Like an old sweet song . . . We have made it to Georgia, safe & sound! Thank you for all of the prayers and well-wishes. One chapter of our lives is closing, and a new one is beginning! Since our blog is a little bit like our book to you, we decided to close this chapter and begin a new one. We know that the more pictures we post, the slower you may be able to see them . . . and we don't want you to have to wait!

This blog will always be available to view at www.lifewithlevi.blogspot.com. Our new blog address will be www.lifewithleviandlydia.blogspot.com. We decided it was about time to get Lydia's name in there! We hope you have enjoyed sharing our life experiences over the last five years, and we look forward to sharing many more happy, exciting, and funny times with you!

May the Lord bless you & keep you, may His face shine upon you & give you peace. Amen & Amen!

One last "moo" at the zoo! We've had so many wild adventures at Riverbanks Zoo & Gardens, we had to go back to visit our animal friends just one more time! (We actually went once more after this with a big group of friends, but Mom forgot her camera.) I'm not sure how many cows they have in Georgia, but Lydia wanted to brush up on her milking technique. We probably will be drinking a lot of milk at first, until we get used to that weird beach water taste (or until Mom buys a water filter). Did we mention that Hinesville isn't too far from the beach? Lydia & I really like to build sandcastles and jump in the waves . . . maybe the water will still be warm enough when we get there to do a little swimming!

I hear that our new church has a lot of cool stuff for kids: AWANA, children's choir, mission groups, "His Kids" (children's church), and more. I can't wait to meet more friends and keep learning about Jesus! AWANA is a club I will be in to learn more Bible verses. Mom has helped me memorize 12 now; see if you can say some of them!

-Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
-Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother.”
-Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times.”
-Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength.”
-Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
-Psalm 56:3 “When I am afraid, I will trust in God.”
-Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
-Isaiah 49:16 “I have engraved you on the palms of My hands.”
-Luke 9:56 “For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”
-Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
-John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
-John 3:17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

I have learned about Jesus at preschool, too, and I am really going to miss my friends there. Mrs. Pam and Mrs. Jamy are the best teachers ever! I know God has a special place for me in a preschool in Hinesville; it's a good thing I really like to make new friends!
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With love,
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Levi
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It's Hinesville or BUST! I'm packing myself up and Dad's shipping me to
Georgia . . . we're moving to the peach state! He's going to be the pastor at the First Baptist Church in the city of Hinesville (Mom says it's about 40 minutes south of Savannah). We are all very excited! Of course, I will miss all my wonderful friends here, and all of the great times we've had at Shamrock Baptist Church. Levi & I will always be Bethunians -- you can take the kid out of Bethune, but you can't take the turkey (feathers) out of the kid! We hope to visit and keep in touch with all of our Shamrock family.

We've started packing up our things, but it seems like it will be a never-ending job! Levi & I are trying to keep an eye on our toys . . . you know, making sure they get packed safely and carefully. We are being big helpers. Mom especially likes it when I tell her that, "I CAN DO IT ALL BY MYSELF!" I know she appreciates my extra efforts. Some of my other favorite sayings are: "I'm not mad; I'm just upset"; "Let's count! 1, 2, 3 . . ." (I can go up to about 40); and "Ha-Ha, very funny!" Mom's also curious about whether or not other children growl at their parents? Because I do -- but just if there's something going on that I don't like. Some of my current hobbies are drawing & coloring, getting my toenails painted, dressing my dolls, taking off my shoes, cleaning with baby wipes, and making all kinds of faces at people. I also really like to talk on the phone, and most of the time I call my friend, Mrs. Phoebe (well, I usually do that on my toy phone). I will really miss Mrs. Phoebe when we move!

We would love it if you would pray for us during our move! For safety, for peace, for courage, and for however God will use our family in Hinesville. Look out, First Baptist, here come the Broughmans!
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With Georgia on my mind,
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Lydia
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I'm
walkin'
on
sunshine . . . We worked really hard this summer for our beach vacation! First, Mom had to go to a teachers' conference in Charleston for a whole week, and left us to tend to Dee-Da, Granny, and Gee-Gee. Now, that was a big job! We were able to hold down the fort for awhile, but Mom returned just in time. Then, we had to let Dee-Da go to Peru for two whole weeks on a mission trip. It was tough, but we knew that the people over there on the river (the Amazon) needed to learn about Jesus. While he was away, we did get to go on another short beach trip with Grammy & Granddeddy, so that wasn't very hard work. I guess going to Edventure with our friends, Steve & Patty, and swimming at Mrs. Phoebe's pool party wouldn't be considered hard work, either; or eating at the July 4th barbeque, or playing at McLeod Farms' Peach Festival. But Lydia & I put in our share; I guarantee that!

