VBS 2013

It has been VBS week this week!!  3 years ago Ben started going to VBS at Paint Rock Baptist Church.  It is a little country church about 15 minutes from our house.  It is where our sweet neighbor's grandparents go to church.  They do the best VBS each year.  The kids have such a good time and look forward to it all year.  As soon as summer started they were asking when VBS at Nena and Papa's church was.  

 The theme this year was Athens.  It was all about Paul and his missionary journeys.  They learned all about God's love for us.  It was so much fun!!  

 Everytime we go to (or mainly through) the town of Paint Rock, I always see the painted rock and want to take a picture.  So tonight on the way we stopped and took a picture at the painted rock.  Too funny!  Only in Alabama would there be a town named Paint Rock.

Catching Up A Little More

I still have a few more pictures of the fun stuff we have been doing over the past couple of weeks that I need to share...

Kate and I enjoyed a fun time riding our bikes one night.  It sure is hot during the days so night time is the only time to get outside.  We love our purple and pink bikes!

 We have done A LOT of swimming in the last few weeks (that whole it's really hot thing)!  We had the best time swimming with the Cabras last week.  I think this may be one of my new favorite pictures.

 The girls had so much fun!  Nothing like swimming for 6 hours with friends!

 Last Thursday we headed to downtown Huntsville to the Green Street Farmer's Market.  We had heard really great things about it and were not disappointed.  There were lots of great vendors selling all sorts of neat things.  The kids were excited to get gourmet Popsicles.  I think they were watermelon rosemary.  They had so much good food at the market.  We can't wait to go back.

 The best thing about the farmer's market was that my dad was feeling well enough to go so the whole family (minus Andrew who was working) was able to go.  What a special memory.  Love this picture!  Everyone looks great!

 Friday night we enjoyed a fun night at the park with the Johnson family.  These kiddos had a great time!!  And the adults had lots of fun too.

 Saturday night our life group at church got together for frozen yogurt and some park time.  Kate had so much fun with her sweet friends.

 Our sweet friends surprised us by having a prayer time for my dad and then taking a "Team Gary" photo.  What a special time.  Love this picture!  Speaking of we need your Team Gary photos!!!

I think that gets us all caught up.  What a fun summer it has been.  We are exhausted but it has been fun.

Wordless Wednesday - Team Gary's Biggest Supporters!

A Very Special Tea Party

Last Friday the kids and I decided to have a very special tea party.  They were so excited to help out.  They helped to plan the menu and make the place cards.  Ben got himself dressed in his "church clothes" without being asked. 

 We got the table set including beautiful flowers they picked from the yard.  They were so excited!  They waited by the door for the special guests to arrive...

 Granna and Grandaddy came for tea!!  The kids were on their best behavior and used the best manners (Kate was so cute with her best manners face).  Everything about the tea was just lovely!!  My dad was really not feeling well at all but he suffered through for us.  I know it was tough for him and we really appreciate him doing that.  The kids had the best time!!  It was such a special time and memory for them. 



Summer Fun Continues

We have been busy over the last week having lots of summer fun!  Even with all that is going on with my dad, we are trying really hard to keep things as normal as possible for the kids.  That means lots of fun activities and playdates.  We have been having a blast!!  

We have enjoyed Popsicles on hot days with sweet friends!! 

 We have been to our new Chic-fil-a several times.  We are just so excited to have one closer than 25 minutes away.  4 minutes is so much better.  And it has an indoor playground which is awesome on hot days!

 We have enjoyed movies with our stuffed friends.

 We went to the Botanical Gardens and enjoyed the water!

 It was Wacky Wednesday at the gardens.  The kids had so much fun listening to stories and doing a craft.

 We had fun playing with Perry one afternoon!  He is such a fun little guy.

And that is just 1/2 of last week!  Much more fun to share!

Fun Sunday Afternoon At The Pool

We had the best afternoon!!  My dad has had a good couple of days so we thought it would be fun to go to the pool so they could watch the kiddos swim.  We got a great surprise when we got to the pool and the Brewsters and Wrights were at the pool.  Nothing better than an impromptu pool party!  The grandparents sat on the side of the pool and watched the kids swim.  The kids put on a great show!  Lots of swimming and laughing.  It was great!!  Love all these sweet people and the fun afternoon we had together.  

Boston - Part 4

We were excited for our last full day in Boston.  We had already done a bunch but had a few more things we wanted to do.  We started the day off at Fanuiel Hall and Quincy Market to do some shopping (had to get the kids something).  I found this guy to take a picture with.  

 We had bought a Groupon for a walking tour through the Beacon Hill neighborhood.  It was a very interesting tour.  Beacon Hill is a very upscale neighborhood so it was neat to hear some of the stories.

 The neighborhood is absolutely picturesque- cobblestone streets and beautiful landscaping.

 We saw Lewisburg Square which has some of the most expensive real estate in the US.  Yes these townhouses are crazy expensive.

 Right on the square in the home of John Kerry.

 We decided to spend the afternoon at the JFK library.  It was the first time either one of us had been to a presidential library.  It was very interesting.

 It was set up to walk through each part of his presidency starting with the campaign.

 I enjoyed seeing all the gifts and gowns that Mrs. Kennedy had.

 The building was absolutely beautiful.  It had a giant atrium overlooking Boston Harbor that was amazing!

 We were very lucky to get to stay at the Liberty Hotel.  It is actually the old city jail for Boston.  It was closed in 1990 and soon after turned into a hotel.  They had to keep a majority of the elements of the jail for preservation reasons.  The hotel was super nice!  Our room normally would have cost up to $700 per night but we got it for free with our hotel points!  Love it!  The location was awesome.  We were just steps from a T stop and just down from the Beacon Hill neighborhood.

 Here you can see the interior of the hotel that still resembles a jail.

We finished up the trip with dinner at Legal Seafood and a really fun murder mystery play - Shear Madness.

We headed out early on Sunday morning to make our way home.  What an amazing trip it was!!  We really did everything we wanted to do while we were there.  The best part really was just getting to 5 days together!