Grateful Sunday

We celebrated my niece, Caroline's 12th birthday last night in Dallas. Here we are with her and Jackson and Jeff (or, as Miles calls him, Mr. Peanut Butter head. I guess it's an inside joke). Thanks for the picture, Shawne!

This week, I'm grateful for:

• family family family. I'm glad that out of the seventy-something people that we are closely related to, at least a few of them live here in Texas. It's nice to be with them on special occasions. And for root canals. :)
• wonderful children at church. Hearing them sing How Firm a Foundation today really helped me feel the Spirit and confirmed to me that I was in the right place at the right time. Love it when that happens.
• a very exciting trip coming up. We're going on an Alaskan cruise with my family starting Friday. We are having a very hard time containing our excitement. I'm pretty sure everyone we come into contact with on a regular basis knows about our trip.
• new friends as dinner guests. I am a total people person and love getting to know new faces.

bowling!

It was 106 degrees yesterday and we needed some relief. We went bowling with our cousin, Claire, who's here for a quick trip with her mom and sister.

Miles wanted to do it himself. The bowling alley lady only had to come retrieve his ball once.

nice.

I came back from a morning of volunteering and was greeted with Miles saying:

"Mama, you smell like a pet store!"

So nice. That happens to be my least favorite smell in the world. And I have been in my share of pet stores, let me assure you. (Do you know neal & audrey?)

Anyway, we're excited for our weekend ahead. Unexpected family in town equals dinner out, right?

Grateful Sunday

A few more photos from Arkansas; Thanks, Jeff!

My crazy kids jumped off the second story of the houseboat.

And Parker wore a crab on his head. Just for a second, though.

This Sunday, I'm grateful for simple things, but they are the most important:

• loving members of my family, both close and far away. I'm grateful to belong to such wonderful groups of people.
• faith, hope and fasting. They can mean so many different things throughout our lives, but they are all blessings and I'm grateful for them as means to happiness and peace.
• my happy kids and my loving husband.

lately

When we've not been traveling lately, we've been keeping busy with everyday types of things:

Looking at houses with our ever-patient angel of a realtor. (This one, unfortunately, didn't make the cut, since we found out that it has flooded twice in the last 20 years. Too bad, because I loved the interior!)

Practicing piano,

and losing teeth. Finally for Parker, he's been waiting for and dreaming of this day!

our fourth

We had a really great weekend with Neal's family. They've had a reunion on the Fourth of July for several years running now, it's always fun. And there is always, always incredible food (thanks mostly to Neal's brother, John.) Most of it starts out the weekend alive. :)

This year we hit Lake Ouachita in Arkansas, at the foot of the Ozark mountains. It was beautiful, the weather was ideal, and the cousins were aplenty. Neal's brother rented a houseboat to keep everyone busy and in the water. The slide was a big hit.

So was the hot tub.

Meredith, my niece, ended up with all of my kids on her for the fireworks show. Thanks, Mere.

Off Again

Who'd have ever thought we'd be in Arkansas twice in one year? Well, off we go to Lake Ouachita with Neal's family. We've heard it's beautiful and we're staying at a fabulous-looking resort., thanks to lots of planning on the part of people other than me. (Thanks Daddy, Georgia, Jeffie & John!) I'm pretty excited. Full report upon our return, as usual. Summer blogging is all about the vacay photos, after all.