So, the week after Dee-Da came back home from his trip, we went to the beach. I had two requests: to play games at the arcade & go for a round of miniature golf. The beach is very sandy, and Dee-Da and I would rather not go there. Lydia had one request: to jump in the pool. Fortunately, we managed to at least have her arm floaties on when she jumped in this year. We both really like the pool, and I can play all around in the shallow end because I can stand up! Actually, Mom measured me this week and I am about 1-1/2 inches away from being 4 feet tall! We will measure Lydia, too; as soon as we can get her to stand still long enough.

One other hard-working thing I did this summer was join the Reading Club at the public library. I read for 15 hours (with Mom), so I was awarded a reading medal and a certificate! Mom & Dad were really proud of me. I even wore my medal this past week to preschool and told my teachers all about it. They were proud of me, too. We tried to help Lydia complete her Reading Club hours, but she doesn't really want to sit still long enough to read a book. Mom usually gets one page in at a time. But she sure is a smart little rascal!
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Love,
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Levi
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Milestones of the month: Lydia pee-peed in the big potty for the first time; she has expanded her repertoire of songs to include full versions of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "Happy Birthday to You", "Jesus Loves Me", "This Little Light of Mine", "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" and many more (we can cut a CD at your request)

British Soccer Camp, eh? Another summer of "blokes", "blimey", "fish & chips", and "football"! Here I am with my three Challenger British Soccer Camp coaches: Myles, Ben, & Dom. Myles (on the left) was my main coach; it was his first year and first week of camp, so we broke him in. We learned all kinds of soccer skills, practiced in teams, played fun games, and most importantly, had drinks & snacks. My favorite game we played was the "monster" game. Coach Myles picked one player to be the monster, and that player was supposed to dribble the ball away from the others. He chose me to be the monster a lot because I have a really loud monster GROWL! And, maybe because I needed the most practice. But anyway, it was fun! I can't wait to see what color of jersey we get next year (I hope for red . . . it's my favorite)!

Also during June, we had "Gold Rush: Discovering the Rock of Ages" Vacation Bible School! As usual, it "rocked"! We learned Bible stories, sang songs, played games, ate snacks, and made crafts: a "Names of Jesus" bandana, a miner's journal with pick ax pen, a prospector's pouch, a Mason jar tea light holder, and a Mason jar lid Christmas ornament. People who lived back then really only had Mason jars, I guess. We got to dress up like Wild West folks (except without the guns), and ride around on stick horses. It was a rootin'-tootin' good time! If you want to learn more about this Answers in Genesis VBS, just click on our western pictures at the right!
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Love always,
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Levi
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Entertaining Levi quote (as told by Lydia): Levi always uses the word "preacher" in place of "creature"; so we hear, "Mom, did you see those scary green preachers?" or "Can we watch the Scooby-Doo with the alien preachers?"

Big wheels keep on turning . . . Here we are in the southland with Tia! We traveled about six hours straight to the left (Mom says that's "west") and we ended up in Birmingham, right where Tia lives. She had all sorts of cool things planned for us, including an Amtrak voyage to Anniston. Let's see . . . SC train ride -- check; NC train ride -- check; AL train ride -- check! Lydia & I are becoming quite well-traveled!

While we were in Alabama, we also went to a really huge & fun children's museum called The McWane Science Center. My favorite exhibit was one where I got to pilot a model airplane through a wind tunnel -- see if you can find it in the photos! Lydia had a lot of favorite activities, but I think the one she enjoyed the most was taking a nap in Tia's lap in the construction zone. Did I mention that I also rode on a zip-line? It was really dangerous! (Well, it would have been if not for the foam mats on the floor beneath me.) Tia also took us to a neat park, out for some yummy meals, and to lots of cool stores (no, wait -- that last one was with Mom; we stayed at Tia's house and watched Scooby-Doo). We had such a great time . . . we can't wait for another trip to the heart of Dixie!

About a week before we went to visit Tia, we took a trip to Granny & Gramps' house. Now, I'm here to tell you a story that you won't soon forget. Are you ready? Raise your hand if you like snakes . . . hmmm, that's what I thought. Well, we didn't think Lydia did, either. She was taking a nice walk with Gramps outside, and she ran on ahead of him a little ways. After Gramps finished admiring his yard, grass, and so forth, he looked back over at Lydia, who had just picked up a snake! And not just any snake -- a live 10-inch Copperhead!! Gramps said she was holding it up in the air, looking it over, letting it dangle from her hand like a rope. Well, he made haste, and let's just say that was the end of that snake. He was quite pale-faced by the time he got inside and told everyone what had happened. We were just all really thankful that she didn't get bitten. Our little Lydia likes to "walk on the wild side" . . . it's a good thing Jesus doesn't mind walking with her!
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Lots of love,
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Levi
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A note about our birds' nest: We watched and waited, and we did have some sweet little baby birds! But every time Mom tiptoed over to take their picture, she was afraid the flash would hurt their little eyes (it was kind of dark down inside the nest). So, no baby bird pictures, but we saved the nest!

