Old Friends and New Friends

While we were gone last week, we had the opportunity to see several of our friends.  On our way home, we stopped in Lake City, where we were able to meet a blogger friend.  I have been reading her blog, Pebble Crossing, for several months and now I have met her and her sister, Claudia, and their families!

I had hoped to meet another bloggy friend, from Hearts in Training, but unfortunately, timing wasn't right to meet up, but hopefully next time!

When we were in GA, we were able to meet up for a few hours with our old homeschool group.  This group was so special to me when we lived there and it was so nice to see everyone again.

Andrew also had the opportunity to go by his old work and see his previous co-worker. 

While we were in GA, we also met with some other people who were also celebrating the Feast.  At the beginning of the week, they had about 80 people in attendence, but by the time we arrived, there were probably only 50 or so people.  My sister and her family had been there all week and they had a great time.  This was their third time attending the Feast (Sukkot)with this group.  Andrew and I had not gone to the Feast with this group previously, but we used to go to church with them sometimes when we lived in GA, so it was a lot of fun for us to see our friends again.  I also love that there are so many kids in this group, so there was someone for everyone.  Arin's best friend (outside of family) is Abby, so Arin was thrilled to see her again and spend a couple of days with her.

On Friday, they had Family Fun Day which included relay races for the little kids (we missed this), other games for all ages, but mostly geared towards the bigger kids/adults, and a volley ball tournament.

This was a one-minute challenge.  You were to move the Oreo from your forehead, down your face and into your mouth without using any object to help (hands, etc.).  It was harder than it looked - I only saw one person successfully complete it in the allotted time.  It was a great laugh for everyone.

We were there the last couple of days of the Feast.  The first night that we were there (Thursday), they had a talent show and the second night they did praise and worship to start the Sabbath.  They have a live band, which I always love and the girls loved being able to run around and dance with their friends.  We had a really great time!

The Dance

The above pictures are of the group that met at my parents rental home for daily bible study/church during the week of the Feast.  On the first day, there were about 27 of us and then the numbers varied throughout the week as people came and went.

The main reason that we chose to go to the Daytona area this year was because there was a large church group (about 3000 people) meeting in town for the Feast.  We never went to their services, though my little sister and I talked about it.  However, this group had previously asked Andrew's family if they would play in their band for the church's family dance night.  For about 8-10 weeks, two nights a week, about 6 hours a night, Andrew, his dad, two of his brothers, and his cousin practiced in their band for this dance.  It wasn't always easy for the girls and I to be away from Andrew for so long, but in the end it was worth it.  The dance was so much fun and the guys did a great job with the music.  There were about 500-600 people that showed up for the dance and of those people, we saw many friends that we hadn't seen in several years.

The music was loud

Groupies!

Even though it was loud, Nicholas and Ella both fell asleep! 

Mexican Dinner

Every year when we go to the Feast, Andy's brother's wife (did you follow that?) and her family have dinner together at a Mexican restaurant.  This tradition has been going on for years and years for them.  Whenever we are at the same site, they invite us as well.  This year, between their family, my family and Andrew's family, there were about 30 of us.  It was so much fun to all be together - even though the table was so long that the people at one end could only wave to the people at the other end!  The food was great and the staff were awesome at this restaurant.

The Beach

I have been trying to decide how to post our pictures from our recent trip: according to date, location, activity, etc.  I'm still not sure that I have it figured out, but I thought that I'd start with some beach pictures. 

One of our favorite things about going away for the Feast of Tabernacles is all of the good quality time that we spend together as a family.  Although we do go away for religious purposes, we also use this time for fun since this is the only vacation time that Andrew has.  Some years both of our families go to the same place, some years they go to different locations.  This year, the majority of us ended up in Ormond Beach, FL.  I love it when both families go to the same place because Andrew and I both have the opportunity to spend time with each of our families and since they get along as well, many times we do big group activities.

So, we started our trip on Wednesday afternoon, staying in a rental house with Andrew's family.  Their house was across the street from the beach.  In years past, the girls have been content to play in the sand, usually wanting very little to do with the water, which has always been fine with me.  Of course this year, both girls decided that the water was the place to be, which made me nervous!  There were a couple of storms at sea which made the waves big and rough.  Andy and his brothers loved this and they had a great time swimming in the ocean.  I did not love all of the waves since this is where the girls wanted to be.  The last day that we were in Ormond Beach, the guys talked me into going out in the ocean with them, and yes, I will admit, it was a lot of fun!

 Because of the storms, we also saw many, many jelly fish washed up on the shore (another reason I was nervous for my kids to be in the water!).

Feast Hopping

We recently returned home from celebrating the eight day biblical Feast known as the Feast of Tabernacles (or Sukkot).  We were gone a total of eleven days and as always, we had a fantastic time.  Andrew and I have both celebrated the Feast days our whole lives.  We travel each year to the Feast of Tabernacles - sometimes to different states, sometimes just to different cities within the state we live in.  We've been to sites with over 10,000 people and we've gone away some years with just our family.  Each year it is a little different, but each year it is so special and the time of the year that we look most forward to.  Typically, we pick a place to go and stay there the entire eight days.  This year, we did something that neither of us had done before - we went Feast Hopping - meaning that we started at one place and then went on to another site and then another.  Although I am not sure that we'll make a habit of going from place to place every year, it sure was fun this year.

We started in Ormond Beach, FL with Andrew's family.  We stayed two nights with them before my parents joined us in Ormond Beach.  Then, we switched locations and stayed with them for six nights.  Next, we headed north to southern GA.  My sister and her family were there along with several of our friends.  We stayed in GA for two nights and then made our way back home, stopping in Lake City, FL at another Feast site.  We met some new people and saw some "old" friends - some that we hadn't seen in about 15+ years!

I will be posting some pictures from our time away over the next few days.