Our Summer So Far - August 2015

August 2015 has been busy already!  After our mini-vacation, our visit with the Tarbuttons, the first day of school, and the Pirate Party - wow!  We've been busy.

Here are a few random events from the month.

Everyone crammed in the car on the way home from youth (Bekah, Rachel Pruitt, Lydia, and Cassidy).

Bekah and me teaching the 4 & 5 year olds.

Lydia's choir performed at the middle school open house.

Ryan Moody, one of my co-workers, started his own version of Mt. Rushmore on his white board.  He's drawing our VP, Mark Buford, our Sr. Director, John Kitchings, and our Directors, Chito Pugao and Anthony Almeda.  Anxious to see the finished product!

Murder on the High Seas - A Pirate Murder Mystery Party

Oh my gosh! What a fun night!  David and I were invited to a Pirate Murder Mystery Party by our friends, James and Rebekah Boyd.  We were SO excited and SO looking forward to this!

Of course, the day turned out to be an adventure and we almost didn't make it!  On Friday, we had a leak from our fridge the dripped into the filing cabinet next to it.  This lead to cleaning out/salvaging wet files and cleaning a large rust stain off my kitchen linoleum.  And then this lead to throwing out a large stack of soaking wet papers we pulled from the filing cabinet.  And then this lead to dumping the files in the trashcan, shoving a soup can lid onto David's foot, and slicing into his toe.  And then this lead to a trip to the urgent care center in town...just a few hours before the party.  But David's a tough pirate guy, so we made it!!

David was Captain Redbeard (thus the red beard) and I was Blackspot Jane. David's character was a sea captain and my character was a woman who was widowed when her husband was executed for mutiny on the high seas. 

We arrived at the Salty Sea Dog Inn (aka the Boyds' house) and we were greeted by many pirate friends and many new faces as well. 

Here's David and Bryan (with James photobombing) and me and Shelley.

We all got our own envelopes explaining who our characters were and what was happening behind the scenes.  See that guy that David's chatting with?  That's Merciless Morgan.

Merciless Morgan was murdered. His wife was quite distraught.

As we connived and plotted and investigated, we had a really great time.

I hung out with Linda and David chatted with Ryan (Merciless Morgan) about Nepal.

Later we gathered and cast our votes for who we thought the murderer was.

And these two guys tied for the Drama Queen Award for the best acting! How awesome is that?  Ha ha!

Here's the whole crew!  (No pun intended.)  We had such a great time!  I hope they do something like this again next year!

First Day of School 2015

First day of school! First day of school!

Wow! That came quickly!

Here's Lydia in her new school clothes she got when she went shopping with Aunt Judi and Aunt Courtney.  Too cute!

Bekah is starting HIGH SCHOOL!  Eek!  Ninth grade! And Lydia is in 7th grade - already well established in middle school!

And Bekah was anxious to wear her new clothes from her shopping trip as well.  Aunt Courtney really knows where to look for style and Aunt Judi really knows where to look for deals.

So looking forward to a great school year this year!

Tarbutton Time!

On our way home from Myrtle Beach, we stopped in Atlanta because our good, long-time friends, the Tarbuttons, were in town.  It's been over five years since they came to visit us, so we were super stoked to see them again. 

Here we all are - all ten of us.  David, me, Beth and Joel in the back.  Bekah and Lydia in the middle, then Evan, Ava, and Myah, with Caden in the very front.  (This was our first time meeting Caden.)

We met in Centennial Olympic Park and the kids had fun splashing in the fountains. 

Joel's sister had bought a Groupon for the SkyView Ferris wheel in downtown Atlanta. Lydia was a bit nervous, but it was a fun time. 

Cool views of the city.

Here's the whole crew afterward.

And the adults trying to get a selfie.  =)

Next we trekked over to get some dinner.  I can't believe we got a whole afternoon with them!  Joel's the oldest of 15, so when they visit, there are lots of siblings to see (and we have to wait our turn). 

So glad we got this chance to hang out! What a super blast!

 

Since we were in Olympic Park, we found our bricks.  Here's my grandpa's brick (Churn Williams, Bloomfield, MO). I have a photo of Bekah with this brick as a baby.  So great to have both the girls with it now.

And then David and I found our brick.  I bought this brick as a birthday present for David the first year we were married, which happens to be the same year the Olympics came to Atlanta (1996).

 

 

So after this quick photo, we headed home.  So glad for an awesome end to our vacation.

Family Vacation: Myrtle Beach

"Let's get away."

That's what David said.  He wanted to get away for a family vacation with just the girls before the summer was over.  He's been booked most of the summer with one mission team or another coming, going, about to leave, about to get home...

"Where?"

"I don't know."

So that's how it started.  I asked for "some" days off, not knowing what our destination would be.  I think we decided the night before.  And then we drove east.

We ended up in Myrtle Beach.

But on the way, we had a National Lampoon style road trip getting there.  We were rear-ended getting out of Nashville.  So glad the car was still drive-able and no serious injuries occurred.  Lydia smacked her mouth on the DVD player and busted her lip.  But other than that, we were back on the road in about an hour.  Crazy.

Then, apparently, everyone on the eastern side of the US had decided that Myrtle Beach was the place to be. Traffic was crazy and we had to get a hotel room an hour outside of Myrtle Beach the first night because everything (under $600) was booked for the weekend.

But we finally made it. And we ate delicious seafood and walked on the beach.

And we went to the beach, and took our boogie boards. And we rented an umbrella and beach chairs.

And we relaxed and read. And swam.

And read.

And relaxed.

It was so nice.  I read almost an entire book (that was not a fraud manual).

David and Lydia were the main swimmers in the family.  Bekah and I mostly read, although Bekah did hop in a time or two. 

And Lydia and David built a sandcastle.  I think you never get too old for that.

We walked along the beach and ate some dinner and did a little shopping. 

We encouraged the girls to get souvenirs that were not cheap beach souvenirs.  Lydia bought an art kit.  Bekah bought a make-up kit...and then had fun doing a make-over on her sister. They're so cute!

She did a good job!

And then our morning, we were going to head back to the beach, but there was torrential rain.  Crazy wind.  So we packed up and headed back toward Nashville.  But all in all, it was great to get away...just us...not on a mission trip.  So great.