My Josh is 15

June 27th my baby boy turned 15! Can you believe it? 15! The night before the girls and I stayed up to make some homemade decos in his favorite colors....blue and yellow. Then, we wrapped gifts and made his pie and were so excited anticipating Josh's Birthday. Josh woke up early (like he has every June 27th since he was born) Of course, right away he wanted to open his gifts. I think he liked all his goodies, but especially his "Treasury" of Calvin and Hobbes. He's a big Calvin and Hobbes fan. (And I have no idea why Silas is crying in this picture. He looks so sad, doesn't he?)

He requested my Chocolate pie for his birthday instead of a cake. It's super rich (I'll have to post a recipe soon!) But, he had a little twist to it...he wanted one for himself, and another one for the rest of us to share. So, he got his wish and finished off a whole pie in 2 days!

Then, we took his new Snorkel gear to our new Snorkel spot! Just me and my boy. It was great and we saw so many fish! It felt like we were in a fish tank.

Happy Birthday, My Josh! I love you!

As a side note, my Mom helped me make a swimsuit from Simply Modest
It works great for swimming and is very modest! You can either buy them already made (which is quite expensive) or buy the pattern. Mom and Dad bought me the pattern and I'm getting ready to sew suits for Elisabeth and Brenna!

Our third shipment

Not too long ago we received our third shipment! Yay! Our first shipment arrived a few days before I got here. It had all the essentials like kitchen stuff, towels and clothes. Then, 2 weeks later, our 2nd shipment arrived...our car! Then, we received our 3rd and boy were we excited!


When Patrick and Josh arrived home from the docks the girls and I just squealed because we couldn't wait to open our stuff up! There were many exciting things it was just like Christmas! We sent 9 boxes of books. Yes, that's right 9. My family is a little passionate about reading!











I was excited to open up the box with the 2 highchairs. I know Callie was tired of sitting in her stroller for meals! (Who wants to look at 6 pairs of feet while you eat?)

Josh was thrilled (and thrilled is a pretty mild word for how he felt!) to open up the basketball goal that Mam-maw bought him while we were in Florida. He started putting it together right away in the heat of the day. We've already had many "horse" tournaments and I know many more are going to come!

Even though we knew all these things were coming (we sent them to ourselves) it was so exciting to open each box. Our home is filling up and looking and feeling more and more like home! We can't wait for our next shipment. I think we only have 2 more to go!

Then, one of the best things was finding a note from my Mom. She helped us pack all the book boxes (she's an excellent packer!) I didn't realize 2he put a little note in for us. I love you Mom! And yes, we did have a fantastically wonderful day!

Africa Cola

We've had some fun trying some new things here in St. Barths. The other day Patrick and Josh went shopping and found this drink on sale....Africa Cola It was actually quite cheap at .25 euros each. Josh bought all of us 3 cans to share.

Then, it was time for the taste test. We all thought it wasn't exactly horrible, but not exactly good either. It's sort of like a coke, with lots more bubbles, and slightly different taste.

Josh thought the funniest part was the label on the back:

Gasified drink

Our "Treasure Coast"

There are so many fun places to explore here in St. Barths! God truly did call us to a beautiful, breath-taking place. We love to go to the beach called Grand Fond. The kids have affectionately named it the "Treasure Coast" because it's a place of many treasures. There's lots of rocks and coral and it looks like you are right in an aquarium. We love to go exploring there!

Look at that gorgeous car! We are so thankful for our XL7 the Lord provided for us and then we had it shipped here. And, it's purple, too! How fun!

Hhmmm. Sea Urchins. Not exactly our favorite part of the beach.

My dear Callie Grace loves to eat the sand, shells, and anything else she can sneak into her mouth without anyone seeing her. Showing my baby girl the beautiful place God has called us to!

Silas loves to go exploring on the beach. He loves to find rocks and throw them in the water! If he has his way, next year this beach might look a little different....most of the rocks will be in the water!

Elisabeth and Brenna enjoy being at the beach, too. Beth spent over an hour trying to trap a fish. It's amazing seeing fish right before your eyes, in the wild, that are the same fish we used to buy from a petshop for our salt water aquarium!

We're so thankful to be a such a neat place with lots of fun places to explore, and lots of treasure to find!

Great News!

I have wonderful news to share about several different things!


First of all, thank you everyone for praying about our French Paperwork/Passport situation. We heard yesterday from the Authorities in St. Martin that we will be able to stay another 3 months! Yay! The only catch is that we must leave the country for a day, before July 26th and have our passports stamped. Hey, A family vacation for a day sounds great to me! So, thank you so much for praying! God is so good and faithful! Our paperwork still must come in, though. So, please don't forget to pray for it to come before October 26th.





Another huge praise! Patrick was able to lead a man named Edmund to the Lord last week! He had been visiting him every week since we've arrived. Edmund is not in good health and has been homebound for some time. He's been very open to the gospel and last Saturday he told Patrick he's been asking God what he must do to go to heaven. Patrick was excited to share with him the answer! Praise the Lord!





We've been settling in very well and feel like we are "home". I'm so thankful for that feeling. Still no internet, or home phone. The lady in the office said maybe by the end of summer. hhmmm. I'm so behind on my posting and have so many wonderful pictures to share! Here's a fun one of my Callie Grace. She likes the dirt, just a little! She's such a mess!

I thank the Lord for his goodness to our family. He's so good to us and truly never fails!