Congratulations Jody

I wanted to let everyone know that Jody is a graduate of the University of Phoenix. Yeah!! He has worked really hard to earn this degree. He has taken classes online. While taking these classes he has continued to work at his real job - not missing anything important there, gone on many trips with us, gone camping, been sick, had surgery, sold our house, bought and moved to a new house, and much, much more. He has shown a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication. I am so proud of you Jody!!

Happy Birthday Kim

Today I'm excited to wish my friend, Kim, a very happy birthday! (and if you are not aware of it, June 30th is a "holiday" because of Kim's birthday - right John)

SOOOOOOOOOO................

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear, Kim!
Happy birthday to you!

I met Kim several years ago when she started coming to church at Stock Creek. When I met Kim I knew she was special. From the beginning Kim and I hit it off. She was a caring and sweet person. She immediately started talking with Taylor and Aubrey to get to know them. They have loved her since.

Here are some things I would like to share with you about Kim:

1.) She is a giver. Kim gives of herself...her time, talents, advice, love, etc. If you ask her for a favor you know it will be done. I have seen her so many times do this for my family, her family, and her friends.

2.) She loves her family. She is a great wife, sister, daughter, granddaughter and niece. Her family all know how much Kim loves them. She makes sure and shares that with them all the time. She enjoys spending time with them and they are very important to her. She has also included us into her family on special occasions and we are so thankful to have her family's friendship.

4.) She loves Jesus!! She has a love for God in her heart. Following God's plan for her life is very important to Kim.

5.) She is a girly girl! Put her in a room full of anything purple, glittery, or bling- bling and she is happy. She has a love of shoes, clothes, nail polish, rings, necklaces, bracelets, purses, etc. She keeps my girls entertained for hours with all her girly girl stuff!!

6.) She loves to dance! She has a talent for dance.

Kim, thank you for your friendship. Thank you for your positive influence on Taylor and Aubrey. Thank you for being you! I hope you have an awesome birthday!! We love you!

Week in Review

We had a fun week. Here are some highlights from the past week:

- dance camp at Ashley's Dance Academy on Monday and Wednesday. Taylor and Aubrey now have time off from dance before dance classes start back in August. We want to congratulate Ashley for moving into her new dance studio this weekend. I went by the new studio last week and it is great. Congratulations Mrs. Ashley!!

- Taylor and Aubrey went swimming with friends on Tuesday. They had a great time and can't wait to get together this week!!

- We visited John and Kim this week. John and Kim are friends of ours (I will be posting more about Kim tomorrow!!) They moved into a new house and we had not visited since all the furniture and "stuff" was fixed. It is a nice house and I am excited that they were able to move into a house of their own. Congratulations Kim and John!!

- We went camping in Pigeon Forge. We had a great time. We love to go camping to rough it for a few days!! I did not get any pictures even though I took the camera with me. We were too busy to get pictures. I got the girls hooked on playing cards. Our favorites this week were Phase 10 and Skip-Bo. Yeah, I am so excited to have someone to play cards with.

- We went to Splash Country for fun and heat relief from the campground. We had a great time on the slides and wave pool.

- We went to see the movie "Walle" at the Drive-in. It is so much fun to go to the drive-in, everyone should experience this.

- Sunday night at church we had Celebration Freedom. This was a night to celebrate the freedom we have as Americans and to thank all the military for what they sacrifice so we can have freedom. It was also a night to celebrate the freedom we have to be a Christian. It was a great night of music. The night is provided by the orchestra and choir. Jody plays in the orchestra - he plays trumpet. Everyone did a great job using their talents to glorify God.

It was a great week.

Summer Schedules

As many of you know, I like to have a daily plan or schedule. I do not do well wihtout some sort of plan for my day. I have been joked by keeping such a schedule (thank you Michelle). A highlight of my Sunday afternoon is sitting down with my daytimer and writing in and checking all my days for the next week.

So, with that being said, you will be happy to know that since school has been out I have not had a schedule for our summer days. I have survived but not to my best! We plan our week day-by-day. We know we will be swimming, going to the library, going to Splash Country, going to the park and sprinklers, seeing movies, and doing whatever else comes up.

