Branson Pics...Finally!

This is my ALL TIME FAVORITE!  Look at the glee on both their faces.  What an AMAZING great-grandmother!

This hat became an obsession.  She even slept in it!

Sweetie was a champ and said she would ride this huge boat with her (I KNEW I would throw up!) and got sick as a result.  AK wanted to go again....

Sweetie bought bubbles at the Dollar Store for AK before we went and I think it was the hit of the trip.  We are still playing with the bubbles SEVERAL times a day!  This was one night at dinner.

She LOVED the rides.  Wasn't so sure about this one though.  She is her Daddy's child for sure!



Sorry it has taken me so long to post these.  Mom had them on her camera so I had to get her card to download them.  Oh we had SUCH fun!  7 FULL days of vacation.  It was dreamy.  Our condo was right off the strip so we had quick access to everything.  We shopped several days.  Ate amazing food!  We went to Silver Dollar City 2 days and to Celebration City one night.  Swam in the HUGE indoor heated pool with 2 hot tubs.  Yes, it was bliss.

So here are pics from the fun adventures.  I am so sad we did not get any of us all together.  Hal and Ash came up Thursday night so we had 4 full days of us all together.  Nannie even bought a Cadillac while we were there!  So here are the fun pics.  Thanks Poppy and Sweetie for such a FUN FUN FUN vacation!

So sweet...

I just had to jot these memories down for us to remember....

Today, Abby Kate and I went to Marshall's just to browse and get out of the house.  We recently discovered Bobby's love language is gifts (he is not greedy, and not big things but just a little token to show he was thought of) and so I had I conversation with Abby Kate that went a little something like this...

Me: Let's look for Daddy a surprise!

AK: OK MOMMA!  And Abby Kate a surprise?!

Me: Well, we will see.  But lets look for Daddy. Okay?

AK: OK!

AK: What about dis? Or dis? Or dis? (all cute but not so fun surprises for Daddy)

Me: Okay, I don't see anything.

AK:  (Sweetly) Now Abby Kate's surprise?!

Me: Okay, we can look...

AK:  What about dis?

Me: No, that is too much money.

AK: Dis?

Me: Nope, too much money.

AK: OH MOMMA!  LOOK!  They are bouncies!  My surprise?!  PLEASE?! (it was lip gloss with the lids having springs that had a heart and star and flower at the end...one was missing and it had been clearanced to $3)

Me: Oh Abby Kate!  That is perfect!

AK:  I did it!  My surprise!  YEAH!

Me: Okay, lets go pay.

AK: MY bouncies.  

Me: Oh, Abby Kate.  We must not say Mine.  They are yours but we must be thankful.  You will need to give it to the girl to scan it and be sweet or we are not going to get it.

AK: Okay Momma! (she hands it over with a little whimpering)

Shopgirl:  What a fun surprise!  It is only $3.  How great!

Me: Yep.

AK:  THANK YOU (to the shopgirl)

Shopgirl: You're welcome

And as we are walking out of the store in FULL BLAST 

AK:  THANK YOU MOMMA!  THIS IS SOOOOOOO GREAT!

Me: (Grinning stupidly) You are so welcome, baby sweet.

The whole way to the car...

AK:  THANK YOU MOMMA!

Me:  Abby Kate, every good and perfect gift comes from above.  God allowed Momma to have a little extra money and it was my pleasure to buy you a surprise today.  We cannot do it every day but today was so fun.

AK:  THANK YOU MOMMA.  (silence for a bit)  THANK YOU GOD!

Me: (tearing up)

Finally...the wedding post

the beautiful bride!

The family following the wedding

blowing off steam after the rehearsal 

the bridemaids brunch

"helping" Amber

Amber and sweet Eliza (the other flower girl) with Abby Kate

Rehearsing

I bet you thought I made this wedding all up?  I lost all 3 of my SIM cards for my camera (figures) and had to use the one out of Bobby's phone so it has taken me this long to remember to grab the card when he was not using the phone and download them all.  

