he and his Pop-Pop went out on Thursday night, and within an hour, he finally got the hang of it! Now he can ride his new bike with pride-- :)
The captions on the poster are "I'm sure glad I got this stuff and that you guys got out", and then, "I'm sure glad we got out of there quick!" And for all you nostalgia fans out there, yes, the engine's number is, of course, 51. :)

2010-09-10T19:08:00.005-04:00

Endings and new beginnings...

Eric's been in the School of Ministry at our church for 2 years. It's been a wild ride, but it's been great. The wives met once a month, and I've learned a lot, too. Eric graduated on September 1st...and on the same day, began his new career as the campus pastor of our East Orlando campus! :) We are so excited, and Eric is having fun twice--totally enjoying his new role, and also basking in the fact that he will actually have most holidays off from now on! CJ is really being a servant at the new campus; he pitches in wherever necessary. God has been really good to us and we pray we can serve Him well by taking care of His people!

Taken on our first Sunday at East Orlando.

Here is the entire School of Ministry class, with Pastor Mark and Pastor Dave.

After graduation, they held a reception at church for all the graduates and families. Here's a cake with all the guys' names on it.

2010-08-28T12:53:00.003-04:00

Well, another year has gone by, and we say "Happy Birthday" to CJ once again! He's 11 years old now, and we're so proud of him--aww! We had his party a little later this year, but we had one more pool party. It didn't rain--yippee!

Can't go anywhere without the Jeff Gordon hat! :)

Everyone gathers around...

To watch CJ open presents!

Parents and grandparents sit in shade and relax...

as CJ gives a thumbs-up for another great year.

Hi, mom!

2010-07-04T12:40:00.006-04:00

Happy Independence Day, everyone! We got a special treat this weekend--we were treated to tickets to the Coke Zero 400 (the old-time Firecracker 400) at Daytona! It was very exciting, and Eric is on vacation this week, so he got to experience his first race! After over an hour rain delay (well, it IS summer in Florida), we got underway and saw a lot of action from our seats between turn 4 and the start/finish line--including a huge wreck that took out half the field! Unfortunately, we lost some of our favorites, including Jimmie Johnson, and a fiery exit by Mark Martin, but Montoya was out, and Kyle Busch got taken out earlier by another wreck, so I guess we all have to take our lumps, right? Ha, ha! Here's some shots Eric took during the day. We didn't get to enjoy the displays so much before the race because of the rain, but we enjoyed seeing the new cars and all the cool giveaways. Thanks again, Ron and Jessica!

This one hurt--Jimmie's out with only 10 laps to go--ouch!

"The big one" took out almost half the field.

Jeff's car fared better than most, but was looking a little ragged by the end of the night.

CJ's favorite in action!

Oh, too bad--Kyle Busch's night is over early...

Catch a glimpse during caution, if you can!

Lining up behind the pace car...

Here's CJ with the new Ford Raptor--very cool truck!

Of course, we had to be a company family and get a pic of the Verizon truck!

CJ with a monster truck! :)

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona Beach, Florida!

2010-06-05T11:54:00.004-04:00

Well, time flies, huh? We've made it through another school year and CJ is now a 6th grader! Wow! The big spring project was the class play they did for the last chapel of the year in May. CJ got the lead male part in "Acorns to Oaks", as Farmer McDonald, dispensing wise Biblical advice about seeds and how God wants us to grow. It was great, and everyone agreed that CJ has a future in the high school drama department! The last picture is of CJ getting his character awards from his teacher, Mrs. Schrope. Happy summer, everyone!

2010-03-13T15:34:00.008-05:00

Well, how can 3 months have gone by since we've had anything interesting to show you?? Wow, time really does fly. Sorry to disappoint you, but if you don't like cars, you'll hate today's post! :)
Anyway, we finally held our church's car show this morning--it's been at least a year and a half since we had one, and this was postponed from December because of rain! We had lots of different things to see this year--2 El Caminos, A Jimmie Johnson #48 car, and more kinds of Mustangs than you can shake a stick at! It's finally warming up here; just this week, it began to feel like Florida again--yea!

2009-12-25T08:32:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone! The present-opening came and went rather quickly, starting about 7:30 this morning--ugh! Here's some pics of CJ opening his presents.

Wii game--Clone Wars, and the lightsaber attachments.

CJ ponders a new gift...

Wii Sports Resort--yippee!

New robe

Merry Christmas with a smile!

Mmmm-kisses!

Crayola Glow Station

New Bionicle

The "big present" this year was an amp and bass equipment--it seems CJ has his daddy's interest in the instrument, so we're getting him started!

An art set with all the trimmings

Paints--oh boy!

We got a new family game today--Star Trek Scene It! We are looking forward to playing!

Thank you all for your gifts--have a wonderful Christmas!

2009-12-24T22:33:00.003-05:00

From all of us in the Ward house, to all of you, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

2009-12-20T13:37:00.006-05:00

Last Tuesday night, we went out after dinner looking at Christmas lights. This house was not too far from our church...he has several songs, and a TON of lights. Here's a few pics from the phone.

So, while the lights were really entertaining, we parked in front of this house (below) to watch them. Not a single light on the entire house except this collection on the garage door: TOO FUNNY! Obviously, the arrow points to the house across the street with all the lights. I give this guy the credit--HE was clever--ha, ha!

