Christmas Parade ~ 2016

It's one my favorite Christmas tradition with my family in Christ... the Christmas parade.  If I am NOT mistaken, this is our fifth year (according to my blog) that we have done this together.  I will be sad when our kids no longer think it is cool and don't want to go.  I guess us parents could still go.  Haha.  

Our small group is very close knit and we are six godly woman striving to live righteously. 2/6 families could NOT make it this year due to illness and one daddy is on a missions trip in Uganda.  Ty-Ty is getting a tad too old to sit with the little ones now. Sniff, sniff.  So he hung out with the dads.

Our clan of kids started a hugging the snowman and then the poor snowman was having a tough time breaking away.  SO MANY kids started doing the same thing.

Watching the parade intently.  

The gingerbread house was one of my favorite floats.  

Jax was so excited to get a life size $100 bill and a $1,000,000.00 bill.  Haha!

Shannon was getting her hair done, so she arrived late, WHICH caused for another necessary photo!

We were wondering how the kids would respond to the clowns due to the fact that there is so much hype right now about clowns scaring people.  Surprisingly, none of the kids budged!

This was my favorite float... the manager scene.  ALL WHITE, pure, delicate, and  beautiful.  

Chick-Fil-A was there, too, and Cohen was screaming, "EAT MORE CHICKEN", over and over and over! It was priceless.  

We left before the last few floats made an appearance because we wanted to beat the traffic. Until next year...

Labor Day ~ 2016

On Labor Day, we were invited over to our friends', the Fernandez Family, home.  We were fed well. Our associate Pastor prepared racks of ribs, that had been slow roasting since 5 a.m.. The meat was literally just falling off.  It was scrumptious. Everyone brought a dessert or a small something to share.  The kids swam and swam and swam.  The dads and moms chatted away.  It truly looked like a middle school dance: the guys were on the right side of the pool and the moms were on the left side of the pool.  LOL! 

Eventually, a game of "watermelon ball" began!  

Then, the kids did a little dancing off of the diving board!

And... eventually, an arm wrestling fight ALMOST broke out!!! #scaredies

It's always nice to get together with your family in Christ. We are always thankful for friends opening up their homes. I keep saying I need to do this more often myself. Eeeek! Just the thoughts of hosting an event like that overwhelms me. Haha. BUT, I promise the desire is there.

Food, Fun, & Fellowship!

Memorial Weekend started off awesome! We had a regularly scheduled small group gathering, but we chose to turn into a night of food, fun, and fellowship! Brett and Jody hosted and provided the meat and drinks.  Each of us brought a side dish or four.  Lol!  We also brought our combined 95 children. As you can see below, everyone brought their bikes.  Eeeek, blurriness.  Sorry!

I was too busy yapping, the first two hours I was there, so I didn't capture any daylight photos.  It quickly became night time and Zach Harris (the only reason we consider going to or watching a Nascar race...he's an amateur racer) couldn't refrain from taking Brett's golf card out.

He drove, some kids rode on it, others chased him down the street on a bike or by foot...bare foot even! I'm sure you can guess which child that was.  Haha.

You'd think after four shots, I would capture ONE where all three children were looking into the camera.  Ahhhhhh!

Oh my! This little cutie (Caleb) is giving me his scary look.  Good thing he's not trying to scare a bear off.  Haha.  That face is anything BUT scary.

 Julia looking way too old :( #stopgrowingup

The daddies were very generous to the mommies.  They allowed us to sit inside for a little bit and enjoy female time while they sat outside and "babysat" the kids.

The kids migrated from the front to the back constantly.  I admired their interactions and playtimes with, to my knowledge, NO arguing. 

These families are a true gift to us.  Currently, in our small group, we have 14+ kids, amongst 6 families, and ONE more baby is scheduled to arrive in September.  We have watched every single one of these children come into the world, not literally, but essentially, except for Ansley and Ty. I feel like a Aunt to so many more than I would be if the Lord did not bless us with such a wonderful collection of families from our church to do life with, more than just on Sunday.  

 Things were getting wild! Mason and Caleb were breaking it down on the trampoline!

"WORD to your mother!" ~ Mason

The girls were putting on mini dance shows for everyone. Jaida (first girl on the left) is just a classmate that was visiting the neighborhood and chose to hang out with us.  

Cohen is always looking for ways to praise God!  In the midst of our fun he was worshipping catching glow sticks.  Haha. Either story could be believable. I'll let you decide which one it was.

Jax saw a bear.... just kidding. I think it was just poor snapping time on the photographers end.

After a long while, Brett got a bonfire going.  It was so relaxing and enjoyable to just be together in this way. For real Jax?!?!?!?! Lately, he is refusing to look at the camera or he is providing the most goofiest of faces.

Harris boys!

"She wears her sunglasses at night!"

 Ansley shared a jacket and a stuffed animal with her friends as they relaxed by the fire.  

Laughter, fun, food, and fellowship with people of like minds, goals, and hopes!  Love you all! We were missing Ty and the Fernandez Family. Sometimes, during the Summer months, it's hard making dates work for us all to be together.  They were with us is spirit though. Williams' family, thank you for opening up your home to us!