Last week we went bowling at a new bowling alley with some friends and we had loads of fun!  We didn't just bowl, we also got to play laser tag.  I hadn't played it in so long and forgot how fun it is.

    
      
Nic has been wanting to go fishing for so long, so my Dad decided we would get up early yesterday morning and go.  We played "hook -y" from school for the first half of the day!  Nic was so elated!  He loves to fish and he is good at it. 

      This picture (above)  was taken right before Eli dropped his fishing rod in the water and it sunk to the bottom!  SO SAD.

     We didn't catch anything but the time we spent together was so great.  I love when just us MEN can get out and do something special!

Fun with the Anders

     Yesterday our best friends, the Anders, came down from Knoxville to visit us.  We were able to visit ALL DAY!  When they got here we spent some time talking and catching up.   A big part of our get togethers is always FOOD!!  Mrs. Angie made delicious chicken salad and veggies and dip and Mom made a cake and some cookies and lemonade!   After  lunch and went downtown to play at Coolidge Park.  While the little ones played in the fountains, some of the older kids and Mr. Gary played football.

     When we got home we played games while Mom and Mrs. Angie made dinner.  (We played Catch Phrase for a LOOOONNNNNGGGG time!!)  The moms made a delicious dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread while the dads went to the store to buy ice cream!!!  Shortly after dinner the older kids took our dog on a walk.  We enjoyed walking and talking together, and we REALLY enjoyed sitting on the deck eating cake and ice cream!
     When it was time for them to leave we were all sad and  very tired, but thankful for a great day!  We loved having our house filled with 18 people.  That's 4 parents and 14 kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

14 kids and counting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Summer Visitors!!

God has blessed us this summer with LOTS of visitors!!!  Our family loves to have our house full of people and boy has it been!!   Even though we have moved to a new city we have still been able to spend time with our old friends.   Fortunately, Chattanooga is only 2 hours south of Knoxville so our friends have been able to come down.  (And Sissy made the 8 hour trip from Harrisonburg, VA!)

Here is a verse our family really likes to remember, although we may not always do that perfectly!!!

1 Peter 4:9  Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

                                                     The Ropers

Davis

The Gordons  (swinging bridge @ Rock City)

                                          The Anders...well, some of them

                We only have this picture of me and Sarah Beth but Mrs.Tina and Mr. Dale were here too!

                                                   Andy!

                                                   Mikayla!!

                                                         Lisa!!

Davis Days... The Sequel!!

      Davis came to visit again!!  For 5 days we had 5boys here, and 1 girl of course.  Actually, the first day we had other friends here so it was 9 kids, (the 5 of us, Davis and 3 other friends, the Ropers!!!)  We had a blast!  Davis came on a Wednesday and was supposed to go home Friday but we talked mom into letting him stay until Saturday and then she surprised us with letting him stay until Sunday.  Here are pictures...

Playing at the pool......

                                                    

Making homemade stuffed crust pizza...

FARKLE!!

And of course sometimes we played with Olivia!!  PLAY DOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We spent our days playing cards and FARKLE and swimming and playing soccer and biking and most of all EATING.  Mom said by the time our 5 day sleepover was over she was exhausted and broke, which meant us kids had a great time.  THANKS MOM!! 

On a serious note, I am happy to report that Davis' dad, Mr. Mike is doing well.  We have prayed for him and a whole lot of other people have too and God has heard our prayers and given much grace to The Hearn Family.  Mr. Mike just finished his first round of chemo and radiation and the doctors at Duke said he is doing well and his MRI was beautiful!  GO GOD!! 

                                                    

Summer,Friends,and Fun

 CATCHING UP.............

    June 19th Olivia was given the opportunity to be in a wedding!  She was the  flower girl.  Our friend Dawn loves Olivia so much.  Olivia loves her too and was excited that she was going to be in the wedding.  We drove up to Knoxville for the wedding and stayed a night because the rehearsal was Friday and the wedding was on Saturday.  Olivia did great!  She looked so pretty in her dress.  We are VERY happy for our friends Dawn and Scott.  Their wedding was so nice and I could tell that they wanted to honor God with their ceremony.

June 20th was Father's Day!!  We celebrated my Dad!!!  For starters I want to say that I love my Dad soooooo much.  He is a hard working man that loves Jesus, loves his family and loves trains!!  We cooked one of his favorite breakfasts and gave him exactly what he had been asking for, an ESV Bible!

  He picked it out so since my Mom likes surprises she also made him a huge goodie basket with all his favorite treats!  He really liked this!

Last week we  traveled up to Knoxville again to see some of our friends.  Dad had to go out of town for a week on a business trip so our friends asked us to come up and stay a couple of days while he was gone.  We had 2 huge sleepovers that were a blast!!!  The first night we stayed with the Anders' grandparents!!  There were 6 Anders kids and 5 Moran kids and 2 moms!!!  Mr and Mrs Anders were such great hosts.  We stayed up until 1:30a.m. watching movies in their theatre!  The next morning we had a huge breakfast before leaving for Dollywood.  We had a ton of fun together.  You will soon see a picture of us with grandmother.  She looks great,  and this is the morning after having 13 house guests!

 

The second night we stayed with the Ropers. 

We also had a great time with the Ropers.  They were wonderful hosts also. 

Mrs Tracey is an amazing cook!!  When we got there she had spaghetti and meatballs ready for us and it was DELICIOUS!!  We laughed and played and stayed up late and my mom and Mrs Tracey got to talk, A LOT!!  It was so much fun for us and Olivia even got her nails done. 

  

We loved our time at their house.  We had a great time playing together! 

I am so thankful for our friends in Knoxville. 

This next picture is for the Ropers.  No one else will get it.

 

 

Fun with the GORDONS.......

The Gordon family came to Chattanooga this past weekend and we had fun with them too.  We are so thankful that God has made it possible for us to spend so much time with our Knoxville friends.  Our family and the Gordon family visited Rock City and the Tennessee Aquarium.  Rock City was beautiful.  It was breathtaking.  My pictures hardly show how amazing it is.  You have to see for yourself!

 

Thanks be to God for our friends that are our FAMILY!