Our Summer So Far - Update July 2015

 Here are some snapshots of our July so far:

The girls and I visited Winstead Hill Park.  We pass by it all the time, but have never explored it.  It has a Confederate memorial and explains the vantage point of Winstead Hill and how it affected the Battle of Franklin. 

We celebrated Independence Day with the Irwins.  

 It was rainy and there was very little we could do in the way of fireworks.  The neighborhood fireworks show we had planned to attend was cancelled.  We did a few sparklers in the driveway while dodging raindrops. 

I made a blanket for a co-worker.  The nursery theme was nautical.  

We had a family date night. We went to a movie, had dinner a Mellow Mushroom, and then dessert at Sweet Cece's. 

Bekah was part of the worship team on Sunday morning.  

Bekah did some cat-sitting for my co-worker, Robin.  She said we could use their neighborhood pool while she was gone.  

Lydia volunteered at TSC's vacation Bible school.  The last day was Wacky Day.  They were definitely wacky!

We got to visit with Dan and Sheryl, our friend from Nepal.

Ready for church.

Bekah went with the youth group to a Hillsong United concert.  She was super stoked.   We got selfies texted to us all night long.

 Looks like she had a good time. 

So that's our July.  Bring on August!!

Getting Ready for High School...wait...High School?

This week has been prep week for Bekah, as she enters high school.  

Yes, my baby is entering HIGH SCHOOL!  I just can't even believe it.

Yesterday, Bekah had her freshman orientation at the high school. 

 I dropped her off on my way into work.  There was much prep work put into her outfit for the day.  She looks fabulous!

 Then, tonight was the high school open house.  Bekah went around and found all of her classrooms, learned about clubs, and gathered all of her text books.  Then she found her locker and made sure she could get into it.

We double checked her class schedule and everything was as it should be.  Not long now and she's off to high school!!  She's so READY for this!!

Quick Visit in Georgia

 David took a team to Guatemala last week, so I took the girls up to Mom's to spend a week.  I stayed the first weekend and we got to spend some quality time with Jack, Courtney, and of course, little William. 

 We went to see all of the remodeling Jack and Courtney had done to their home. While we were there, we tried to get some good photos of the cousins together.

 We went to church as a family on Sunday.

 And afterward, we played cars with William while we were waiting for lunch. 

 One of William's cars broke.  He worked REALLY HARD to help his dad fix it!

While everyone was dressed up, we took some multi-generational photos. 

 When I got home, I found that David had left me some flowers to find after he was already in Guatemala. 

 And then, yea! I picked up the girls the following Saturday.  We met at the Cracker Barrel in Chattanooga.  Lydia was very proud of her sucker.  Next up: Pick up David from the airport!

It was a great week! I'm glad we could fit it all in during our busy summer.

Church Stuff: Youth Lock-in and Church Cook-Out

 The kids had a youth lock-in on July 2.  The girls were SO PUMPED.  They had such a great time!

 They played all kinds of games and stayed up all night. 

 And apparently, Lydia got hold of Mr. Jim's phone during the lock-in and took some selfies!  Ha ha!

 

On July 5, we had a cook-out after church.  There were sno-cones, a new playground, a slip-n-slide (yes! a slip-n-slide), and a big softball game!

 We have some pretty competitive people in our church!  It got intense!

 

Here, Jeremy is trying to tag James out as he runs for home plate...as Guy runs away with home plate!

It's been a fun start to July!