2009-12-12T21:51:00.004-05:00

CJ and Dyan did something new this year--we were in the Christmas Parades! One last Saturday night in Palm Bay, and one tonight in Melbourne. It was really cool--we had a blast--CJ especially! We saw a lot of people we know last week, and a few tonight while we were walking next to our church float handing out candy. CJ was enjoying waving to everyone! This was a crummy year to start being in parades, though. Last week it rained all day, and finally cleared up about 2 hours before the 6pm start time, but it was really cold (no, really). This week, it threatened to rain all day, but of course, didn't start until about 2pm, and rained off and on until about 7pm--AFTER the parade started! But that didn't stop CJ--he put on his smile, got his umbrella, and kept on going--2 full miles each parade! What a trooper--I'm so proud of him! I only had my cell phone with me, so I didn't get lots of pics--but here are a few of our float in various stages. There were actually 2 gingerbread houses--one for people to wave from, and one for the puppets to work from. The worship team was in the front of the truck last week, but didn't play tonight because of the rain. I think everyone had a great time!

2009-11-24T14:27:00.010-05:00

Well, CJ and Dyan had our first real NASCAR experience this Sunday. A big thank you goes to our friend Ron, who works for Ford and got us tickets to the Sprint Cup season finale down at Homestead! What was it like, you ask? One word--WOW! It was very cool! Watching on TV is great, but it doesn't do the experience justice. First of all, there's no replay, so you have to be paying attention all the time, because if something happens, you miss it! But most importantly, you cannot tell someone how LOUD the cars are until you hear it in person! We had a fly-by from F-16s to start the race, and I thought they were pretty loud until now! My ears will be ringing for a week, but it was worth it (yes, I did wear earplugs most of the time)! When we knew we got the tickets, we told CJ, and he was almost vibrating with excitement! We got to the track and there were lots of cool things to do, and lots of different booths to separate you and your money--ha, ha! But we got a bunch of cool little freebies, too! I guess I'll be putting some new posters up on Thanksgiving! :)
Unfortunately, Eric had to work, but we took along a family friend--that's Stew in a few of the pictures with CJ. We all had a blast! The pictures aren't in any particular order, but are some of the better ones--hope you enjoy them. I think we've created a monster--CJ is now talking about going to the 500 in February! Oh, boy! We even got to see some haulers on our way home--and waved at Jimmie Johnson's as we went by!--by the way, as of today, for all you NASCAR fans, only 82 days left without racing! LOL :)

Below is a view from our seats--you can see the donut marks Kyle Busch left after he won the Nationwide race (and the series) on Saturday.
Here's a Mark Martin pit stop--we really were hoping he could pull it off and win the championship, but I guess we will have to wait until next year to see what he does--go, Martin!
From the Ford displays--here's the Nationwide series Mustang beginning in 2010.

These guys get really close to the wall--here's Ryan Newman's car after scraping the wall.
CJ was so excited--the way the cars were lined up before the race, Jeff Gordon's #24 was parked right in front of our seats!

We could see all the cars come down pit road, but we couldn't see all the way to the front end, so we didn't get to see Jimmie's team in action.
We could see between turns 3 and 4 on the track.
Jeff Gordon as he pitted.

Denny Hamlin smoking the tires after his win--it's blurry, but it wasn't an easy picture to get!

Fly-over from F-16s--very cool!

We were pretty close to Elliot Sadler's pit--unfortunately, he blew up on pit road later and was out of the race.

Classic Mustang in the pre-race show--Buzz Aldrin in the passenger seat. Eric thought it was funny that they let him fly a spaceship but not drive a classic Mustang! :)

Again, blurry picture, but it's pretty hard to get a pic of the champion going by!

Always fun to see the Blimp--the flag was waving and looked really cool after dark.

OK, all you hard core fans--why is the #44 Petty Blue, but the #43 is white? :)
(No, not a trivia question; I really don't know!)

Sniff, sniff...this is the last race for Dewalt--guess Matt will have a new primary sponsor for 2010.

The fireworks after the race were pretty good--AND I finally found the setting on our camera that would take decent fireworks pictures! Yes, I should play around with it more often!

2009-11-07T16:25:00.006-05:00

Well, everyone, Dyan is 40 now--ugh! But I got to have a special day for myself, courtesy of Walt Disney World--get in free on your birthday! Well, nevermind that my "free" admission cost me FOURTEEN dollars to park in their lot for the day! :) I did have a really nice time, though, and I went to Disney's Hollywood Studios, since they have my favorite ride in all the parks--the Rock-N-Roller Coaster! The parks have all their Christmas decorations up; the Osborne lights start next week--I only missed it by 5 days!

I decided I would go to the coaster first, and get at least one wait-free ride today. I got right on, and when we were through, a bunch of crazy people like me decided to get right back on! I think I need to have my head examined--but it was so cool!

After the coaster, I headed over to Pixar Place to see about all the hype for the newest ride at the park, "Toy Story Midway Mania". I had heard that, not only was the ride great, but the queue line had many cool things to see, as well, so I braved the 30 minute wait in the standby line. The Mr. Potato Head nearing the end of the queue was really cool--but I still didn't get to see him take off his ear--yes, he can really do that!

