Beach with the Phillips!

On my birthday- I got the best present of all- starting of a week at the beach with our dear friends, the Phillips!  We were invited to spend a week with them at the beach- what a treat!  We spent lots of time on the beach, at the pool, and eating- it was perfect!  It is so nice to be friends with a family where all the spouses enjoy each other's company, the kids get along, and you both have similar priorities.  The icing on the cake is when they not only "get" your version of crazy, but are the same version!! It was a fantastic week- and we can't wait to repeat it next year!  Thanks for loving us SO well, Phillips!!

Birthday donuts for the road!

Birthday cupcakes!

Twins!

Muscles in the "cool" tub!

The Pepper King- that black stuff on his face- pepper; that black puddle on his plate- pepper- he loved it all...

Al and Addie took a surfing lesson- Adeline LOVED it and currently saving for a surf board...

One night, after we had dinner, Elizabeth graciously agreed to snap some pics of the family- and they turned out great!!  Thanks!!

Swim Team Awards

We joined the neighborhood swim team the first day we moved in- and I am SO thankful we did!  We made great friends- one of them is Mary, whose birthday happens to be the day before mine!  We celebrated at the pool that morning- and that evening, I took all the kids (except Asher) to the Swim Team Celebration.  Mary enjoyed a nice dinner with just her hubby, and I supervised the kids at the bounce house- win-win! The bounce house was owned and operated by a swim team family- how cool!  They served pizza and cake with awards after.  Each kid had a specialized award- it was touching to see how the coaches "got" the kids!  It was a great way to end the season!

PopPop and MarMar Visit!

PopPop and MarMar also came for a visit!  We were excited to show them around Atlanta, too!  From the airport we went to The Flying Biscuit- yum!  We also planned to go to World of Coke after church- but the van completely died in the parking garage- so Al took care of that while everyone else went to World of Coke except for Lisa and the Littles- they went to the Aquarium since they had just been to World of Coke!  The van ended up needing major repairs, and was fixed by the end of the week.  Thank goodness we still have the Pilot so we could all still traipse around Atlanta!  We explored the Aquarium, The Varsity and embraced Cow Appreciation Day at CFA!  Annalise even got her anti-thumb sucking device taken out- lots to celebrate!

Kids had fun while we waiting for Daddy to drop the van off at Honda, go home in the rental car, pick up the Pilot and come back downtown to gather us- whew!  What an amazing Dad/Provider, Al is!

MarMar bought everyone a surprise at Coke!

There it is for the last time...

All gone!!

FREE CHICKEN!!

Grandma Jenny and PopPop Jim Visit!

We had a special visit from PopPop Jim and Grandma Jenny!  No winter storms were in sight, so we considered a visit something that would be a good idea!  We visited World of Coke and the Aquarium and spent time splashing around the pool!  Everyone had a great visit!

No trip is complete to Atlanta without a stop at The Varsity!

Alden loves to draw- and he was privileged to get an art lesson from Miss Lou!

July 4th Fun

Since July 4th was over the weekend, we made sure to squeeze in extra-fun!  We made special shirts, were able to share some Starbucks with dear friends from Virginia who now live in Texas, watch fireworks, swim, and spend lots of family time together!  It was wonderful!