Utah

I am entire month behind on blogging, but I can not make myself just skip ahead. I want to always be able to look back and remember all the fun times we had as a family!
So... back in mid to late August Josh was gearing up for his annual hunting trip to Utah. He was throwing around the idea of taking Trey with him, but I thought he was kidding, silly me ;) When I realized he was serious about taking him, I got really nervous and anxious. I spent the next few weeks pleading my case and coming up with reasons for him not to go. But I kept coming back to the fact that I would miss him too much! 12 days without my baby boy!?! No way.
Well, as you can see in the following pictures, Josh was very persistant and I caved. Seeing how excited Trey was made me feel way better about him going. He woke up every morning for a week saying, "Is it today? Are we going to the mountains today?" I couldn't stand between my Little Hunter and The Mountains, lol!

Josh and his friend text me pictures of him every single day, and most days I got 3-4 pictures! They knew this would keep me off their backs. I saw him riding the Ranger, eating, sleeping on his cot, playing on a mountain, riding in the car, posing with deer they killed, etc. It made me feel a lot better getting to talk to him every day and seeing pictures and videos of him having fun. What did mother's do before cell phones? I can't imagine!

Josh said Trey was a perfect angel and he got so many compliments on how well behaved he was and how tough he was. A lot of his people were expecting it to be a miserable trip taking a 3 year old to the mountains. I mean, it is an 18 hour drive! But thankfully, they were wrong! They had so much fun and I over hear them talking about next year all the time :)

That, my friends, is a chipmunk! Don't worry, they tanned the hide and it was perfectly clean and safe. That's what they told me, anyways ;)

First Grader!

The summer flew by as usual and it was time for Harleigh to start school again. I was readyto get back to the routine, but I sure do miss her being home with me. She and I went to Meet The Teacher night, which was pretty uneventful. BUT... don't even get me started on how stinking adorable it is that her and Trace are in the same class AGAIN! These two have been together since Parent's Day Out at the Church in town. They started out in the 3's class together, then moved to 4's, had the same Kinder teacher, and now 1st grade too! Harleigh Shirley... has a good ring to it ;) kidding! kidding!


We both loved her teacher and everyone I talked to told me how great she was, so that was a relief. She was her usual Sassy self on the first day and posed for the camera in her new outfit! I'm excited to see what this year has in store for her!

Gulf Shores

The past 2 years we have gone on vacation as a family for the 4th of July. It's a lot of fun to get away for the week and float the river with our little family and a lot of fun friends. But with the drought, there just wasn't enough water this year and we were worried it may be stagnant. So, we decided to go to the beach instead. Josh called me one day and said some friends of ours wanted to see if we wanted to go to Alabama for a few days with them. I was like, "What's in Alabama!?!" Dummy me did not realize there were gorgeous beaches there! So we said what the heck! And set off for a fun vacation to Gulf Shores, AL with friends.





The drive was LONG! And HOT! We drove about halfway at night, got a hotel, and then made the rest of the drive in the morning. It was nice to break the trip up, but it was still a really lobg drive. And this heat is just insane. Even driving down the road with the a/c full blast, it's hard to stay cool. It was over 100 degrees the entire time we were there.

We took a short cut on a ferry. The kids really enjoyed being able to get out of the car for a while and see the dolphins and seagulls. They were so excited to finally be at the ocean. They asked us the entire 8 hours if we were at the ocean yet ;)

Our Condo was awesome and the beach was blissful! The Condo was 3 bedrooms and 3 baths and had a kitchen and living room and wrap around balcony. We shared it with 2 other families, we had a blast! We cooked every morning and every night and spent the day at the beach. Our friends bought the kids beach toys and boogie boards, they were in Heaven! They built sand castles and buried each other in the sand. The resort also had a really nice pool and we went down there every evening so the kids could swim.

One day we went to a go cart track/ arcade. They had 2 seater go carts, so we paired up and drove the kids. Then we realized they had mini go carts! They has so much fun racing each other on the go carts. It was a really cool place with lots of games and rides, but we didn't stay long. Remember, 100 degrees? lol! We also went on a dolphin cruise, just the four of us. It was an old Marine boat, it was really neat. We went out about 15 minutes and found some dolphins and spent about 10 minutes with them and then went back. The guy that was driving the boat told us some history about the area (Flora-Bama) Josh and I are such dorks, we love any kind of tour! We had a great time and I'm so glad the drought didn't keep us from taking a vacation. Big thanks to Mimi & Moose for keeping our Precious Lakyn. We missed her terribly, but it was nice to spend some quality time with our big kids!

