Summer Recap!

It is so hard to believe that summer is over! I started back to work last Monday and the kids went back on Thursday. We are so blessed to have great teachers for our kids. Greyson is a junior and started half a day at the community college, then back to the high school for 2 classes and ends his day with soccer. He's playing on the High School soccer team and started with a new competitive team this fall. He's driving everywhere and super busy. One of my favorite qualities of Greyson is how driven he is. I can't wait to see what God has for him but in the meantime I will savor every moment with him! Conner is now at the high school! He is a freshman and will be showing sheep again for FFA. He has quite the social life these days and I mostly feel like his uber driver!  London and Carrson are big third graders and excited to be out of the "little kids" hall at school. Carrson is playing soccer again and London will start gymnastics soon. They are growing so much and I love how close they have all become. There are still days when everyone is at each others throats but overall they play really well together. Sam and Mayah are in first grade. It's never a dull moment with my little "twins". Mayah is starting hip hop dance class and I love to see her practice with youtube videos! We are trying to decide the best sport for Sam. He is pretty indecisive about it and if we would tell him that playing on electronics was a sport, he would love it!

Kelcie started her big adventure at college. We all went to Nebraska Christian to get her settled in. She had to start a little earlier to start training with the soccer team. Probably one of the hardest things ever to leave her there but to see how happy she is makes up for all the momma tears. I absolutely love seeing her fall inlove with soccer again and venture out to find her place. I read somewhere that you know you did a good job with your kids if they are ready to leave and this little girl was ready to spread her wings. We get to watch her season opener next weekend and we can't wait to cheer her on.

Before Kelcie left for college, we took her on a cruise to Mexico. We had an absolute blast and are so thankful for grandparents that stepped up to help with the others so we could spend this special time with her. This was our fifth cruise and our second out of Mobile, Alabama. Its one of our favorite ports! We left out early from Little Rock and our first stop (extremely spontaneous) was in Tupelo, Mississippi where we found the childhood home of Elvis! We loved seeing the old church and sitting inside the chapel where hymns sung by Elvis played over the speakers. It was a super cool place!

We made it to Mobile later that evening and stayed at the most awesome Inn. If you ever go to Mobile, I HIGHLY recommend the Magala Inn. It was built in the 1800's by a set of brothers as a townhome for their wives. It's also supposed to be "haunted" but after some snooping around, we never saw anything. We spent the evening walking around looking at some of the beautiful sights of Mobile. It reminded me of a mix between New Orleans and Charleston. I love the deep south so much. Who knows, maybe one day we will end up back there.

The next morning, we had a great breakfast (including grits!!!) and then headed to the port. We love cruising with Carnival and the Mobile terminal really has a great process to get you checked in quickly and efficiently. In less than an hour we were boarding the Carnival Fantasy. This was our second time aboard this ship. The atmosphere is so fun and the cruise directors are always a blast. This year, our cruise director was Benny. He did not disappoint! It didn't take Kelcie long to meet new people and enjoy her time on the ship. She joined us for dinner (most nights) and sometimes if we were lucky for lunch. I love how confident she is and that she can make friends anywhere. We enjoyed naps on deck, shows, dancing,  great food and just spending time together.

 On our day in Mexico, we decided to take an excursion. We have been to Cozumel quite a few times so it was fun to try something different. On this excursion, we took a catamaran out to a private island called Passion Island. It is owned by Carnival so it is not crowded and the only people there are from cruise ships. It is absolutely beautiful. It had an authentic Mexican buffet, a few little huts selling merchandise, snorkeling, kayaking (which Kelcie and I got kicked off of. Apparently we went to far and ignored the whistle! LOL!) hammocks and beds on the beach and hammocks in the water. It was so relaxing and beautiful!

All good things must come to an end and we had to disembark our cruise! But Kelly had a little surprise for us on the way home. We stopped at Dauphin Island, Alabama. We just had lunch and spent a few hours there but I loved it and we are planning a vacation back there next summer with the whole circus.  We walked around Fort Gaines which is known for its role during the Battle of Mobile during the Civil War. It was a really neat place and a nice surprise for the drive home.  I will never forget this vacation with Kelcie and I hope she never does either. I'm telling you, 18 years flies by and she's the first chick to leave the nest. It made me realize how important it is to take trips with your kids. We have been able to do quite a few trips with our kids and I hope to do more. Material things never last but memories of time together last forever. So take the trip!! You will be so happy when you look back at the pictures!!

Until next time!!
xoxo

Where did the time go?

This beautiful sweet girl graduated High School! It still hasn't hit me that my first little chick is going to be leaving the nest. To say that I am so proud of her is an understatement. There aren't even enough words to describe how amazing she is. She has handled changing schools 3 times, being the oldest sibling, adjusting to bringing in two new kiddos , falling in love for the first time and surviving her first broken heart. She is a champion for the underdog. We had a graduation party a couple of weeks ago and we counted 92 people that came in throughout the afternoon. I looked around and it was such a vast variety of people.  From jocks to foreign exchange students, Kelcie has made her mark already. She has a heart for people and has big dreams to help people  start businesses in other countries and maybe even get a degree in psychology so that she can help missionaries and their kids transition from living between two different cultures. I am in complete awe of her.

I hope that as her mom I have taught her enough and been a good example. I look forward to this new step in her life and how our relationship will grow. Kelcie Marie you will always be my baby girl. Where ever life takes you know that your dad and I are your biggest fans and supporters. Your brothers and sisters adore you.  God has an amazing plan for you and we are so thankful that He chose us to be your parents. Now go change the world baby girl! xoxoxo