13 years and counting

This year has been hard.  We have had so little time to spend together, but I am hopeful once Jeff's MBA is done in October, we will have more quality time together.  I am so grateful for every day I have with this amazing man by my side.  Jeff is loyal, kind, hardworking, and patient.  He calms my anxieties and works so hard to make life for his girls easier.  I am so glad he chose me to go through life with.  It seems like yesterday we tied the knot...every year goes faster than the year before.  I love you so much, Jeff!  Happy lucky numba 13!

holiday world

 We said goodbye to Lisa's family on Sunday.  It was hard and the girls were really upset about it. The only thing that made them feel better was that they were going to go to Holiday World on the way home!

 We got to our hotel Sunday night and hit the park as soon as it opened on Monday.  It was a hot day and perfect for Holiday World!  We spent the majority of the day at the water park and then headed to he dry rides late afternoon.  We stayed until the park closed and 9 and the girls fell asleep the second the car started heading home.  We love Holiday World and we love seeing the girls joy and excitement when we are there.

 We have really had the most amazing summer together.  Savanna and Caimbree have loved having Heidi home and so have I. I missed her so much during the school year.  We were able to do and see a lot this summer.  I cherish this time I have with my girls at these ages.  Time is going way too fast and I get teary eyed thinking of how fast they are growing up.  There are always tough moments and tough days, but I am so grateful I have the privilege of raising these gorgeous girls.

nauvoo temple

 I had never seen the Nauvoo temple!  It is absolutely beautiful.  The girls really loved it and always get excited to talk about which temples they have seen.  It was so fun to walk around the grounds.  We only wish we had had time to do some temple work and see the inside!

nauvoo

 We loved Nauvoo!  In spite of the insanely hot temperatures, we absolutely loved it!  It was so fun to see all of the old buildings and learn about pioneer life during their time in Nauvoo.  We loved the blacksmith and brick shop and I loved watching Heidi's excitement as she connected things she has been reading about in the Little House on the Prairie books to a lot of what she was seeing.  The girls were so good and loved learning and especially being there with Kyler and Kourtney.

carthage jail

 After dropping Katyln and Braxton and sweet little Bennett off in VA, Lisa came back and we all headed to Nauvoo!  The girls couldn't wait to vacation with their cousins. We stopped at Carthage jail on the way.  The week we chose to go was miserable in terms of the weather!  It was much hotter there than by us, but we had fun anyway.  Carthage was very interesting and I was glad we stopped there.  The girls really liked it too and they were great on the tour.  It was a fun day and the kids traveled great because they had Kyler and Kourtney riding with us to keep them entertained!

cousins

 We were so lucky to get a visit with Jeff's oldest sister!  They were on their way out drop our niece off in VA for dental school and we got to be a pit stop.  Due to some car trouble, we ended up getting them a day longer than planned!  Oh we were in heaven.  We miss our family in the west so much.  The girls had the absolute best time getting time getting reaquainted with their cousins.  It was just so great to see their family again and we are so grateful for the time we had together!

sewing

Heidi loves anything and everything crafty.  She is so incredibly creative.  Lately she has begging to learn to sew.  Unfortunately, I am not skilled in the sewing department and can't teach her much.  Our activity days leader, Ellie, is an incredible seamstress.  When I asked her how I should go about teaching her, she offered to help Heidi and invited her to an activity day lesson on sewing where they were making pillow cases.  Heidi was glowing the whole week before going and asking everyday leading up to the activity if it was time to go yet.  She woke up the morning of the activity early and was dressed and ready to go by 6 AM!  It was so funny.  She had a great time and Ellie was amazed at how quickly she was picking it up.  I am so grateful she got to learn a little bit.  I need to start working on it myself so we can learn together.

date nights

 We have some super awesome babysitters that moved in next door.  I mean, really amazing and the girls love when they come over.  Jeff and I have been trying to go out more since our schedules are crazy and Jeff is so busy with his MBA, work, and young men's that we hardly have any time to even talk to each other.  We have been trying different local spots in Nashville and having a blast.  We were even able to double with my brother and his wife one night when they were down our way.  This picture was taken at a place called "Soulshine Pizza" where they have live music. It was really fun.

We have also been trying to give the girls one on one time with each of us and have been trying to take the girls out for their own individual time. It was Caimbree's turn with Jeff a few weeks ago. She was so excited to go and was the first one to choose to go with Jeff first.  She is such a daddy's girl.  The next morning, Heidi decided she was going to take each of her sisters on a date with her.  It was the sweetest thing.  Savanna and Caimbree were SO

excited.  They walked around the cul de sac and then on a rock hunt.  Savanna and Caimbree idolize Heidi and love when she gives them attention. It was so precious to see Heidi being so tender in her role as the oldest sister.

family night bowling

 We decided to take the girls bowling for family night.  We have free bowling for the girls all summer and this is the first time we have gone.  Summer has been so busy and it is going way too fast.  Heidi decided she was too big to use the ramps, which led to quite a bit of frustration the first time she threw the ball, but once she tried a few different times she was having fun.  She wants to be so grown up and I just want her to slow down!  Savanna stayed a little more focused this time, but mostly wanted to play on the playground area.  Unfortunately they changed it and you had to pay to use the playground area and we only had a few minutes before we had to go.  She was so sad, but I promised her we would go back when we had more time to do both.  Caimbree was funny because by the end she didn't want to push the ball.  She wanted me to set it on the ramp and then have me let go so it would just go down on its own.  Funny little girl.  It was a great night!

america the beautiful

We had a great Independence Day!  Jeff gets so excited to do fireworks with the girls and his excitement definitely wears off on the girls.  They get so excited to share the fun with their dad.  We had a great day together and we love having a reason to remember just how grateful we are to live in this great country.

The girls were so excited about having Jeff home for the day.  Heidi had piano lessons in the morning and Jeff was able to take her.  When they got home we went to get some fireworks and walk around the lake.  The weather this summer has been really nice so far.  It was a little rainy and overcast in the morning and only 75 degrees.  It felt great walking around the lake.

We came home and the girls played play dough until it stopped raining enough to do some pop-its and smoke bombs.

In the late afternoon we were invited to a friend's house from our ward for a bbq.  We had a great time and we are so incredibly grateful to have such a

great ward.  The girls did a fun craft there and did some sparklers and pop its.

After the bbq we came home so Jeff could light his fireworks for the girls.  They were so excited about every thing and couldn't believe they got to stay up so late.  It was such a perfect day.  We were all sad to see Jeff go back to work, but we are grateful we had a day together to celebrate our freedom and make some fun memories!