4th of July

We haven't been home the last few years on the 4th of July so we were glad to be home this year and enjoy the festivities in our neighborhood.  It started on the 3rd with fireworks in our neighborhood.

The morning of the 4th started with a neighborhood parade. 

In the afternoon we had a cookout in our cul-de-sac.  We organized it with some neighbors and invited everyone on the street.  We had a good turn out and fun afternoon that lasted into the evening. 

Family Vacation

This summer we took a vacation with my family and we stayed in a cabin in Sieverville, TN right outside of Pigeon Forge.  We had a relaxing and fun time although we did wish it was a little cooler.  We were there right during the heat wave with temperatures in the 100's but we made the best of it.  We were thankful that my grandpa decided to join us for a part of the trip this year.

We went tubing on a pretty slow river, which was just fine with the girls.  We took the pictures with a disposable waterproof camera and we laughed at the quality of the pictures, but hey, at least we have the memories.

We took the girls miniature golfing for the first time.  It was quite funny because every time Bailey got the ball in the hole, she yelled, "I got it in."  Keep in mind that sometimes it took 15 shots.  If you know Bailey, this is pretty typical.

I'm fairly certain that you can't go to Pigeon Forge without going to Dollywood so we did our part!

 They had a promotion that if you went in after 4 one day, you could go back the following day for free.  On the morning of our full day, I followed our Disney strategy, which is get to the park at rope drop (when it opens).  That way you beat the crowds and get a lot done early.  We were probably in the first 10 to 20 people in the park and it was wonderful.

The next day we visited Ober Gatlinburg and let me tell you, it was HOT.  It was in the triple digits all day even at 6:00.  It wasn't exactly what we expected but the girls had fun on the Alpine Slide. 

As you can see we did a lot of touristy things on this trip, but the girls were happy.  Gem mining was another hot spot we hit.

We had been to Cade's Cove years and years ago and had the funny experience of getting lost from our group.  

Overall, it was a wonderful vacation and so much fun to be with our family.  We loved the Wilderness Lodge cabin and would highly recommend it. 

I'm Back (I Hope)

I started this blog to keep a record of our family since I don't scrapbook and so I'm going to plug away at catching up with everything we did over the summer.  I didn't intend to not blog over the summer, but it just felt a little overwhelming at times for many reasons.  Although, I enjoyed the trips we took and not having a schedule, it was a hard summer.  The girls seemed to be constantly fighting, I had a minor surgery, and we had got some hard news about my mom. 

I want to record this because it is a part of what makes up our family and I feel that I want to have record of God's faithfulness to us.  We found out that this summer that my mom has cancer for the 4th time.  It was a big shock and I HATE that my mom has to go through this again, but I do trust God through it all.  He has shown Himself to all of us over and over throughout the last 14 years.  I am thankful for my mom's example, faith, and strength, and I can't believe what an amazing woman she is. 

On a lighter night, my last post was about a trip to Florida to visit family and as soon as we got home we started Vacation Bible School.  I taught preschool music and the girls had a fun week in their classes.  The first picture is of the girls singing the VBS songs on family night with some friends. 

All week the children at VBS collected money for a summer mission trip to Vermont.  (which is what their tshirts are for)  They collected money as a competition between Auburn and Alabama.  Months before VBS they emailed Aubie and Big Al to see if they would be able to come to VBS on the last day.  Big Al wasn't able to come and they never heard from Aubie.  Imagine everyone's surprise when Aubie showed up right after they announced that the Auburn team had collected the most money.  The kids went crazy and it was fun taking pictures with Aubie.