Picture Overload

Are you ready? I've spent the past few weeks editing pictures, in addition to painting, cleaning, exploring, and of course visiting the beach! But, I think I'm finally close to being done. And, I've got some doozies for you!! So, let's start back at the beginning of June......

When the cat is gone the mice will play, right? Well, one day when Nana and Papa were gone to Branson with Uncle Castle and Aunt Joann we decided that Nana's bathtub looked like a lot of fun for a bubble bath..... I put in a lot of bubble solution thinking it would need a lot for that big of a tub, and then we turned on the whirlpool jets and WHOOSH we had bubbles everywhere!! They were huge!! Mountains of them, and going up around the girls heads!! I feared we were going to have a bathroom floor full of bubbles, so we quickly turned off the jets. But boy did the girls enjoy all those bubbles! It was quite the bath! This was taken after we had gotten the bubbles down to a reasonable amount!

This is grumpy dancing Emery. We had dance pictures the first week in June and she was not happy. She was beyond MAD that she had pants and didn't have a tutu. She wanted a TUTU!!!! I was trying to cheer her up and this is the pic I got. Thankfully the professional photos turned out much better. She got in a better mood when she realized all the other girls in her class had the same outfit.

Unfortunately I didn't get any of Ella. One of the girls in her class was having a meltdown, and her dad was so frustrated. So, I jumped in and asked Paige if she would like some lipstick before her professional photos, and she perked right up. While dealing with Paige, I missed the opportunity to get pics of Ella. But trust me, she was BEAUTIFUL!!

We left the next day for the anniversary weekend at Lake of the Ozarks. The girls had a great time, and Emery still asks when we can go stay at the 'small motel' with all our family! They were very excited to see everyone that weekend.

As you can tell they enjoyed being super silly with Uncle Kent!!

They got these super cool butterfly wings from Uncle Curt, Aunt Glenda and cousin Laura. Not sure why Emery was pouting in this picture, but she does love them! They wear them and 'fly' through the house, especially after watching Barbie Mariposa!

The family went different ways that day. Some went antiquing, some went shopping, some went boating with the David's, some went kayaking, and some went to the local Testical Festival. That's right, I said Testical Festival. Supposedly it's Missouri's own version of Sturgess (not sure I spelled that right, but you get the idea). And the main item on the food menu is.....you guessed it, testical's. YUCK! I wasn't there, but I was told the people watching was hilarious! We enjoyed a nice dinner at Shrimp Daddy's that night.

Here are the anniversary couples. Uncle Castle and Aunt Joann celebrating their 55th anniversary, and mom and dad celebrating their 50th. Can you believe that Uncle Castle and Aunt Joann spent their honeymoon in the Lake of the Ozarks 55 years ago? We thought that was pretty cool too!

And here is the majority of the gang during the small lunch we had on Sunday. Missing are Tammy, Jeremy, Donna, Mike, and Matt from the pic, they were busy taking it! The David's were such gracious hosts!! It was a fun weekend for everyone. The hardest part was leaving for me. I didn't and still don't know when I'll see many of my family and friends again. At least we all had a fun weekend together and I got to see them before I left.

After returning to Nana's house and seeing Uncle Castle and Aunt Joann off, we got some fishing poles for the girls to fish in the pond with Papa. We didn't have any bait the first night but used bits of corn and cheese. I almost caught a decent sized cat fish, but he slipped the hook right before I pulled him out of the water. That didn't deter the girls and Papa though!! They tried several different nights. And the evening after their dance recital they went fishing with Papa and Auntie Lee. Apparently the fish were avoiding me, because with Papa and Auntie Lee, they caught about 15 fish, 4 of which Papa said were keepers. They said they didn't have the line in the water 30 seconds and would have a bite. The girls had a BLAST!! They were so excited when I got home (I was working at the 3rd recital), they had to tell me all about it! Little Emery said, 'do you know what we named them? Flip, Flop, Flip!' I got a good laugh out of that!

Stay tuned for more photos. I'll post more tomorrow, their dance recital and the first few days of our trip to SC!!

Love ya!

New info

Hi! I'm still working on internet access, so I won't post anymore until I can include pictures.

Quick note though. We have changed our cell phone numbers, (we don't have a home phone), and also have new e-mail addresses. I will try and send them out to you soon. If you haven't received it in a couple of days, or want it sooner my old e-mail address still works!

Thanks!

Wow......just wow

I don't even know where to begin. We had an amazing trip and arrived safely. I'm still trying to find things in the house, and figure out where we are in this town. I'm going through pics of the recital, the trip and the first few days here. As soon as I get my internet set up on my laptop, I'll post them and walk you through our trip. Then you'll be overloaded with pics for the last month! But WOW is mostly what I'm thinking.

