Birthday Weekend~

My sister and fam came to town so we celebrated my daddy's 81st birthday and~

Will's 9th! How do you like his birthday fish from Sissy's fam?
Meet our newest fish~ Tiger (orange fish).

We made another chocolate pound cake, ate BBQ, and opened presents~

 What 81 year old do you know with so much brown hair and so handsome?

Little man scored three more Dog Man books and some cash~

It was a great weekend and both birthday boys were loved big!!!

Weekend Memories~

We saw a beautiful rainbow Saturday night. and it just so happened I shot this pic with daddy under it~

Amelia was gone for the weekend so her dog assistant took care of Cabot. :)
Afternoons and evenings are spent outside around our house,
and I had the kiddos line up so I could freeze this moment forever.
{Look at SJ on tiptoes not wanting the boys to be taller than her since it was her idea to line up in age order:}

Thanksgiving Two~

Our second Thanksgiving was spent Saturday evening with the addition of my sister and her family.

It was also the day we had planned to shoot our Christmas card photo.

Amelia shot this of Scott and I~

 

Josh was on his way back when he got a call his dad had been taken to the hospital with pneumonia so he turned around and headed straight back to him. Please be praying for Mr. Ben and their family!

Since Josh wasn't in photo Savannah wasn't either {She shot our photo!} and they will be featured on the back along with sweet Abby.

I did get a very sweet shot of my beautiful children~

I also took time to shoot a few senior photos of Rosemary~

 The last to the right so symbolic of her week applying to colleges and wondering where God will plant her for His plan!

As we crossed back over the street, I was struck once again by how wonderful Home is during the holidays~

 Thankful to have a houseful once again~

My Grandfather~

My Parents~

My Sister, Marcia and her family~

My brother Jason and his family~

 {Missed you Jessie, Peter, and Josh!}

And wasn't God so AWESOME when He painted the sky with such beauty~

 Even three little boys were awe struck~

Thanksgiving Two... a Huge Success!!!

Thankful Day 7 {Family and Home}~

I grew up in this small town on the lake {well actually on a beautiful dairy farm} but still in this area

and actually said when I went to college I would never come back

{Just a great place to be FROM}.

Six years ago we were living in a suburb of Atlanta raising our 4 girls.

We felt the pull to move back home not really knowing why it was God's will.

Many things confirmed this call on our family and it has been the best thing we could have ever done for our children {Bigs and littles}~

It is also a beautiful blessing that we live only 5 miles from my parents and my brother's family.

I am SO thankful for my parents who are always available and love our whole family SO well~

 And my siblings that bless my life so much~

{I tell mama all the time they are the best gifts she ever gave me!}

I LOVE you Daddy, Mama, John, Marcia, and Jason.

We are very blessed and I'm thankful for each of you!!!

So today I am thankful for Family and Home!

 

Exodus 20:12 

 Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Trick or Treating~

Payne and Evie definitely thought their first experience with ToT was SO fun.

We always go to my mom and dad's first and this year was just SO sweet.

They were greeted by my mom and she just covered them in love... like she always does right? big girls?~

 She had big goody bags waiting for them and they loved it.

We met Jason, Amy, and the kids there since we always ToT with them {our tradition!}~

 Look at those adorable boy cousins!!!

And thanks to Amy we got this awesome big group photo... just missing the 6 big grandchildren and 1 greatgrand!!!~

 My 5 LOVE their 3 cousins!!!~

 After my parents' house we made our way to Aunt Susan's neighborhood for ToT~

 Along the way we met up with Evie's BFF from China~ Lily Hope {Sweet!}.

Such a great night of fun and home in bed by 8:30!

Now the REAL fun can begin!!!

Happy birthday Daddy~

Today is my daddy's 77th birthday~

So we made cards and muffins for him. 

Everyone LOVED visiting him this morning and we hope he has many more!

Family celebration tomorrow for him, WP, and Jessica!!! AND my sister is on her way home!!! Going to be a great weekend!!!

Happy birthday daddy! 

We adore you!!!

More John Deere~

I grew up on a farm in the same house my parent's still live in today~

 They {along with my brother Jason} still run the dairy farm and raise crops to feed the cows. Their house is surrounded by farm land. It takes lots of big equipment to farm the land. I had mentioned to Jason about giving the kids a ride in the tractor and today was the day! He is planting corn right next to my parents' house~

 SO beautiful this time of year... everything new and growing!

The big girls went for a ride first~

 They LOVED it!!! Then the boys... Payne was beside himself with excitement~

I'm pretty sure they honked the horn about 1000 times.

Evie didn't want any part of getting in that big tractor.  

We had a little play time on all the riding toys memommy has at her house~

AND Pop gave EK a snake skin he found UNDER their house! Yikes~ 

This just about thrilled EK beyond words and she has spent this afternoon researching king snakes. She wrote in her journal about them and even taped in part of the snake skin.

Today when we drove away from the farm I was awe struck at the awesome legacy daddy has given Jason and now he gives to our children~

Thank you Daddy and Jason for being the amazing men you are to our family. 

If you haven't watched this video, it is worth your time...

 Farmers Tribute: So God Made A Farmer. Paul Harvey

(Mama and Amy~ please make sure Daddy and Jason watch this! They are our heros and we LOVE them without measure!!!) 

New Shelves~

I absolutely love to organize and keep things in their place. Not long ago I asked my dad if he could have some shelves built for me that matched the Toy Box he gave the boys. Well... today he and mama delivered~

And they have found their special place with a special job... books in the school room, toy shelf for Evie and the boys, and a school shelf for Evie. LOVE them daddy! Thank you SO much for feeding my need to stay organized!

 

Mother's Day~

Today is one of those days when counting blessings is an all day thing.

I have SO much to be thankful for... I awoke to a sweet post on Savannah's blog (cried)~

 Missed having my sweet girl home~ she made me a mom and taught me all about unconditional love!

I spent a lot of time today thinking about and loving my mama.

I couldn't be more blessed to have her in my life...

loving me, loving Scott, loving my sweet babies (big and little), and as Scott said today...

holding our family together~

 She is all I ever want to be as a mom!!!

After church we had Mama and Daddy~

PaPa, Jason, Amy, Max, and Addie over for lunch and playing~

 My day was SO sweet being loved on by my beautiful children~

 and the whole weekend with roses, cards, lots of yummy food, and sweet random acts of kindness~

 I can't imagine life without a single blessing I counted today.

Having WP home this year was especially sweet~ he loves his mama and daddy!

Thank you mama for being the most amazing mom in the whole world,

thank you Scott for giving me the privilege of being a mom (6 times...),

and thank you to all my beautiful children~ Savannah, Josh, Amelia, Rosemary, EllaKate, ShayleeJoy, Will Perry...

I LOVE you all SO very much!!!

Psalm 127:3

Children are a gift from the Lord;  they are a reward from Him.