Saturday, June 30, 2018

These Days

Bert has painted every room in our house except the bedrooms and office and he's done a great job!!  The girls got to help him a little too!  



Claire and Abby stayed with Mrs. Lynn and Marly while I went to a high school gradation and they had fun!! Claire has asked me many times since then when they're going back over to Marly's house.  


They've had lots of fun in this little pool during the month of June.  For a while they were getting in it most every other day.  


Hannah is reading so well these days!! 


Sophie has been coming over once a week and spending a few hours with the girls!!  We love having her! 


She helped them play a soccer game in our side yard.  


Hannah wrote these notes to her teachers 2 days after school got out.  I texted a picture of them and since I didn't have their addresses.  



A few of the kids sang in church on Sunday morning.  Emily was nervous but they all did a great job!  


We had a tea time with Aunt Renea down on the dock at Mimi and Papa's house!  Nea is a fun person!  


The paddle boat was loaded down for this ride!  


Stanley and Alisha got married the day before Father's day, so when we got back home on Sunday evening we gave Daddy his cards and gift (that he has to go pick up from Lowes in his truck).  Please excuse the sheets on the couch (I kept them on there during the no-floor phase of our leak issue because our feet stayed dirty.)


VBS started the day after Father's day and was a blast!!  I helped with the 1st grade class.  

I loved this picture of Emily and her friend Breleigh! 


Hannah and Haley....big buddies! 


Ummm....are these nursery kids not the cutest!?!? Hunter (right ) is a month older than Abby and Bennett (left) is about 5 months younger than Abby.  I loved their big smiles! 


Also, the rain boots she's wearing int the picture above are her favorites right now.  She would wear them every day if she could and does wear them most days.  

Alison and Molly and Jude got to come home from Uganda after 10 months of trying!  We drove up to Raleigh to welcome them home at the airport!  

On the way up there we soooo wanted Abby to take a nap because we knew it was going to be a late night, but she was not having it.  Bert had the idea to play some white noise (that's what she has playing each night /nap time) from his phone and stream it over the car speakers.  When that white noise started playing she immediately put her fingers in her ears and kept them there.  She made me laugh out loud with that stunt.  She didn't not fall asleep on the 4 1/2 hour car ride up there, so I'd say she definitely won that battle.  


Welcome home Molly and Jude!!  We are so so thankful y'all are here!! 

Airport welcoming party! 




One Wednesday night the Burns got a flat tire as they were leaving the church parking lot so we stayed to hang out with them/help change their tire.  The kids had fun playing in the empty parking lot and thankfully no kid was injured by the running on concrete.  


Sweet little sisters! 


We got to watch a fun fireworks show in Toccoa to kick off our 4th of July lake week!  It was so good!! Papa stayed at the lake house with Abby so that she could go on to sleep for the night.  


Emily told us while we were at the lake that she had a tooth coming in behind her baby tooth.  She hadn't told us before because she was afraid were were going to try to pull her baby tooth.  I called the dentist as soon as we got back into town and she said it definitely had to be pulled.  The permanent tooth is so far in she doesn't think there is any way it will move forward on it own, which means she'll have to get some kind of appliance to help it.  We've talked to Em and Hannah now about the fact that they have to tell us if they have a tooth coming in that we don't know about....especially on the top.  She did great and enjoyed the laughing gas! 


I remember saying with every other kid that 3's were harder than 2's, but I'm not so sure that's going to be the case with Abby.  She's got opinions about everything and is not scared to throw a tantrum, BUT she's adorable and cuddly and sweet too and I wouldn't change anything about her.  

Ms. Sassafrass!  


These days are sweet and busy (which is why I'm weeks late posting my June blog posts)!!  We're already almost halfway through July now and it's been wonderful! We just got back from spending several days at Vogel State Park with the Watts Clan and we're leaving for PCB in a week!  I love summer!! 

Lake Trip


We took a trip to the lake at the end of June and beginning of July.  The kids and I were there for about a week and Bert was there at the beginning and end (he worked in the middle).

Playing in the lake is soooo relaxing to me!  



We drove the jet ski's to the waterfall.  I haven't been to this waterfall in about 15 years and it was prettier than I remembered!  


We did some rock painting!  


Messy, but fun! 


I loved this picture of Papa tickling the girls before bed.  They LOVE tickles from Papa Stan!  



Uncle Jimmy took us on boat rides a couple different times!



All the kids got to tube a couple times....


And they all 4 did the yellow board!  




Even Abby!  Although Bert held on to the board the whole time she was riding.  


Abby got a new life jacket halfway through the week, which held her head up better, but we still kept hands on her, much to her dismay.  


Papa stayed in the water most all day on the 4th, which isn't usually his favorite place to be, so we felt loved! 


I thought this picture captured the organized chaos!  


Sister/Cousin love! 




Abby liked her new life jacket.  Precious 2 year old!  


Jacob jumped off the top of the dock for the first time ever this weekend and Hannah decided she wanted to do it too, which surprised me for sure!  Hannah usually takes a little while to warm up to things and that top deck is high!  

She said Jacob could jump with her as long as he stood far away.  Her Daddy missed this because he was back in Greenville, but I took pictures and a video!  She actually did it twice and then decided that she didn't like it.  I think maybe she got some water up her nose with that second jump.  So so so so so so proud of our Hannah!!  


Emily jumped for the first time last year, but hadn't done it yet this year.  After Hannah and Jacob went she decided she would go (but she did NOT want anyone jumping at the same time as her.) She only did it that once and you couldn't talk her into doing it again.  I think she just wanted to show everyone she could still do it.:)  


Mike, Alli, Miles and Piper were in town over the 4th and we really enjoyed getting to spend time with their family each day!  So fun! 


The girls looked cute all lined up on Uncle Jimmy's pontoon!


Our lake trip was wonderful as usual!  I'm hoping we'll get one more lake trip before school starts back...we'll see!!  

Stanley and Alisha's Wedding

Stanley and Alisha's wedding weekend was busy and wonderful!!! We were so thankful to be a part of their big day!!  

Alisha had a bridesmaids luncheon on Friday morning and we enjoyed getting to see lots of out of town cousins and meet some of Alisha's extended family!   


Alisha got the girls these cute shirts and they loved them!  


Emily and Hannah thought getting their hair done was great fun!  Bert took them to the salon while I was getting my hair done at the church.  



These three played in the nursery for hours on the day of the wedding!  


Hannah tried to stick to Alisha like glue!  You can see her peaking through as Alisha was getting her make up done in the picture below.  


Ready and waiting!  














Cousins picture! We've taken this shot at every single wedding, starting with Michael's.  


Junior bridesmaids and the junior groomsman!


Piper is my cousin Mike's little girl and Hannah just loves her!!  They bonded over their love for Minnie and the friendship continues!:)  


So glad we got to spend time with the Thompson family over the wedding weekend!  


The reception was at Reflections and it was a beautiful June evening for it!  


Emily caught the bouquet!  



I loved these pictures of the kids dancing together!  



And this one of Claire dancing with and smiling up at her Daddy may be my favorite of the night!  


Emily, Hannah and Claire literally danced the night away.  Many people commented about how much fun they were having out on the dance floor!  



Renea was in town from New Mexico and we loved getting to spend time with her!!  


Bert and I with Misty and David!  Wish we lived closer to them, but thankful we get to see them a couple times a year! 


Misty was much like a sibling when we were growing up and thinks of Katherine and Stanley as her "little" sister and brother, so we had to get a family picture! 


We're so happy and excited for Stanley and Alisha as they start their life together!!