We were lucky to travel to California last September, with the girls, for a visit to Disneyland! Never had I thought we would visit Disney World and Disneyland in the same year! Brad had business in CA, so us girls went along and hung out by the pool during the day, and visited Disneyland in the evening. I know, a hard life, right!
Then, in the fall, we began looking into a dream of ours to have a little place a the beach. Well, we had actually been researching, saving, and crunching numbers for several years, but but began to actually look at places in October. In the beginning of April 2016, we settled on a little condo in Corolla, NC. We love it there and it's perfect for our family. Three bedrooms, 2 baths, a hot tub and access to many pools, amenities and lots of little extras. Unfortunately, we can't live at the beach all the time, so right now, our little place is more of an investment property that we rent out via a property manager during the vacation months. Hopefully one day we can take it out of the rental business and be at the beach more often, but for now, it's a win-win for us. It's usually available when we can go down, and when we aren't there, it's being rented out for other families to enjoy. We named it "The Anchor House" because to us, it's our little shelter from the storm of life and gives us hope for the future. [Hebrews 6:19]. The beach is our happy place! To see a little about our condo, you can visit or blog-in-the works at http://baxter075.blogspot.com/ Or you can visit the property manager site at www.Brindleybeach.com and search for The Anchor House. If you are interested in a stay, let me know! Below is a picture of the sunset on the sound directly across from our place. We love it!
 |
| Note the horses in the back on the dune. This is why we love Corolla! |
 |
| The girls hanging out in the hot tub at The Anchor House! |
In May, we celebrated my mom and dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary. Despite the fact that they wouldn't let us have a party for them, we surprised them with a stretch limo and a trip to Baltimore's Inner Harbor for a yummy brunch.
Here's some pictures of the boys -- one heading to prom and one heading to a wedding. They dress up pretty well!!
In other news, we now have a Junior in College, a Senior in High School, a big First Grader and a kindergartner! Life's about to get really busy again with sports, school and everything Fall!
Ellie is doing fantastic. She made it through kindergarten, even though I wasn't ready for her to go! I cannot say enough about early intervention for her. I know that many people frown upon putting a "label" on their child, but they seriously helped Ellie get into the grove and catch up with some things she struggled with when we brought her home! I'll post another time about all of her therapies, but I just can't say enough about getting help early in a child's journey. With that being said, life isn't perfect and sometimes her early trauma and abandonment issues are very evident. But, we typically know how to get her back to a place of safety, and then all is well.
 |
| Ellie's 6th Birthday Bash! |
Did I mention that Ellie is swimming like a crazy person? Seriously, this poor little girl screamed at the sight of water when we brought her home (b/c water wasn't for play in Ethiopia). She is now jumping in the deep end and swimming the length of an Olympic pool. She has made serious progression with water and I could see her being on a swim team some day! We will pick lessons back up in the winter months, because who doesn't love getting into a cold pool in the middle of winter! Ha!
Both boys are ramping up for another Football season - so you know where to find us every Friday night and Saturday, mid-August through November! We really do love the game and watching the boys blossom into young men and fight for their team. We also really love getting to know other families and tailgating and just having fun with them all. This year will be bittersweet for Dylan, as it will be his last high school football season. That last game and senior walk on the field after the game is tough! Colt leaves tomorrow for his college football season. I don't know where the summer went. It seems like he was just getting home from spring semester!
Faith is our littlest and will head to kindergarten this year. Cue the tears ..... She is more than ready and super excited to start her "school career!" Ha Ha! She is a smart girl (who loves to talk), so I sorta feel sorry for her teacher when she begins a dissertation on flamingos or the blue footed booby. She sure does love her animals. I see some parent-teacher meetings coming my way soon!
Faith had preschool graduation in May -- that was a sweet moment! 
Brad and I will celebrate our 24th Wedding Anniversary in October! Keep in mind that we've known each other since we were 12, so really we are celebrating our 30-something year together! Next year maybe we will do something special, but to me, everyday is special with him.
I hope everyone one (the 2 of you) who read the blog are doing well. Like I say, no news is usually good news! Maybe I'll try to post again before a year goes by!
Angie