A Very Berry Birthday to Me! What could be better than strawberries and shortcake on your 2nd birthday? Well, Strawberry Shortcake, of course! She came to celebrate with my family & friends at McLeod Farms' Annual Strawberry Festival, which made for a berry fun day!

First, we met everyone next to the tractors so that Mom could pass out tickets and armbands for all the activities. Then, we played in the bouncy castles, went on hayrides, decorated frisbees, got our faces painted, and watched a balloon man make animals, princesses, superheroes, and lots of other balloon creations! After that, we all met back at the van for a tailgate picnic complete with yummy strawberry cake, strawberry juice pouches, and strawberry ice cream cones. Did I mention that strawberries are my favorite fruit? And, I got a big "2" candle on my cake because I'm a whole year older than I was at my last birthday party!

Before we went home (a.k.a., the place where I got to open my presents), Mom picked up a big basket of strawberries from McLeod's Market so that we could enjoy even more strawberries after the party was over. And you know what? I think that God saved a few berry special sunny hours that afternoon just for me . . . right in between two huge rain showers! A special thank you to my Granny & Gramps for helping Mom get ready for the party, and to Gee-Gee who made my fruit-tastic Strawberry Shortcake outfit!
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Love you bunches with berries on top,
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Lydia
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Easter Blessings to You! We hope you had a wonderful Easter celebrating Jesus & the empty tomb! I taught Lydia the Easter story this year during Mission Friends class. Mom helped us make a bag filled with "Resurrection Eggs" so we could share the Easter story with someone who might not have heard it! Our first egg had a nickel inside to show that Judas sold out Jesus for a few lousy pieces of silver. Our second egg had a little piece of cracker inside to show that Jesus ate His last supper with His friends before He died. Our third egg had a nail inside to show that Jesus was nailed to the cross for our sins. Our fourth egg had a piece of cloth inside to show that they wrapped Jesus' body in clean cloth and laid it in the tomb. Our fifth egg had a rock inside to show that they rolled a huge stone in front of the tomb and sealed it. When you open the last egg, guess what? Nothing! That's because Jesus rose from the dead and the tomb is empty -- Hooray!

We had our annual Easter Egg-stravaganza at church, complete with egg-hunting, candy, prizes, games, hot dogs, desserts, and more! Then, we had our Easter breakfast on Sunday, followed by the early worship service, and after that, it was off to Mimaw's house! Another fun year of hunting eggs with my cousins, and discovering chocolate and other treats inside Mimaw's antique Easter eggs! I say "antique" because, for some reason, they used to put ladies' pantyhose inside of Easter eggs . . . I'm not sure who came up with that idea. Anyway, Mimaw saved all of her pantyhose eggs & that's where she hides the yummy treats every year. She says they're extra special because you can't find them anymore (maybe someone figured out something better to put stockings in). It's fine with me, though, because those pantyhose eggs can hold a lot of goodies!

Some of our other April activities and celebrations were: Going to our friend Jaime's birthday skating party (Lydia skated for the first time!), getting our pictures taken at preschool (That was an adventure filled with Lydia's poked-out lips and crossed arms!), hunting eggs during my preschool Easter party, and attending our friend Madison's very first birthday party. Overall, April was a much better month than March!


With love,

Levi


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Entertaining Levi quote (as told by Lydia): Levi was licking a sucker and went to use the bathroom. After awhile, he came out with a sort of weird look on his face. Mom asked him what was wrong, and he replied, "Mom, my sucker tasted really funny after I dropped it in the toilet."

Talking 'bout the birds &
the bees, and the flowers & the trees . . . What welcomes spring like having a birds' nest in the stroller? We've been watching the mommy wren build it, and we've tried to be very careful not to bump or push the stroller (it's parked in our carport right next to the screen door). She's one brave bird, all right! Levi helped me hang a bird feeder on the side of the stroller, and we gently placed a little water dish next to the nest. When we took the pictures, there were only four eggs, but now there are five eggs inside. Hopefully soon we'll have some baby bird pictures to post!


