Perdido Key Part 2

Over the past several years our boys have played the same league for sports which is actually at our church. The boys have met a sweet boy named Jackson and we have also become great friends with his parents and little sister. This family is so sweet to us and they decided to meet us down at the beach and spend some time with us. They were able to get a condo in the same condominium as us so the kids had a BALL!!!! It was a great time for all of us! I'm so glad they were able to make it and make memories with our family!

 

Here is myself and Jackson's Mom, Tiffany.

 

This picture is from one of my early morning quiet times I had on the balcony, all by myself. Just God and I spending time together. It was Heaven!!!

 

 

The picture of John in the pool cracks me up for some reason. Having a goofy time is all we know how to do, I love that man! Then Westin just sitting on the sit, I promise I could eat his little cuteness right up!!

 

I LOVE this picture of Luke with his thumbs up, this is his personality to a tee! My little Lukie-Luke is always 100% happy (unless you beat him at a game, he's still learning to lose).

 

 

 

It was a bright and sunny day! Loving the beach! Note: we both have our sunglasses on our heads, doesn't make a lot of sense. :)  

Since Westin didn't like the beach a whole lot, he was very fond of taking great naps on the beach each afternoon. It was perfection and my time to enjoy laying out without a toddler on me.

 

Jackson and Will with some boogie boards. They boogied their little hearts out so much that they had boogie board burns on them that had to be doctored each night. From what they said, it was totally worth it Mom!

 

 

This was me the entire time Westin was awake and on the beach. His eyes are so light blue that when he didn't want to wear his hat, he couldn't see anything. Poor thing, but I enjoyed the bonding with this angel!!

 

 

One night we drove into Gulf Shores and went to LuLu's. It was a BLAST and seriously Disneyworld at the beach. It was so much fun for the kids and adults. We waited for 2 hours to eat but enjoyed the entire time. Here is a picture of our family and us with our friends. Sorry for the crazy eyes, the person taking these pictures didn't do the best of jobs. (Personally, my pet peeve!)

Sweet boys and sweet friends!

 

I told you it was bright and this was the last day at the beach so it was really HOT outside and the water was freezing. I thought that was kind of odd, it was so different then any other day we had on the beach. That day we spent mostly at the pool.

 

 

Daddy was proud of this fake gator, he is known for taking pictures on vacation with big fake animals. Then one day at lunch we found a rebel! :)

Will enjoying some fresh oysters with Daddy and I. He is definitely our boy! Daddy and I can tear up some oysters and Will has become a huge fan!

 

 

 

Me and my sweet Lukie Luke! Special memories where made on this wonderful trip! 

 

I can't wait to take another fun trip with my family. We literally live for all of our vacations, they are so much fun and usually much needed at that time. Taking time away from every day life is wonderful to do and such a blessing. Coming home back to reality is difficult to do! I with each day was a vacation but then we wouldn't treasure that time as much as we do.

 

My next post on Perdido Key will be with our beach pictures. Fun times! :)

Perdido Key Part 1

This year was our second time to go to Perdido Key for family vacation. It was such a wonderful time this summer and the whole week with all 4 of my special boys was a dream come true. The water was unusually clear and perfect all the way around. Westin was not the biggest fan of the beach but that boy could play at the pool for hours on end. Spending time at the beach with your loved ones is my happy place.

 

Our first day on the beach, boogie boards in hand! :)

 

Although this is Westin's second time to experience the beach, it was his first time to remember.

 

Luke was COVERED in sand from playing endless hours of football.

Night out with my hubby!

 

My handsome man playing in the big sand box playground with our kiddos.

 

This was the first time for him to actually play in the sand, this took lots of convincing. :)

 

The ages of Will & Luke are my favorite. (Although I do say this at every age) They are very independent boys now but they are still so innocent and sweet. Will loves to have big boy conversations with us which makes my heart happy. Expressing my beliefs to him about certain things he has questions about is a good feeling people.

 

 

Stay tuned for part 2. Hopefully I can get the next part of our trip on one more post. :)

 

 

Nashville Trip 2014

My Mom was so kind and gracious to have Will & Luke for over 2 weeks in Georgia, the first part of the summer. They did everything from VBS with their cousins to cook outs with my family. It was a blast and they didn't want to leave. I think they would of stayed if we had not been about to take our beach trip. We met up in Nashville to pick them up from her and had a blast.

