Love these girls

I found this on Lindsey's bed the other day after rest time.
Melt.my.heart...
Yes, that is her Bible opened up. I'm going to assume she was reading it during her rest time. Or at least trying. WOW! That will keep you on your toes.

Thank you Jesus that she's desiring to read your word!

This morning Courtney was having some chocolate covered doughnuts for breakfast, yes I let her do that and no, it wasn't the first time. Super mom award is mine. I know. Don't hate!

It was so funny to me to see this....

Whitney and Dixon just hoping for a crumb. Courtney gave Whitney one.
She liked it. Once again...super mom!

I'm so blessed. Today was one of those days that made me LOVE being at home. For the most part of the day, the girls all got along. I had some "mommy" time with some Mops moms. We played a couple of games. We went swimming. We had supper at home. We watched Wipeout. We made brownies. It was a good day! Thank you Jesus! I needed one of those good mommy days! It was fun! I love these girls!

Beau and Whitney

You have to check this out! Erin posted about Whitney and Beau from this morning! So cute!

click here

Father's Day

Yesterday we went out to the lake and invited Ryan's dad to go with us. He's an avid fisherman and yet somehow he hasn't been on the boat with us. So it was a fun day to have he and Pam!

What a beautiful Captain driving our boat!

This is how Courtney feels about taking pictures these days....

Lindsey rode the "disk" tube for the first time yesterday! She was so excited! I can't decide if she looks big (because she's able to do it by herself and she wants to do it) or if she looks little (because she's so small compared to Ryan or I on the tube!) but whatever it is, she had fun. Don't get the wrong picture in your head. She was "tubing" but not going very fast. Courtney was worried that Lindsey would fall off, but I reassured her that it was going to be almost impossible for her to do that! :)

This is the tube they usually ride in, so it is quite different to be on the "open" disk! Courtney still loves "the red boat" and had a blast riding in it!

I see a glimpse into my future I think here...but I imagine in the future they will be going faster than they were on this day!

Lindsey just floating around the lake...so relaxed!

There are these geese that are always around the ramp, but we don't have food left usually. Yesterday we did, so the girls got to feed them some bread!

After we were finished at the lake, we met Honey and Granddad at Catfish Hole for supper to celebrate Father's Day with him! The girls were all tired and not up for a lot of pics. I promised just one, so this is what we got. At least they are all looking at the camera!

We are so blessed to have so many great "dads" in our lives! We love you all!

Swimming Lessons

We are doing swimming lessons again this year with Mrs. Jane! She is just amazing! Lindsey is such a "fish" as she calls her students! I love it! Lindsey has turned a corner and is seriously swimming. Learning to take breaths, treading water, and even swimming the length of the pool.

Here are some of the kids lined up for Lindsey's class. Notice Courtney and Scott are sitting there! Of course....they think they are so big!

She does a great job of kicking and using "big arms" almost every time!

Learning to take breaths, but she likes to just stop, tread water, and get a breath, rather than do it "in stroke" as is the correct way to do it!

Courtney's class

Learning to put your face in the water! What a great way, Mrs. Jane...she's so good!

Courtney and Scott can cause trouble together. They are both good swimmers and tend to get somewhat sidetracked going under together. These 2...never! ha!

All the little sisters waiting. I guess we will all be here hanging out for the next few summers! What a fun time and fun memories with friends!

I'm so thankful for this experience for my girls. I don't remember a lot of specifics of swimming lessons from when I was growing up, but I certainly remember taking them and can see the pool in my head of where I learned. I know that this is an important life skill for my girls and even if it means sitting outside for an hour and a half in the heat, I LOVE doing it for them! I'm so proud!

Lake Day!

Memorial Day we went to the lake and invited our good friends, the Costons! Abi was at her grandma's house, so Lindsey was sad, but she handled it well! Brandon and Courtney are big buds and play well together. Here they are before jumping in the water!

Dr. Nick (as we call him because he's our dog's vet) hanging out with Courtney and Brandon! Brandon was NOT so sure about the water for a while. He warmed up to the idea....sort of!

Lindsey has turned into a fish and loves just hanging out in the water and will get farther away than we like if we don't watch her! I'm glad she's comfortable in the water though!

Nothing better than a grilled hot dog on the boat!

Somehow I missed the pic with Brandon in the boat with them, but they all 3 rode for a long time and LOVED it!

Brandon was excited to drive the boat too!

Ryan trying to show off

Almost standing....

I left out the picture of the crash from when he stood up! Then Dr. Nick went for a ride!

Then I went for a ride! I didn't ride at all last year because of being prego. The year before the girls would only go slow, so it wasn't really even a "ride." Ryan would say this wasn't either, but it was enough for me for sure! Does that mean I'm getting old?!

We considered selling the boat (and actually had it pretty much sold) until we changed our mind! Last summer the girls were just really unsure of the fun of it all. This summer (so far) has been a complete opposite! They have loved it and we had to drag them off of it! I just didn't have a peace about selling and talked to Ryan "one last time" and made sure we were making the right decision. After a long talk and figuring things out, we opted to not sell and keep it! I'm so glad! The girls are glad! Ryan took his Sunday School boys today on the boat and I'm sure they were glad! (wouldn't you love to be a fly on that boat with Ryan and 6 17 year old boys?!)

WH25!

This year was our 25th Annual Watts Happening Family Reunion! It has such a great tradition! I love going simply for the fact of seeing our extended family and taking my girls to Mustin Lake! Our family (my dad's side) started this reunion when I was 6, so my entire life (pretty much) I have known going! I think I've only missed one year when I was having knee surgery. Other than that, we've been there! My girls love going and I'm so glad! Bless Ryan's heart for taking us and having a good attitude!

A few years ago we started having a few games in the afternoon:

Balloon toss is one of them

The 3 time champs: Carson and Adam

The view from "The Smithsonian" cabin

Whitney playing in Mustin Lake for the first time!

She got worn out and fell asleep on Susan!

Jennifer is an OR nurse and brought these fun toys to play with:

Cousin Brooke!

Badmitton championship game: Ryan and Ben vs. Carson and Adam.

This time the old guys won!

Popsicles are a must

We buried a time capsule in 2008 and planned to dig it up at the 25th reunion,
so let the digging begin:

The crowd watching:

Sweet cousins: Whitney, Lacey and Brittney

They found the time capsule!

Mary Susan and Whit! I wish all these sweet cousins lived close so they could babysit!!!!

Hmmm, wouldn't you like to know what this conversation was about!

Kid table

"Smith" family picture. This was Amber's first time to come to Mustin
and Taylor's first time in a very long time! Woo Hoo!!

Little kids turn at badmitton

Daddy tried to take us on a fishing trip....but the girls didn't last very long at all!

I was SHOCKED that she would dig in the dirt and pick up these worms!

She was WORN out and I was afraid she would roll off the bed,
so I put her in the floor...and she stayed there! Bless her heart!

She caught a fish!!

Aunt Kay! She is 89 (I believe) and still going strong. She is my grandmother's sister.

Big Whitney and Baby Whitney!

BIG group picture!

I wish there was a way to make it bigger and closer, but there are too many of us! A great problem to have--a big, close family! I can't even explain how thankful I am for each of these people. We are so blessed! The older I get, the more I "get it" as to what a blessing this family is to me! We are blessed with a great Christian heritage that is strong and firm in the Lord! We are close even though we are 2nd and 3rd cousins! I'm thankful for this family and pray that this tradition will continue until my girls are able to bring their children to Mustin Lake for Watts Happening 50th Year Reunion!