School, Cousins, and Cougars

School started with a bang and all of our kiddos were off. This school year we cover 9th, 7th, 5th, 2nd, and Kindergarten. Luckily our cousins were stopping by and eased the pain of "first week blues". It was a wonderful weekend of playing games, enjoying the park, and rooting for our favorite football team. We have spent the last few weeks getting back into the routine of school, and of course, cheering on our Cougs!

Summer Time Wrap Up

In efforts of catching up on our family blog I'm cramming the rest of our summertime fun into one quick post. We searched far and wide (within 100 miles) for the best ice cream shop in NC, spent time at our favorite arcade, and celebrated Dad making Lieutenant Colonel. We enjoyed the rodeo, rock climbing, and spent a few days at the pool with good friends. Ryley experienced some major independence for two weeks and flew to Utah to enjoy time with family, friends, and EFY. With the help of many, I pulled off a youth conference in Washington D.C. and Girls Camp in 105 degree weather. We visited some great friends in Charlotte, enjoyed a few temple trips, and the older girls and I ended the summer with Cheesecake Factory and Newsies.

Terrific Thatcher

Our Thatcher is now ten and will soon be heading to 5th grade. He had a great birthday celebration with his best friend Tyler and the rest of the Shields family. We call them TNT because together that is about what they make. :) To celebrate we went to see The Secret Life of Pets, then returned home for pizza, cake, ice cream, and presents. We ended this particular birthday with a sleep over bash because the following day Tyler and his family moved to Germany. It was a wonderful few days to celebrate Thatcher and spend some quality time with great friends. Heavenly Father knew exactly what He was doing when He sent down our little boy. Thatcher's tender heart is just what our family needs to balance the many emotions of four sisters and a mama. Happy 10th Birthday Thatcher boy!

Summer So Far '16

We L.O.V. E. summer. No schedules and no one telling us where to be and when. Its just so wonderful. I know you all feel the same way to and so of course we must make the most of it because there's 104 days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end it. So the annual problem for this generation is finding a good way to spend it, right?! :) Well, so far so good. We've skated, twice. Gone swimming multiple times. Learned how to Geocache (I think that's my favorite activity thus far). Haley enjoyed Daddy/Daughter time at the butterfly gardens. Youth Conference came and went without a hitch. Movie night to see Finding Dory, of course. Kadyn rocked her summer theatre camp as James in James and the Giant Peach and Haley crushed her role as Veruca in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Countless play dates and even more evenings playing our new favorite board games of Mascarade and Super Fight. And a wonderful, quiet July 4th holiday to celebrate the great blessings of independence and freedom that our Heavenly Father has granted upon this nation. I'd say not to shabby for 3 weeks of summer.