Houston County Lake

***EDITED to add a few pictures

We joined the Ellis family at their lakehouse for their annual family weekend at Houston County Lake. We had perfect weather and a great time!

The South Girls

Jana (our Grana), Jane and Judy

Me, Karen, Raegan, Kelli, and Yvonne
Zachary, Garrett, Rylan, Raegan, Lexie, Emma and Madison

...with the addition of Trent. He is always so cooperative with group pics.

Early morning on the porch

Uncle Jon and Trent's breakfast plates

Rylan's catch

The boys

The girls

The kids spent the majority of their time like thisChilling

Megan and Lilly sunbathingCooper enjoyed his weekend at the lake, too

Trent found a friend...

Tucked in for safe keeping
Showing it off to Clayton...

Whatcha got in there??
A frog!

Loved the relaxation station

Aunt Jane and Trent

Trent was the keeper of the sunscreen

He takes application seriously

One week in Chicago + one week at cheer camp + weekend with the family at the lake = one very exhausted Raegan

Hot dogs and Burgers for dinner

The kids just adore their older cousins and would have loved to stay a month with them all. Thanks for being great hosts, John and Jane.

**John, Jim, Kevin, Brandon, and Jon were all there for the weekend too. No pictures of any of the men--guess we'll try to get them to pose next to the South Shore sign next year!

***Kelli sent me some additional pictures:

I love how excited Z looks in thisPure joy!
Bless my heart!:)

Quick trip to Little Rock

We had a wonderful (but short) visit to Little Rock. My mom was so much help...thanks, Mom, for tagging along.

Sweet Alexee

Crosby-the perfect babyPals Rhett and Zachary
Jamie is always the best hostess... Jamie and Alexee
I love this pic
Trent and Alexee--she will not appreciate this pic one day:)
Still getting use to the fact that I can't pick up and meet her for lunch at a moment's notice:(
My boys loved our hotels' indoor/outdoor pool
Grandmother swam with them Room service for Grandmother and the boys........so Mamma could have a nice dinner out with great company
Me, Becca and Jamie
Olivia and Zachary chatting at breakfast
William while being scolded for hitting...isn't he a cutie?!
Olivia playing at the Wonderplace
I love this little guy
Rhett making my kind of ice cream cone Ali met up with us too
Ali and Liann have added to their fams since I left town. Maylee and Lindy are both precious!
Becca has her hands full! William and Ann Katherine are so much fun!
The boys hard at work on the sand table.

Zachary, Trent, Rhett and LawsonGrandmother and Trent working on the neat scarf tubes

After our playdate we ALL went to McAlisters to eat. I can promise that restaurant will NEVER be the same again...

Such a fun time. Bittersweet as always!

84 and ready for more!

This week my Granny celebrated her 84th birthday. She is in great health and has the most amazing social life. In fact, when we went to visit her on her big day, we had to make sure we arrived after her morning Bunco time. :)

She is just great and I hope to be as happy and alive as she is at that age. My boys think their 'Granny-Great' is pretty special, too.

We took her some Pittsburg Hot links and she was just thrilled. (By the way, that was the first time I had ever been in that establishment and I cannot believe people actually eat those things and live to tell about it!) Before we left she told my aunt and I that if she dies tomorrow, just know that her 84th birthday was the best ever!' Sounds like a good day to me...and I'm glad because she deserves it.

Granny got a new van recently. Here we are posing in front of it. Is it just me, or does she look like she just won it on The Price is Right?!

Everyone got a turn posing in front of the van...

My favorite boys and their favorite Granny-Great.

(and yes, she requested that I take their pic in front of the van!)

The top two pictures will always make me smile when I look back at them, because when I called her that day and asked what she was doing, she replied, "Just sitting here in my shorts." I cracked up because I was not aware that "sitting in your shorts" was an actual activity. I guess when I'm 84 I may count it as one.

Happy Birthday to a precious grandmother! Wishing her many more...

Nicole, Kisha and I took all the kids out for a day on the lake last week. I have driven the boat and pulled skiiers, tubers, etc. hundreds of times over the years, but I've always had Brandon with me as my safety net. This was the first time I took friends and their kids out alone. We had a wonderful day! We had picnic lunches poolside and spent ALL day going from the boat to the pool.

McKala, Lexi, Natalie, and Zachary

ALL on the tube!

Lexi is the coolest thing to these little people. She is absolutely precious! She lost a tooth while tubing....thank goodness it was already loose and she somehow caught it!!!
Kai liked to tube for just a bit...as long as his mom was with him.

Nicole, Kisha and I ....they wore us out, but we had so much fun!

Trent and Baby Daxton (6 weeks old) were there too. Dax stayed inside and Trent joined us for bits and pieces! Bonus of the day was that Grana was working from home so the little ones napped inside while we played.

Except for an unfortunate incident that involved the boat completely under the dock resulting in the total loss of the front light (OOPS!), we had a perfect day!

Trot line

Brandon and the boys went trotlining before the 4th of July to try to stock the freezer for a fish fry for the 4th.

The live minnows for bait

Daddy had his hands FULL in a flat bottom with 2 wild boys, hooks, and live minnows along with trying to paddle his boat.

Trent only lasted for a few minutes...it wasn't near as fun as he imagined.

So sorry that I didn't get pictures of their catches. 2 large turtles and one fish. We decided for burgers for the 4th festivities.:)

Happy Birthday, USA!

We love watching the fireworks that a local church does every year near the 4th. We met my brother's wife and kids, Nicole and Natalie, and Grandmommy to watch the show.

Jack wasn't sure about the noise. Here he is trying to find some safety in Grandmother's lap.

Cute boys!

Enjoying the show...they moved closer and closer as the display progressed

Trent, Zachary, Jack, Natalie and Ali

We had a FABULOUS 4th with lots of great company and great food! We invited friends over to the Milam's house on the lake to enjoy swimming and boating. We had a great crowd...at one time I think I counted 13 kids in the pool. Brandon pulled skiiers, kneeboarders, and tubers until dark. Then we loaded up and watched all the fireworks around the lake from the water. It was an awesome day and I'm sick that my camera didn't join the fun!

Happy Birthday, USA! We are blessed to live in such a wonderful country!