Happy Birthday, Boom!

We celebrated my Dad's birthday at the lake this year.  

It was such a beautiful weekend and perfect for some lake life.

These four goofballs were thrilled to be able to celebrate all day with their Boom Pa.

One very cool cat...

two really happy kids...

one a bit more daring than the other!

They tubed the entire afternoon and never got tired of it.

Maddie and Colleen soaked up the final hours on the lake, 

just like dad and I did.  We can never get enough of Lake Texoma.

Happy 65th, Dad!  We love you.

Fairy tales and Shipwrecked at VBS

A few weeks into summer, it was time for a few activities.  

First, we dropped off Jackson and Lila at VBS.  In a few more years, Cami will be old enough to join them.  Until then, we will find entertaining things to do, like...

dance camp with some of her best friends!  These precious girls were beyond excited for their first day of Fairytale Dance Camp.  

Jackson was thrilled that his buddies decided to go to Vacation Bible School with him at our church.

Just like last year, we hosted a pool party for the boys and then for the girls.  The boys had their party first, but I let Lila invite Lauren over to play.  These girls were pleased as all get out to have the pool to themselves while the boys played soccer.  They did stunts with Cami...

and then fun tricks off the slide.

When the boys finally finished playing soccer, it was game on!

Cowabunga!

They took trick-sliding to another level.

 

Purple Power continued to have an awesome week...

and were all smiles when they arrived to swim at our house one afternoon.

These girls got along so well.  Mandy said they were a fantastic group all week, so willing to learn and share what God was doing in their lives.  

To end the week, Jackson, Lila, Daddy and I all went to watch our dancing girl perform on Friday.

She did ballet, tap and jazz, and played to her audience with some fantastic facial expressions!

Dance on, my little star.

The big kids helped raise money to send to Haiti to provide chickens and coops for needy families.  Cami enjoyed some freedom and loved dancing with her friends.  Such a successful week!

Summertime

 No early wake-up calls, getting to stay up until the sun goes down, swimming until your fingers turn into raisins, and seeing so many of your friends--these are only a few of the reasons that summer is our favorite time of year.

A few weeks ago, Matt and Clare came to Dallas for a preacher's convention.  We were thrilled that they called us!  It's been way too long since we've seen them.  In fact, the last time was when Mac was only 2, which was 5 years ago!  They've had two more kids since then!  We met for dinner, then everyone came back to our house to swim.  Such a fantastic summer night.

Our backyard is one of my favorite spots during the dog days of summer.   

We had our friends over to swim one day and just enjoyed the heck out of spending quality time together.

Mallory, Jory Joseph, Brooklynn, Finley, Chloe, Lila, Cami, Jackson, Corbin, Carter and Matthew.
Such a good group!

Chicken fights and water basketball...

followed by snacks and treats...

and topped off with entertaining stunts!

Fun for all!

Every now and then we try some new places, too.  We met Lila's soccer team at the Allen Natatorium a few weeks ago.  This place is amazing!

All ages just loved it...

and it's easy to see why--they have this cool water slide...

a lazy river, and a huge bucket that fills up every few minutes and dumps out the water on all in it's path.  For only $5 per person, this place is the best deal around town!

 

And keeping with the water theme, Lake Texoma is still at the very top of our list.  We've only been twice this summer, but we try to soak up every second while we are there.

These girls are still as fearless as last summer and the smiles are never-ending on the tube!

Oh summer, we sure wish you'd stick around a little longer.  We simply adore you.

Happy Father's Day!

Most of our summer Sundays are baseball-centric, and Father's Day was no different this year.  Jackson and the Eagles were playing in Mansfield at Big League Dreams and ready to win it all.

We had lunch with my dad first, though, and were able to celebrate him and Jared.

An hour later, we had arrived at the coolest ballpark in the metroplex.

Since the Eagles had won both of their games the day before, they didn't have to play their first game until that afternoon.  Hallelujah for no 8am game!
Daddo was ready to see some good baseball.

Game 1 started off well when Jackson hit a triple!  He got a single the next time and by then the Eagles were rolling.

Love my #7.

Our boys won the first game and advanced to the semifinal.

Jackson played some fierce defense at 3rd base...

and ran the bases so well. He came in so hard that he almost slid over the bag.  Safe!

Jake pitched well...

and the Eagles won that game pretty handily!

By the time the sun was going down, the boys were warming up to win the championship game.  The dads were cooling down with some nice refreshments.  Cheers!

Once again, J hit the ball hard and got another triple!

His defense was solid, too, whether at 3rd base...

 

or over at 2nd.

A few minutes after 9:00 that night, the Eagles won the game, beating Midway Elite 9-4!

All the dads were SO happy!

 

Our family was exhausted, but super proud of Jackson and his teammates.

Another gold ring from a majors tournament.  This kid loves to win.

Happy Father's Day, Jared! 
You really are the best of the best, and we're so glad you're ours.