Have bags, will travel...

Kiera and Terah and Duncan were able to come home for Ryan's birthday and Terah and Duncan got the crazy idea to take some kids back to Texas with them for a week!!! They asked me first if Ryan could go, then asked if Brittyn could go and finally Hunt...just kidding! Baby Huntington did not go, but the girls went and had the time of their lives. Terah and Duncan also packed Helaman and Cannon in the car as well as everyone's favorite Jami Copeland, aka (JC Lovely) and headed for the Lone Star State. The stopped in Monroe, LA on the way there to try and see some of the celebrities from "Duck Dynasty" and they got lucky and were able to meet Jep, Willie's other brother...haha, if you watch the show you'll get that reference. Then they finally got to TX and did all sorts of things. The went to Legoland, they went to the Dallas aquarium, they went to a huge fireworks show and even made their very own redneck water slide on the hill behind Kiera's house. They got to pal around with their older cousins Helaman and Cannon. I'm glad they did, I'm sure it's hard for those older boys who wanna be cool to be seen hanging out with their littler girl cousins. But I heard on good authority that those fellas were awesome and the girls loved getting to know them better.
The girls called me several times a day and didn't once sound like they missed me in the slightest. But I could tell they were just trying to be strong, cuz I know they did. I also know they had a blast because as I write about this experiences they had, nearly four months LATER, they are still talking about TX and how bad they want to go back. I hope Chickie, Terah and Duncan know how much fun my babies had and how much they love them even more now for letting them go on such an adventure, but they sure were HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY to be going on such an adventure!!!

Ryan's 5th birthday...

Right after we got home from our quick beach trip, I was in party planning mode for Ryan's 5th birthday. Truth be told, I had been planning for a while but I had to kick it up a notch to get stuff done. She made sure to remind me daily that she wasn't going to be a kid anymore. She had chosen a mani/pedi party and had agreed not to change it once I showed her the cake choices. She was excited. All her cousins and friends came over and we treated them to manicures and pedicures and let them manicure their own cookie hands (thanks to Kylia's great ideas). We ate posh "spa" food like little sandwiches and fruit and cookies and sipped juice straight from Capri Sun packs. The kids had a great time and got to go home with their own mani/pedi bags. Ryan was so happy to have all her family and friends over to celebrate her special day. It was a great day and we had a lot of fun. I hope Ryan remembers it as a great day when she gets older and looks back over the blog.

















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St. George Island

This wasn't our first trip to the beach, but if you had been there to see the kids reactions to all the sand, seaweed, shells and water, you'd have thought it was. We went down and spent the night with Carolyn Copeland's family at a house on St. George Island one night this summer and the kids had a blast. The girls loved playing with my friend Kari Copeland Smith's girls and Huntington found a buddy with Stacey Copeland Vowell's son Adam. This was Bubby's actual first time on the beach, he went to the beach when he was first born but slept through it in his car seat. He totally made up for lost time and had a blast. I didn't get pictures of it but the girls went crabbing once it got dark on the beach. They caught a couple and talked about it for says after we got home. Score one for the first mommy's mini summer vacation 2013!!!




















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Happy Father's Day 2013

This can fit right in with my summer posts because when we took these pics for Joe for Father's Day, it was scorching hot, and it was only 8:30 AM!!! We took pics with Leslie Moore Lawson and she did a great job of putting up with my kids and them being scared of her mom's lazy dog Daisy. Jaren, Bellamy and Kylia were on hand as well to help and when it was over we were able to visit with Leslie, her chicks and Gyll for a while. Good times, makes me miss Hosford more every day. Thankful for Joe and how much the kids love him. happy Father's Day!




















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