Lake Weekend

We enjoyed our first weekend lake trip of the summer!

 These two were excited about their first wave runner ride of the summer! Love their smiles!

I love my nephew's face ~ he looks so excited ~ he just couldn't wait to get going!!

 White powdered doughnuts are the best snack!

My beautiful slalom skier ~ ready for her morning run!! Early skiers get the smooth water!

I really enjoy watching our kids ski! They amaze me ~ I couldn't slalom until I was in college! (poor Jonathan ~ I didn't snap the picture fast enough! Next time!)

 I love, love, love this! How cute is he!?! This was his first time on the ski skimmer, and he did great!!

I love the smiles on Joe and Lauren's faces! We were all so excited for him!

 This just makes me smile ~ happy kids!!

Wearing sunglasses to keep the rain out of his eyes! We were just thankful it held off until the end of the day!

Oh, the fun they had!!!

 We are so blessed to be able to spend a lot of time with Mama and Daddy at the lake in the summer! 

Last year, I really missed Daddy at the lake (he was battling cancer, and with radiation treatments five days a week, he never felt like going) ~ until then, I had really taken our lake time for granted. 

It was SO good to be back at the lake with Daddy this weekend! I now cherish our family time at the lake so much more ~ I appreciate it for the blessing it truly is!!

Three Men and Their Chainsaws

Joe has been wanting to cut four pine trees in our backyard for a while. When Daddy told him that he and his friend, Walt, would be willing to help him, Joe jumped at the opportunity! He loves it when he can do things himself, rather than having to hire someone!

Three men who absolutely love to work outside!

Hooking the cable to the tree ~ the youngest guy got that job!

Walt is making the first cut ~ Daddy was in the truck keeping the cable tight.

 The first tree is down! It always amazes me how the tree drops exactly where they say it will! 

 Walt's twenty-four inch chainsaw sliced right through that pine tree! Daddy and Joe used their smaller chainsaws to cut the smaller limbs. It was a great team effort!

 They cut two smaller pine trees before tackling the biggest one of all.

 This is just part of the top of that tree! They are so much braver than me ~ I would have been scared to death to cut that tree down!

 Daddy's neighbor took all the big pieces of wood. You can see Joe's pile in the background ~ he is going to rent a chipper ~ he is planning to use some of the chips under the kids' playset.

 They started around eight o'clock that morning, and they were completely finished by noon! Four trees in four hours ~ amazing!!! We could never thank Daddy and Walt enough for taking their time to help Joe ~ he appreciated the help so much! 

I think they all enjoyed the morning! I am thankful everyone stayed safe!

A Lot Can Happen In a Week

We had a fun, yet crazy busy, last week of school! 

I am planning to make a book of all my posts this year, and I want to remember all of it!!

 On Friday, the kids had an early release day from school, so we ventured to the pool for the first time this summer! The Wolfe girls joined us, and we had a pizza party!

 Saturday morning, Lauren had her last soccer game with ABYSA (I didn't get any photos ~ shame on me!), and Jonathan joined this group of guys for the Biltmore Lake Shoot Out! Thanks to Rick Purcell for organizing this fun morning for the guys!

 Saturday afternoon, Andrew and I went to Chuck E. Cheese for this little cutie's birthday party! Seth and Elizabeth are two of his best friends ~ they are all so precious!

 On Sunday, I kept the nursery at church, and Andrew was my helper. He was so sweet to Larson!

 Tuesday was Awards Day for Enka Middle School's seventh graders. These sweet, beautiful girls have been friends since kindergarten/first grade, and they all made A Honor Roll for the year! I am so proud of these young ladies!!

 Tuesday afternoon, Andrew and I made our very first fruit kabobs for Lauren's soccer party. They were so yummy ~ everyone loved them ~ there wasn't a single one left!

 We also pulled together the soccer coaches' gifts, and I love how they turned out! Coach Buckner and Coach Felluca loved them! The idea/print came from here ~ they have some of the cutest ideas, and their prints are free to download. So fun!!

 Wednesday was the last day of school, and they were all smiles!! Lauren had the honor of helping with the Eighth Grade Awards Ceremony ~ I am so proud of her! 

 This handsome guy made A/B Honor Roll for the last nine weeks! He really wanted to make the A Honor Roll again, but he only had one B! I am so proud of him! Love that smile!!!

 End of year teacher gifts for Jonathan's teachers ~ we have always been blessed with such wonderful teachers ~ I am so very thankful! Hominy Valley Elementary is such a special school!! 

 Wednesday afternoon, Andrew cuddled and played with Schwartz at the hair salon! 

These sweet girls spent the afternoon together before going to a good friend's birthday/pool party. I picked them up, and Taylor spent the night with Lauren. They had fun sewing ~ they made some really cute things! Jonathan spent the entire day/night with Taylor's brother, Dylan. Those boys have so much fun together! Perfect celebration for the last day of school!!

On Thursday, Joe took the day off work to cut four pine trees in our backyard. My daddy and his best friend, Walt, were so nice to help him! He never would have been able to do it without them!

Needless to say, I spent Thursday night and Friday playing "catch -up" ~ lots of cleaning and laundry!!

It was a great week! Summer ~ here we come!!!

Soccer Party

We had a party at Biltmore Lake to celebrate two great soccer teams and our head coach, who is moving to Charleston. It was so much fun ~ such a great group of kids and parents!! Lauren and I have loved making new friends through soccer!!

We enjoyed lots of great food before Coach Felluca and Coach Buckner shared some really kind words!

Coach Felluca is really going to be missed! We are so hoping Coach Buckner can still be really involved next year! They are both great guys and coaches! 

They loved their coaches' gifts!

The ladies and gents had a ton of fun in the lake ~ swimming, playing on and under the dock, kayaking, paddle boarding and more! 

~  Kelsey and Lauren having fun in the kayak ~

 My guys also had a lot of fun! Jonathan was in and out of the lake with his buddies, and Andrew just played and played in the water and the sand. He found lots of freshwater clam shells!

Love this picture!

Lauren was so blessed to have these guys as her soccer coaches this year! Coach Felluca, we wish you the best in all you do! It has been an honor getting to know you this year!

Fifty-One

Last week we celebrated Joe's 51st Birthday! And the funniest thing happened! We bought balloons to tie to his new bike, so we could surprise him when he and Jonathan got home from Tae Kwon Do. As I was getting them out of the car, Andrew asked if he could hold them. I bet you can guess what happened next...

 It was hilarious! So when the guys got home, they found us trying to get them out of the tree! I didn't think there was any way we could reach them, but Lauren's creativity took over! She used Joe's wood clamps to attach a long piece of wood to the rake! After Joe stopped laughing and snapping pictures, he used her "tool" to get the balloons down!

She was so excited that her idea had worked!!! It really was ingenious! One remained stuck in the tree, and a few minutes after I took this picture, one popped! We were all laughing so hard!!!

 We decided to go ahead and give Joe his presents! We were too excited to wait until after dinner!

 Lauren made him a bowl for his keys, wallet and such. It turned out really cute!

 The balloons finally made it onto the bike! The kids were so excited ~ the bike had been in the back of our minivan for three days! Even Andrew kept the secret!!

 Joe's face when he saw the bike! He was so surprised!!

 I made his favorite dinner, chicken parmigiana, and his favorite dessert, chocoate eclair cake! He was happy, happy, happy!!

 The four greatest blessings in my life ~ I love them so!!!

Happy Birthday, Joe! You are a wonderful father and a precious husband! We love you so much!!!