Braids!

Anna Grace taught herself how to french braid hair this week from the American Girl DVD.  Seriously - give them an hour to play and these are the things they come up with!  ML told her it was better to learn on a doll because they don't get mad if you pull.  She is good enough now to do it on ML though.

Bucket list

We just couldn't resist a sweet treat at DQ today on our way home.  Checking something else off of that bucket list!

Wedding fun

One of the sweet girls that has babysat for us is getting married tonight.  It was a lovely ceremony, officiated by our priest.

The reception was a blast!  The band was so good.  Here I am posing with Jessica.  I call her my young friend and I am so grateful to know her!

And when you can get Matt to put on the props, the night is successful.

We closed down the party!  Congratulations to the Shannon and Reed.  We had so much fun celebrating you tonight.  We pray for a lifetime of happy years together!

Camp pick up

We are lined up outside of camp waiting to get AG.  She can hardly contain herself!!

So glad to be together again!  We missed you peanut!

Dinner date

One of ML's friends asked if she could stay the night tonight.  So AG's at camp and ML's sleeping over, which leaves the two of us free for dinner out.

Lunch date!

Jordan called to say they had a really long layover and would love to do lunch.  There are some perks to being home from camp.  One was undivided time with Jordie and Andrew.  ML soaked up every single second.

What a fun way to spend our afternoon!  Love you two and we hope that the honeymoon is amazing!

Camp Crusis

We are standing in line to drop off AG for her first overnight camp.  I feel a little like ML and I'm not quite ready to let go.

But we found one of her friends, and she set herself up on the top bunk. We know that she will have an amazing week and we can hardly wait to hear every thought and memory!

Birthday dinner

We decided to try a new italian place today for my birthday dinner.  I still love my Nonna Tata, but was glad to have my parents join us to celebrate.

Bread and Wine

This summer our ladies bible study decided to do a study on the book Bread & Wine.  I was gifted it a while ago and Melissa and I have been praying about how to pull this off with our group.  These women gathered in my home, prepped and cooked the meal and then proceeded to clean up.  I am so very grateful for each of them and the influence they have had on my spiritual life.  I am so very blessed!

Dinner prep

I remember polishing silver for my mom before she hosted things like PEO.  Today AG sat and polished the coffee set for me too!  We are getting ready for hosting a dinner here tomorrow night.

Fresh pasta

This one loves to make fresh pasta!  I was discussing dinner with Matt and we talked about doing an easy pasta dish.  She quickly got ready to start, even though I had intended to make dried pasta.  So away we went.  I love the laziness of summer when we can make fresh pasta and eat dinner at 7 instead.

7-11

A few years ago we started the tradition of getting slurpees at every 7-11 we drove by.  This year I think we made it to 3.  It's a fun thing to do in the middle of a hot summer!

Peach Festival

We always have wanted to go to the Parker County Peach festival and have always missed it.  We called my parents this morning and asked if they wanted to join us and away we went.  Nothing like decided to go and being there in under 2 hours!

Dance party

We had our friends for dinner tonight.  ML was excited to turn on the disco light and I was cracking up that they all chose to sit right on top of Makenzie.

Matt even gave Robert a lesson in two-stepping and he and AG danced for a bit.  What a fun night making memories with them!

Funky town

There is a new-ish donut place in town.  So Matt thought he should take the girls this morning.  They are beautiful!  Still not my favorite, but it was a fun treat in the midst of his week off!

AG is 10!

Anna Grace was ready to celebrate her birthday with all of her grandparents living close!

She picked Cane Rosso for a dinner out.  We are all happy to celebrate this loving, generous, beautiful girl.

Happy 4th!

I still miss the 4th of July in Gregory.  But every year we make a few new memories.  We started this year at Mere's again for breakfast tacos and cinnamon rolls.  We raced over to the Tanglewood parade.  These three girls dodged all the little ones and even managed to stay together.












Then we managed to meet everyone else for a sweet snack!

We came home to smoke some chicken and my mom is frying up a batch of fried chicken as well.  It is certainly a vivid 4th memory for me, and one that I have never learned to execute.  I sent Matt for an errand late last night and he got himself a beer for his part of the cooking.  I was cracking up at the size of that beer!  'Merica!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Badminton

I picked up a couple of badminton rackets at Target this week.  ML would really like to play non-stop, who cares if it's 105 in the shade.  Well, her parents seem to care about that and we have been less than excited to play in the heat of the day!

Sunglasses!

The picture on the left popped up as a memory for Matt the other day.  We took it in Disney World when we were celebrating her 4th birthday.  Same hat, new sunnies.

Swimming date

Sarah and I have been trying to plan family dinner for I don't know how long.  She hosted tonight and we were so glad to catch up!

And Bob surprised the girls with some driveway fireworks.  What a fun evening with friends.

MELT

It's opening day for our fav ice cream treat.  They moved down to my favorite row of restaurants and we are excited they are open again!  Nothing like a little "Salt Lick" on a hot day.

They had a fun photo booth too!  The girls worked hard to make sure we joined them for the pics.