Wow, it's beautiful by the beach. I can't believe how much I love it. It's a little difficult with a baby, but she has done awesome considering. And it appears she likes the sand, from playing in it to eating it (Yucko- I try to stop that when I see her licking her fingers). The water is amazingly warm, and the sand is soft and fine. It's something I've never really experienced before, but I tell you- I'm hooked!

And wow- this town is so totally different from anything I've ever experienced. There is no fast food nearby, unless you consider 8 miles nearby. There are no chains, except for grocery and gas stations, but again those are ones I've never heard of. I went to the grocery store and felt like I took a step back in time. Let's just say the selection was 'limited'. Although it is a step above Mound City (sorry Aunt Ann!). I will definitely be trying out a few of the others that are a bit farther away. It's quaint and very much a small coastal town.

And then wow again. You drive into North Myrtle Beach, and on to Myrtle Beach and there are chain restaurants and stores (if you look for them), and tons of fun shopping, tons of local restaurants and attractions. I'm completely gawking when I drive. Although I will say there is only 1, that's right, 1 Target in Myrtle Beach. The next closest is Wilmington. There is no Joanns, Michaels or Hobby Lobby- so finding fabric will be interesting. We drove through Barefoot Landing, Broadway on the Beach, and the Tanger Outlet stores. I CAN'T wait to explore those! And all the other little ones I haven't even found yet!!

I have no clue where I am when driving or what direction I'm going! That hasn't happened to me in a long time. The kids wanted lunch today while we were out. I told them I had no idea where anything was, or what was good (since finding a chain is a bit difficult). They yelled for me to turn on Gertie and ask her. Before you ask, Gertie is our GPS system. Gertie is short for Gertie Petunia Smarts (GPS). We had to give her a name before the trip started, she was and now is an integral part of our driving experience! She had to guide us on our trip out today to find the 1 and only Target.

I'll quit rambling now, there is so much to tell and it's so amazing, that I'm still in awe. I'm hoping it doesn't wear off for a LONG time! We're here, safe and sound. Tad had most of the house set up, we are just organizing and adjusting to everything. I'll work on getting internet on my laptop so I can share pictures, and maybe you'll get the WOW factor too!

Packing up....

Thank goodness it's almost time to go! The girls are tired, I'm tired, and Nana and Papa are tired! We are more than ready for this trip and to go to our new home!

We've spent most of the day packing and organizing, and getting prepared. Still not sure what route we'll take, but that's the least of my concerns. Just have to finish packing and get through dress rehearsal tonight and dance recitals tomorrow!!

If you have a webcam, let me know! We hooked one up at Nana and Papa's and Tad has one working there. The girls have had a great time seeing him on the computer and talking to him. We'd love to see and talk to you too if you have one!

Have a great and wonderful weekend! Not sure if I'll be able to post again until we are in SC! Maybe then I'll have some pics to add!! Love you all!

The countdown begins...

until we leave for South Carolina!! Man it has been a busy and tough 3 weeks since Tad left. We did have some fun at the Lake of the Ozarks celebrating my parents 50th wedding anniversary! Although saying goodbye on Sunday to many of my relatives was WAY tougher than I expected. I know it's not goodbye forever, I just don't know how long it will be until I see any of them again. That is the tough part. Or maybe it's that I've always known that I can see most of them within a days drive. It's been that way all my life, even in college, after I got married, up till now. It's been a comfort zone knowing that if something happened, they could be there. Leaving my comfort zone is harder than I expected.

And now the countdown begins, 6 days until we leave.....

She said Mama!!!

Finally! Ev has said Dada and Papa, and we think Ella- although it sounds like Ewwa. And last night she looked at a baby doll and said baby. BUT today during lunch she said MAMA!! Clear as a bell!! Yay!!

And she is learning to scoot a lot faster in her improvised chinese split fashion! It's quite cute!

Now we are off to get the big girls all dolled up for the dance recital pictures tonight!!

It's Empty

Our house. It's empty. It's so empty. It was empty in a sense when Tad left, but now it is literally empty too. I walked in yesterday and I felt a little empty too. I know that's what is supposed to happen, but it is all so surreal. The last time I saw it like this was when we moved in, but we've changed literally everything in the house, so it looks completely different. It looks like us now, and we have so many memories in that house, that is hard to leave behind. I can't describe what I feel when I walk into that empty home, to see a chapter of our life is almost over. I think realizing that it's over is the hardest, but at the same time exciting. We've lived there for 10 years, and in this part of town since we got married. It's time for a change and I'm excited for that, I'm just not quite ready to say goodbye to the old.

Change is good, right? It's just a house. We'll have a new house, make new memories, and start our new chapter. It's time for me to let go, I have 2 more weeks to do that, maybe then I'll be ready.