I had heard about this little guy, but he's new, too, so we haven't seen him in person yet. Luxo Jr. comes out of this little window every so often, and "dances" to the music. He's very cute!

After waiting the 30 minutes for Midway Mania (which is way cool, by the way--like the next generation of the Buzz Lightyear ride), I stopped next door at Narnia to get a look at Aslan's How. I know, you're all saying, "but you hated that movie!". Well, like a train wreck, I couldn't look away. I figured I was here anyway, might as well go in. There were no interactive things here like the witch giving her speech from the first movie, just a "replica" of what Aslan's How looked like in the movie. The Stone table was even there, too--but it was really small. I went away amazed at all the shooting locations and the preparations that went into the movie, but sad again at how many missed opportunities they had to make the movie better. BUT--not going to let it ruin my day, I went back over to the roller coaster, and got a Fastpass for later in the day. Hey, it's my birthday--I can do anything I want--ha, ha!!!! :)

I know that I'm a little old for the Muppets, but I love them anyway, so I headed over to see the show. I think one of my favorite lines is in the preshow where Sam Eagle (or maybe Scooter) has had enough and tells Gonzo, "Stop this foolishness!", and Gonzo says, "What kind of foolishness would you like?" I love Statler and Waldorf, too!

After the show, it was time for lunch, so I headed over to Pizza Planet. Then I realized I hadn't seen the Indiana Jones show for a long time, so I thought today would be nice to do so!

After the show, I was going to try to make some tracks and get to the Stunt car show, but I really didn't have enough time. I figured I would see the show if I could, but we saw it often in 2007, so it was ok. I wandered and shopped for a few minutes, then it was time for my Fastpass. I went back and enjoyed another 57 mph "blastoff" with Aerosmith, and by then, my day had just about come to a close. But I enjoyed it, and it was lots of fun--ta-da!

2009-10-10T13:52:00.006-04:00

Well, Eric and Dyan were able to have a "date day" this Friday, and Dyan thought it would be a cool idea to see what all the different Disney hotels looked like--those nice, upscale ones we'll probably never be able to afford! So that's what we did! We sampled every kind of Disney transportation--2 monorails, 2 boats, and a bunch of buses to get to all of our destinations. It was a lot of fun to see the different takes on resort living! Here's a sampling of our day.

It's always fun to see the arch--it's like a whole different world when you get here.

One of Dyan's favorite things at Disney World is the topiaries. They don't seem to have as many as they used to, except at certain times of the year, but they are beautiful. This one of Mickey is at the Contemporary.

The lobby of the Polynesian Resort has many small waterfalls.

The outside view of the Polynesian Resort.

The Yacht and Beach Club, across the water from Boardwalk and Epcot.

Just outside of the Hollywood Studios, Mickey is even in the bushes!

The Swan and Dolphin hotels have really cool fountains!

The Grand Floridian Hotel

Mary Poppins stands outside the Grand Floridian.

The Contemporary Hotel as seen from the monorail.

From the Contemporary, you're so close to the Magic Kingdom, you can practically smell the turkey legs! :)

This is a display inside the Boardwalk Inn--Dyan wanted to take it home!

Here's the lobby of the Boardwalk Inn.

The Lobby of the Animal Kingdom Lodge--some of the rooms look out onto the savannah and you can see the animals!

We took the monorail to Epcot while making our way back to where we started the day, and I took a shot of Spaceship Earth--again, SO much better without the stupid Mickey hand (yes, I'm a purist) !

We finished our day at Downtown Disney, and I had never noticed these guys before, behind the Christmas Shoppe!

We had a wonderful day, and CJ enjoyed playing after school at a friend's house--hey, he was in the pool--he was the smart one! Even though it's mid-October, it was slated to be 95 degrees with a heat index of 105! Aaahh, fall! :)

2009-09-26T17:06:00.004-04:00

Well, we went up to the Space Center today and I wasn't sure about the weather. But it held off raining until we were on our way home! :) It seemed like everything we did was "old hat" today, and we didn't take many pictures--but we had a nice day. CJ went straight to the car--yes, the car, in the Saturn V building. It must be new since last year--Alan Shepherd's classic Corvette is now on display underneath the huge rocket. Also new was the Apollo 14 capsule and some other things from that era--the only disappointing thing was that the capsule is in the room where you used to be able to put your head in a cutout on the wall and make yourself an astronaut. CJ was kind of bummed about that. But he also learned a lot today--he learned that Apollo 13 was "a successful failure"--and exactly what that means. Gee, maybe someday he will appreciate living in the middle of history--but for now, he's just a kid! :) We learned today that they are building a brand new crawler for the new Ares rockets, and we saw them beginning that out by the launch pads.

2009-09-25T16:55:00.003-04:00

Well, it's that time of year again, and I took my now-annual Dyan's day out trip to Kennedy Space Center this morning. Snoopy was new this year--see the second picture to find out more details. Snoopy greeted us as we entered the Rocket Garden. I also took another trip to the Astronaut Hall of Fame, and got a picture of the "Forever We Will Remember" memorial on the wall for the 14 Shuttle Astronauts who have lost their lives. The whole museum is pretty inspiring, actually. I really enjoyed myself today...part two of the trip is tomorrow when I take CJ for some more fun. Aaah--I love these free weekends! :)

2009-09-25T16:51:00.003-04:00

This is a full sized mock-up of the new Orion crew vehicle--if it ever happens. And believe me, around here, that is REALLY important, since the space program is practically our entire job force here. They're going back to capsules, and they'll launch on a new rocket--Ares. Pretty cool!