 

Westin stayed home with us so when he saw his big brothers he was a happy boy!! Here they are back together again!

 

We went to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel that evening, it was tons of fun. Mom could never look straight at the camera, lol...

 

 

While we were in town we ate at the Aquarium Restaurant, it was so awesome for the kids! Eating under the tanks while fish and sharks swam above you was too cool. Not to mention it kept the kids entertained the entire dinner.

 

Westin also had a problem looking at the camera as well, ha.. He sure does love his DeeDee!

 

 My Nanny makes the BEST pound cakes and she was so kind to make one for us. Mom brought it to Nashville and we snacked on the whole time.

 

It was so nice having all of my boys home again under one roof but I can not express the happiness on my face that they get to experience those memories each year with my family. It makes me sad that I can't be with them in Georgia but them being with my Mom makes it ok. Little brother was a different kid again having them home, he didn't know what to do without them!

 

Just Words...

So, our laptop crashed and that is why I have not been on the blog lately. Plus, we have been busy making fun summer memories. I have lots of updated pictures to post of our recent adventures and will get to them as soon as I can.

 

Love to all and I hope you all are having a blessed summer so far! Only a few more weeks until school starts back so it's coming to an end quickly.

 

Katie 

Happy Father's Day!

Today is a very special day for all of the Father's. For a Father's Day post I thought I would write a letter to my boys on how special their father is to them. I hope one day they can look back to this blog not only with memories but also with information they might not know about their Dad. 

Will, Luke & Westin,

     Your Daddy was raised to be a family man and was given strong faithful roots to pass on to his family. Since we first started to date it was very important to him for us to have a special bond to pass on to our children. Boys, I never knew how strong that bond could be but as the years go by it gets stronger and stronger. I pray one day you realize how important your wife and children are like your father has done. He loves you so much and in every decision we face, he thinks of you three first. Daddy is very protective of his family and will not be embarrassed by anything to make sure you boys are raised in the way the Lord would see fit. 

     Nobody is perfect and he has faults of his own but he is the first to realize them and try to make corrections. When Daddy ask you to put your shoes away before coming in the house, makes  you eat & drink only in the kitchen and expects you both to clean up after yourselves..... this is only for your own good and because he loves you so much that he cares enough to make sure you boys are raised to be great young men. Daddy spends long days at work to help provide for his family and he rarely takes off. His work ethic is the best I've ever seen and his loyalty is infectious. Realize that all of these traits are ones you need to never forget. These are all great qualities we want to see in you boys! 

     You will rarely see Daddy take time to do something for himself. He is always with us and that is something he never wants to change. He enjoys being in our company and he loves us so much that he would rather spend his time with then out with "the guys". Those nights are so rare that neither one of you can go to sleep without Daddy home. ;-) Never forget the conversations you have when he is tucking you into bed. I can't tell you how many times I've heard belly laughs coming from the room after I've left and then also I've heard serious conversations being discussed when he tucks you in. I love to see the smile on Daddy's face when he is talking about one of you, something funny you have been doing or something he wants to never forget. The young years of raising a family are quickly passing by and he never wants to forget these times we spend together. 

     Finally and most importantly, the love you see in your Daddy when He worships the Lord, this is the most important lesson of all. If you can imagine, your Heavenly Father loves you more than we could fathom so always love the Lord. Each day Daddy says a special prayer for all three of his boys and it is the number 1 best thing he could do for you. Your Daddy loves each one of you more than you could ever imagine, you are so blessed to be loved by him! 

Love, 

Mommy

Are you home sick yet?

While Will and Luke are in Georgia visiting my family, we are here doing our normal routine but in a very, very quiet home. Westin is quieter with them gone but he is LOVING the attention. I'm glad we have this one on one time with him. I often think about what life will be like when the kids are grown and I don't like the house being so quiet. I like the garage door slamming shut every 5 minutes with them running in AND out of the house constantly. I enjoy them arguing about who is getting in the shower first and having to settle with flipping a coin to make the decision for them. AND I most certainly miss having wrestling matches in my living room floor daily. These are things just one week ago would be getting on my LAST nerve but see now that they are gone, I miss it deeply. Let's hope when they return I'm still this nice! ;-)

They have been having an absolute BLAST. This week is VBS for them each day at my families church. They are there with cousins, aunts, uncles & my Mom. The fact that they cried tonight to me telling me that they will miss VBS after tomorrow tells me that they are having the time of their life and they rightfully should right now. Mom has told me that they both have made new friends and that is a huge step for them, especially Will. He is much quieter than Luke and Will can feel uncomfortable easily. Hearing that they both were saying bye to friends on the first day made my heart happy. I want them having a blast! Each afternoon they have gone to their cousins to play or gone to the local country club to swim, I promise you they are having way more fun in Georgia than they would be having at home with us. I did ask them tonight if they were homesick yet, they both screamed NO! I will admit that I'm torn on this matter, I selfishly wish they were homesick for us but I'm so happy they are having such a great time and feel comfortable. 

