Slip Slidin' Away

I feel the summer slip slidin' away.

Our drowsy mornings with peanut butter treats, doughnuts and blueberries from our backyard,

Our mornings at the pool, on the swings, or with friends,

Our afternoons of reading books, taking naps, drawing pictures, hunting for treasures,

Our evenings of taking walks, movie nights, and going out for ice cream or snow cones...

all slip slidin' into sweet, beautiful memories.

Loved this moment:

L:  Ellenie, can I remember what yours tastes like one more time?

E: Yeah.

(Lillianna takes a big bite of Ellenie's snow cone)

E:  La La, can I remember what yours tastes like one time too?

I will remember this summer for lots of things...

but I am so glad that this is the summer I finally took a photography class!

A big thank-you to Katie for teaching me how to take better pictures of my girls!

Fun Memories

It was a HAPPY 4th!

I want to remember all the precious moments of our Independence Day weekend.

  We were supposed to go out of town but deecided last minute to stay at home.

  It turned out to be a special weekend full of special memories with special friends.

If you can't go to a parade...be in a parade!

The girls had so much fun being a part of a neighborhood 4th of July parade.

This was our last weekend with our dear friend Rachel and her two little ones, Davis and Campbell.

We will miss them but can't wait to go visit them in Huntsville.

Yea!  More friends in North Alabama to see!

Bes, Blake, Ellenie & Campbell...The four most precious patriotic sweeties!

The rest of the weekend was filled with all sorts of fun...

jumpers, swimming, great food, sparklers, fireworks, and a boat ride.

Funny faces in Mom's glass

Home is where your heart is...

A few weeks ago, the girls and I made a quick trip to my hometown in Kentucky.

We went for the special occasion of my Mom's baptism (yea!) and had a wonderful visit as well.

Now that Lillianna & Ellenie are getting older,

I love seeing my girls in some of the places that were special to me growing up...

Ellenie on the front porch of my Mom's house.

  This house was a one-room school house that was our "farmhouse" growing up. 

After I left for college, she renovated into a lovely, quaint house full of character.

I loved watching the girls eat their baby, cherry-dipped cones from Dairy Queen.

This Dairy Queen is special...not only do they still make the ice cream with buttermilk, they have cherry flavored dip (I can't find it anywhere else anymore), and they are only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day each year.  It's always been a special place to my family because my grandparents owned a Dairy Queen for many years.  And it's so yummy, I inevitably end up at DQ everyday while I'm home...a chili dog for lunch one day, a baby cone for a snack on another.

The lake...My family spent so many hours on the lake when I was growing up that I almost teared up seeing my girls smothered in those big life jackets.  I love that they will know the smell, the beauty, and the fun of the lake.  And I love that Aunt Kitty Cat (perhaps the biggest lake lover of all) is sharing her love of the lake with them too.  We live far enough away from Murray that we don't get home as often as I'd like.

  So it's extra special when we are there and I get to share it with my girls.

Even Boone had fun!

If you had a fabulous Fourth of July, then smile and say, " Cheese!"

Yep, we had a truly fantastic 4th!

An hour in the hose...a picture story

Princess Leah

This summer has been another season of many "firsts".

My favorite first so far has been our very first visit by a neice by herself!

Leah (one of the twins) came and spent an entire week with us and we loved every minute of it!

Leah and Lillianna went to art camp each morning. 

 They created fantastic masterpieces and learned all about primary and secondary colors.

  And they got to dress in the "color of the day" each day - the first day was red.

Some of the days their wonderful teacher painted beautiful art on their faces.

We had to take a picture before these beautiful butterflies got washed off...

In addition to art camp, we stayed very busy...

with Princess parades, swimming, tea parties, a movie night, lighening bug collecting, and lots more.

Overall, it couldn't have been a better week!

  I am so proud of my beautiful, incredibly sweet, thoughtful, helpful, patient, loving neice!

We love you Leah!

Seriously, don't hate me because I'm beautiful.

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.

Snow White did come and live with us!

(The final potty training reward...her princess dress!)

Just a swingin'

Can you tell how much fun we had?

It is always so much fun when we get together with The Millers.

This is the last picture of the cousins like this...

the next time we're together there will be another Miller girl in the mix!  (Any day now!)

It was also very, very, very HOT!

So we tried to stay in the shade, did a little swimmin' and a whole lot of swingin'...

Thank you for such a special visit!

We loved every minute!