2009-09-25T16:46:00.003-04:00

On my way home, I stopped in Viera to check the progress of the new building for Calvary Chapel Melbourne's satellite campus there. It's almost done! Services should start in November sometime--and look at the street sign--Fellowship Place--that is too cool! :)

2009-08-09T16:58:00.004-04:00

Well, we are now the proud parents of a 10-year-old! I can't believe it! We had a pool party yesterday, and--yea--it didn't rain! Yippee! We had a smaller crowd than last year, but it was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun! Happy Birthday, CJ!

2009-07-13T19:54:00.003-04:00

On our last day of vacation, (my sister-in-law) Bev told us about the "Dress like a Cow" promotion at Chick-Fil-A. You got free food if you dressed up. So everyone donned black spots and CFA gear, and all 3 of us ate until we were stuffed--for just $3! The cow was on hand for pictures that day, so here are all 9 cousins with the cow. We really had a nice vacation--with great weather, and not a drop of rain--that is, of course, right up until almost the exact moment we came back to Brevard County--then it started pouring! :) Thanks, everyone, for the great vacation!

2009-07-13T19:49:00.004-04:00

We had lunch and a trip to the park with some old friends (thanks, Pateys!), and here's Hannah, CJ, and Josh playing in the park.

2009-07-13T19:44:00.003-04:00

Here's CJ while we were waiting for our Monument tour. It really is a great view from here; you can see so much!

2009-07-13T19:39:00.003-04:00

Here's more views from the top.

The Pentagon

The Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Monument

Here's the view from The Mall

2009-07-13T19:26:00.002-04:00

Eric took his first trip to the top of the Washington Monument! I'm sure I've been before, but I didn't remember it, so this was the most exciting part of our day. The view is awesome! Here are a few of the pics from the top, at 490 feet.

2009-07-13T19:09:00.003-04:00

During our Washington visit, our last stop was the Air and Space Museum. We hadn't been to that one for a long time, since we always went there as kids. Since it was our last stop, we were all pretty tired after walking straight from the Washington Monument. I had read that the Enterprise was back on display, and wanted CJ to see it, but when we got there, we couldn't find it anywhere! I had to do some serious looking...and had to ask 3 people... but finally found it--in the basement of the gift shop!! Anyway, the reaction from CJ when he first laid eyes on it made it all worth it. When he saw it, he stopped in his tracks and said, "Whoa!" It was really neat! For those of you old timers like us, if you remember, The Enterprise used to hang from the ceiling, but now they have it in this display case. It looks SO much bigger this way! It was really funny, though...I had to disappoint CJ because I told him that when he spent his money at the gift shop, he couldn't buy any space shuttle stuff! I told everyone else that I did NOT drive a thousand miles so he could buy a space monkey that we could get at home! :) But CJ made a wise choice, and got a pilot's hat to enjoy instead!

Here's a view of Apollo-Soyuz

2009-07-13T19:02:00.003-04:00

We were able to go to Maryland to enjoy the holiday this year. We were invited to spend the day with the rest of the family at Beachmont Christian Camp--thanks, Bev! We had a cookout, a summer birthday celebration, and a pool party all in one day! We were even able to catch some fireworks to top off the evening!

2009-07-13T18:53:00.005-04:00

David brought his bike to have a little fun on the 4th of July...everyone was enjoying it!

2009-07-13T18:50:00.003-04:00

Alyssa was having some fun posing for the camera...she was also learning to jump in the deep end of the pool!

2009-07-13T18:45:00.003-04:00

Here's some pics of CJ enjoying the pool...he has become quite the fish over the last few years!

2009-06-22T18:05:00.003-04:00

CJ has become quite the superhero buff lately. Here he is posing after we had a "Bolt" movie night at our church, complete with face painting. The movie was pretty good,too!

2009-05-22T15:17:00.003-04:00

Here's CJ at his awards ceremony this morning. He got an award for art, since he's a fantastic artist, an award for being a great speller, and the character award for being respectful. He is excited about the end of school, and we are looking forward to a wonderful summer!

2009-05-22T15:14:00.003-04:00

Eric went to a sunrise Bible study on the beach last Saturday--here's a picture of God's handiwork at 6:30 a.m.

2009-05-22T15:08:00.002-04:00

Well, everyone, you probably thought we fell off the face of the earth, but we're still here--nothing much exciting going on here! Here are just a few things from the end of the school year--can't believe we're almost through another one! CJ is finishing up the 4th grade this year, and here's a pic of his spring concert last week. He was really singing his heart out!

