Swim Day

We spent the day swimming at Sevier County Center. We had never been to this pool before and it is very nice and clean. They have an area of sprinklers, 2 slides, and a nice pool with a great bouncy diving board. Today was a cloudy day and not very hot so it was nice to be at the pool.

The pictures of the plane is one of two planes that kept flying over head. The planes were practicing for a show or something. They would fly close together, etc. It was cool to watch.

Thankful Thursday

This week has reminded me to be thankful in all circumstances - during storms, long power outages, car repairs, unexpected bills, people not always being nice, bad things happening to good people that we don't understand, etc. Life is not always going to be easy. But as Christians we must remember: "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:8)

When I get upset about things that happen in my life, I need to remember to be thankful for all I do have and that I have someone who already knows all that is going to happen to me and has promised me that he will be with me through all things. One of my favorite verses is "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:17). What a great comfort in knowing I have such an awesome God that cares this much for me and loves me this much.

This is one of my favorite songs this week!! My favorite line is "it does not matter what tomorrow brings, I will say thank you..." I pray that my heart will always be in a state of thankfulness. Be sure to pause the music at the bottom of the blog so that you will be able to hear the song from the video.

Aubrey the Fashion Girl

I wanted to let everyone see what Aubrey had been up to today. She went to Libby Lu and had her hair done. She loves getting her hair fixed, getting her nails done (you might be able to tell in the picture that her nails are bright pink with sparkles today), dressing up, and all that girl stuff!! I just love this about her!

After she goes to Libby Lu to have her hair fixed different ways we then try to copy it at home. This can get interesting!! She wants to work at Libby Lu and fix hair and do nails when she is old enough to work. What a fun job!!

Storm

We had a terrible storm for Knoxville, TN late yesterday afternoon. The winds and lightening were really bad. Lots of trees and power lines fell down. The power went off at our house around 6:00pm last night and did not come back on until 3:30pm this afternoon. All is working now and so far no storms for today.

Happy Birthday Pops!

Today I'm excited to wish my father-in- law, Mike, a very happy birthday!

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

Although you are out of town on your birthday, we wanted to let you know that we are thinking about you and hoping you have a great day! Thanks for being a special father- in-law to me, father to Jody and Pops to the girls. We love you! We hope you are having a great time in Romania.

More from the Beach

Today we spent the day at the beach. For dinner we went to Ultimate California Pizza. It was delicious. I wanted to share some pictures from dinner. Aubrey had peanut and butter pizza. You will see from her picture that she enjoyed it.

We only have one day left at the beach. We are sad to leave.

Another day at the Beach!

If you haven't figured it out by now, we spend a lot of time playing in the ocean and eating while we are on vacation at the beach. We also spend some of the time shopping. It is a wonderful vacation!! Today, we spent the day at the beach making sand castles, riding the waves, relaxing, etc....

Bennett and Aubrey have been different this year at the beach. Last year, Bennett would get in the ocean but he would not get out much above his ankles. Aubrey would not really even go that far. This year, they are way different. Both are out in the ocean most of the day - riding waves, playing, jumping waves, etc. They have had a great time together this week. Taylor has loved the ocean and beach since she was born - she may be surfing one day!!

For dinner we went to eat at Yamato, which is a Japanese restaurant. We all like eating Japanese food at the beach and at home. It was very good.

Best chicken sandwich in the world!!

I got to eat the best chicken sandwich in the entire world!! A couple of years ago I found a sandwich that I am addicted to badly!! It is the Caribbean Chicken Sandwich at Cheeseburger in Paradise. There is a new Cheeseburger in Paradise in Myrtle Beach this year!! We went there for lunch yesterday and it was soooo yummy!! The sandwich is always the best!! I have posted a picture of the sandwich so you could see it, I wish you could smell it and have a bite of the sandwich also. One of the pictures is Aubrey after she had her first bite of the sandwich. Look at the look on her face, it says how delicious the sandwich really is. I would like to let you know that she had many bites after the first one.

I hope that everyone would have the joy of eating this sandwich. I would highly recommend it!!

P.S. I am hoping to eat another one in Asheville, NC on Sunday - I told you I was addicted

Another day at the beach

We had another great day at the beach. We had fun playing in the waves. We even built a sand castle today.

For dinner we went to Bovine's. It was delicious.

We are having a fun week and hope you are also!

The first day at the beach!!

