Hilton Head pictures and back to reality

We got back from Hilton Head on Saturday afternoon after a week of family fun. Each family vacation always comes with some typical hiccups with traveling with three under five but we still had a great time. We have created some great traditions the three years we have gone to HHI. We go to see Greg Russell under the Oak Tree one night during the week. We eat at the Shipwreck (b/c the Salty Dog always has a 2+ hour wait). We get some tees at the Salty Dog. This year I picked up sweatshirts instead. We also made a new tradition of the adding a Hermit Crab to the family. Although I am not sure this will be repeated year after year. We will see how we do with "flower" so far we have not killed him... or her. whatever.

Here are some pictures.

Hannah finally found an area of the world that was big enough for her to roam free. She LOVED walking up and down the shore.

In the condo, nice and clean :)

Okay this is joke. We asked a guy in a orange shirt to take our picture. Seriously, what was he aiming for? Did he not even look at the screen? We are missing Hannah, Morgan, Scott and Craig's bald heads.

The five of us at the top of the lighthouse at Harbor Town.

Morgan and Craig at the top of the lighthouse.

Emily, Hayden and Morgan climbing down the lighthouse.

The lighthouse group... all of us in the picture.

The kids on stage waiting to see if Greg Russell will show up on this rainy night.

Hannah sat through the WHOLE concert and then fell asleep in the car at 10:00. She was clapping and dancing along just like Emily and Morgan. She is a party animal!

The view from the back porch of our condo.

Hannah is the early bird in the family. She had breakfast on the back porch most mornings.

Morgan starting on her daily sandcastle

Sisters on the beach.

Morgan working hard on the big Neichter sandcastle.

Hannah in the sand.

Emily chillin'

The above three pictures are a perfect illustration of their different personalities.

arm painting, Morgan picked a dolphin.

Emily picked a palm tree (Sara Merimee will LOVE this one.)

Family of 5 after dinner at Shipwreck.

Popsicles on the back porch after lunch

Hannah had NO FEAR of the water and wasn't at all bothered by the sand.

Taking a water break from rolling in the waves.

Emily swimming without her swim block. She is getting good.

last night on the beach

It was a great week filled with a lot of family time. We go down most years with one of my best friends from high school. I traveled with their family when I was in high school and this is the second year we crashed the Neichter tradition. It is a huge help to have extra eyes on the girls on the beach. The extra hands are a big help. They are always so inviting and just make us part of the family for the week. So we are back in Louisville with great memories of another year at HHI.

Usually when you come back from vacation you have the typical post-vacation blues. It stinks to get through the millions of loads of laundry that pile up over the week, you try to get through the emails that piled up through the week, you are just bummed to have to wait a whole year for the next trip to the beach. It is depressing. You add coming back to a CT scan and "routine" blood test and sending two kids back to day-care and might lose it. I have a couple times today. Not to sound negative but I don't think this scan will show the disease has remained stable. Craig has had some back pain here and there and complains that he feels full after he eats. Might be nothing or it could be something. He has been extra fatigued but that could be b/c we had such a busy week or it could be something.

I guess we will know for sure on Tuesday. We will update the blog when we know more.

I was concerned the week before we left for vacation but didn't want to dwell on it. We had talked about Hilton Head so much through the cold winter I didn't want to ruin it worrying about a scan that was a week+ away and that I could do anything about.

The scan is tomorrow and HHI was last week and now I am just bummed.

But I am reminded of a page out of my daily devotion book that I read before we left.

Title: Stay Stable

James 1:12 says blessed is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved, he will receive crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him."

Joyce Meyers note: Don't get upset if somebody gives you a hard time today. Don't get upset if you don't get your way, or if somebody says or does something you don't like. If you are set up for an upset, stay stable - it is only a test.

The word "stable" of course jumped out at my in this devotion. This has been good news that Craig's disease has been stable in the last two scans. We have prayed for that news time after time but what God really wants is our faith in Him to remain "stable" through each test. Because He knows the outcome of each test and we put our trust in Him our faith should never waiver.

My faith in Him has not waived. I trust in His plan but at this point I am really really really really ticked off that this is the plan for us. I have let Him know this. Although it not a beautiful prayer that would be in any devotion book, it is still prayer. Hopefully I will be wrong about the scan this week. I know that my faith is stable even through anger.

Please pray for our week ahead.