Recent Happenings....

A bird show at Rock City

Enjoying the beauty of God's creation.

Dippin Dots!!!

Blueberry picking!

Clare doing all the work she can. 

  

The fruits of our labor.  We even gave a couple of bags to our neighbors.  After all the goodies they have brought here we thought it was the least we could do.

One of the uses of our berries...Mom's Best Ever Blueberry Muffins

  July 4th fireworks at Coolidge Park.

And our annual Independence Day soccer game.



Oh yeah, and Clare Grace being ADORABLE!

I LOVE MY LITTLE SISTERS!

Late Night At The Pool

      We've been having such fun since moving to our new house.  Friday night my brothers and I went to the pool to swim.  We got to the pool about 7 p.m. and thought we would swim for just a little while.  About 8 p.m. I called my Mom and asked her if we should come home.  She said we could stay as long as we wanted.  I asked her if she or Dad could come up to the pool and bring us sandwiches.  She said, "maybe".  I got back into the pool and a few minutes later Dad, Olivia and Eli showed up with a bag full of sandwiches, chips and soda.  Mom had packed us a mini picnic and we were thrilled.  We ate right away. (because swimming can make you hungry.)  After we ate, we swam for another hour or so.  We had a blast.  We were the only ones there the whole night.  I thought we would have to leave after it got dark but Ethan found a switch that turned the lights on so we got to swim after dark.  I wish I would have thought to bring my camera.  Right before we left I said,  "I need to take pictures for the blog".  I took a couple of pictures using mine and Ethan's cell phones. 

  I love it here!  I am so happy we moved to Ooltewah!!

Summer Fun

     Summer doesn't even officially start until tomorrow but already I have had a ton of summer fun.  Last week my brothers and I went to soccer camp.  It was the most fun I have had in a long time.  The camp was held in downtown Chattanooga, at Finley Stadium.  (Where Chattanooga Futbol Club plays.)  We knew a bunch of the kids at camp from the homeschool team.  The camp was Monday to Thursday, 9am to 3:30pm.  Each day after camp we went to the pool in our neighborhood.  It really helped us since we were so sore.  (I am still sore today!)  I enjoyed camp and I know my brothers did too.

While I was at camp I missed out on some time with my little Clare Bear.  When we got home each day we all wanted to hold her.

  

Sunday, Father's Day, we celebrated Dad.  I have the most wonderful, hard working, God-fearing Dad in the world.   Nic and Olivia made Dad a cookie at Publix.  It was really cute.  My Mom made him a big taco dinner, and he got a new recliner.  All of us boys wrote him letters.  It was a great day for him and for us.

   Dad is on vacation this week.  We are planning to do a lot of great things as a family.  We are having a "staycation". We have lots of unpacking to do but we also are planning to go to Rock City and we are going to see a movie and on Friday we are going rafting with some friends from church.  I hope we have a wonderful week together. 

     Moving in has been hard work but fun.  It is nice to see our house coming together.  Our new neighbors have been keeping us in cookies.  We've had lots and we love it!

If the last few weeks are an indication of how my summer is going to go then I am in for the best summer ever.  God has blessed me with a new house, a new sister, and a wonderful family to spend time with.  I am very thankful to Him.  He keeps pouring out His blessings on me.

Moving In

  

 I haven't posted in a while because I have been super busy.  We moved into our new house last week and I love it. We have boxes EVERYWHERE. (I would have posted about the house sooner but we just got Internet access yesterday.)

 These pictures were taken the night before we moved in. 

  On top of moving into a new house I also have a new baby sister and she can slow our unpacking down quite a bit.  I love her so very much!

I love this picture of her.  She looks so cute. 

      Right now we are focusing on getting the kitchen and the bedrooms done.  The kitchen is almost finished.  I love the neighborhood we are in.  This is the best house we have ever owned.  I am so happy to be out of our rental house.  *This house is a better color for me, it is blue (the rental house was pink).*

     I hope we can get back into our normal way of life soon.  Life here is pretty crazy.  Mom is starting to cook in our new kitchen and it is good to be eating her food again.  I was getting sick of take out!  I am so happy to spend this time with my best friends.(my family)  God has really blessed me with a wonderful family and a great new house.  Thank you God!