Church Family Picnic

Today our church hosted a church wide family picnic!  Given the crazy weekend, I contemplated whether or not I wanted to go...however, the hubby was taking Caroline and I didn't want to miss out.  So thankful I went because it was an awesome afternoon!  It was so good to hang out with friends as well as other members of our congregation!!!  The weather was absolutely beautiful!  The family area was shaded which made it much cooler.  We went on our first canoe ride but sadly I didn't get a picture.  Hopefully someone did and I will post it.

Stacey and Noelle

 Dr. Gilpin and his hawk

 Everyone LOVED it!

 Mrs. Kathy and Dr. Watt heading out on the tantem bike for an 8 mile ride...she said they were going 28 miles an hour.

 Caroline and friends by the water

 getting the bait ready for the fishing "ron"

 Pastor Chris

 Kara and one of her boys on a paddle board

 fishing...still no luck!

 Wells and his daddy

 Zane and his dad playing horseshoes

Did I mention that as soon as we got in our canoe, a lovely water snack came swimming by...Pastor Chris told us they saw a gator on their trip out...if I wasn't holding my daughter, we would have been getting out ASAP!

Family Reunion-Daddy's side

One thing that my daddy loved was getting family together.  Unfortunately as his siblings got older and started their careers, it took them away from the small town they grew up in.  We had family in TN, Texas, NC as well as different parts of SC.  Daddy tried to get his family together at least once a year and for the most part, it was a random weekend as holidays booked way too quickly.

Ever since Daddy died, we have tried to continue the tradition.  It's a little easier now that my aunt Lill is back on the East coast.  The older generation felt that it was time for the younger generation to take over.  So I talked with my brothers and they agreed to help me host.  I took care of the details and they provided the place and the meat.  

We loaded up early Saturday morning and headed to my brother Daniel's house.  They have a beautiful, spacious home on the river.  They have small children so it was kid friendly with lots of kiddy toys!  It was a beautiful day, a little warm, but still everyone had a great time.  We had all living siblings and children with the exception of 4 cousins. 

first guest to arrive

 Bob and Andy

 Daniel playing popcorn with the kids, not sure who had more fun...the big kid or the little kids!

 enjoying the river bank

 youngest member of the family-sweet Mary Claire

 Lila and Uncle Ram...oh how he reminds me of my daddy!

 Emma and Caroline

 The boys-ready for lunch!

 That fan was a life saver!

 Wilson, getting a little snack!

Lila LOVED Tig 

 Daniel and Bob preparing the chicken!  Doesn't it look YUMMY!

Next month, Aunt Lill turns the BIG 6-0!  We decided to celebrate while we were together.  She didn't have a clue! :0)

 Happy Birthday Aunt Lill

ps-the cake was delicious!  CJ's cakes and catering did an amazing job!!

 boys being boys!

 the living siblings

B-Aunt Lill, Uncle Louis

F-Uncle Ram, Aunt Etoile

 Aunt Vicki and Aunt Edna

 The whole gang minus Mark, Richard, Julie and Anna

 The siblings with spouses-mom and Aunt Edna included

 Alston being silly!

 The boys playing Texas Hold'em

 Jake and Lila

 Rylie and Emma

Needless to say, it feels good to put my feet up tonight!  We had a great time and are already looking forward to our next gathering! :0)  Thanks so much to Daniel and Claire for opening up their home to all of us!

YUMMY!  Today I harvested some lettuce from the garden to have with hamburgers tonight.  I also plan to make a yummy salad with strawberries and feta cheese!  YUMMO!

Prayers for baby Jude

Rose and Brian were told yesterday that Jude's surgery is scheduled for Monday at 12pm.  Please begin praying for them as they prepare for this.  Also continue to check out their blog for updates.

Out with the old...in with the new!

A few weeks ago Andy and I had our AC serviced like all good home owners should.  A week or so later, we noticed that it was blowing warm air.  We called our repair man who thought it was the fan.  He came over and within a few hours, we were up and running again!  Last Saturday, Caroline and I came home from my moms to find that the house wasn't very cool...I hated to bother Andy because he was away at the beach with a friend.  I knew my chances of getting someone out to look at it on a Saturday afternoon wasn't too good.  So thankfully the next few days were pretty cool!

On Tuesday we found out the future of our unit wasn't too good...the repair man could change the circuit board but didn't feel confident this would fix the problem.  We had already put a pretty little chunk of change into it and didn't really think we could take a chance.  So we had a few guys come out and give us quotes on what it would cost to put in a new unit.  One gentleman was able to work with us and was able to order the unit this morning...not only that, he was able to put it in today!  

Caroline and I hung around the house while the guys worked!  Within a couple of hours our old unit was out and our new until was cooling our house!  Isn't she a real beauty...I am thankful that after 6 days without air, we are about to freeze!!!!!! :0)  I can honestly say I am sure there is never a good time to have to replace these guys...not too friendly on the budget...and definitely not the pretty new kitchen or deck I would have liked to replace BUT I am SO THANKFUL it decided to die while we were enjoying a COLD FRONT!

Good Morning Mommy

A few minutes ago I heard "Good Morning Mommy...Mommy, GOOD MORNING!"  I was cleaning the bathroom and really wasn't expecting Caroline up so early.  When I walked to her door she said "Good Morning, I slept good.  I am ready to get up."  I responded "You are up early, your green light is still on."  She said "That's ok, it will go off.  Close the door because Bears are still sleeping and we don't won't to wake them up early."

Church talent show

Tonight our church had its 3rd annual talent show!  It's amazing the talent we have in our church...and it's mostly the little kids!  We had a great evening!  It really does seem like we just had our back to school carnival...and here we are wrapping up another year!

Caroline's sweet friends Abby and Josie sang "I'll Fly Away" while their daddy played the guitar.  It was PRECIOUS!!!  Caroline was so excited!

 

 Our preschool kids sing a few songs on Sunday mornings during the Sunday School hour.  They performed as well last night and it was hilarious!

 One of these kiddos is NOT like the others...but just as happy and smiling as if she was!

 The other end of the group. Jude and Wells were too cute, just hanging out with the rest of the group.

 Who knew Jan could ride a unicycle???

 An oldies tune to "School is Cool" Sunday School that is...

another reason why we LOVE our associate Pastor Chris!!!!!!