However, I can not in good conscious just completely slack off. So, here are some summer projects I want to complete: work on scrapbooks and get caught up, organize a scrapbook and craft area, organize school material for next school year, finish painting the inside of our house, and declutter the garage. This should keep me going through the summer. I just feel more like myself with some sort of plan. It gives my day direction and makes our home happier.

What do you have planned for the summer?

Morgan and the girls

Taylor and Aubrey had dance camp last week. After dance camp on Monday, Morgan came over to play. The girls had a fun time reading magazines, walking the dogs, playing, and dressing up. The girls had a great time.

Week of fun!

We had an exciting week. I will just post some highlights of what we did:

- Jody spent the week working in Sarasota, FL.
- spent the days at the pool with family and friends
- worked on scrapbooks that need to be completed
- had dinner with Nana and Papaw and went for ice cream
- had cheerleading practice
- got a crack fixed in my windshield.
- Jody and I went to dinner and watched PS I Love You.
- company tryouts at the dance studio. Taylor and Aubrey made the company dance team!!
- went to Splash Country
- went to Wasabi for birthday lunch for Rachel. Yum!!
- watched "Daddy Day Camp" and "Martian Child"

VBS at Sevier Heights

As promised, here are some pictures of Aubrey while singing at Vacation Bible School at Sevier Heights Baptist Church last week. 16 children from the 3rd and 4th grades made up the VBS Praise Team. Each morning they would lead the songs in morning assembly. The Praise Team did a great job and Aubrey was so excited to be a part of this group. She woke up early every morning (and for those of you who know Aubrey this is huge!!) to get ready to sing. They also sung during Family Night on Wednesday evening. The theme for VBS was "An Army for One". The songs were great (thanks Jon Cormack). Aubrey's favorite song was "Footgear". Thank you to Mrs. Cheri and Mrs. Paige for working with this group.

Father's Day

Since it's Father's Day, I thought I'd share with you a little about the father at our house. The best way I thought to do this is to share with you some things that I had written in my journal almost one year ago while doing a Bible study. I was asked to write down the traits that made my husband special to me. These are the things I wrote:

1. He loves God with all of his heart. It is very important to Jody for us to be in a church where we will grow spiritually and use our talents to serve God in ministry.
2.He is a dedicated family man. I always know that the girls and I are his top priorities and he makes every decision with the well being of our family in mind.
3. He is a faithful husband - faithful to his vows, faithful to provide for us, faithful to help, serve, and work for his family, always trying to be a better husband and father.
4. He is not a demanding husband and is always looking for ways to make my life easier.
5. He is a great Dad. The girls love spending time with him and doing things with him.
6. He is very creative.
7. He loves to mow the yard and do the landscaping. He also will clean bathrooms (which is the job I leave until last when cleaning because I don't like it so much)
8. He loves to cook and grill.
9. He supports me in all my crazy ideas and does whatever he can to help me make my crazy ideas work.
10. He is my best friend.

I often pray for my girls and their future spouses. I pray that their spouses will be just like Jody in every way. You are the best!! We love you very much!!



Now let me say a few words about another great Dad - MY DAD!! I have not made a list of traits that makes him special (maybe I should find a Bible study about being a better daughter) but I will share some very special things about my Dad. He has been a great dad since I was born. He would work extra jobs and we would not get to see him very much during the week when I was young. He always provided and we never had a want or a need that he did not provide for. He has taught us about the love of God and God's faithfulness by taking us to church all our life and by his actions. He knows everything about everything!! He is always able to help when something breaks or answer a question at anytime of the day and I have tested ALL hours of the day. He is always ready for a basketball game or a bike ride with Taylor, Aubrey, and Bennett. Because Jody travels a lot, Papaw is the one that gets the call about something being broken - I have learned a lot about how refrigerators work, how dryers work, how air conditioners work, by "helping" when Papaw is fixing something in my house. He is the one I called when Jody was gone and we got home late one night from my uncle's funeral and our house had been hit by lightening. He came quickly to check things out and make sure the house was safe. There are so many examples of things he has done, but most of all he supports us and in all we do and he is one of Taylor and Aubrey's biggest fans. In their eyes (and mine) Papaw is the best. I hope you know how much we all love you!!



