Panama City Beach Vacation

Hey guys!! It's me.....Jennifer......remember me?? =-)

Well.....I finally sat down today and prepared this post. Better late than never...I always say =-).
Sit down and get comfortable because it's going to take a little while to get through this one.

We had a WONDERFUL time on our vacation. We shared our vacation again this year with our friends, the McKays. This was the first time we had been to Panama City Beach. Jamey and Tracie had been there before. I have to say it is by far one of my FAVORITE beaches. Beautiful white sand...emerald green water.
We stayed at a very nice place....Sterling Reef....it was brand new, exceptionally clean and well maintained. We all LOVED it. Our room was gorgeous.....decorated to the hilt. It was 3 bedrooms/3 bathrooms....very roomy. We always book our vacation through a website called VRBO. It's a good place to find awesome deals on condos ANYWHERE! This is where I booked this condo. We were very pleased.

This is the view from our balcony.........BEAUTIFUL!! I want to go back NOW!!!Just look at that sunset.......
This was the pool area......
the boys having some fun in the S-U-N!!
I call this one "The Pouter".......cute, huh?!
We visited an amusement park that had lots of fun stuff to do.....

Here's Sydnee and Tyler getting ready to have some fun.... Ever heard of a SkyCoaster?? Well, that's what Jarrett, Tracie and I are about to ride in this picture. We were SO scared AND excited all at the same time. It was GREAT!!
This picture CrACks me UP!! We are getting all strapped in and ready to go....Tracie is saying..."What have I gotten myself into??!!".
We went up 13 stories in the air and then I had to pull the ripcord....which kinda freaked me out....when I pulled it we dropped straight down....down...down....down. Talk about an adrenaline rush!! We all LOVED it!!
I was so proud of Jarrett for having the guts to go through with it. He was very proud of himself too =-) He said he couldn't wait to tell all his friends. After we took all of our gear off from the SkyCoaster, we all rode Go-Karts.
The boys got some henna tattoos while we were at the beach. Jarrett with his spider
Blake and his snake....
Mason also had a snake. That's Blake in the background dancing...I think. Silly...Silly boy =-)
One day we went to St. Andrews State Park.....it was absolutely GORGEOUS!!!! Our friends, Amy and Paul told us about this place and told us to be sure to check it out.

It reminded me of Cancun. Michael, Jarrett, Tyler, Tracie, Jamey and I went snorkeling. It was alot of fun. The water was crystal clear. Michael videoing....
Look how beautiful.

Michael and Jarrett found this little feller while they were snorkeling. We brought him home with us. This was Jarrett's first pet hermit crab.We ended up going to a souvenir shop and buying 2 more. One for Mason and one for Blake. They had a big time playing with them. It was hilarious listening to them talk for them....too cute. Unfortunately Blake and Jarrett's crabs didn't last too long after we got back home to Kingsport. I felt so bad. Those little guys were just fine until we got them :-(. Michael and Jamey took the boys out one night to play some putt-putt at Pirate's Island. Tracie, Sydnee and I stayed at the condo and enjoyed some girl time =-). Michael and Jamey took my camera with them and had a large time taking some very silly pictures.......not this one, it's just cute. Here's Jarrett jumping up in the air after a hole-in-one. He beat everyone in putt-putt by the way. That Jarrett has always been very good at putt-putt. Who knows, he might just be the next Tiger Woods ;-).
Yes...this picture of Jamey is blurry.....but, I couldn't resist putting it on here. Since it was Pirate's Island they had several little fake pirate tombstones around the course. Here's what I mean by sillyness!! LOL!!!!! Get it?? RIPPPP...
Michael....resting in peace.....
One evening we went out to eat. We were all starving and ate like a bunch of pigs. We seriously put away some crab legs......YUMMY!!!!
Jarrett enjoyed cracking those suckers open.
Blake soon got the hang of it too....
Almost every morning......Jamey got up and fixed breakfast. I'm talkin' eggs, homemade biscuits and gravy, and sausage. It was GRRREAT!! He spoiled us all.
Then in the evenings Tracie would fix us all a batch of brownies. Yes...we did some eating while we were on vacation. Ok...ALOT of eating....
Has a friend ever stabbed you in the back??? Well, Michael almost had it happen to him literally!! I caught this incident on camera! (actually I made them reinact it) This looks kinda scary...huh??!! Trust me it was all in fun ;-). Michael and Tracie love to give each other a hard time.
Almost every night we went walking on the beach. The boys loved catching sand crabs. Tracie and Jamey =-)
Tracie and I...LOL!!!!
Mason and Blake on a mission.....they all caught a TON of crabs.
too cute!!

Sydnee just couldn't hang in there too long. Michael didn't care at all to carry her ;-)

Look at all the crabs.....Don't worry you crab lovers we let them all go before we went back in....
Here's some of my favorite family beach pictures.....I thought they all turned out AWESOME. I took a lot. I just posted my very favorites.











I hope you enjoyed our pictures. I enjoyed sharing them with you.
Sorry it's taken me so long to do this beach post. I don't spend alot of time on the computer anymore. It was taking too much time away from bigger priorities in my life. Like the daily time I spend with my Lord. It seemed I could ALWAYS find time to update my blog on a DAILY basis....but, had a hard time fitting in my prayer and Bible study. SHAME ON ME! Same thing with my workout regimine. I could also ALWAYS find time to go workout 5/6 days a week....but, just couldn't find the quite time to spend with my Lord. I decided things had to change with the computer time.......the Lord gave me a huge slap in the face with my gym time. With the problems I have had....it definitely slowed me down. I'm going to be just fine.....I may not be as physically strong and fit as I was 2 1/2 months ago....but, I AM more spiritually strong and fit than I was 2 1/2 months ago. God is Good. The physical struggles that I have gone through forced me to slow down and has brought me even closer to the Lord.

I am enjoying my new job. Some of those kids break my heart though. It's hard to believe what some kids live through on a daily basis.
My hours are AWESOME! I work 8:30-1:20. I still have time to come home, get dinner going and pick up around the house. The Lord worked everything out with my schedule. I also work with some wonderful people. I'm having lots of fun getting to know them. I am very blessed =-).

My back and leg are doing much better. I plan to officially start back to the gym this week. I AM SOOO READY....it will feel great to get back into a workout routine. Nothing like I was doing before of course......all good things come in moderation ;-).

Blake is doing 100% better with school. He doesn't cry anymore. Thank you Lord! It was killing me......I hated that he was so sad. After MANY prayers for the Blakester he seems to finally be adjusting. Mommy being at his school has helped tremendously too.

Jarrett is doing very well in school. He likes his teachers. He seems to also be adjusting well to fourth grade. I've heard from other parents that the fourth grade is hard. I'm just praying that Jarrett continues to stay on top of things. He has also had his first Charger game. I didn't take my camera....I forgot! OOPS! He played great. He played safety and also ran the ball a few times. Next time I WILL have my camera. His next game is on Saturday.

Michael and I have been getting alot of work done around the house. We have almost completely wiped out our "To-Do" list. We are also getting ready to have a yard sale next weekend. I don't know WHY I put myself through the torture of a yard sale. Everytime I have one I always say..."I'll never have another one!!".

Ok.....gotta go.
I hope you guys are doing GREAT!
I will update again in the next few weeks.