Mother Daughter Tea

The girls and I enjoyed going to the Mother Daughter Tea today after church. The boys enjoyed a Father Son Pizza Buffet without us. So we are all happy and full. I didn't have enough battery power at the church to get some pictures but was able to get a couple when we got home. As you can see we were matching and looked quite marvelous - if we do say so ourselves. We have been attending this church for a couple months now so it was nice to go and get to visit with some new friends. The act teens were putting on the tea - they are a girls high school aged group that get together once a month. Makayla has joined the act teens and they are all going to be camp counselors at Touched By an Angel Ministries camp in a couple weeks. They will be working one on one with handicapped kids that attend the camp. They will ride horse together, do arts and crafts and all kinds of fun events. It will be a great growing experience for Makayla and a chance for her to get to know the girls better at church. Pray for her when you think about it - they leave July 11th. Thank You Lord for such beautiful, healthy, fun daughters!

A Great Fathers Day

It has been a long while since Ive gotten to spend Fathers day with my Dad. Our house was just brimming with Dad's today. We had a special meal planned for after church. I made red beans and rice and Lar was in charge of the crawfish. He ordered 10 lbs yesterday and needed to reboil them and season them for lunch today. Nick woke up at 530am this morning because he was so excited about having the crawfish. Cliff and Carol, Lar's mom and dad, my mom and dad and our family all sat down to a wonderful mean. Nick showed everyone had to peel and eat the crawfish. After we all ate way to much - well at least me anyway - the kids and I gave each of the fathers a new Hawaiian shirt to wear. We wanted them to have a relaxing day. Then we started a friendly competition between the dads. We started out with a trivia game. Makayla read the questions and which ever dad squeezed the little ball he was holding that made his spider jump first got to answer. Going into the final question Lar was ahead 5 to 3 - both Dads. But Cliff answered the final question worth 3 points and drove home in a brand new Corvette. They all received trophies for being Great Dads and for having good Sportsmanship. From there we cleared the area and they played a round of Wii bowling. My Dad came in first with 200 points. Lar second and Cliff finished in 3rd place. Dad got to choose his grab bag first and won a 25.00 gift card to Home Depot.
Lar picked second and got a 10.00 gift card to Burger King and Cliff won the
20.00 gift card to Pizza Hut. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing them in action and I hope they felt celebrated and loved for being the wonderful Dads that they are.

All Winners in My Book

Lar is celebrating his correct answer - no presure playing against your Dad
and Father in law. They all had reason to celebrate - Cliff left with a brand
new Corvette and title as Triva King. Dad won the bowling match and had first chance at the grab bags.

Pensacola Beach Blast

We drove to the 3 hours to Pensacola Beach, Florida yesterday. We wanted to enjoy a short excursion with my Mom and Dad while they are down visiting from Alaska. We had a great time swimming in the "just right" Gulf waters. Looking for shells and just enjoying the view. We spent the night and all enjoyed the cool morning breezes down at the beach before we packed up and drove to Gulf Shores, AL. on our way home. We had alot of good laughs together and came home with some new sayings.

Gufl Shores Grandma

Im sure all the kids would agree Grandma is a Hoot! You just never know when she is going to crack up. The first picture here - Grandma just squirted suntan lotion all over her pants. At least we know they won't get a sunburn. Nick brought his skim board and we found the perfect place for him to use it. A river ran into the Gulf and made for great skimming.

Gulf Shores Catch and release

We all had a great time looking for hermit crabs. Well, all kinds of little creatures really. Grandma and Grandpa set up camp and we worked around them and showed them all our great finds.

Gulf Shores rewind

The temps got up to 101 today - but as long as we were in the water or at least had our feet in the water it wasn't bad. If all else fails - put a towel over your head.

Sunday Fun with Mom and Dad

Our Sunday started out with Dad and I sitting on the back deck talking and watching the Cardinals and Blue jays and Woodpeckers have their breakfast at the bird feeders. Soon Mom and Lar and Nick joined us with their breakfast and we enjoyed the cooler morning temps while we visited. Pretty soon it was time to get ready for church. We were out the door about 8:45 headed to Sunday school. It was a great time at church, I enjoyed going to the women's Bible study class with my Mom. Mom thought the ladies in there were very nice and involved. After church we headed home and started getting ready for lunch. Cliff and Carol rolled in about 12:30pm and lunch was ready to be served. Mom made a great roast and Carol added a Coconut cake for desert. It all went down easy. After lunch the kids took turns entertaining us with their various talents. Just what every Grandparent loves. Now we are relaxing and taking it easy until next time to eat.

A Day at the Blueberry Festival

Mom and Dad flew into town Thursday morning after flying all night. Anchorage to Gulfport is a major hop. They left nice mild weather and walked out into hot and humid weather. Up until last week we were enjoying a nice long mild Spring. That is all history now and the temps are close to 90 and the humidity is doing its thing. That hasn't stopped us from getting out and playing though. Last night we went to the Blues Fest in down town Picayune and today we drove about 30 mins north to the Blue berry festival. They had a ton of great booths and we enjoyed looking at everything. Mom bought a new visor and the girls had their hair put up in a hair halo - too cute. I saw a ton of things I would have liked to pack home but ended up only buying some blueberry trail mix with white chocolate drizzle. Boy was that ever good. We lasted for a couple hours and then headed home to the air conditioning and lunch at home. Nick is at a paintball pool party with his Sunday school class and Lar will get home this evening and join in on all the fun.

The Sweet Life of Nick and Cody

Best Friends together again - it was last summer that they were together. Nick and Cody have been best friends for years, but since our moved last Spring they haven't had a chance to see each other much. They consider each other "Brothers from another Mother". Shortened - that is Bro fro no Mo. They have had a great time playing Lego's, shooting the BB gun, swimming, telling jokes, helping with VBS and just getting to be together again. The Blessing of Friends is one of the greatest. Especially if you have moved much.