A Day in The City...

Those of you who know us, know that we live waaaaay out in the sticks! Lol! We love the fact that we aren't on a main road, our kids can run around and pretty much do as they please without the fear of getting ran over or getting nabbed by a stranger, the school is small, everybody knows everybody, etc. etc. HOWEVER... there just isn't much to do! We don't have splash parks and nice shopping centers, or farmer's markets and play areas. So, we like to take the kids to The Big City every now and then to do fun stuff!

A few weekends ago, we decided to go to The Aquarium Downtown and hang out for the day. The big kids rode rides for a while but the lines were long and it was H-O-T! So that didn't last too long!

They have a carnival with lots of games and rides outside. They also have a splash pad, but we forgot swim suits and towels, so that was out. So we moved on to my favorite part, the indoor aquarium. You know, where the a/c is! lol! They have tons of fish and other reptiles that are really neat. The kids touched star fish and pet sting rays, which they thought was so cool! They also have a two Bengal tigers in a glass cage. It's really neat to sit and watch them, they are so beautiful!

After we toured the aquarium, we headed over to the restaraunt and ate a yummy seafood dinner. We had to laugh because both kids wanted an appetizer, boiled shrimp, and an entree, grilled shrimp. They don't order off the kids menu anymore, which is getting really expensive, ha! But I'm pretty proud of them because they would rather have grilled shrimp and broccoli than fish sticks and french fries. Kids menus need to step it up. Not all kids live on chicken nuggets and mac n cheese.

After dinner, we were walking to the car and we saw horse and carriage rides. The kids threw a fit wanting to go on a ride. So Daddy agreed and we all took a ride through downtown to see all the lights and big, pretty buildings. I couldn't figure out the right setting to put my camera on, so I didn't get any good pictures. The kids, even Lakyn, just sat quietly and admired all the beautiful sights that The City has to offer. It was really peaceful, and just something I want to remember forever! We had a fun day in The Big City!

Pinkalicious

Another year has gone by and our first baby girl is SIX YEARS OLD! I'm not even going to get started on all of the emotions I feel when I think about the last six years. My whole world changed when I found out we were having a baby and I couldn't imagine how my life would turn out. Now I look back and think, "What did I do before my baby?" Well, she is not a baby anymore. Harleigh True is a big, smart, beautiful, and talented 6 year old. I'm so proud of her!

This year Harleigh wanted a Tea Party with a few of her closest girlfriends and some family. She loves any and everything PINK so what better kind of tea party to have than a Pinkalicious Tea Party?

I had a fruit tray and some pink cookies, chicken salad sandwhiches and all the fixin's, ham n cheese and pb & j sandwhiches, and chips n dip. It was very simple but really good. My Mother-In-Law makes the best chicken salad and I just cut up onions and avacado to put on them, yummy!

The table was set up for all of the girls and they even had a real glass tea cup and saucer! They ate their lunch and they each made an edible tea cup to take home. They loved making the tea cups. I wished that I had planned another activity for them to do. Little girls just love crafts!

Little Sister was all decked out in her pink romper and birthday hat. Too stinking cute!

My Mom picked up the balloons and came early to help me get all the food ready. I had set everything up the night before so I wouldn't be stressed but throwing a party is just stressful no matter what. I'm so thankful that she puts up with me on party days, I'm one big ball of nerves! lol!

After the girls ate their lunch, sipped their tea (pink lemonade) and made their craft, they all sat down to hear the story of Pinkalicious. They did not move. It was so adorable!

Happy Birthday Harleigh girl! We love you way too much!

The Pond

The past month, Josh has been having a pond dug at our new property. Most evenings, we drive over there as a family and look at the progress that has been made. This is especially exciting for Trey. He loves equipment and dirt and always looks forward to going to see the pond.
The other day we were cooking out and I went in the back door to grab something from the kitchen, when I noticed there was mud on the door handle.

"OLIVER!"
When he came around the corner, I started laughing so hard that I couldn't possibly be upset. He was COVERED in mud! I asked what he was doing and he showed me the way.

"Look, Mommy! I'm digging a pond just like Daddy..."

"AND! I can jump in it!"

The Rocking 8

The kids and I went to my Dad and Step-Mom's for Memorial day weekend. All of my brothers and step sisters were there and all of our kids. It was really neat to all be in the same place at once. I can't remember the last time that happend!

The kids swam and we ate crawfish and lots of yummy appetizers and desserts. I can't wait to get together again! I love sweet summer time!