We had a fun day of playing in the waves and sand. The ocean water was warm and there was a nice wind blowing on the beach, not too hot. We went swimming in the pool. We had fun playing with friends. We went to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants - Drunkin Jacks. I had delicious shrimp and hushpuppies!! Yum! Taylor and Aubrey got an airbrush tattoo at the restaurant. They were excited!!

Hope you enjoy the pictures of our first day at the beach!!
- Amy

Happy Birthday Granny!

Today I'm excited to wish my mother in law, Eileen, a very happy birthday!

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

Although we are out of town on your birthday, we wanted to let you know that we are thinking about you and hoping you have a great day! Thanks for being a special mother in law to me, mother to Jody and Granny to the girls. We love you!

We are at the beach!!

Hi from Garden City, SC. We arrived at the beach safely. We are having a fun time in the sun and waves. I will post more later.

We're Going to the Beach

We have a special wedding to attend tonight of a special girl. We have been looking forward to this wedding for many months and the night has come. We want to wish the best to Julianne and Jason.

Then tomorrow morning we are leaving for the beach! I am not sure if I will be able to post next week because of Internet service, you will have to check back during the week. I will post all about the trip with pictures as soon as I can.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful...

- that Mark (my uncle) is recovering well from open heart surgery that he had on Monday. Hopefully he will be coming home at the end of the week or the weekend. We are so thankful that the surgery went well and he is recovering as expected.

- that it is summer. One of my favorite seasons!!

- that tonight begins the time of listening to Christmas music. The Living Christmas Tree music CD was handed out at church tonight. So, we will begin listening to the music so we will have it well memorized by December. Taylor and Aubrey already have their favorite song picked out!! The Living Christmas Tree at Thompson Boiling Arena is December 6th, 7th and 8th. Mark the dates on your calendar now and plan on attending one of the shows. It is all new this year!!!

- that Taylor and Aubrey have Godly teachers at church that are so loving and great influences on them. There are so many people involved in what they do at church and each week I am amazed at how much the teachers genuinely care about the children.

- that my house is clean. This does not happen often enough. I try to keep things picked up but to just clean real good does not happen as often as I would like.

- that I will be leaving for the beach on Saturday.

- that I am a mother to Taylor and Aubrey. They are so sweet and I love experiencing life with them. They are truly a joy to me.

- that I am a wife to Jody. He is my best friend and the greatest husband.

Fourth of July Weekend

I hope that everyone had a great Fourth of July weekend. I hope we all took time to remember the reason we celebrate this day. I thank God for the freedoms of this country. Our country is not without problems but it is an awesome place to live. We are so blessed in the USA and I pray that all Americans realize this.

So, for the Fourth of July weekend we spent time with family and friends. It was a great weekend.

Mighty To Save

I wanted to share this song with you today. We sung it in worship service Sunday at church. It is so exciting to me to know that our Saviour is the author of salvation and that He came to earth to save us. That we can come to him with all our fears and failures and He will save us.

You will need to scroll down to the bottom of the blog page and pause the blog music on playlist so you can hear the video.

Hi

Taylor and Aubrey had friends over today to swim (hi Kirstyn and Hannah!!) . It was a beautiful day and they all had a good time. I did not get pictures but I will next time.

We have been helping Angela, Benji, and Bennett move into their new house this week. It has been fun moving in boxes and getting things set up in the new house. I will post pictures soon of the house. Congratulations Angela, Benji, and Bennett on your new house!!

Jody comes home tonight from Chicago. We are happy about this, we have really missed him this week. We will be spending 4th of July weekend with family and friends. I will post pictures at the end of the weekend.

"Everyone's Hero"

We went to see a good movie yesterday. It was "Everyone's Hero". I am not sure when it was playing in movie theaters but it was a free movie yesterday at Regal.

It was a story about a boy named Yankee who loved baseball and Babe Ruth was his hero. Yankee's dad worked as a custodian at the Yankee Stadium. One night someone stole Babe's Ruth lucky bat before the World Series. Yankee's dad was fired from his job because he was on duty the night the bat was stolen. Yankee had been kicked out of the Yankee team's changing room by the "security guard" while looking at Babe Ruth's bat. This "security guard" is the one who stole the bat. Yankee leaves home, finds the bat, and travels to Chicago to give the bat to Babe Ruth before the end of the World Series. Yankee has many experiences on his journey to Chicago including getting away from the guy who stole the bat. He met some really cool people on the way who taught him a lot about baseball and life. This story was great. You really need to see the movie if you have not already. It reminds us to never give up when things really seem to be against us and the importance of family. Christopher Reeve was filming this movie at the time of his death. You will want to have a box of tissues close by!!