Starting Off the Summer with Cousins!

At the beginning of the summer Aaron, Janet, Mylen and Aivlyn came to visit for two nights. We had such a great time catching up, playing games, watching the kids and just hanging out. We had not seen them since Christmas, so it was great to be together.

One of the days we headed to the Splash water park in Sherman. Avery, Abby and Mylen went down the big slides more times than I could count. I am sure Aivlyn would have been right there with them if there had not been any height restrictions.

Taking a break for a snack and a drink.


Cousins waiting in line together. I didn't get any pictures of them going down the big slides because so often I was right along with them.


Do you notice the trend here with Abby holding her nose? The girl hates to get water up her nose.

Even Dad and Gina went down the tall slides which of course made the grand kids happy!

The first day we had our own water slide and pool time in our back yard.


Aaron and Janet. Not sure why Aaron wouldn't smile - goofball!


Grandpa and Gina bought these shirts for the girls in Scotland. Aren't they cute?

A good time was had by all. I am so thankful the girls have cousins around their age to play with.

End of the Year Awards!

On the last day of school the girls had an awards ceremony which is called the Koality Celebration - a play off of "quality celebration". They both finished out the year strong. They each received these awards for all of the nine weeks through out the year.

Koality Citizen
Koality Worker
Koality Reader
A Honor Roll
Koality Attendance (Abby didn't receive this one nine weeks because she was sick for 3 days in a row, which isn't too bad for a kindergartner.)

They each also won the Top AR Reader trophy for their whole grade level for earning the most Accelerator Reader (AR) points by reading and testing on books.

Avery had perfect attendance all year long as well and was given a T-shirt!





We were extremely proud of them! We are thankful to God for their eagerness to learn as well as their great behavior. Our prayer is that they will use those talents and gifts for God's glory.

Another Wonderful Weekend of Camping

Over the Memorial Day weekend we went camping with several of our friends from our small group. By the time we all decided on a date there weren't many options available around Lake Texoma. We finally decided on Grandpappy Point. Wes and I went out there Thursday morning to reserve our spots since we knew it would be a very crowded weekend.

Most of us headed out there on Friday after school. After dinner and setting up our tents we played a game of volleyball. We will probably never forget our friendly camping neighbor buddy, Cory, who played with us. This 12 year old was full of stories/lies. He made us laugh with his stories of going to state in volleyball and his tales of his winnings in the game of washers. He was a character! By the way, my team won both times in volleyball. Woo hoo! We spent the rest of the night talking, singing, and just hanging out.

The next day the kids woke us up bright and early, which is usually the case when we are camping. We tried our hand at Cara Miller's camping donuts recipe. The yummy donuts were enjoyed by all. Next time we will have to remember not to shake the donuts up in Ziploc bags. I sure didn't think the donuts would melt the bag. We will definitely be taking paper bags in the future.

The kids all had so much fun together playing in the sand of the volleyball court which was right next to our site. I am sure we left some Polly Pockets buried alive there. Ooops!

After lunch when it started to get super hot we drove a very short distance to a cool beach area. I was surprised how much cooler the water was from last year when we went on the same weekend. It didn't stop us from getting in, and it definitely cooled you down.

That night we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, and we had another great night of hanging out. We played several hilarious games of Mafia. Mafia can get pretty interesting when half the people are exhausted.

The next day was Sunday, so Wes got up early to head to church. The rest of us slept in until around 8 which is pretty late when you are camping. We started off with a breakfast of pancakes. I packed up most of the tent while it was cool outside then we hung out. After lunch it got hot and we headed down to the beach. Soon after we got there poor Avery cut her foot on something on the beach. There was a ton of blood, so I couldn't tell if it needed stitches. I was thankful that our friend Nikki was there who is a physical therapist. She assured me she didn't need stitches. I ran to the car to get our first aid kit. (I am sure that was a lovely site, seeing as I was in my bathing suit.) Thankfully, after we got her bandaged up she was much better, although we didn't allow her to get back in the water the rest of the day, since it was a pretty deep cut and we didn't want it get infected.

Around 4:30 other people from our small group joined us for a devotional. We sang children's songs and Wes did a lesson for the little ones. After that we sent them to play in the sand so we could have our own devo time.

We all enjoyed one last dinner together. During dinner we heard a loud crash from the campsite next to us and then a truck peeled off down the road. Turns out a guy had hit a van which then hit another car. The guy must have been drunk or high because he just peeled off. Two of our friends along with Wes chased him down as he drove through the camping area. I will never forget the image of Jesse running with a hot dog skewer with a hot dog on the end running after the guy. Our other friend, Kyle, was chasing him and ran straight into a tree and fell down. The guy never did stop, but Wes got his license plate. We never did find out if he got caught. We were there for another hour and the police had still not come out to get the report. I was so thankful none of our kids were on the street or close to it when all this happened.

Abby, Ava, and Kylee.

Barry, Jennifer and their new baby Ellie. This was a first for her and she did great!

This is how I found the girls when I went to bed. This is proof of how much Abby moves around in her sleep. Her head should be on the pillow next to Avery. Instead she has her feet on my pillow. Thanks Abby!

Justin and Kyle playing washers.

Hanging out with the gals.

Wynn and Carrie.

The kids spent hours playing in the sand of the volleyball court.

Barry on his maiden voyage with his new kayak.

Jesse and Rachel and their horse...oh, I mean dog.

The McAlister clan. We were thrilled they spent the night this time. Usually, they only come out for the day.

The Bounds family joined us at the lake.

Justin and Wes soaking up the sun.


Kylee and Avery.

Abby and Sybil.

