First vacation in 17 yrs! Yes, we have never had a vacation in our married lives....I was ready. One of the e-mails to Harold at work was that when he got home we were just packing up, no reservations and heading towards the coast...had to give him plenty of time to NOT plan on all the things he wanted to work on when he got in from work. Harold made it in on a Wed. night, that Sunday we packed up and left for destination Biloxi.
As I had planned this trip, we had no idea our good friends (more like family) Grady & Barbie were going to be there. When we found out, we were excited.

We told the girls to pack light, and were amazed they actually did! Normally the van would be packed so tightly there's barely room for us.

Down the road a piece JoBea put her own music to the new sights.....

Whereas Madge slept through most of the first part of the trip....she was so excited she couldn't get to sleep the night before.

As we traveled the interstate, I received a text from Barbie as to where we were. We were at mile 46...she text and said they were at 44! By the exit we were right behind them! We pulled into the Welcome Center to stretch, drink, talk, walk, and let the girls see the sights there.

After exploring what was there, we loaded up and headed on. The girls enjoyed keeping up with "Omah & Opah" ahead of us.

As we got to Biloxi, we explained to the girls what use to be where and they were shocked by the waters damage. One of the things they enjoyed, and I remember most about Biloxi, is the lighthouse.

Of course I had to get a picture of this one, lonesome little palm standing all alone on the beach. If it could talk, it definitely had a story of struggles and survival. Much like me, I guess that's why it was a special tree.

In one section of hwy. 90, someone had carved neat things from the damaged trees from Katrina. What a great idea!

Grady & Barbie stayed at the Beau due to school meetings Grady had to attend there during the week. The first hotel we liked and was close to things happen to be right across from them! As you can see by my feet,

our balcony looked across to the Beau. It made it easy to get together to do lunch

, supper.....

as you can see below, Harold doesn't like anyone messing with his dessert...

and shopping, along with doing beach stuff.

As I was taking the photo with my feet proped up(above somewhere), resting after getting checked in....it wasn't long before I saw something you just don't get to see everyday..

yeap, an airplane going down the street. Can you say you have seen this? There was a truck pulling it, not sure where, but it was a US Air Force plan...the wings were on the front part of the trailor.

This is the water view from our balcony...that is when I zoomed in under the Beaus garage!

As we headed to the boardwalk for the beach, this little "biloxi welcome wagon" wanted to check us out. Isn't he a beauty? Love the red feet!

Barbie got this shot of us on the boardwalk...

Madge was looking for shells and such, just enjoying the mass amount of water.

JoBea walked around and picked up many bottles (she is a collector ) then photographed them. She's a pretty good photographer too!

And of course EVERYONE has one of these!

Wal-mart....had to go get milk so I could take my meds and JoBea had a wire on her braces come lose and continued to stick her mouth where she couldn't eat so we purchased wax for her to make it through till we got home.

One of the days, Harold loaded the girls and myself and drove us to Ocean Springs to show us the house where he lived. Things had changed so much he never found it....it was ONLY 20 yrs ago! It rained on us most of the time so I told him it would be a perfect day to drive on to Mobile, Al. to the tunnel and battleship park. With it being cloudy at least the sun wouldn't beat down on us. So we traveled on....through the tunnel...

to the Park, just in time for the rain. You can see it coming in the pic. below. We were hungry and decided to eat right next door. It rained while we ate, and was over when we were finished..PRAISE GOD! On to the battleship we went. I had seen it there with my parents when I was young, but the girls nor Harold had ever been.

After every nook and cranny was looked over, we headed back to biloxi....where it had not rained at all. We met back with Barbie and Grady, ate supper then walked around. Just down from us was Hard Rock Casino, Cafe & Hotel. We did the Cafe, but not the Casino. It was a neat place.
The girls and I looking all cool....we don't look like tourist do we!

This next picture has a really awesome story. I'll let you read it for yourself. The story is followed by the picture...

WOW, what did you think of that? It gave me chill bumps!

This is Hard Rock outside. The lights changed colors then at one point (quickly) it changed to all of them, making a beautiful rainbow of colors on the hotel.

Back over at the Beau, Barbie took some pictures of our family together, around the fountain at the front. It was late, we were all tired. After the last snap, we walked back to our hotel for a good nights sleep.

The evening before we were to leave, we took a last moment at the beach. A mother with her 3 sons walked past us, looking at everything, just as our girls had done. When they began to pass me by on their way back, I asked the mother if the boys could have the 3 rafts we had. I explained we would be leaving the next morning and it would help us out greatly. The boys eyes lit up, and looked at their mom in hopes the answer would be yes.....YES it was! They each got one, thanked me and off they went. I was thrilled to know more fun would be had with someone else.

As the sun began to set on the beach


We headed back to our room to pack and meet up with Grady and Barbie one last time before leaving. They weren't leaving until Sat. where we had to leave Thurs. due to JoBea going to a Youth Conference in Texas with a Church in Natchez she attends.

We had a WONDERFUL time together. As you can see, we were worn out, but it was a good tired. Harold doesn't look happy but there wasn't anything for him to prop up on for this pic. so he was concentrating on sitting up!Thanking God for a safe and happy trip for all. I pray that the trees carved from the damage trees allows people to see that even if they themselves feel damaged, they can still be beautiful through a life with Christ. We all have our hang ups, our fears, our feelings of not being able to get past our past...but you can. I was the cause of our not having a vacation for all these years.....YES, ME. For a few years when the girls were babies, I could not leave my home...fear. As the years went on I began to grow spiritually and was able to go to McComb, Brookhaven, that was my limit. Then God wanted to help me grow even more, to carve me. As I was struck by an illness that left me an invalid for weeks....Jackson Dr.s were my only source of getting the help I desperately needed. I could not fight against it with my fear, I was too ill. Months of being so sick, going to Jackson many, many days, weeks, I had no choice but to rely on God for my strength. As with the palm tree that stands alone on the beach, and the damaged tree that is beautiful now....we struggle, but we can survive....not only survive, not only get THROUGH the day, but LIVE FULLY THROUGH THE DAY!

Have a FREEDOM day in Christ!

God bless you & yours.....