something to smile about

The last few days haven't been easy. For those that don't know, Ryan & I were told on Monday morning that our little baby no longer had a heartbeat. This has been a sad time but God's plan is SO much greater than ours and he knew what that little baby needed and also what we needed.

God also knew that I would need something to smile about. I got my pictures back from the beach on Tuesday and I think you'll see why they put a smile on my face. I couldn't decide which to post so I posted a ton of them. Hope you don't mind....I think you can see them even better if you click on them...

This was the view from our back door - and this is what happened when I opened it....she just took off toward the beach!! Who can blame her?? (don't worry - I snapped this picture and took off after her)

She just loved jumping in the ocean...and I mean JUMPING! Up and down, up and down.....

This picture is one of my 2 favorites....she would run from the water to climb the "sand dune" and then back again over and over again. She was worn out...eventually, she would just start running toward the condo on her own! She needed a nap and a snack!

She was starting to get a little more brave and would sit right at the water's edge. This is also a good picture to show what I mean by a "shelling beach" only I don't even think this captures the number of shells there. (sorry for the dorky shadow - i'm not a professional)

Throwing the sand!! This is a special treat since mommy doesn't allow this in our sandbox at home!

Running around...making her face with the scrunched up nose!

My favorite picture....she gravitated toward the sea grass. She would pull a piece and run as fast as she could and take on to "daddy" or "grammie" or whoever we asked her to. What a sweet little face!

Relaxing in the pool...

Another ocean shot....this was the last day and the only overcast day. The water looks darker than most beaches because of all the shells and the sand but it's not yucky.

She was getting very brave at this point....

Look at mommy!!

She is learning the right way to relax at the beach...sitting in a chair. Now if only she'd stay there for longer than 3 seconds....and read a book with her mommy. :)

Well, I can't believe that she is in the same bathing suit in all of these pictures. I had about 6 with us and she wore 4 of them I think....I used this one the most though b/c it stayed on the best and this hat has good comfortable straps so she doesn't pull it off. I'm so proud that we made it through our 2nd summer and she still hasn't had any sunburn to speak of. Yay for being a good mommy! You also may notice that the beach looks practically deserted. This is for several reasons...one being that Audrey wakes up very early and we would go to the beach at 8:30 or 9:00 most mornings and people are lazy down there :) Also, it was the week before schools starts for most people and it tends to be a little slower...and like I said, it is never crowded like a place like Destin or Panama so the beaches are quiet anyway....If I had taken pictures in the other direction you would have seen a volleyball net and people under umbrellas so I promise it isn't an empty beach. It would be no fun if you couldn't "people watch"....although my favorite thing is to get lost in a book with my feet sticking in the water! I read 3 books while I was there. That is what I call "relaxing."

Now we're back to reality...but, like I said, the pictures give me something to smile about.