Joel's Journey: Christmas in Florida #5 {beach day}

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Christmas in Florida #5 {beach day}

The day I looked forward to before we even left!! we got to the beach a little after noon and stayed til a little after 5pm, then we went to a restaurant on the beach strip and the Snyder family blessed/treated us to a wonderful meal, all 23 of us!!

It was pretty cloudy when we got there, but within a short time, the sun burst through and blue skies as far as we could see! The younger children got in the water for a while but it was a bit cold and they were not too excited about the saltiness!! Sooo they got busy working on a "sand city!!" They spent 5 hours on it and had many admirers that stopped and took pictures and chatted with us!! Caleb and Kristen went parasailing! Daniel, Bethany and Shannon, a Synder girl, rented a jet ski for an hour and zoomed on the ocean!! They played tons of vb!!! It was a day to remember!!!

A beach sunset is incredible!!! I am so glad I got to see one!! One day I want to go back, so much more I wanna see and do!!

Oh, we just got home!! So thankful for safety and vehicles ran fine and we are all home!!

NOW, we are getting ready or Daniel is getting ready for his trip!! He leaves Saturday!! So much to do!!

Also we found out Anna's car was totaled so now searching for another vehicle!!

I have never seen soooo much laundry as I have sitting in this house!! Groceries need to be bought and school to get going!!! Looks like I am going to be doing a hundred miles an hour heading into 2012!!!

Thanks for praying for our trip!!

Cindy

P.S. all these were taken and edited with my phone, so convenient!!!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Thank you for sharing all these great pics....looks like a lots of fun was had by all. Happy New Year!!!; December 30, 2011 at 6:03 AM
Teena said...: Cindy, was this your first time to the beach?

You said the kids didn't like the saltiness... we have always lived w/in a couple hrs from some beach....

Loved the pics! You are beautiful... inside & out!

Much love,
Teena; December 30, 2011 at 9:02 AM
Darci said...: Darci, here - visiting from Upstate NY. I've followed your blog for a few years after a blog-friend told me to visit. My third of seven child died in 2006 at age almost 3. My friend said Joel and Tucker's grief journeys blessed her :) I've been blessed visiting with you weekly, but admit to be a leurker! So I'm introducing myself! Last night I visited, and after seeing the pirate ship, I exclaimind, "she's on my beach! I think that's Clearwater!" ha... Well, as I read I soon realized you were on my beach! We've written Tucker in that sand many times, and even lived in a beach condo for his one-year move-to-Heaven anniversary in Feb 2007. The very time you were in the beginning of your grief journey. Anyway, this is surely a rambling introduction! I love Clearwater Beach, feel so close to the Lord there as I praise, worship, journal, and grieve with Jesus on that shore. Thanks for your blog, sharing His mighty faithfulness, and loving your family. Your Friend in Grief, Darci.; December 31, 2011 at 3:33 PM
Darci said...: Oh, my little corner of cyberspace is http://darcisalisbury.com/mat/; December 31, 2011 at 3:36 PM

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Joel's Story

Joel, our 11th of 13 and a twin of Josiah, at age 3 was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer, on December 6th, 2006. Joel had three perfect years of health and he and Josiah celebrated their 3rd birthday Sept. 13th, 2006. The first of Oct. Joel started having unexplained fevers for a few days and would return to active play. After the fourth round of fevers we took him to our family Dr. which they said his iron was low, so we treated that for a few weeks and took him back only to have his hemo. showing lower than before. We were referred to a hematologists and saw him a few weeks with blood checks twice a week. At a visit on Dec. 4th we showed the Dr. the bumps, (which were tumors but we did not know at the time) on Joel's head and he was very concerned and we were told we needed to admit him immediately and start extensive tests the following day. Joel went through rigorous testing and then the dreaded results were given. Joel was at a stage IV the most extensive stage, but we were hopeful that the Lord would use the means of Chemotherapy treatments to restore Joel's body. Joel endured 8 1/2 days in the hospital, came home for Christmas, and returned for his second round of chemo Jan. 3, 2007. Joel had a seizure that night after midnight and went into a coma due to a tumor bleeding in his head area and causing his brain to swell. After tests the following days, the Dr. declared Joel "brain dead" and took us to court to force us to take Joel off life support, as we did not agree with the medical field's definition of death. Our family sought to stand with the scripture, "life is in the blood,"and until Joel's heart quit beating naturally, he was living. We were making arrangements to bring him home and on January 23, 2007 his little heart stopped beating and he went to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven. Our lives are changed forever. God is faithful in the midst of this trial and we look with great hope to be with him someday.