Vernon Visit

A few weeks ago, we went to Vernon for a little visit.  We were so excited to see Memaw, Aunts, Uncles and COUSINS!!!

My Grandma's church hosted a community supper Saturday night.  They invited everyone from the community to come share food and fellowship.  It was really nice to see so many people from the farming community where my Mom grew up.  Lots of great memories!  We also got to meet a very special little person that afternoon - Harper!  My cousin Lanthia and her precious family were in town for the weekend as well.  Harper was born last November, but this was the first time we got to meet him.  He is a little angel - so handsome and such a good baby!  Lanthia's daughter, Grace, turned two in March - she is a doll!!!  I couldn't believe how much she had grown since the last time we saw her.  She is such a sweet girl and looks just like her beautiful momma!!!



Handsome Harper!  I love this picture - Jackson was so excited to hold him!



First attempt to get a pic of my kids with Grace and Harper.  I love the look on Grace's face - she's not so sure about our curly topped crazy girl!



Jackson and Grace - poor thing, Jackson wanted to pick her up, too!

  

Yommy feeding Harper!  Such a sweet boy!!!


After supper, we went back to my Grandma's to visit with everybody.  Some of my sweet cousins left the lake early to come out - Thanks, guys!  Some of my favorite childhood memories include playing with my cousins at my Grandma's house.  I'm so glad my kids can make memories of their own playing my cousins' children!  I wish we had one of those "wiggle your nose" machines so we could see them more often!  They always have the best time!  Some of the boys came in talking about a helicopter they saw at the airport.  It turns out the Texas Forest Service had brought in a helicopter to be on stand-by because of the extreme drought.  So, all the kids loaded up to go have a gander!

 

I've never seen a helicopter up close before.  They are huge!  This helicopter can drop hundreds of gallons of water in just a few seconds.





Jackson, Caitlin, Alli, Grace, Case, Austen, Addison and Kendall in front of the tail.  My Grandma has 17 great-grandchildren - this is only 8 of them!

 

Austen went earlier that evening and got a "tour" of the helicopter from the Texas Forest Service agents.  They let him seat in the driver's seat and gave him this really cool pin.  He's not one bit proud of it, can you tell?



Ginormous blades!

 

The older girls couldn't get enough of Grace!  Who could blame them?


 

Baby Harper has lots of fans!




Caitlin and Grace playing puzzles.

  

Harper and the girls



Grace, Austen, Jackson and Andrew take turns on the DS.  Case is in the background getting sleepy.


 

Lanthia and Harper - it was so good to see her and her family!


 

Austen got to spend the night with us at Memaw's house!  I'm not sure who was more excited Jackson or Kendall!  They had so much fun and stayed up giggling and watching cartoons.  Fun times!!!

We had a great night visiting and playing!  Time always seems to go extra fast on these trips.  I feel like if I blink, these kids are going to be graduating!  They are all so special!  More to come from our visit in my next post...

Verse of the day - "Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth." Psalm 127:3-4

Blessings,
Kelli

Fourth of July (I know it's August...)

I was going to try posting this before July was over - no such luck!  We have been keeping very busy with baseball, swimming, play dates, and more baseball. 

We had a great Independence Day - who needs fireworks when you have the two cutest firecrackers already?

The parade was nice.  It stayed cloudy for the most part and a few drops *gasp* even fell on us.  Key word there was a few - it was like two drops and then nothing! 

Sweet girl waiting for the parade to start



Yommy and Papa came later during the parade.  I love this picture for so many reasons - It has two of my favorite people saying thank you to those who fight so unselfishly for our great country!



After the parade we walked around the circle a little bit.

Guns up!



Our best attempt at a family 4th pic




After the parade, we spotted these guys walking to their car.  Amazing Grace on bagpipes always makes me cry!  And now Jackson wonders if they wear underwear beneath their kilts...



I obviously didn't pass my fear of statues on to this kid...



or this one!




So glad we got to celebrate with Yommy and Papa too!

After the parade, we walked down Broadway to enjoy the street fair.  Our clouds left us and it got HOT!!!


This one's for you Uncle Timmy!  What's the 4th of July without a stormtrooper?



Jackson got his face painted (a baseball and a green bat).  We may or may not have talked him out of a CRAZY long line to jump in a bouncer by promising him some ice cream. 



"Why is SpongeBob melting, Mom?"

We had lunch at Fuzzy's with Yommy and Papa and then went home before we melted too!  The rest of our day wasn't too exciting - we walked around the mall, went out to eat for supper and then watched the fireworks on T.V.  It was a wonderful day to celebrate America's birthday with the people I love!

