More pictures from the ship....

Vacation 2012

I am excited to post pictures of all the fun we shared this year on our family vacation.  This year we decided to do something a little different and we LOVED it!  Usually, we rent a condo on the beach for a week and just enjoy the beach.  This year, we went on a cruise and it was well worth the money.  We were spoiled beyond imagination and I think my boys may have actually gotten their belly's full for the first time ever.  Grayson and Parker had at least 15 ice creams a day and rode the waterslides hundreds of times.  We got to share our vacation this year with some awesome friends, the Swinney's.  Tyler and Jessica enjoyed the comedy club the best and Paul and Grayson explored every inch of the ship.  Our destination was the Bahamas and the beach was amazing.  Of course, we always have something happen to us that is unusual and this time was no exception.  It came a hail storm while we were in the Bahamas.  We did get to enjoy a couple of hours beach time before the rain started.  The waves were so high and brutal its probably a good thing the rain cut our beach time short, my husband may have bruised a rib from body surfing the great waves. 

We will definitely cruise again.  It was so much fun.  I love spending uninterrupted time with my sweet family.  More pictures to come......

The greatest....

I am really excited about posting pictures from the BEST vacation, but first I want to mention the BEST dad ever.  Fathers Day is a day all about him, well its supposed to be all about him. This fathers day, he got up first and fixed us all pancakes then we went to Church, then he let us choose where we wanted to have lunch, then we went to friends so his sweet baby girl could enjoy her favorite pastime...the horses and lastly he spent the day putting on bait and fixing fishing poles so his children could enjoy fishing.  He is truly one of a kind and we are so blessed to have him as the leader of our family.  He has strong Christian values and he is raising compassionate children who love Jesus.  He never lets me or the children down and he always puts us first.  He is firm, but always fair and leads by example.  He is tough on the outside, but gentle hearted.   He is the best of everything all rolled up into one great package (like a dad burrito,hehe).  And as you can see by the picture, on top of everything he's pretty HOT looking! 

We love you Don!

Enjoying every moment....

I feel like every time I post these days, I start off with how far behind I am posting pictures.  Instead of it being a negative thing, I'm turning it into a positive thing.  I am so far behind because my days are spent enjoying my family and our many activities.  We are living such a sweet life, I should never complain.  Don't get me wrong though...I do complain more often than I should.  I complain about those things that really don't matter.  The ONLY thing that matters is my relationship with Jesus Christ, my husband and my children.  An amazing family that we are so blessed to know have reminded me of that over the last week. This father has experienced an indescribable pain as he has watched his son go thru something so tragic to now beginning the healing process.   I cannot describe how reading this young fathers blog each day has given me a renewed strength and reminded me we are so NOT in control of our lives like we think we are.  I am the world's worst control freak.  I hate surprises and I feel like I have to control every situation to produce the desired outcome.  Who am I kidding?  I'm sure God gets a big ole laugh at me when I am doing that.  When I sat down to update the blog today, this is not where I was headed.  But I guess its what I needed to share. 

I love this amazing life God has so richly blessed me with. Even when in the middle of my somewhat heavy blog post, I am constantly interrupted by teenagers whose world is all about them.  I love my teenagers exasperating and all.   My children are awesome...not perfect. When they are busy being teenagers, I have to remind myself that our children possess so many wonderful qualities.  They are the ones who can point out my flaws and make me want to be a better person,  The one  thing I am most proud of about my children is their gift of compassion.  They treat everyone equal and they try to find the good in everyone.

It's been an amazing start to our Summer.  We finished off the end of the school year with awards...awards and more awards.  Grayson and Parker racked up at awards day at school with Grayson receiving Best all Around Student for her class in addition to perfect attendance and honor roll.  In the cute classroom awards voted on my their peers, Parker received Biggest Boy Flirt. Should I be worried? :)

 After awards at school, the 5th grade walk was a special tradition for the students and emotional as well. After all they have been at that school the last 3 years and were the big kids on campus for the last year. After school, we had a blast at the 5th grade celebration at the pool, followed by Smores and silly string fight at the Sims house.  A great group of kids enjoyed celebrating together the end of 5th grade and their exciting new adventure....... Middle School!

The very first celebration of our Summer is Parker's birthday.  This year Parker is 11 and headed to middle school.  Wow!  He was excited to get an IPhone like his brothers even though they were shocked and reminded me they got a "crappy" first phone.  What do you say?  technology has changed since they were 11.  Look at that sweet smile.  We are so in love with this adorable boy who is very quickly turning into a young man.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PARKER!