Pool Day!

We had a ball at the pool today with the Greshams!

We are so thankful our friends invited us to come cool off and play!!!

Pam's little ones were fearless in the water.

All of our older ones played really well and Ambry might just make

a great babysitter one day!  She is good with the babies!

Summer fun in the sun!!!

Boys!

I wanted to remember something Ambry said today that made me laugh!

We had some friends over for lunch today after working out

at the YMCA!  Among our friends that came over,

there were 6 boys and just 2 girls.

The kids ate lunch outside and then played awhile on the 

trampoline and then they came inside to play.

Ambry came in after all those boys and she said:

"WOW!  It STINKS in here!  What is that smell?"

All of the mommas laughed... it was a group of sweaty little boys!

HILAIROUS!

We had a great day with our friends, even if our house

smelled for a while!  I lit a candle later in the day!

ha ha ha!

Cars 2!

Grammy and Uncle Charles joined us for CARS 2 while we were in Florida!

Everyone loved the new movie... especially all of the funny car references and puns throughout!

Disney Pixar is amazing!!!

Longwood Vacation!

We had a great visit to Grammy and Grumps' house!

We played in the pool, ate great food, played in the pool, 

had fun visits with friends and family, played in the pool,

went on awesome bike rides and walks, played in the pool,

saw Cars 2 and Bad Teacher, played in the pool,

went shopping, played in the pool... 

oh and PLAYED IN THE POOL some more!

Grammy and Grumps always bless us with relaxation 

and family time when we come for a visit! 

I had some nostalgia too this trip, 

I took a bike ride all through Sweetwater Oaks...

riding past each one of my childhood friends' homes 

and Sweetwater Beach and the parks

where we grew up hanging out and spending so much time.

I felt like I was twelve years old all over again, 

going fast and feeling free on my bike!

I'm so thankful that my parents live in the home we grew up in.

My mind was flooded with memories 

as I walked and rode through the streets of Sweetwater!

Here are a few of our favorite photos from the trip!

Thank you Grumps and Grammy for special times

and memories made whenever we come to visit!

We love you!!!

Cookout!

What a great day!

We had a cookout to celebrate the June birthdays in our group of good friends!

Becky, Brandon and Pam all have birthdays in June.

Luke and I were up early preparing Grandaddy chickens for everyone to taste.

Grandaddy chickens are cooked all day on the electric smoker grill,.

Whole chickens, salted and basted with butter, lemon juice, and worcestershire.

The meat is so juicy and falls off the bone!

I made a strawberry cake and a new recipe, s'more bars, for the birthday dessert!

The Greshams, Pattersons, Marchbanks, Hastys, Lanhams, Westons, and Mark Adams 

all came over to eat and visit.

I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was too busy 

stuffing my face and enjoying our company!

We are really blessed with such special friends.

Date Night!

Lukey and I had lots of dates last week while the kiddos were with their grands!

Well tonight, a different girl got to go on a special date...

Ambry and Daddy went to the movies,  just the two of them!

 The picture above is Ambry showing off her Kung Fu moves!

They went to see Kung Fu Panda 2.

The picture below makes me laugh.  

I had written down the two movie choices and times for Luke

to look at when he got home.

Ambry called her daddy and they decided together which movie

they wanted to see.  She wrote the little yes and no's on the paper.

She got all dressed and ready and sat on the steps waiting for his

truck to pull into the driveway after work.

I love how much these two love each other!

They have the sweetest relationship!!!

I pray that Ambry and her Daddy will always be this close!

Friends!

Today was such a great summer day!

We went to the Y first thing this morning and 

then spent the rest of our day at the Greshams' house!

Our friend Amanda was visiting from Texas. 

Between the 5 moms, there were 14 kiddos having a BALL all together!

Pam is such an awesome hostess!  

She had lunch for us and 

there were many laughs and lots of good conversation.  

It was wonderful to catch up with Amanda and her crew!!!

 Will, Tyler, Trey, Brady, Luke, Declan

Morgan, Katie, Jake, Abigail, Claire, Ambry, and Waylon

(Easton was trying to take a nap!)

Amanda, Me, Pam, Becky, Kristin and Easton

I am so thankful for our laid back summertime and for my sweet girlfriends!

Birthday Festivities

Our sweet Nana and our sweet cousin Allison 

share a birthday month!

We had a little celebration while our Lucas family 

was all here at the end of Grands Week!

Nana started off the party by giving 

Ambry, Alli, and Abigail pedicures!

 Dairy Queen ice cream cake is always a treat!!!

When Luke realized his mom's age he said "AWWWW, 57!"

57 was his football number in college!

 The birthday girls digging in!

I really loved this picture of Alli and Ambry.

Nana took Alli to the American Girl Place up in Atlanta

for a special birthday lunch 

and a shopping spree for her and her doll!

Grammy gave Ambry and her doll matching pj's and slippers

back at her birthday in February.

Alli and Lindy and Ambry and Dorothy

 looked so cute all dressed up together.

I'm so thankful they are still at the age 

where they love to play dolls!

In a world where young ladies grow up too fast, 

I feel blessed that ours are still "little girls"!

The Grand Adventure!

Papaw and Nana take Trey and Ambry and their cousins Parker and Allison

on a GRAND Adventure each year!

This year was a week at Dollywood!

I wanted to document some of the photos from their trip!!!

The kids talk about the trip all year long until they get to go again!


There is usually a send-off breakfast.  (Parents are invited to attend this event!)

First stop was panning for gold in Dahlonaga, GA!

Then down they went into the actual gold mine!

All of the kids tried to pull out a miner's spike from the wall!

Then they tried their luck at finding gems! 

On to Dollywood they travelled for the rest of the week!

Ambry was the roller coaster riding star of the group!
She rode all of the rides before any of the other cousins would!
She was very proud of her bravery!  

Papaw and Nana served all kiddo friendly meals!
This was a favorite... make your own pizza night at their cabin! 

 Cousins in the hot tub at Beaverly's Bearadise (their Dollywood cabin)!

Another fun day was spent at Dollywood's waterpark, Splash Country!

A birthday celebration for Nana at the cabin!
Love the homemade birthday hat!!!

Wow, what DIDN'T these lucky kiddos get to try...
Here they were go kart racing!!!!

And finally a rootin' tootin' night at the Dixie Stampede!
Cute boots and hats and spurs for everyone!

What a GRAND vacation!  Next year, the BIG kids want to tag along!!!
Thank you Papaw and Nana for EVERYTHING!
We love y'all!!!