I can't express how excited I am for them to be experiencing these memories with my family. I'm fortunate to have a close family but they all live in Georgia and raising my family here in Memphis can make that so difficult. I hope when they are older they will look back and think of fond memories with part of their summer's being spent in Georgia. I know that my Mom, Dad, Grandmother and all of the rest of my family is  making sure they are having a great time. Luke made the decision Wednesday to ask Jesus to come into his heart. Having my family there to lead him made me cry like a baby. I'm so proud of my boys and I'm so happy they are surrounded my loving people in their lives. Right now they don't know it but they are blessed boys to have family here in Memphis and in Georgia love them so much! God is so good!!

This weekend we plan to finish everything up that we need to in the house to get it ON THE MARKET!! Plus, we also need to get things together for our beach trip in just TWO weeks!!! Next weekend we will be in Nashville with the boys and my Mom so the next several weeks are busy for our family. 

I hope you all have a blessed weekend, don't forget about Father's Day Sunday! All of the sweet Daddy's deserve to have a special day too! 

~Katie~

Having just one child

J and I both agree having just one child at home is much harder than having all 3 home. Until Will and Luke were both gone I never realized how much they keep Westin entertained. They are older so they often play with each other but since they've been gone I noticed Westin needs more of our attention, I'm sure because they keep him entertained much more than we realized. Plus, being #3 he doesn't get our undivided attention regularly so he is loving it being just him! ;-)

As I said yesterday, Westin did NOT want to stay with us. He was so upset he couldn't go back with his big brothers and his "DeeDee" (my Mom). He quickly got over that because he is eating up the attention from Daddy and I. He has been hilarious these past two days but has been a huge helper. He helped me clean out big brothers room yesterday and today helped me get it ready to paint, he helped us at the grocery store and then helped me put the groceries away. I caught him climbing up in the refrigerator because of course you have to have fun when you are working. 

J and I are really enjoying this time with Westin. We have said to each other this weekend that we don't know what people do without kids. The house is SO QUIET. We have also caught ourselves saying that we don't know what people do with just one child. It is so much harder having just one verses having more kiddos. They must play with one another so it isn't too bad. 

I hope you all have a great week, I will keep you posted on the progress in the boys room. 

~Katie~

Each summer....

Will and Luke go to Georgia for a week or two to spend time with my family. With my family living in Georgia you can only imagine all of the fun family events we have to miss so when they go to visit them each summer I miss them dearly, but I also know they are making memories of their own with my family. They both were super excited but it is also upsetting as well. Luke and I cried like babies and I kept telling him he didn't have to go but they both assured me they wanted to go. They safely made the trip and are now sleeping soundly at my Mom's tonight. 

Westin climbed in the truck between Will and Luke. He thought he was going with them and when he figured out he wasn't he was not a happy camper. He kept waving and telling us bye bye. Poor thing, maybe next year. 

Today we spent the day cleaning out Will and Luke's room. While they are gone I'm painting it so now it is all clean, ready to be painted. I can't wait to work on their room, it has been several years with no change and change is always good! Plus a fresh coat of paint is nice if your trying to sell your home. 

Daddy had a helper this afternoon with the yard work. He isn't real sure about being the only kid here but I do think he is enjoying it greatly. He talked to his brothers tonight and it was hilarious what all he was telling them. I don't know if they will last two weeks, I'm secretly hoping they want to come home next weekend.  

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend. Tomorrow we plan to head to church and then back home to finish up our projects. My first full week at my new job went awesome. I'm still amazed at the doors God has opened for me. Thank you Lord Jesus for our many blessings! 

~Katie~

Tire tracks on a wet road...

You know when it is raining outside (which lately it seems it hasn't stopped) and you are driving down the street, you look in your rear view mirror and notice tire tracks you are leaving behind on the wet pavement. They are slowly fading away, never be seen again. That is how I feel about starting this new chapter in my life. 

