Florida Trip and Daryl's Commissioning Service

We left early Thursday morning and drove all day! LONG day!! But, the baby did well considering, and we got quite a few hours logged. We stopped at a motel for the night and drove the rest of the way on Friday. We arrived in Hobe Sound, Florida late afternoon and got settled in the little house where we were to stay. Then we headed out for some supper and a store stop and gratefully settled down for rest. The trip both days were very rainy. Sometimes, the storms that we passed through were even quite frightening. But we were kept safe.

This is Nevaeh first thing in the morning. She was happy to finally go "byes" and get Daryl.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner and leg stretching.

No shirt-No SHOES, No service

The second day of travel, Nevaeh eats a Wendy's burger.

For some reason that we know not, Wendy's burgers are the ONLY ones she will eat!

This is a storm we came through in Florida at the end of our trip down.

Check out that HUGE cloud. It was like a blanket and though this picture doesn't show it, the sky actually was blue when we got out from under the "blanket."

I was looking for a bag clip in the drawer and found these throwback spectacles!

Of course, Nevaeh made the perfect model!

The home we stayed in belongs to Patty Deeter. She is one of our church's snowbirds that fly south in the winter and come home where they belong for the summer.

It was an awesome place to stay and we so appreciate Patty for allowing us to use her home. Above is the living room.

Another angle.

The dining area.

The main entrance.

The kitchen.

Another angle.

The bathroom.

A slightly different angle.

The bedroom.

A welcomed "hello" hug!

Nevaeh ran to Daryl with her mouth in a little "o" shape making noises.

We were able to take Daryl back to "our" house for a little while. This is when he put his boot camp pictures on his Dad's computer so that I could share them with you! Little Naeh (as she calls herself) couldn't stay away from Da-wool.

The weather wasn't very accommodating, but Rob wanted to go to the ocean so badly. On Sunday afternoon around three o'clock, the sun was shining. Little Miss was in dire need of a nap, but Mark was able to run Rob over to the beach for a few minutes before another rain storm blew in.

Before the evening commissioning service, Naeh and Mama took time to have our picture taken with a former pastor's wife and her new little girl. The ladies in tangering are Emily Heath and her daughter Natalie. The baby in the middle is Natalie's doll. You'd be surprised how many people think that is a real baby.

The sign says it all.

Hey, Chris! That's Tenee in the middle with some girls from her team.

That's my boy! This was taken during the processional after his team had already marched in.

To the left of Daryl is his team mates and the team leader is on the end. Clouse Hobbs is standing in front of the red flag.

This is Ms. Joy Budensiek. She is the TLC Director. She is a wonderful woman!

Mr. Don Bailey was the "drill instuctor" and boot camp director.

His motto is, "I would rather have my "soldiers" over qualified than not prepared."

Pastor PD Wolfe and Director Joy Budensiek together lit the candles of the team leaders for the candlelighting ceremony. The team leader then in turn lit the candles of all his/her team members. Then the various teams surrounded the inside of the sanctuary while Pastor Wolfe commissioned them to go forth and shine their light!

Daryl lighting his candle from his team leader, Clouse Hobbs.

Here's another one for you, Chris. This was taken after the ceremony.

No. My family is not suffering from jaundice. The flourescent lighting made them look that way as I did not change the setting on my camera which allows for that type of light and adjusts the flash accordingly. This was snack after the service. The families of the team members were invited to share one more time before the kids were to leave.

Now THIS is a picture I'll treasure forever!

Dee and Dad

Janelle is directing the packing of the Amazon team suitcase which had to be weighed.

A "goodbye" hug. Naeh was giving Daryl a "big squeeze."
She seemed to know that he was leaving her again.

As I was packing our luggage to head home, Naeh crawled in hers and began unpacking it.

We crossed this bridge both directions on our trip. It fascinated Rob so much on the way to Florida, that he asked his Dad to let him know when we were about to cross it on the way home so we could take a picture.

The motel where we stayed on the way home had a pool and no one was in it so Rob had it all to hisself. Nevaeh wasn't sure what to think of the pool and was satisfied to stay on the sideline.

Nevaeh Re'

A floating "Bobber."

An awestruck spectator.

Brother Fishy disappeared!

Naeh yelled. She did NOT like Bubba to disappear.

We headed for home the next morning. It was a long trip and I am sooooo tired but it was awesome to see Daryl again. I pray God keep him safe as he is on this trip and that God will change his life for the GOOD.