Well, we continued to have what was probably our best vacation yet. Some highlights:

• An evening in Beaufort, a small town close to Callawassie that has a more beautiful boardwalk than Hilton Head, in our opinion. It's smaller and less crowded, which was nice. They also have porch swings set up all along the waterfront, so Eric and I watched the last of the sunset after eating dinner on the patio of a local restaurant.
• A special Italian dinner at the Callwassie Club, complete with red-and-white checked tablecloths and a self-playing piano.
• Having the 9-hole course outside our back door be closed for repairs, so we could walk on the golf course anytime we wanted.
• Pulling pins, holding golf clubs, and driving the golf cart at full speed as Eric's caddy, while he played 9 holes in a lightning storm.

The Gallery on the 1st Hole



On Friday we said our final goodbyes to our lovely island and drove up to Portsmouth, Virginia to see Lee Schrock, affectionately known by some as Two Cat Lee. Lee's in the Navy, so we haven't seen him much these past few years. He came back for a visit this summer, reminding us of how much we missed him, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see him once we were already on the East Coast.

Other than eating great food, having great conversation, and playing record amounts of Settlers of Catan while we were with Lee, we also went to a naval museum, part of which included walking around the USS Wisconsin.

Overall a great trip, and the time with Lee was one of the biggest highlights. We love you, Lee!

Oh yeah, and last Tuesday Eric was very sneaky and took me over to Hilton Head Island to see fireworks. If you don't know, I love fireworks. They shot them off over the water, so we stood on the edge of the boardwalk area at Shelter Cove to watch. It was great. I love that guy.

We are officially on vacation, in case you've tried to get a hold of us and failed. Eric and I are being blessed by the incredible hospitality of his aunt and uncle, who have opened their home and their villa up to us.

We drove an incredibly quick and easy 20-some hours to South Carolina last Saturday. Then we spent Sunday through Thursday enjoying the incredible atmosphere of Callawassie Island. Here are some pictures of one of our neighbors.





And a short video of the street where we're staying:





On Friday we drove up to Charlotte to spend a relaxing weekend with Eric's incredibly hospitable aunt and uncle, Sandy and Tom. Eric had a chance to fit in some golf lessons with Tom, as well as soundly beat us all at Catan. We really enjoyed the chance to catch up with them on this trip, especially since they usually have to make the trip to Kansas City. It's always fun to enter someone else's world for a while.



On Sunday we also visited Morning Star, Rick Joyner's church. We both really enjoyed hearing Joyner share. We had a good connection with a young couple after the service and also had an opportunity to receive some ministry from Morning Star's prophetic teams.


This week we're back at Callawassie, enjoying our down time. Hopefully this weekend we'll drive up to Portsmouth, VA to see our friend Lee.

Blessing the Baby

On July 20, Eric and I invited our family to join us for a time of blessing Baby Simon. We wanted to set aside a time for focused, intentional spiritual blessing for our baby before he or she officially enters the world. Our hope is that every year, on July 20, we will stop and take spiritual inventory with our child, seeing all the wonderful things God has done and seeking His will for their spiritual growth in the coming year.

We were both so overwhelmed by the beautiful and powerful prayers and blessings that our families gave. It was great to have both sides come together and share. Here's a picture taken during Betty's blessing.

A huge thanks to our families for all of their love, support, and prayers for Baby Simon!