I completely stepped out of my comfort zone (which is very hard for me to do) and decided to go work for another company. I can't tell anyone exactly why I decided to do it, it has just felt right ever since the opportunity became available. I am beyond excited about my new adventures. Learning new ways, new systems, new people, new enviroments... everything will be new to me but that is ok, life is about taking chances and I have complete faith that God has opened this door and for me to not look back one more time. 

I've had a week to reflect on my previous job and the new changes that are taking place in our lives. I remember praying to God recently (before this opportunity was brought up) and asked Him to please help us. We were ok, getting by in life of course but selfishly I wanted more. I asked Him to please either show me the way to advance in my career or allow me to clearly understand where I need to be. I knew the company I was at was not bad but that it wasn't exactly what I wanted at that time. He allowed this lady and I get start talking and it was all over from there. God brought her into my life and I am forever grateful to Him, He knew the desires of my heart and prepared my way for me. People, I often sit at night and just thank Him over and over again for my many blessings.

I'm sorry this has turned into a thank you post to the Lord but He is the only one who deserves my praises. God knows what J and I want for our life and family. He knows EXACTLY what kind of life we want to live and He is starting to pave the way for us. There were times we thought it was never possible but He is proving us wrong and He is proving that we much always believe in Him.

Sometimes stepping out of your comfort zone can be so scary. It is actually very scary and for weeks my stomach was in knots but I know that I have Him on my side and His way is always the way! This has been  my first week at my new company and I often have to pinch myself. There is a small learning curve with their system but it has already proved to be a very "down home" place to be and I feel so comfortable. My previous job is quickly fading away like the tracks on a wet road but I'm looking forward to what is ahead on this new road that God has opened for me.

I hope you all have a blessed Friday! My Mom is in town and we are enjoying her company so much! I will post more on that later!

~Katie~

Summer fun weekend!!

This weekend we had the pleasure of going to Hardy, AR to spend Saturday with some sweet friends of ours, they invited us to their cabin on the Spring River. We had a blast and more importantly the kids had so much fun. They did not want to leave and they fished their little hearts out for 24 hours, it was so much fun! Getting away from Memphis and spending time with friends along with each other is what life is all about. 

The boys would take their floats up to the top of the rocks and float down. It looked like so much fun. I was afraid I would get stuck on a rock since I'm not as light as they are so I decided to sit back and take picture, not participate. ;-)

It was awesome seeing Will & Luke having so much fun. Being a parent we really do everything for our kids and when we take small trips like this it is for them. Watching them have so much fun is exactly what makes my heart so happy. I love my boys so much and seeing them enjoy nature is awesome. 

I had to stick a picture of my good lookin' hubby on here. He was manning the canoe for us while the boys were floating on the rafts. We didn't go canoeing down the river. We stayed in the cabin behind J and just canoed over to a shallow rocky area and stayed there all day. Awesome for the kids! 

Westin was an absolute trooper. He is such an awesome kid and he just goes with the flow. He napped on the river for over two hours and then woke up to get back to his busy ways of climbing on everything. 

 If Will & Luke weren't floating they were fishing and caught fish left and right. There are a ton of fish in the river and beautiful ones at that. Will caught his first bass fish, so proud of this little guy. He really has learned to love to fish and I think it might be something he will always enjoy to do. It is something Mommy has no desire to do but anything for  my boys! ;-)

 This morning we got up, had breakfast with the group of friends and then headed back home. It was a quick trip but as you can see a great time was had by all! We needed to be back for our nephew's graduation party this afternoon. The boys slept a lot of the way home since they were so exhausted and you can see how precious they look.

Although we had a great time, seeing the "Welcome to Tennessee" sign was a great feeling. There is just nothing like being at home! 

By the time we made it to the party, Westin had enough of being on the go. He wanted to be at home in his bed napping and unfortunately we couldn't at that time. He finally perked up and swam in the pool with his cousins. I love me some awesome family times with our extended family!!!

I didn't get any pictures of my nephew, Peyton who just graduated from high school but we are so proud of this sweet boy!! He is such a handsome and smart young man. It makes me feel SO OLD that he has graduated, I remember when he was my kids age and such a baby!! Time sure does fly...

I pray you all had a wonderful weekend and have a great week to come! Happy Summer!!!

~Katie~