2009-03-15T20:45:00.002-04:00

With excitement and some sadness...we watched Discovery lift off tonight at 7:43pm. We always love to go out front and see the shuttle, but we realized tonight that we don't have many more of these opportunities, since this is the last year for the fleet. There are supposed to be 6 missions this year, I think. It's been really awesome to be able to see it, and it was clear enough tonight that we could hear the rumble...cool! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

2009-02-22T16:24:00.003-05:00

We decided to do some sightseeing while CJ was off this week. One of the places we went was the Bok Tower & Gardens in Lake Wales. It was absolutely beautiful there, and the tower was really stunning, built in the 1920's by Edward Bok, who built it as a wildlife sanctuary and place where people could enjoy the natural beauty. As you can see from some of these pictures, it's also the highest point in the state--which, in Florida, is quite a feat!
It was really nice there, but I just came away sad. Everything was dedicated to him, his ideals & how important nature was. But I was saddened because of course, there was no mention of God at all...this man spent his life and a good bit of his fortune on this park and legacy, which will of course last a long time, but does it matter to him now? God gave this man the resources to build something beautiful, but he didn't give credit to the One it really came from. But it was a good thinking point for me--I want to live my life giving credit to God, and doing things for Him that will last into eternity, far after this world and its fading beauty are gone. :)

2009-02-22T16:22:00.003-05:00

There was a smaller version of the bell player in the visitor's center--you hit the key and the bell rings in the back...here's the maestro playing the bells!

2009-02-22T16:19:00.003-05:00

At the visitor's center, CJ stood in the wall cutout that showed how big the biggest bell in the tower is. Here's how he compares--wow!

2009-02-22T16:08:00.002-05:00

Well, CJ had 2 days off this week, so we decided to have some fun. Of course, we had to stay close to home for the big race last weekend (which turned out to be very tame, for the most part), but we went over to the NASCAR cafe again this week...disappointing, actually. They changed the name from "Cafe" to "Grille", and now it's more of a sports bar than anything. Instead of interesting NASCAR tidbits ( & crashes) on the big screens, all the different TVs display different sports channels. Obviously appealing to a wider audience (not to mention the drinking crowd), they've changed the downstairs to a larger bar. The upstairs remains largely the same (although we couldn't eat up there), but there's lots of arcade games where the big screen used to be. We were kind of disappointed, but we were able to see a few new cars and CJ got to play one racing game. These cut-outs were new, too, so CJ had some fun being "in" with the drivers! :)

2009-01-11T16:01:00.003-05:00

CJ still has a great imagination, and enjoys dressing up as his favorite characters. New Year's weekend, we watched the Veggies in "The Pirates Who don't do Anything". He came up with this getup all by himself. At one point, he had an eye patch, but I didn't catch it with the camera. What a character!

2008-12-25T09:06:00.002-05:00

2008-12-25T08:56:00.001-05:00

Here is Christmas Day--it was all over by 8am! :) We hope you enjoy these--Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T08:51:00.002-05:00

We had our regular tradition this year and put up our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving Day. This is a new tree; it has lights already on it. It went much easier this year, too! Unfortunately, the train wasn't so lucky; we had to put it away because it doesn't work anymore. Maybe we'll get a new one next year!

2008-12-25T08:42:00.002-05:00

Eric wins the Father of the Year award this year for doing something nice for CJ. He sat right next to I-95 for a couple of hours trying to get a glimpse of these trucks the day after the NASCAR finale down in Miami. What a guy! :)

2008-12-25T08:37:00.003-05:00

CJ enjoyed getting into the training displays of the airplanes. One guy even let CJ climb into the classic car!

2008-12-25T08:34:00.003-05:00

The Fabulous Hudson Hornet! This one had the Doc Hudson cars posted in the dashboard. :)

2008-12-25T08:27:00.003-05:00

Here are some pictures from the Warbird Air Museum in Titusville. They had a free weekend for Brevard Residents (I love those!), and we took the opportunity to check it out. They had something for all of us; with airplane displays, a car show, AND some model trains.

2008-11-01T16:11:00.005-04:00

We went out for some "fair" fun on Halloween night this year. We went to a local place that was doing games and other fun things. CJ really enjoyed himself, and saw lots of people there from his school. He has enough candy to last until Easter now--ha, ha!

2008-10-10T23:15:00.002-04:00

Dyan's Mom and Dad came down for a visit--just for this guy right here! Today was Grandparents Day at school, and CJ had some Grandparents for the first time. He was really excited! The school plans a special day each year where family can come and see the classrooms and find out what the kids have been doing, then they top it off with a concert and a noon dismissal! I think they all had a good time today! We had a nice visit, but our weather was pretty crummy this week and Mom didn't get her beach day like we planned. Next time, then!! We also saw the movie Fireproof (Eric & I have seen it twice now)--you've got to see it! Two thumbs up from us--and you'll never look at hot sauce again without a little giggle...ok, guys, maybe just a smile!

