Greetings from the Caribbean!

We are having an awesome time! Thanks to everyone for praying for a safe trip and wonderful weather ... so far so good! We had a special Anniversary Celebration yesterday and Pop and Mom Glab were surprised! We've had fun days at sea and wonderful stop in Barbados today - s.u.r.f.i.n.g!!!! So much fun! Here's a picture from our day surfing! They all did a great job and were able to catch many waves! And ... a beautiful sunset from our balcony. Greetings to all from the blue waters!!!

Embarking on a new Adventure!

We're off to celebrate Pop and Mom Glab's remarkable
50th Anniversary! We can't believe it ... the deep blue ocean's of the Caribbean are awaiting ... and we're ready to sail! Twenty-six Glab family members will be sailing through the Caribbean in honor of Pop and Mom's 50th wedding anniversary. We are so blessed to be able to take time to spend with our family! Please pray for good weather, a safe trip, and for Don's parents to be honored and blessed as we celebrated this remarkable milestone. Bon Voyage!

"How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand." Psalm 139:17-18a

^ ^ School's In! ^ ^

School has started! I "interviewed" the girls on their upcoming school year ...
I'm looking forward to the Medieval Feast in December! I'll be writing a huge subject report and making a project as well. I think I'm going to pick "castles!" I can't wait! (5th Grade)I'm excited to be in 8th grade - my last year in middle school. I'm really glad I made the soccer team this year - and we even won our first game! I'm looking forward to studying the Colonial time period in American History.

Okay, we'll I'm realling looking forward to AP Art Class! You can check out my assignments on my flicker ---> http://www.flickr.com/people/marykayg (10th Grade)

The joys of school and graduating!!!!! I think this year is totally going to be an awesome year - I can't believe I'm a Senior! I'm so excited I'm working on the year book and I'm on student council. I love my class and my crazy schedule! Covenant Life School is celebrating their 30th anniversary ~ amazing! We are so grateful for the teachers and administrators and staff that have so faithfully served us the last 13 years. On the first day of school, they invited the parents to attend a school-wide prayer meeting to start off the year. It was a wonderful time of thanking God and praying for the school year. Wow! Excited to see what is in store for all of us!

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through ... The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it"
1 Thessalonians 5: 23a, 24

~ ~ We Remember September 11th ~ ~

Over the last few days, we've been talking about September 11, 2001. We remember a lot from that day. Don was working in Frederick at the time and Christiana (3) and I were at home. Corinne (5th grade), Kendall (3rd grade), and Kimberly (1st grade) were all at school. I remember talking to my mom, who was just getting ready to leave N.Y. to come to our home for a visit. I remember taking Christiana over to Sue and Alan's while I ran to Safeway for all of us - for water... and then running over to pick up their kiddos and my girls from school. On our way home, a fighter jet was passing our neighborhood. He had been circling the 18 mile radius around the White House - right over our house. We could see him in the cockpit. By God's amazing grace, September 12th came ... we were all safe in our homes. Touched by the loss of life and the tragic events in New York, at the Pentagon and the crash sight of flight #93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, just 11 miles from where my dad's family still calls home.

So as we observe the seventh anniversary of September 11th, we're praying for comfort for all of those that lost a loved one that day. We are so grateful for and we are praying for those that have been protecting us from further attacks these last seven years, and for those that are serving our country today.

We are grateful."Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He chose for His inheritance." Psalm 33:12

"God alone is the judge of the hearts of men, and to him only in this case they are answerable."
George Washington, September 14, 1775

You can read about the known foiled terror plots since September 11, 2001 on Fox News.
---> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,335500,00.html

: : : Happy Birthday Kimberly! : : :

Yes ... another summer birthday in our family. We love to celebrate birthdays ... and the 13th is a very special one! How did you get to be 13 Kimberly!?

Well ... sit back and get comfy because this post is a long one ...

For the girl's first birthday as a teenager we spend an afternoon together. Kimberly chose D.C. as her location for her day out!

First stop ... shopping in Georgetown ...

(This picture is a bit blurry because the owner of this tiny little shop was yelling at me to stop taking pictures and he startled me!) We had lots of fun walking around Georgetown looking and shopping! ... and taking some fun pictures
... what special birthday shopping trip would be complete without a little special chocolate!?
Next up was a quick driving tour of D.C. and our favorite monuments ...
The "Pencil Tower" ...
and the "Jeff Mem" ...

One of her favorite places in D.C. is the park right by the airport. So we went to watch the airplanes take off...
... she helped out by packing up a picnic lunch to have as we watched the planes
Kimberly ... you are such a lovely young lady with so much joy in your heart! Another family tradition is receiving a promise ring from dad and mom on their 13th birthday! Although she must have known it was coming .. because she's the third daughter ... she seemed pretty surprised ...
... her birthstone, a blue sapphire. :)
(Thank you Peggy for helping me find it!)
It's so much fun to give a gift to such a joy-filled gift receiver!

We had an awesome afternoon ...
But the day is not done ... next up - dinner out with a few friends. We had tons of yummy food!
And birthday dessert ...
So by the time we were done with dinner, the mall was closed. What do you do when the mall is closed? Take fun pictures naturally!

Thank you girls for making it such a memorable night! We really had a great time with you!

Since Kimberly's official birth-date was the next day (Labor day of course!) She started that day out with our traditional breakfast in bed.
Thank you Mrs. Scanlon for the beautiful rose!
Her sister's blessed her with a yummy dinner out on the deck ...
... and mint chocolate ice cream cake for all! Happy 13th Birthday Kimberly - you are a real gem in our family! We love you so much and we are so excited to see all the amazing things your Savior is doing in your life.
13 -- We can't believe it --- we had so much fun spending the day with you and celebrating your birthday! We love you!!
"Be happy... while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart ..." Ecclesiastes 11:9