Sea World and College Friends

Every summer we get together with a group of our closest college friends and have a long weekend away from the kids, the computers, the phones (with the exception of a daily "kid check-in") and just enjoy getting to be together. It is such a refreshing time--these friends are truly an extension of family and a group that you can completely be yourself with--there are no pretenses, no eggshell walking, no worrying if you'll offend someone. God has given us a real gift in each other and we try to do whatever we can to continue to nurture these relationships. We realized this year that our kids know each family individually, but we have never all gotten together with our kids included and allowed our kids to be blessed by the mass chaos that often comes with this group. So, we decided that we would all go visit Kim & Kyle and Vic & Colleen since they both just had babies and weren't able to be with us at the boat this year. Our family was already planning on heading to visit my sister-in-law and her husband, so we decided to leave a few days early to meet up with everyone and enjoy a trip to Sea World-just the 19 of us (and we were missing the Hemphills and McClures.) My mother-in-law joined us because 1-she was going on vacation with our family and 2-she hasn't gotten to "enjoy" the craziness of this bunch in the past few years. She was a DOLL--such a trooper. Fourteen of us were camped out all over the Stringer's house and she managed to fit into the craziness, as she always does. All of the kids adopted her as their "Annie" and she sweetly, patiently read stories, held babies, slept in a room with 2 of the kids (not mine), treked around Sea World in the hot, hot sun while holding hands with at least one child nearly all day. If you know my mother-in-law you know that she's a gem, but she truly outdid herself with this one--I love that she is so willing to fit in and be flexible and never utter one word of complaint. Thank you Annie for being you--we love you! Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Blake Stringer and Elly (one for the wedding slideshow...)


The oldest boys-Logan, Braden and Seth with Annie

Blake, Mallory, Seth, Braden, and Logan with Annie

The only girls--boy are they going to have to be T-O-U-G-H with all of these boys around.

Sweet Rylan was wiped out!

Logan, Braden and Seth

Porter and Blake P.

Sweet Baby Cullen and Elly--this was a rare shot--Elly couldn't leave Cullen's feet alone. She would grab them and laugh and laugh. She did NOT get this love of any and all feet from her mama!

Is it hot out here??? (at Viva--our favorite show)

Look at this precious boy! Sweet Lincoln is so easy going and such a cuddle bug!

Catch Up

Well...its been a busy, crazy summer and I love it! We've had a 14 hour trip to my parents in TN, an 8 hour trip to my sisters in MS, and an extended trip to San Antonio and on to South Padre to visit Jarrod's sister. Throw in 2 Vacation Bible Schools, a week visit from my niece Whitney, 2 weeks of Swimming Lessons and you have about 3 days of uninterrupted "home" time. So, here is my attempt to catch up on blogging.

Logan Goes to the Dentist

Jarrod has gone to the same dentist his whole life--a precious, precious man that is a lifelong family friend. It also happens to be our sweet friend Amanda's dad. We took Logan for his first visit and he did surprisingly GREAT. His favorite part was the water suction and after we were done, he kept saying "When we go back to the dentist, I want to go here."

Mr. Joel (aka: Dr. Martin)

4th of July 2009

Mississippi Visit with Cousins

We had a fantastic time visiting my sister and her family in Mississippi for 4th of July weekend. It was a fast trip and we wished that we could have stayed a little longer, but I think that is always the case when family is too far away. The kids fished, rode 4-wheelers, and swam at my sister's in-laws' house and then we had a great 4th celebration (a later post.) Here are some of my favorite cousin pictures:

Elly's First Wagon Ride

Somehow we didn't get around to taking Elly in the wagon until the week before the 4th of July. Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

First Busted Lip

We had a playdate with one of our favorite friends and ended up leaving with a bit of a "present." Thankfully the lip only stayed swollen for about 24 hours!