Sweet 16

We have celebrated our anniversary in many ways...staying at the Renaissance Hotel, where we spent our first night as a married couple, surfing in Hawaii, riding in sea planes in Seattle, and zip lining in Vail.  This year, we celebrated #16 by working together at Jared's office and then packing up our car.  We took a short break to enjoy dinner a la Chick-fil-A and have a slice of cookie cake, that had been specially delivered by my mom.  You see, we were headed to Sky Ranch by 7:00 that night, en route to Florida--we were beach bound!

Cheers to us!  I love us.

Sweet 16!

And now, a walk down memory lane.  This trip was inspired by our daughters, who asked to watch our wedding DVD that morning.  They love it, and so do I.

Walking down the stairs for pictures before the ceremony.

I loved my dress!

The Hays boys--my goodness, how young they all look!

Before the ceremony there were lots of laughs...

and big smiles.

Then it was go time!  Jared walked his mama down the aisle.

My dad walked me down the aisle.

We said our vows, heard some fantastic singing by Matt and Clare and were soon pronounced husband and wife!

We arrived at the ceremony and were so ready to see all our friends and family.

Andrew and Amanda gave the toasts...

along with a sweet one from my dad.

We fed each other cake and the party began!

We were on the dance floor most of the night.

From the very beginning, so many people were out there with us, too.  Greatness!

I'm so thankful that Pa and Ma were both able to be there...

and that I got to dance with my Papaw.

I'm pretty sure that while Jared was dancing with Ma, I was dancing with Pa, but I couldn't find a photo of that.  

Every few songs we'd find our way back to each other.

and probably went to chat during the line dancing, since that's not our favorite thing!

The crowd was gettin' down!  Jenny and Dusty are two of my favorite dancers!

The Wake Forest crowd was awesome.

Matt had the best dance move of the night, though!

Such an incredible night that we will never forget. 
We said goodbye to everyone at midnight as the new Mr. and Mrs. Jared Hays.

Pool Time!

Summer is in full swing by late July.  We hosted Lila's soccer team one evening, which was a nice change from only seeing everyone at practice...where it's 100 degrees!

This group had a ball all night long.

We can't wait to cheer them on this fall!

No doubt, they'll be flipping right into first place!

That's exciting for the parents, athletes and little sisters, too!

Such an enjoyable night.  I really do love our backyard:)

A few days later, we went to Calley's house for a little swim party.  Imagine our surprise when we saw this enormous slide as we pulled up to the house!

So cool!

Calley's big sisters were at Sky Ranch the same week as Jackson, so this was only the younger kiddos.  

Summer, please don't end!  Days like this are too fun.

Sky Ranch for the boys

Summer camp time for Jackson, Dominic, Corbin and Blake!

Nine days after we got home from Cooperstown, Jackson was ready to spend a week in East Texas at Sky Ranch.

The same group of boys went together as did last year, and were happy to be in The Mule Cabin, along with plenty of other fun kiddos.

We got him all set up on bunk, and then said goodbye for the week. 
We knew he'd have a fantastic time.

They kicked things off with a wacky first night.  Pineapple kid is my favorite.  Ha!

We didn't see too many pics of him those first few days, but he looked happy as a Tiger in this next group pic.

He made new friends, like this kid from Southlake...

and this tall kid, who was from Southlake as well.

I loved seeing him playing water polo in the party pool...

and nine square in the crazy pool.  OMG--he's so handsome!

He did about 52 activities all week, but Mission Impossible, 

and the Space Cowboy Dance were two of his favorites.

He was given the Humble Leader award on the last night of camp and his counselors had so many really great things to say about him.  A proud parent moment for us, as we listened to all the positive ways he had impacted his peers that week.  We picked him up on Friday night on our way to the beach.  Next stop, Destin, FL!!

Lake Dog!

We had no idea what Maverick would think about the lake.  Would he love it?  Would he bark constantly at critters roaming about?  Turns out he is a model dog up at Lake Texoma.  Who knew?!

He was so good on the back porch and just chilled.  Then he was thrilled to be invited to ride in the back of Jared's truck down to the lake.  Our 4th kid!  Pretty sure he even smiled for the camera.

He roamed the length of the boat, checking on his girls...

but finally settled right next to Daddo. Sweet pup!

He was so happy and just along for the ride.

We let the kids swim at the buoy, and even had a real conversation while they did it.  Amazing!

That afternoon, Lauren and Lexie arrived with their parents.  Love them!

These kids did so much tubing and never got tired of it.

"No hands, mom!"

We all had a fantastic afternoon in the sun, and were thrilled to spend it with these peeps. 
And so happy that Mav got to be there, too!