So on to the fun stuff, we had a BALL!  I cannot tell you how precious this couple was and what a true HONOR it was to be part of their wedding weekend.  It started with a beautiful bridesmaids brunch at Amber's house that was absolutely exquisite and delicious.  Much to Abby Kate's delight, her parent's had a fish pond in their backyard so much of our time was spent out there.  The other flower girl was PRECIOUS and so sweet to Abby Kate.  She literally made the weekend so easy for me!  Abby Kate loved her at first sight and wanted to do whatever she did so it made the actual walk on wedding day super fun.  We then had rehearsal and rehearsal dinner (which AK did not make it too) which was so fun and honoring.  The wedding was beautiful and Amber looked absolutely perfect.  There was standing room only in a huge church which was a complete testimony to both Amber and Jordan (and their families) and the impact they have had on the lives of others.  I truly cannot tell you how much I love this girl and how thrilled I am that she found such a Godly man to serve beside!

As for Abby Kate's role, she walked easily, rounded the corner to see me for the first time and exclaimed loudly, "HI MOMMA!  I DO IT AGAIN!"  and then quickly began shouting "AMBER! I SEE YOU!  AMBER!" as she walked down the aisle, to which I promtly walked her out to her Daddy waiting in the foyer.  She really did wonderfully.  But in the end, I was not at all surprised because we had tons of people praying.   Thanks for praying!

Family Pics...

So as I mentioned on my blog, we are about to head out of town for 12 days so I thought I would do one final post!  As I posted back in April, we had family pictures taken.  So it has taken me THIS long to get them ordered.  I am such a slacker.  But I got the digital images as well and thought I would share my favorite.  We are ordering 4 8x10 to go over our mantel which I am super excited about.  

I hope you all have a wonderful end of summer!  We are heading to the wedding that I told you about in the previous post (I will have tons of pics when I return!) and then to Branson for 7 days with the fam!  I cannot wait!  

Princess Dress

Abby Kate is going to be a flower girl in one of my sweet friend's wedding next weekend and we had a little modeling session after the dress came in to make sure it fit.  She absolutely DID NOT want to take it off and has asked for the "white princess dress" every day but then immediately answers herself, "no, not until Amber's wedding!"  We are SO excited and am praying for a smooth day.  We will be armed with M&Ms just in case!  More pictures to come following the wedding!

Cool Rider

So AK has really been into dressing up lately.  She found these sunglasses the other day and wore them ALL day.  And her new favorite thing to say, ALL THE TIME, is "Look at me! Look at me!"  So in she came on this loud car that she loves with her sunglasses shouting "Look at me Mom!"  

Nannie and Theta Pond

The second part of our trip took us to Nannie's house. We had SUCH a great time there too....although Abby Kate decided to test me the whole time. AGH! Anyway, we took Abby Kate to the campus of our Alma Mater and let her see the ducks at Theta pond and wander the gardens in front of the library. It was such a beautiful night. In more ways than one. I love the campus and it was so fun to watch two of my favorite people on earth just enjoy life and each other. We all returned home tired but happy. The moon was exquisite that night on our way home and we all oohed and aahed over it. God is such a perfect Creator. I am so thankful for the way he put it all together for our enjoyment! And I am DEEPLY thankful for my precious Nannie, my true kindred spirit and my precious daughter, even when she tries to push every boundary I have...

Fun at Aunt Lynn and Uncle Joe's!

Sorry it has been so long since the last post.  We have been traveling and visiting.  We went last week to Aunt Lynn and Uncle Joe's house and had an absolute ball.  My Aunt Lynn and I have always been super close (she is the one I talk about that loves books as I do and has supplied Abby Kate with hers).  My Aunt teaches pre-K (4 year olds) and has brilliant ideas and excellent resources so she helped me get new activities to work on with Abby Kate.  I told her she had no idea how much she had given me.  Those of you that stay home KNOW how special new activities are!  Especially ones that will challenge them.  

Anyway, we had a great dinner and such a wonderful time.  It was so fun to watch Abby Kate interact and love on them!  They have this GRAND backyard that feels as if you are on vacation so we spent a lot of time out there.  Thus these pics.  Hope you are all well!

Roller Skates!

Sorry it has been a while.  I will update more on my blog later but here are some fun roller skating pics from the week Kourtney was here.  Again, we had a ball.  She got to stay the whole week this time so we made stops at the Aquarium, Bounce U, Incredible Pizza and more.  We had so much fun with her as always.  Kourtney, Neannie and Aunt Krista bought Abby Kate her first pair of skates and she LOVES them.  They had a ball.  Kourtney skates like a pro and AK loved pretending to be just like Kourtney.  We also got to stay the 4th weekend at Neannie and Pop's and Krista, Audreia and Neannie got some great pics so I will try to get those and upload them soon.  Hope all is well with each of you!