2008-10-10T22:48:00.003-04:00

Well, it's that time again...our yearly free visit to Kennedy Space Center, courtesy of being Brevard County residents! This year, I (Dyan) treated myself--I usually have Fridays off, but I've been extremely busy lately. So this Friday (9/26), I let myself relax and went to KSC by myself! I had a really nice time--it was not crowded like the Saturday and Sundays are--and I even got to visit the hall of Fame--which I've been wanting to do for the past 5 years! I was VERY excited about the historic time we got to enjoy...both launch pads had shuttles on them. A little trivia--this is the first time in 7 years, only the 17th time , and the last time, that both shuttles have been on the pad at the same time. I could see the tops of the shuttles as I came across the water on the way in, and I couldn't wait to get closer. So, needless to say, I was very disappointed when I realized that was ALL I was going to see...the orbiters were protected by the towers, and so not visible except for the last day before launch. I was REALLY bummed, but I should have realized it. Oh, well, maybe I'll have an excuse to go up the day before we launch in November. The mission Atlantis was going on was delayed because of a problem with the Hubble Telescope, but Endeavor should go on as planned. I still enjoyed myself and it was a great day!

2008-10-10T22:44:00.003-04:00

I was glad to see that the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) finally was restored to pre-hurricane Frances conditions! Over the course of our last several visits, the building has been repaired, but not repainted. Now it all looks uniform and whole again--yea!

2008-10-10T22:38:00.003-04:00

One of my favorites is the Rocket Garden. It's so neat to see these enormous things--then realize that the astronauts not only were blasted into space on top of these, but to realize what tiny crew cabins they had...wow! The top photo is the Saturn V rocket, which they used for the Apollo missions.

2008-10-10T22:33:00.003-04:00

This is a new display since last year. It's a T-38 jet, used for training, and also how the astronauts fly between Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers. Pretty cool! In the background are the shuttle Explorer mock-up, and the building is the Shuttle Launch Experience ride. That was much better this year, by the way. Since I already knew what to expect this year, it was much more enjoyable!

2008-10-10T22:29:00.003-04:00

Well, since I had a day alone on Friday, I gave CJ the option to go on Saturday--of course he wanted to go! We got there right at opening, and ran into one of CJ's classmates on the first ride! We hung out with them for a while, and I got these guys posing. Here's CJ with Luke and his brother. We didn't stay long this time, but got the chance to see a movie and check out the rocket garden.

2008-10-10T22:24:00.003-04:00

This is a full-size mock-up of the shuttle. I think it's one of CJ's favorites here. You can see the cargo bay and the flight deck if you climb the structure behind it. It's pretty cool when you realize just how huge these things are--but the orbiter itself is dwarfed by the fuel tank and rocket boosters!

2008-09-11T18:15:00.002-04:00

Eric just wanted to show off CJ's new glasses. What a handsome guy!

2008-09-11T18:11:00.003-04:00

We survived Tropical Storm Fay, and had some really wild clouds for a few days! CJ ended up having 4 days off; now he has to go for 2 days in November when he would have been off school. We are getting back to normal now and are looking forward to a quiet fall--we hope!

2008-08-20T17:18:00.003-04:00

Well, we should have known we couldn't go 2 years in a row without any hurricanes! This week starts the most likely period during the year for hurricanes, and we only made it to the letter "F" before we had problems. Tropical Storm Fay turned out to be not nearly as strong as was predicted, but (what do they know) the system stalled just as it was over Brevard County today. CJ had exactly 4 days of school, and now he has had 3 days off! :) The storm would be nothing to write home about except that it continued to slow and now stop, and has dumped at least 20 inches of rain in our area in about 36 hours, with more to continue! We are all going to audition for a musical here--"The sun will come out, tomorrow..." :) Much of Palm Bay is underwater at the moment, and the drainage ditch behind our home is now a full fledged canal. CJ and I have been home for 2 days and I'm going insane--but we will hopefully begin getting back to normal in the next day or so. Since I've been trying to write this post, the rain has almost completely stopped for the first time today. Maybe it'll be over soon. Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know we are still here! :)

2008-08-09T19:40:00.002-04:00

Well, the "Ceej" made it another year--he's 9 years old today! We had another pool party this year, and we all had a great time. The rain threatened several times, and ultimately beat us out about 10 minutes before the party was over, but it was fun anyway. Of course, CJ chose another NASCAR cake, and someone bought him more Jeff Gordon stuff, so he's continuing the theme! Here are some CJ pics from the morning.

2008-08-09T19:27:00.003-04:00

Here are some various photos of the morning. We did manage to get in nearly the full 2 hours of party time before the rain fell. It was good timing.

2008-08-09T19:17:00.002-04:00

After the party we came home and gave CJ our presents. CJ was just chilling out for a while, enjoying his new presents...then we went shopping so he could spend the birthday money he just got! :) CJ said it was the best birthday ever--awww!

2008-08-09T16:26:00.003-04:00

Finally, something worth writing about ! :) We have not strayed very far from home this summer, thanks to gas being $4/gallon. But we wanted to end the summer with at least one fun thing CJ can write about when he goes back to school on Wednesday! So yesterday, we headed to South Florida--Palm Beach County, to the Jupiter Lighthouse, which we've never seen before. The first pic is at the base of the light, the next pic is headed out of the park--my last look, so to speak. The next two are from the top of the light--this one is small--only 105 steps. The picture of the boats racing is where the Intracoastal meets the Atlantic there in Jupiter. The last pic, of the obnoxiously huge white house, is a picture of how the other half lives. By the way, that gray area to this side of the pool is not just a wall, it's a WATERFALL! :) We had a really nice time, and we drove home via US 1 and A1A and just enjoyed the ocean sights for a while. It was a great day!

