Summer is all about family, friends, and rest!

As we prepare for the last adventure of summer I can't help but think about all the fun we have had the last several weeks! As you will see below we have been very busy! In between all of this fun Rando has worked and I have gone through a class and taught a week of summer school. I love summer and am so thankful for a job where I have 2 months to spend tons of time with my incredible husband, awesome family, and fun friends. Below are some of the highlights!

Braves

Thanks to some very gracious church members we had tickets to several Braves games recently. We reunited with a great college friend, Ryan Brooks, for one game (Dana and Adam went too). Of course we lost that game, but we saw the Tomahawk chopping cow revealed and saw some great fireworks. We had a hilarious time laughing and joking in the car! Ryan fit right in with our family! A few days later me and Rando took a date just the 2 of us and enjoyed a game. We always have such a good time together!

Swimming with the Family

One evening a few weeks ago we enjoyed a night by the pool at mom and dad's house. We even got my grandparents to come over and sit on the deck while we swam. This was in between hospital stays for my grandfather (God has shown His perfect timing as granddaddy is now well and ready to go on vacation with us). We enjoyed laughing at Adam, Rando, and Rylan (Adam's best friend). We are all so grateful dad gave in to our years of begging for a pool. It makes summer days relaxing and summer nights fun for the whole family!

Wedding

The weekend of June 29th Rando officiated a wedding while I directed it. The bride is one of our best friend's sister. We enjoyed getting to know Matt and Katie better through the whole process. It was a beautiful wedding! We enjoyed getting to spend time with Mark, Christi (Katie's sister), and Natalie too! The pictures in the slideshow of us in the woods are from the rehearsal.

30 Years at Hebron

The same day as Matt and Katie's wedding we celebrated Dad and Mom's 30th anniversary of being at Hebron. It was a beautiful night! I was grateful for the opportunity to share how special my parents are to our family and how special Hebron is to us! I am so blessed to have been raised in a church that loves the Lord, each other, the community, their pastor, and his family. Thank you Hebron family for being a HUGE part of our lives! I also have to add that I enjoyed going back to my parents' house afterwards and laughing at all the funny pictures the church had gathered. WOW! The hairdos my parents sported in the early Hebron days were too funny. Of course Dana and Adam pointed out that I had my share of hairdos too. We had a great night laughing and reminiscing. I love my family and always have fun when we are together!

I am also VERY grateful that we are now serving at Hebron. To see my husband so happy on a daily basis as he is ministering and serving at such an awesome place brings me so much joy! We honestly couldn't be in a better place!

Night out with our Rome Friends

Although we do not all still live in Rome we make sure to get together several times throughout the year. Usually we meet for game nights, but this time we changed it up some. On July 3rd, we met up at Stone Mountain for a picnic, the LaserShow, patriotic fireworks, and LOTS of fun! We even saw part of the mountain catch on fire and the firemen hard at work putting it out! We had a great time laughing and enjoying each others company. Now that half of us live in the Walton/Rockdale area and the other half live in Rome we have many stories to share! We never spend time together without laughing and enjoying ourselves!

July 4th

We had a lazy Independence Day. We went to mom and dad's house (they were already in Miami) and spent the day with Dana, Adam, and Rylan. We swam, enjoyed a great dinner by Dana (tacos - not the most patriotic meal but loved by the boys (I ate a hamburger)), watched the boys play Tiger Woods for HOURS (at least it seemed), and then laughed as the guys displayed some fireworks. In true Dana fashion she surprised us by setting up the karaoke machine with a patriotic cd. The only problem from the night was when Adam burnt his hand with one of the fireworks. It was a fun evening with several stories that we will have to keep from mom and dad if we ever want to shoot fireworks again! Shhh.... don't tell them :o)


Dropping off Noodle

This last Sunday we took Noodle to her mamaw and papaw's house. We enjoyed spending several hours with them. It was hard to say goodbye to our little girl. We won't see her for over 2 weeks, but we know she is in good hands and having lots of fun. We then enjoyed a great meal with Rando's parents. We are looking forward to going back up there in a few weeks to pick Noodle up and to spend more time with them. On the way home the 2 of us had some great discussion of our dreams and goals for the future! I love our time driving down the road just the 2 of us! We truly are best friends!

Vacation

Now, it is time to pack for vacation! We will be meeting up with mom and dad on the cruise ship this Saturday. They have been cruising for a week already. All 8 (mom, dad, Dana, Adam, Granny, Granddaddy, Rando, and myself) of us are ready for this time together. I am sure the next post will be full of fun stories and pictures!

Have a great summer and make sure you make some time for fun with family and friends! Enjoy the pictures below!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com