Nana and Pappa at the beach!

One of the days while we were in Pensacola, Nana and Pappa drove over and spent the day with us!  We had a great time playing with them at the pool!

 Abby, Nathan and Nana played on our boogie board!

 And Pappa threw Jacob until his arms gave out!

We loved having them come spend the day with us!!

Abby turns 8!

How can it be that we have an 8 year old?  A third grader?  When did this happen!  Abby is such a joy!  She loves to read and loves all things arts and crafts related!  She is quite the little gymnast- doing cartwheels, hand-stands, and back bends everywhere!!  She is thoughtful, silly, fun, kind to her brothers, and such a big help to me!

This was her party year and she decided to have it at the bowling alley!  A fun place, especially when it's 90+ degrees outside!!

Here she is the bowling birthday girl!!

Abby and Mimi!

 Abby's birthday cake!  Made with love by Mimi!!

 Here's Abby and her sweet friends!

so thankful for such a precious group of girls!!

Happy birthday, sweet girl!  We love you and are so thankful you are ours!!



Beach Trip July 2011

We had the opportunity to spend a week in Pensacola this summer again at my parents' place.  I really do not take these vacations for granted-having this precious time together to enjoy each other and the beach!  We are so thankful!!

 Nathan became our "goggle man" this summer.  He has never been afraid of the water, but this summer he really took off with his swimming.  So much so that he too needed a pair of goggles!!

 See, I told you... he is growing up WAY too fast!!

 These boys love to dig, dig, dig when we play at the beach!!

 On the bay side of the place we stay there is a huge inflatable water park.  This summer we let Abby and Jacob give it a try.  It was still a little bit of a challenge for them to be able to pull themselves up onto the inflatables, especially with a big life-jacket on, but they certainly enjoyed trying!

Here they are on the water trampoline!

 Going up the big slide!

 At the top, about to come down...

Jacob loves to be thrown at the pool!

Here are a few of my favorite shots from our beach pictures!!  All 5 of us piled up in the sand!

 I don't even know what to say about this one...

Another favorite part of our trip this summer was that our dear friend, Meredyth, came and spent half of the week with us.  We loved having her there and hope it will become an annual tradition!

 We got to celebrate her birthday with a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake- Yummy!!

This year for the first time ever, we were in Pensacola over the fourth of July, so we were able to see the fireworks and the Blue Angels.  Unfortunately, I can't find that series of pictures, but hopefully soon, those will be up and running too!!

Jacob turns 6!

My sweet buddy, Jacob!!  It was almost harder for me that he turned 6 this year than it was that Abby turned 8.  He is so quickly becoming a "big boy" and it is a little sad for this Mommy's heart.  (I know the ultimate goal of parenting is to train and equip and send them out, but sometimes as a mom that is very difficult to think about!!)  Jacob is such a precious little boy!  He loves all things sports- mountain biking, soccer, football, and baseball!  He is also very creative and enjoys drawing, coloring, painting, etc.  He, like most boys his age, is also very interested in legos.  Jacob also loves to stay at home (this is one way we know for sure that he is his father's child!) 

This year was not a "party year" for Jacob, but we did get to spend part of his birthday with some of his favorite friends.  We met for breakfast at Waffle House and then ventured over to the park to ride bikes, play in the creek and enjoy cupcakes.  For my low-key, stay at home guy, this was the PERFECT way to spend his birthday.

In true Jacob form, we offered to take him out for dinner that night, but he wanted to stay home, so he got to plan the menu!  We grilled steak, and had mac-n-cheese and black eyed peas!  All chosen by the birthday boy!

Happy birthday, Jacob!  We love you and look forward to seeing all that the Lord has in store for you this year!



Summer Fun! (about to do some SERIOUS catching up!!)

We had such a fun summer together!  All 3 of my kiddos have summer birthdays and this year we rolled to 4, 6, and 8.  It is painful for me to even type that.  I love the ages they are at and if I could freeze them right here forever, I think I would!  Here are a few of our favorite activities from this summer.

This one was one Sunday afternoon and they were in the backyard and I looked out to see this!  Love it!

One day in July when it was too hot to do anything outside, we played with marshmallows and toothpicks!  Such a fun, creative activity!

 one of my favorite things we do each summer is go to a nearby peach farm and pick our own peaches.  Unfortunately, Abby was visiting her Mimi and Gramps this year when we went but the boys and I had a great time with our friends!

 Jacob and two of his buddies!

On the way home, my friend Summer and I decided to take our boys to a nearby park that has a rope swing and good ole fashioned water hole!  We had a picnic and let the kids swim!  They had a great time and Jacob especially wants to know when we can go back!