Verse of the day - "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:17

Blessings,
Kelli

Our little All-Star

We were so proud of Jackson for making the All-Star team this year!  They played 6 games in a week and ended up with a record of 4 wins and 2 losses, 2nd place overall.  They played really hard and we were very proud of them!  They had to play the team that won 1st three times!  We lost the first game, they lost the second, we played hard the third game but just couldn't pull it out.  I'm not going to mention the unfair calls or the high-schooler that was playing shortstop for the other team - okay maybe just once!  It was a great experience for Jackson.  I didn't realize that the last game was Jackson's last time as a "t-baller". *tears*  Onward to bigger and better things - the morning after the tournament ended Jackson had his first machine pitch fall ball practice!  Exciting times in the life of a 7 year old!!!



Handsome Boy!



The obligatory picture with the sibling - Man, we've got some cute kids!




Coming in for a run - I almost caught the moment!



Receiving his trophy...#19 Jackson (long pause) MacCamound - close enough :)

 


Great group of boys and coaches!



They're #1 in our hearts!




Nothing soothes a loss like a cupcake!

 

Yay, Jackson!



And one more with your sister who won't stop talking long enough to take the picture!

Thanks again to Yommy, Papa, Danny, Debbie, Cheryl and Mammers for coming to watch!  Jackson has the best fans on the face of the planet!!!  **kicking self for not having any pictures of Jackson with these amazing people**

Verse of the day - "whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31

Blessings,
Kelli

Father's Day

We had a great day on Father's Day celebrating with Zach and my dad (Papa or as Kendall calls him Poppy).  We are truly blessed by these two great men!  They are wonderful examples of strength, love and character.  The perfect mixture of strong fortresses and soft places to fall.  I love them both so much and could never repay them for all they've done for us!



Zach and Kendall after church



Loving on their AWESOME dad!

Helping Papa open his presents (wonder who's a camera hog?)

 

My favorite Red Sox fan and the best dad a girl could ever ask for!

These next few are from our session with Kim - I love them so!



My boys!

  

He's wrapped around her little finger!



Such good sports - they hadn't planned on being in the pictures!  I love this one!!!

Verse of the day - "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord." Ephesians 6:4

Blessings,
Kelli
 

Hot Fun in the Summertime

This summer has been HOT!  A record 30 days (and counting) over 100 degrees hot.  When it hasn't been over 100 it's been a cool 99 or even a chillier 96.  We've done a lot of fun things this summer trying to keep cool and still have fun.  We've read lots of books.  We've gone to the movies (Kung Fu Panda 2, Cars 2, Mr. Popper's Penguins, The Zookeeper).  We've gone bowling.  We've gone to VBS and Jackson's been to lots of fun camps.  We've had lots of morning park play dates and McDonald's lunch play dates.  We've done a LOT of swimming (my kids are now beige instead of white:).  It's been a great summer - I am so blessed to be able to spend each second with my love bugs!



Bowling Babe

 

Bowling Bubba

My friend Cheryl and I taught the entering 2nd graders during VBS at church this year.  We had the best group of kids!  And I'm not just saying that - they were darling!  They were so well-behaved during each activity.  Their singing and dancing during gathering time was so cute!  On Monday, we asked them to bring their Bibles with them each day.  I nearly cried the next morning as each of them walked in with their little Bibles, not to mention their offering for our Habitat for Humanity family.  Seriously, we could not have had a more precious group of children!  Thanks again to Cheryl for helping me - I couldn't have done it without her!!!

 

Waiting to play the water relay game on the last day of VBS




Beautiful Taylor finishing up her relay race.  They had to "bat" the exercise ball through an obstacle course using the water noodle.




Big Jack's turn

Enjoying a snow cone (and sitting ever so ladylike) while Bubba finishes up a swimming lesson.

Another day, another snow cone...this time Jacks gets one too!

 Kendall loves the freedom her floaties give her!



Jackson needed some "tough love" swimming lessons this year.  He could doggie paddle and hold his own, but could not really swim.  He went under a few years ago during swimming lessons at another pool.  It scared him A LOT.  I couldn't even talk him into lessons last year.  I chose Seahorse this year because of all the great things I had heard about it.  I'm so glad I did - he's like a different kid in the water!



Graduation Dive - so proud!



My mom found the box with all my old Cabbage Patch Kids in it.  Kendall was so excited!!!  Fun memories!

 

We've had a lot of fun play dates with Kim and her sweet kids.  I should take pictures every time, but I always forget.  I snapped this with my phone.  I couldn't resist how cute Kendall and little brother (a.k.a. her future husband) looked holding hands leaving the park!

Verse of the day - "It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter." Psalm 74:17

Blessings,
Kelli