Love,

Lydia

Just the two of us, we can make it if we try . . . So here we are -- us and the Pop-Tarts. March blew in like a lion at our house; a lion carrying the flu virus! We were all ill (except Dad), and Mom really had the full-blown sickness. Our entire month of March was an experiment in the "Daddy-dids" . . . Daddy did the cooking, Daddy did the cleaning, Daddy did the laundry, and most importantly, Daddy did the taking care of Lydia & me (with a little help from Granny & Grammy). He did a great job, but we hope Mom doesn't get sick again, ever!

So, this is just a short post-sickness blog update to say that all we had to share for the month of March was snotty tissues, trips to the doctor, high fevers, and Pop-Tart breakfasts!


Love always,

Levi


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Happy Snow Day! And, Happy Valentine's Day! We didn't have snow on Valentine's Day, but it seemed like it lasted almost that long! Here is our gigantic sports-themed snowman, complete with soccer ball head and golf ball buttons. He may not look that gigantic in the picture, but if you could see how tall Levi has gotten, you'd say, "That's a big snowman!" We measured our snow, and it was about six inches deep. That's a lot for Bethune! We played in it as long as we could, but before long it became like an ice skating rink, and I'm just not that good at ice skating yet. But, it sure was pretty!

Levi decided that it was time for a "Lydia's Top Ten" . . . the top ten things about me that you might want to know (or might make you laugh)!

10) I know and can name all of my brother's favorite characters: Thomas the Train, Mickey Mouse, Batman, Spiderman, Superman, and so forth . . . and I love singing the "Bob the Builder" theme song. Cinderella who?

9) I can count all the way to 15, but sometimes I might skip a few!

8) My favorite past time is trying on everyone else's shoes; I can even run in Mom's high heels!

7) Even though I can hang with my brother, I love girly things like hair bows, baby dolls, jewelry, and lip gloss. Mom even lets me put on some of her chapstick when we're getting ready to go out!

6) When I'm not trying on shoes, I absolutely adore cleaning (which makes my Dad very happy). I pull the dishtowels down and clean up messes all over the house. I wipe the floors, the walls, my face, and anything else that needs a good swipe! I also enjoy helping Mom pull the clean silverware out of the dishwasher.

5) I can sing the alphabet song, but only the first half is really understandable.

4) Throwing things in the trash can is the most fun! (But sometimes I throw in things that aren't supposed to go there.)

3) I am 28 pounds of pure Daddy's girl, and I love talking with him when he gets home from work. I even have a "Daddy Dance" that I do around the kitchen when I first see him in the morning. Of all the words I can say, he always wants to hear "I love you!"

2) I had my first trip to the emergency room on my Uncle Brendan's birthday (January 23rd). I pulled a heavy cinder block down onto my poor little foot. You won't catch me touching one of those things again! No broken bones, but a yucky black & blue bruise.

1) My favorite song is "Jesus Loves Me" and if you ask me very nicely, I will sing it for you!
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Love you bunches,
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Lydia
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Entertaining Levi quote (as told by Lydia): Levi was playing trains with Dad and something happened that he didn't like. Some people might say, "Oh, no!", "Gee whiz!", or "Aw, shucks!" But Levi exclaims, "Oh, buffers and steel wheels with puffed out smoke!" Expressions of a true train fanatic.

"Then the angel said to the shepherds, 'Do not be afraid! Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people . . . a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.'" Here we are in our Christmas pageant costumes! Isn't Lydia a cute & fluffy little angel? I got to play a shepherd in our church pageant, and a sheep in my preschool pageant (look for that picture on the right to see if you can spot me & my floppy ears). We learned new songs, played instruments, heard Bible verses, and celebrated Jesus' birthday! What could be more fun than that? If I keep learning and getting smarter, then by next year I might get to be a wise man!

God has given Lydia and me such a super family, and they did all kinds of fun stuff with us over the Christmas season. Gramps, Granny & Meemaw took us to see Santa Claus . . . but not just any Santa; Santa Claus on a train! We went to the NC Railroad Museum and choo-chooed with St. Nick -- I felt like I was on the Polar Express! We also got to look around at all of the old engines and train cars. So I've been to the SC & NC Railroad Museums; only 48 more to go! (Well, Hawaii might not have one.)

Of course, we had a great time opening all of our presents (we got a bunch!) at everybody's houses: Granddeddy & Grammy's, Gramps & Granny's, Gee-Gee's, Meemaw's, and at our house. And God sent us an extra present on Christmas Day . . . snow! It started snowing on us in Winston-Salem as we were leaving to drive to Columbia. My first white Christmas -- what a cool treat!
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With love,
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Levi
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We hope you had
the merriest of Christmases as you celebrated Jesus' birthday, and we pray that He will bless you in this new year!