I keep saying I must post a picture of our mango tree... before the parrots eat all the mangoes! It's never been this full of fruit before. I foresee lots of smoothies in our future!



And while I'm at it, have you ever seen bananas beginning?





I love living in the tropics! (except for at noon on a Summer Saturday!)

Summer at the Cook House

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Oh my! It's been a while since I've posted... Let's see...where have we been? Well, mid-June we spent a fun weekend at Lake Lanier with friends from college days- thanks, Flo and Shan for sharing your "little cabin" with us. It was so good to reconnect with the Callens, Florences, Geenwoods and McCowns.

Then Kailee and Avery were here for the 4th of July, and we had the Cook/Wyrick clan over for dinner and the amazing neighborhood fireworks display. David couldn't get away from work, so we missed seeing him- but had a great week with "the girls".


Bonnie's home... working at Rick Case Powersports, and enjoying the local "mudding" spots. She's happiest when she's out in the everglades or on a dive boat- and glad to be back in South FL where both are close. We don't see much of her- her work schedule is kind of opposite of ours- but it's good to have her home. She'll be traveling up to Tallahassee next weekend to get her stuff moved back here- I know she'd appreciate your prayers for "traveling mercies" as she's not looking forward to the long drive and quick turn-around... and packing!

And I just got back from spending a week at Middle School Camp with the kids from St. A. It was great fun- made me miss my Student Ministries days...also made me realize I'm getting older! Middle Schoolers have a lot of energy! I'm glad they were the ones in the Dodgeball competitions and Box Soccer games... but I can still run a mean go-cart race! Hah! It was a blast. Also good to see Jamie, who was able to come visit on Thursday. (Her church youth group was there, and she works for the youth pastor, so she came down with his wife to spend the day.)

And now we're home for a week or so till we head up to Family Reunion... Can't wait!

Does anyone want to talk about lightning?

Well, as most of you probably know by now, we had a bit of a shock on Mother's Day... We're o.k.- but another great story (and close call) in the journal of the Cruising Cooks.
We'd been down in the Abacos for about a week- Teddy and Teresa even flew down to join us for a few days, and that was really fun!
They flew home Sunday morning, and we moved over to Green Turtle Cay from Marsh Harbor. A little rain shower washed off the deck for us right after we anchored- we were planning to dinghy ashore for dinner as soon as it passed- well, the wind shifted and as the leading edge of the storm came back in our general direction...and... a bolt from the skies smacked our mast!
We knew we'd been hit as soon as it happened- and in the same instant we knew we were both o.k.- which is really all that matters- Thank you, Lord!
So bottom line is we've got some repairs to do-
We had a very rough crossing home (23 hours straight across the
Bahama Bank then the Gulfstream, with no navigation lights or instruments), and we had to cut our vacation short by a few days.
(yes, that's a wall of water behind us- when I say rough seas, I ain't jokin'- I'm starting to feel like a real sailor...learned how to use the compass and a chart this trip! I also learned that having a precautious captain who brings along an extra handheld GPS and radio is a good thing!)
It's good to be home. Believe it or not though, we're already planning our next trip! Sound familiar?

Avery's 6 months old!

We made a quick trip up to Tally last weekend to share in Avery's Baptism. It was chilly! and a little too short- but good to see our girls. (and David!)



Avery's getting so big!- she's got a real sweet disposition...and even a sense of humor, I think. She was baptized at Wildwood Pres. on Sunday morning. She behaved beautifully for Pastor Bob, and then fell asleep on her Dad's lap for the rest of the service. We tried to take her out to lunch afterwards, but I'm not quite sure that was her idea of fun.

It was nice to spend a little time with Jamie and Bonnie, too- we worked on a few little projects on the Tally house; Dad the Landlord and Handyman is a great guy to have around!

We sure don't see them often enough- distance stinks. We plan our next visit on our ride home! (hopefully Bonnie will get to come down in June..maybe Jamie in July...and Kai and David in July, if we can twist his arm with the promise of a diving trip!).

Up and Running Again!

Man, that flu was a bad one. We were both out for a week, and Ted swore never to fly without a mask again. There ought to be some more pics on this post...we've been able to get out with friends twice- once our home group, and once with a crazy bunch of kids (not our own)...

The kids were a lot more fun- the game of "jump off the boat and see if you can catch it as it goes by" was a big hit... we haven't taught that game to many people- only the stout of spirit.
The Campos and Richardsons qualified. Even Hannah. After a little encouragement.
And then there was the "find the sunglasses" game! Everyone found at least one pair of nice sunglasses as they snorkeled off of Key Biscayne (where the speed boats go so fast in the channel that the rich people's glasses fly off their aristrocratic noses.). I think we all had a blast!

Wy the bay- I'm working on a shutterfly page... if you want to see more, you can go to my picture page at morningglory.shutterfly.com. Or just hit the link listed in the right hand column (Mili's Shutterfly Collection). I've still got lots to add, but gimme a minute! I'll get there!

ups and downs

And then we got the flu.
Such is life.

All the Cooks and the 3 Grulichs just got back from a week in Park City, Utah...the whole family stayed in a condo...
Most skied, many shopped.
No injuries, lotsa fun.
For an extensive photo experience, see Kailee's website.