Smith Lake Fun!

The weekend after school started, we joined the Brands, the Beavers and the Kahlstorfs for a weekend at Smith Lake to celebrate the end of summer and kick off the start of a new school year! We had a fabulous time! It was so fun vacationing with our "FRamily" (that's our friends who have become our family)! We also celebrated Mr. Caleb turning the big 4-0! Of course, the kids loved the saying on the cake...anything that refers to toots or poots, they just love! 

We rented a pontoon boat on Saturday to take the kids cruising and tubing. The day started out with a bang when we ran out of gas after having the pontoon for 30 minutes! Thankfully, the owner was able to bring us more gas and gave us some extra time on the lake that day! The kids loved jumping off the pier and cruising in the canoes as much as they enjoyed the boat! On Saturday night, we cooked out and then cooked smores by the fire pit!  On Sunday morning, we ate breakfast and let the kids spend some time swimming and jumping off the pier again. We then loaded up and headed back home to get ready for the new school week! It was so much fun making memories with our family and friends!! We are so thankful for our group and the sweet friends that God placed in our lives when we moved to Tupelo. We have "done life" with this group since we moved here in 2005, and I'm so thankful for each of their friendships!!

We are so thankful for Caleb turning 40!!

Kendall was so good on the canoe!

Daddy and Kathryn hanging on the pier!

Mama and her best girls!

I love these girlies so much! I'm so thankful for their friendship!

Liz, Catherine, Hollie, and Me!

My sweet Kathryn loved the boat! She fell asleep on me and took a good long nap in the wind!

Mrs Hollie, Kendall, Caroline, and Bitty!

The boys were exhausted and enjoyed a nap while the big kids swam!

So some of the kids and daddies got brave enough to jump of the rocks of the big cliff. Caroline and Mr Brannon jumped off once without a hitch, but the 2nd time around, they both got hurt. Caroline hurt her leg on the water. Needless to say, when it came time for daddy and Kendall to go, they changed their mind!

Our sweet family! I love these people so much! They drive me crazy most days, but I wouldn't change it for the world!!

Our sweet kiddos!!

Jacob, Caroline, Ivey Kate, Anna Grant, Kendall, Bitty, & Brody

Jack, Joshua, Kathryn, and Sam!

Our sweet daddies/husbands! These men are amazing!

Chet, Caleb, Brannon, and Ben

Meet the Teacher and First Day of School!

The day before school started we were able to meet the teachers for the year. Sam has Mrs. Jones for Kindergarten at Carver and Kendall has Miss Ballard for 3rd grade at Lawhon. They both seem very sweet and excited about the new year!!

Mrs. Jones and Sam

Kendall and Miss Ballard

Kendall, Miss Ballard, and Maggie Benjamin

Silly girls!!

Mae, Anne Allen, Kendall, and Willa

It's officially the first day of school!! August 3, 2017. Here is our first day picture and of course, Kathryn didn't want to be left out!!

Kendall--3rd grade

Sam--Kindergarten

Sam and Miss Jones. He was excited about his 1st day of Kindergarten!

Kendall goes to Lawhon Elementary which is where Elvis went to school!!

Kendall with Maggie, Sanders, and Callahan!

Kendall and Miss Ballard!

Lordy, Lordy, Mama is 40!

JULY 8, 2017!!

I never realized how quickly 40 years could pass!! I remember when I was a kid thinking that 40 was SO old! And look at me...40 years young! I'm blessed to have made it this far, and I'm looking forward to at least 40 more! My co-workers surprised me with black balloons and cupcakes at work, and they even bought me lunch! It was a good day!

Leigh Ann and I both have the same birthday, except she is a year older!!

After work, I left heading home to get the kids from the sitter. As I was driving down the road, an uninsured fool ran into my car...on my birthday!! I was so mad and angry, but thankfully, no one was hurt and my van could be fixed!

After all the excitement of the afternoon, we went to the Saltillo ball field to see Cash play in a baseball tournament. They were here the entire weekend for ball. 

It's my birthday, so I'm wondering why they are getting a nap and I'm not?!?

The next night, we went to eat dinner at Park Heights with the Shafers for my birthday. It was good company and fantastic food! Of course, the kids had a blast since they all got to stay with the same sitter at the Shafers house. We enjoyed a really great evening with great friends!

To celebrate my birthday one last time, we went to Muscle Shoals, AL and stayed 2 nights for a quick get-away! Mimi came to stay with the kids while we got a chance to just go and relax for the weekend. It was great to spend some time with Chet uninterrupted! The first night, we ate at the 360 Grille at the Marriott. It was good, but the view was even better. We've been there before, so it was fun to revisit it and reminisce. The next day, we got up and went to eat lunch at Ricatoni's in Downtown Florence. It's a great Italian restaurant! We then did some walking downtown before heading back to the Marriott and relaxing by the pool all day. It ended up raining a little so we took a nap and did absolutely NOTHING! It was fantastic! We ate hot wings for dinner and finished up the night with a Salted caramel skillet cookie! It was delicious! We are so thankful for the quality time away to just enjoy each other!

Happy Independence Day!

Yesterday, we had a big 4th of July celebration at the Brands house before moving the party to Honey's house with the Kahlstorfs. We had lots of fun in the sun, good food, and fun activities! We didn't take many pictures at the Brands house because their were about 25 people in the pool. We were too busy making sure everyone stayed above the water!!

Once we got to Honey's house, we ate BBQ and the kids swam and played on the water slide. And of course, leave it to Honey to have all sorts of props and hats for the kids to put on a "parade" around the pool! It was cute and the kids loved it! Sam was the statue of Liberty!

Once we finished all the swimming, we headed downtown to Fairpark to watch the fireworks show. It was so awesome! Kathryn was enthralled by the fireworks. We had a fun day, but boy, we are tired today!