2008-08-09T16:17:00.002-04:00

As we were leaving the lighthouse museum, we got a treat we don't see so much around our house--watching the drawbridge go up! Of course, it's much more enjoyable to watch from the shore--not from your car behind the bridge gate! :) So we watched a few boats go through, then we started our trip home. We drove home via Jupiter Island, which is where the money is--we heard Tiger Woods is building there. Very nice--ooh, aah!

2008-08-09T16:12:00.002-04:00

Aah-nothing like a gelati on a hot summer day! Unfortunately, we don't have a Rita's close to us--this one is 45 minutes away :( But it was on our way home, so we stopped to enjoy some summer cool to end our day of adventure!

2008-07-05T09:20:00.003-04:00

We were able to do something a little different for Independence Day this year. We went to a friend's house to swim and have dinner, then we went to the river to watch the fireworks. We've never been to the Melbourne show before; we usually watch the Palm Bay show. But on the river, you can see ALL the shows, and also the people who are doing backyard fireworks! It was neat to have such a great vantage point. We were also concerned about the weather all day long; but it turned into a beautiful Florida day--about the nicest day we've had in several weeks!

The first picture is some homes right on the river at the very end of the Melbourne Causeway, where we parked our cars. I took the other pictures because it was too good of a sunset to miss. The last picture is looking west (inland) back over the causeway. Happy Independence Day, all!

2008-07-05T09:16:00.002-04:00

The kids played a mean game of Uno while we waited for the sun to go down. Here is Aaron, CJ, and Jonathan. CJ always seems to know when the camera is on--he always strikes a pose! :)

2008-07-01T17:22:00.002-04:00

This is CJ's third year in swimming lessons at the local pool. Last year, we began signing him up for 2 sessions instead of 1, and that worked out for him much better, since we don't have a pool of our own to play in. Here are some pics that Eric took this morning, by personal request, that show how CJ's doing--he really has a lot of fun!

2008-07-01T17:19:00.001-04:00

Here is some side breathing, and a well-placed smile! CJ's having too much fun!

2008-07-01T17:15:00.001-04:00

CJ is just learning the backstroke.

2008-07-01T17:12:00.001-04:00

Here's some before and after diving pictures! :)

2008-07-01T17:10:00.001-04:00

The last few minutes of each day, they usually let the kids do some of their own stuff. Here's a Cannonball!

2008-06-28T12:02:00.002-04:00

OK, everyone, you're probably wondering what we've been doing lately, since the last blog about "the Great Palm Bay fire" was such a downer--ha, ha! Well, the fires went away and we've had lots of rain now that it's summer. Dyan and Eric have been hard at work, and CJ has been taking swim lessons again this summer. We've had a few trips to the beach, but with gas at $4 a gallon, we've pretty much been homebodies recently. Here's a few pics from our outing at church last night--Kidz Blitz. It's a guy that comes out and chooses various volunteers from the audience to do several games. He weaves in the gospel for all the games. It was a lot of fun; and I got to see more of the goofy side of many of my co-workers at church! The man in the middle with the black t-shirt is Donnie, the Kidz Blitz guy. The couple on the right is Herb and Jan; he's an elder in the church. They (and the couple on the left) are about to play a game (that goes awry at the end--see next pic) where Jan holds a water balloon on Herb's head, and their grandson has to get shaving cream off the balloon with a real razor! :) Fun stuff! It goes awry at the end when Audrey and Matt pop the balloons over the guys heads! Ugh! Hence, their consequences...

2008-06-28T11:58:00.002-04:00

I think some of the adults had more fun at Kidz Blitz than the kids! Audrey, in the green, was the green team captain. She is the director of Children's Ministry for our Viera campus. Matt, in the blue, was blue team captain, and works with our youth. This was an illustration about the consequences of wrong choices and sin.

2008-06-28T11:54:00.002-04:00

This is one of the games from Kidz Blitz. Two older kids on each team attempt to stuff as many balloons as they can into the oversized jogging suit the younger kid is wearing. Both teams broke the record last night--our team won with 44 balloons!

2008-05-12T15:26:00.001-04:00

Palm Bay is burning! See the caption below for more details. Here's another picture Eric took from our driveway.

2008-05-12T15:20:00.002-04:00

You may have heard that there are brush fires in Central Florida on the news. There are actually 7 of them here in Palm Bay. This is a picture that Eric took FROM OUR DRIVEWAY!!! At last check more than 2100 acres are burning. We are in no danger right now but it has been very windy and very dry. We have friends that may be evacuating their homes very soon.

2008-04-28T18:47:00.002-04:00

Well, this weekend, Dyan got a very special treat. My cousin Dawn (in the Oxford shirt) got married, and I was able to go to Texas to see the wedding! And I may be the first family person (other than the bride and groom) to post it--:) Yes, others have said the same thing--WHAT are they doing blogging ?? But seriously, I really enjoyed the weekend, and I saw some of my family I haven't been able to get together with in years! It was terrific to catch up, and to come full circle and see Dawn get married (since she was in our wedding), was just wonderful! Many happy years, guys! These are "The Brady girls", Martha, Dawn, Holly, and Christy.

