Boys-n-Mud

It's like a magnetic force of some kind.

He wanted to roll around in it.

Thankfully, it ended before the rolling began.

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY!

Middle of July, really??

We want our summer back!! Well, we really never had it. It has been a constant rainstorm the entire summer. I'm really tired of the rain. I need more sunshine in my soul...We have a beach trip planned next weekend, so let's all pray this weather decides to take a break while we are there, please!

And let's also pray our yard doesn't completely erode away.

4th of July

It was a very rainy day. Fortunately the showers subsided enough for us to light off our fireworks.

Seth was our storm watcher and informed us when the rain had stopped, so we could rush outside and light off a bit of our arsenal, a little at a time.

The fun(dangerous-loud) fireworks are illegal in Georgia, so Casey picked some up in Tennessee while he was traveling earlier in the year. We enjoyed those the most!

They created lots of noise and smoke

Kaitlyn thought she'd be tricky and let off two at a time.

Ryan spent most of his time like this...

Until we convinced him that he wouldn't be arrested or catch on fire if he tried one.

We also had the traditional sparklers the kids always enjoy.

All of the 4th of July festivities had been cancelled around town because of the rain, but the actual fireworks were still scheduled to go off around 9:30. We attempted to go and watch them, but the traffic was too intense, and the spot we found wasn't very revealing, so we opted to leave early and avoid the traffic jam.

All in all it was a good day. We are so grateful for our country we live in, the many freedoms we enjoy, and those who fight to ensure our safety and continued peace. God Bless America, Land of the free!

Blackberries

This is the very first time since leaving Oregon that we have been able to pick blackberries. I have heard there were a couple of farms that had them, but the season is pretty short, and the available times to pick aren't always consistent. Every year I seem to miss it. Casey works with several different farmers in the area, and he knew of one farm that was ready for picking. So, we ventured out for a few buckets of scrumptious blackberries.

The picking went pretty fast, but boy was it HOT. It was nice and breezy until you entered the rows of blackberries and you felt like you had just entered a sauna. The air stood still and sweat began pouring off our faces. We started with two buckets and went back for a third, but I just couldn't do any more.

The fun thing about this farm is they have homemade strawberry ice-cream available, so we purchased a couple of cups and sat down to cool off and enjoy the breeze.

We made a few batches of jam, a blackberry pie(sorry, no picture. It was consumed too quickly.), and froze a few bags for later. I'm looking forward to enjoying several blackberry desserts this year! Thank you Moon Farms!!

Summer Job

Paying the boys to take down our bathroom wallpaper...

$$$Priceless$$$.

Pictures

This is the look I get when I ask my 10 yr. old to smile(without bribery)-

And this is the look I get when I take pictures of my two teenagers(no bribery needed)-

Hopefully it's just a phase.

Summer

School has been out for almost a month, summer has arrived, and the time is passing way too quickly. I cannot believe we are in the last couple weeks of June already. We have had so much going on these last few weeks, so here is a brief overview of our activities...

We had a new baby join our family. Joshua Charlie Ritz was born on May 15, weighing 9 lb.s 2.7 oz. So exciting!

Janelle suffered with gal bladder issues her entire pregnancy and had to go back into the hospital two weeks after having the baby to have it removed. Poor thing. They came here soon after, so she could recover and have help taking care of sweet baby Joshua.

We loved every minute of it!!

In fact, we just couldn't get enough. We argued over time with the baby, and fought over who would hold him next. There is just nothing greater than a newborn baby in your midst.

Once everyone was feeling better, we ventured out for some water activities.

Baby slept through most of it.

We enjoyed an afternoon at Menchies - yum!

A couple days were spent at the lake.

And again, baby slept through most of it(so sweet!).

There were several games of basketball played.

In the middle of all of our fun activities, our sewer line needed pumped. It was a stinky mess. Good thing we called them when we did, because another 6 months and it would have been a whole lot more stinky, costly, and messy.

I took lots and lots of pictures

Way more than I thought I did.

We relaxed, snuggled, shopped, and enjoyed every single minute we had together!

We are now counting down until our beach trip in July!

I LOVE SUMMER!!