Summer Visit

I'm a little late on the summer post, but it has been crazy around here. There are some days, weeks, months, hours, minutes, etc... where I really feel on top of things. I get so much done and am amazed at my accomplishments. And then there are other days, weeks, months, ect... where I just can't seem to keep up. I have been in the latter mode lately. I'm slowly starting to get in the groove, so hopefully I can keep things moving in a timely manner around here more effectively.

We had a fun visit with family In July. I'll try and keep it short and sweet and to the point, with lots of pictures(cause that's my favorite part)!!

This was the crew we had here for about 10 days. Our summer has been rather wet, and I was really worried we might get rained out of our outdoor activities we had planned. I did some serious praying, and thankfully, my prayers were answered!

We spent a long weekend riding the waves in Tybee. It was the first time my dad and Braydon had been able to come and enjoy the (warm)ocean and spend time in Savannah.

We visited a few of our favorites eating spots.

Here is the cutest Beach Baby! He did really good, despite being sweaty, sandy, and hungry most of the time he was there. We all loved taking care of the cute baby.

And what is a vacation without a few mis-haps to make it memorable. Andy lost his debit card somewhere in the ocean. And poor Seth looked to be a little sunburned, but woke up the next morning with his face completely swollen. After a trip to Urgent Care, steroids, medication, and eye drops, he was better within a few days.

The doctor said it could have been a bacteria in the water, or a reaction to the sunscreen, or any number of things. Seth said it didn't hurt, but he sure looked miserable. Poor boy.

We were also able to spend some time on River Street in Savannah. We always love shopping in a few of our favorite stores.

We came home and spent some time at the lake.

And a day at White Water.

It was a fun-filled ten days with family. We enjoyed shopping, traveling, good-eats, movies, and just spending time together. As always, it went by way too fast!!

A few outtakes...

1st Day of School

It went pretty smoothly this morning.

We slowed down the car rider line for a bit, as we didn't realize in our new van with automatic doors you have to be in park for the side doors to open. Ryan ended up flustered and climbed up to the front seat to exit. We are not really up on all of the automatic stuff, so we are learning as we go:) And it did take us FOREVER to get to school. We only live 3 minutes away, but with the traffic it took us 30 minutes to get there and back. Hopefully tomorrow will run a little more smoothly and quickly. We are looking forward to a wonderful 5th grade year!!

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...

$$$Priceless$$$.