I hope everyone had a great Father's Day weekend,
Amy

Busy week

Hi All,

I am back. It has been one busy week since I have last posted. Last week was dance recital week and this week is Vacation Bible School. I have many things to post about, so keep checking back. I will get some pictures posted soon.

As you know, it has been soooooo hot!! We have been in the pool every day and having lots of fun with friends and family at the pool. We always enjoy pool days.

Aubrey and Jody went to a party on a farm on Saturday and had so much fun. The party was for first, second and third grade 8:15am Bible Fellowship (Sunday School) classes at church. They got to go on a hayride, ride 4-wheelers, tye-dye shirts, and play with water balloons before having to leave early to get to the dance recital. Aubrey had so much fun. Thanks Mr. Dan for being such a great teacher for Aubrey and our family friend.

The dance recital was great. Taylor and Aubrey did a great job and had a fun time at the recital. They both danced very well and I was so proud of them. I will post pictures soon.

I will also need to mention what a great job Daddy and Papaw did dancing at the recital. Each year, our dance recital has a father and daughter dance. Each year, Daddy and Papaw participate because the girls want to dance. They always act like they are so stressed about learning the dance steps and each year they do an awesome job. I think we know where Taylor and Aubrey get their dance moves from!!

This week is Vacation Bible School at church. The theme is "A Army for One." There are many great activities planned and lots of fun things to do. I will post more as the week goes on and maybe some pictures. I am working in the one year old room, it is very busy. I forgot how much energy it takes to care for and keep entertained a one year old. All the children in the class are precious and so sweet. I just enjoy remembering back to the days the girls were that age and how much fun we had. The time has gone so quickly since the girls were 1 year olds. I also enjoy getting to read my favorite books and singing my favorite songs. Sometime this week I am planning on blowing bubbles - my all time favorite 1 year old activity.

The pool is open!

The pool officially opened May 31st at Nana and Papaw's house. Taylor, Aubrey, and Bennett (along with their mothers) have given Papaw a hard time about getting the pool open. Some of us thought he should have had the pool opened several weeks ago. Because he is only concerned about the children's health and did not want them to swim in freezing water and get sick - he waited.

As you will see in the pictures, pool boys had work to be done while the rest of us enjoyed lounging at the pool.

You will also see a picture of our newest swimmer, Wyatt.

Thanks Papaw for opening the pool for us. We will enjoy many hours and make many memories at the pool this summer!!

Playing in the Sprinklers

Taylor and Aubrey enjoyed a nice afternoon playing in the sprinklers. It was a hot summer like day and they wanted to be in the water so bad. Because Papaw does not have his pool open yet.....this is what they did.

They had a good time but we are wishing Papaw would get the pool open soon!!!

Of course, not everyone got to enjoy the sprinklers. Yard boy had to work on landscaping. Somebody has to do all the work!!

Swimming on Memorial Day

On Memorial Day we went to Bill and Tracy's (Jody's sister and husband) house for a cookout and swimming. We had lots of fun swimming in their new pool. The dog that Aubrey is holding is Bella, her cousin Kaleigh's dog. Thanks for a great time.

More Camping

I wanted to share more from our camping trip Memorial Day weekend. It was great weather (which is unusual for us while camping!!). We had fun sitting by the fire, roasting marshmallows, tubing in the freezing cold river, swimming in the pool, riding bikes. Papaw and Taylor went on a 8 mile bike ride. Benji was brave enough to take Aubrey and Bennett on a 2.6 mile bike ride. We also tye-dyed tshirts, which the campground provided this activity for the kids. Taylor, Aubrey and Bennett each tye-dyed a shirt and each was very colorful. We played BINGO that the campground also provided. (Sorry Papaw that you did not win a tshirt after MANY games of BINGO - maybe next time!!) We had a great time and can't wait for the next camping trip!!

Bennett's ballgame

My nephew Bennett has been playing t-ball this spring. He really enjoys playing ball. Here are a few pictures that Taylor took during last week's game. He is a great ball player. We are so proud of you Bennett!!