2008-04-28T18:41:00.002-04:00

On this trip, I got to meet my new cousins! Walker and Quinn are just about 2 years old, and I found them so cute I had to put them on my blog! Caroline is my other new cousin (she's 5), and the three of them were absolutely adorable!

2008-04-28T18:38:00.001-04:00

Since Ukraine was so special to Dawn and Steve (they met there), they gave us each a decorated egg that's a tradition there. Here are Quinn and Caroline with theirs, while waiting to throw flowers at the newlyweds.

2008-04-28T18:34:00.001-04:00

This is one of the pictures I can actually be proud of, since most of my pictures are usually terrible. This one turned out very nicely. Here is Holly, Dawn, Christy, Martha, and Caroline in the front. You all looked beautiful!!! :)

2008-04-28T18:28:00.002-04:00

And for the first time in public, Mr. and Mrs. Steven Sparks! Congratulations, guys !

2008-02-28T19:38:00.002-05:00

At some point during the school year, every class does a short play in chapel. Last week was the third grade's turn. The play was about 4 acts long, and CJ acted as the director, so he had, pretty much, the first and last lines of each segment. All the kids did a really great job, but I don't have many good pictures because the lighting in the chapel was pretty bad. But everyone enjoyed the show!

2008-02-28T19:36:00.000-05:00

2008-02-07T07:55:00.000-05:00

Well, here is our special "Student of the Week"! Each week in chapel, CJ's school recognizes one kid from each elementary class and the teacher tells something nice about that student. This week was CJ's turn! :) Mrs. Thorsen said that CJ was great at memorizing Scripture, and also recognized him for "endurance". He has been having trouble with math, but with a little tutoring, and a lot of hard work, he is getting great grades, and has recently gotten a few 100% math tests!

2008-02-07T07:50:00.000-05:00

Well, we had a visit in January from Dyan's Mom and Dad, and Debbie, too! We all had a nice time! Here's a pic from Downtown Disney. Deb and CJ have a thing for hats, I think!

2007-12-25T13:40:00.000-05:00

Well, Merry Christmas, everyone! It's just the three of us this year; if it weren't for the rain and the Red Tide, we'd be at the beach! :) Anyway, we've had a good morning and are looking forward to a nice turkey dinner. This year, we got a "Scene It" game--Disney version, of course! We've played it once already--it's a cool twist on the board game; it's part roll the dice and go around the board, part watch the DVD and give the answer. Neat-o!

2007-12-25T13:37:00.000-05:00

Here's CJ getting excited about new crayons--well, they ARE twistables, after all! That boy DOES love his art supplies! This is also a good picture of his latest missing tooth!

2007-12-25T13:35:00.000-05:00

Of course, every kid dreams of getting clothes for Christmas, right? Ha, ha! This year, CJ was spared from getting too many clothes, but I think this is going to look GREAT on him! :)

2007-12-22T10:25:00.000-05:00

Well, we gave CJ an early Christmas present on Wednesday after school. He got done at noon and we told him we were going to spend the night at Disney. He has been wanting to stay over there again but we weren't sure we were going to get the opportunity (Disney has such a good way of separating you from your money, ha, ha). We figured these 2 days would be the last days to go before Christmas, when it would be INSANELY crowded, so we packed up and headed out! The guys spent Wednesday at EPCOT, topping it off with the "Beatles" show at the U.K. Then CJ and Dyan got to go to Magic Kingdom Thursday, and ended the trip with the "Fantasmic" show at The Studios. See ya later, Disney! :)

2007-12-22T10:18:00.000-05:00

Here's a really cool pic of the castle--it looked all shiny with the way the afternoon sun was hitting it. It was kind of cloudy, but for the moment, the sun was really bright! Sorry the picture is crooked :)

2007-12-22T10:16:00.000-05:00

We got to ride in the front of the monorail on our last ride. It's neat to ride up front and get a different perspective!

2007-12-22T10:11:00.000-05:00

We saw this on our way out of the Magic Kingdom and I just HAD to get a picture! Now that I'm taking pictures of movie posters, I guess I can officially say that YES, I'm obsessed! I just got so excited! :) Remember, everyone, May 16!

2007-12-22T09:57:00.000-05:00

Here's a photo of the EPCOT Christmas tree and walkway over to World Showcase. It's been such a nice year; it's sort of sad to see it come to an end; but we've really enjoyed the privilege of being able to come all year. Merry Christmas!

2007-12-22T09:52:00.000-05:00

CJ got to tell Santa and Mrs. Claus what he wanted for Christmas!

2007-12-22T09:49:00.000-05:00

CJ playing with hats while at EPCOT.

2007-12-22T09:43:00.000-05:00

Well, we found out earlier this week that Spaceship Earth was doing a "soft opening", so we did get to go on! It's not scheduled to be finished until February, but they were letting people get a preview. All the old favorites are still in the beginning, with new costumes and better mechanical movements. But as you get to the top and begin descending again, look for all new things. I hope they put more things at the end--there's not much to see or do. But we were glad we got the chance to see some of the changes before the end of our year!

2007-12-22T09:36:00.000-05:00

Here's CJ with a tree he made from an ice cream cone and a LOT of sugar! They made this at their school Christmas party.

2007-12-15T19:40:00.000-05:00

Here's the beginning of it all on the "Streets of America". They even have a nativity scene!