These two were excited to be together. Sybil's family moved last summer. So glad they got to join us for this weekend.

Abby wrote this on the picnic bench. Can you tell how she feels about sweet baby Ellie?


Ellie is all smiles! What a cutie!

I am so thankful to God for this group of friends. We have laughed together, cried together and grown closer to God together. What a blessing they are to my family!

New Grass and Sweet Prayers

Recently, we decided to lay new St. Augustine in our back yard. What an undertaking that was! Since we moved in this house 5 years ago we have not been able to get the grass to grow very well in the back yard. We had lots of very poor grass along with weeds and dirt. Wes spent two days shoveling out our old sod/weeds. We rented a sod cutter from Home Depot, but it was still a huge chore! Blake came one day and was a huge help digging! Wes ended up taking 6 loads of old sod on a flat bed trailer to the dump. Thankfully, during the month of April you are allowed to bring us much debris as you need to for free. I was only able to help dig for a couple of hours because it was during the week, and I was tutoring. I did get to help lay some of the sod which is much easier than digging out the old. Some friends from church also helped us lay the new sod, which was made the task much easier. Thank you friends!

Hard working brothers!

The new sod.

8 1/2 pallets later. Yay for new grass!

Now we have been watering daily except for the days we had the storms, which we were very thankful for, even though they gave us quite a scare at times. During one particular storm there was a tornado warning, so we rushed across the street to our neighbor's house who has a cellar under her garage. We watched the weather on the news and thankfully we did not even have to go in her cellar. While we were there the girls had to use the bathroom. When they got back Avery told me they said a prayer together for God to keep us safe. That sure made this mommy proud! Later, when we headed back across the street, I ran behind the house to our garage where the key-less entry is. I told the girls to stay by the front door, and I would let them in so that they would not have to get wet from the rain. They told me they said another prayer then, because the lightening, wind, and thunder was still scary, despite the fact that the tornado warning had lifted. It sure warmed my heart!

Later that night after the storm passed we thought the worst was over. Little did we know there was more excitement to come. The wind picked up, and all of the sudden I kept hearing loud popping sounds from our backyard. When I looked out the window I say sparks flying as if someone was setting off fireworks in our backyard. We knew it had something to do with our electrical lines and decided it would be best to call 911. They came out and basically told us they could not do anything. It was caused by two electrical lines hitting a tree at the same time. They told us not to worry about anything catching on fire because everything was too wet. Well, about two minutes later one of my friends called to tell me that her tree caught on fire from the same thing a few minutes earlier. As we were talking she realized her tree had caught on fire a second time and the fire appeared to be getting bigger. She quickly called 911. Thankfully, it finally went out. Sadly, her whole street's electricity was out for about a day! Needless to say, I was a little worried about what could happen at our house. I have since put a call into our electric company.

Miscellaneous Musings

My girls crack me up! The other day Abby said, "My favorite substitute would be Nikki." I replied, "Nikki is not a teacher." She answered, "With a little bit of magic she could be!"

Later Avery said, "I tasted air today, and it tasted TERRIBLE!" Abby asked her why she tasted it, to which Avery replied, "Someone dared me to at school, and I figured it was an easy dare. The air tasted really bitter!"

This past week was the TAKS test. I helped give the test for 3 days in a row at Layne Elementary. I was impressed that the principal wrote notes to each of the students and made her rounds with a basket of peppermints each day. My friend told me that at another school the principal prayed with her daughter who was nervous about the test. I love our school district!! We have so many wonderful, Godly teachers and administrators.

Easter Happenings

Our Easter weekend started off with soccer games. Only two of the five players showed up for Abby's game. Three players play at a time. We were a little worried, thinking they were probably going to get creamed. Believe it or not, the score was 4-4. Abby and Reagan played the whole time and were still able to tie with their opponents. It was amazing! Avery played her last game of the season and won. They did not loose a game all season long! I am impressed!

After the girl's games, we went straight to the Easter Egg Hunt at church. We had several visitors from the community, which is always great. Besides the egg hunts, there were crafts, finger foods, and a bounce house.


The next day, I went in the kitchen to make breakfast and there was a card for us on the kitchen table. Avery had woken up early and made us a sweet Easter card. How thoughtful! We all went to church and then we had Dad and Gina over for Easter lunch. A few hours later we drove to Blake and Katy's house. Avery, Abby, and Tripp had a good time hunting for more eggs.

Rough Rider's Game

This was the first year to do the Titus Project, and I think that everyone involved would say it was a success. Our youth made us so proud. Hopefully, they have learned several ways they can serve in our church and in our community. To celebrate our Titus Project at church we ended with a lock-in. We started the evening with a trip to watch the Frisco Rough Riders. The weather was great and we all had lawn seats. The tickets came with an all you can eat pass and Rough Rider hats. I can't say I watched most of the game. It was a lot of fun just watching the kids play and hanging out with everyone. What a blessing these people are in my life!

Go Rough Riders!

Some of the gang!


Our family.
Can you see Abby trying to get in the picture behind us?


Nikki and sweet Ansley.
Too cute!

Fun Chandler!

Aren't we cool?

Ladies Retreat

Earlier this month we had our annual ladies retreat with about 65 ladies at Pine Cove. I love, love this time with these ladies from church. It is always such a great time to get away from our busy lives. It helps me to refocus and remember what is truly important. This year we had lots of time to go off by our self in the beautiful surroundings, to just be alone with God. I thoroughly needed this time. The worship times were touching, and Jeanene Reese did a wonderful job as our speaker. I truly feel blessed to be a part of such a loving, caring church.

I love you, friends!

Getting ready for our zip lining adventure.

Let's do this, Amy!