Zoo Day

We enjoyed a fun day at the zoo a couple of weeks ago with some sweet friends!

One last time to see the elephants.

Forrest and Andrew in front of the monkeys - only the monkeys are 'monkeying-around' and moved from where they could be seen! I'm surprised that my "monkeys" stayed put! :)

Some of the bigger kids... Forrest, Julia, Rhett, Lizzy, and Lemly

And here are all the babies!

Kathryn, Mary Emerson, Micah, Colt, Henry, Ann Evelyn, and Tate

Ann Evelyn and Tate... Precious!!

Andrew would ride the carousel all day long!

A very fun day! Looking forward to doing it again soon!

Birthday Picnic at the Park

Happy Birthday, Wilson! We loved celebrating your birthday with you. It was a very fun day with our family. Love you!

Pumpkins!

We always love our trip to the pumpkin patch... a fun tradition to look forward to each fall.

A little hayride hug

Andrew was hunting hard. He wanted a "BIG pumpkin".

He finally found the "one" down the field aways and decided he'd have to roll it down. It was heavy!

I think this is actually the pumpkin he picked out for Ann Evelyn.

She thought they made great little seats!

Forrest hardly stopped while we were there. He loved running and playing with his buddy, Ross Harden.

Happy Fall!!

Fun times at the beach!

The beach was absolutely BEAUTIFUL this past weekend! The water was as clear and calm as I've seen in a long time, and the sand was very clean.... such a great change from the oil-speckled beach during the summer. The Lord gave us gorgeous weather to enjoy His beautiful creation, and we had a great time (as we always do)!

This little girl loves the beach! She loves the water and the sand, and she just had the biggest smiles when we went down near the water. The water was a little cool for me, but it didn't bother her. We had to hold her hands so she wouldn't dive in! :)

This funny fellow decided he was afraid of sand crabs on this trip. On our first afternoon on the beach, he told us he saw one. After that, he wanted to be carried or held when on the beach. We finally convinced him to wear his Crocs. This worked sometimes. We are hoping that sand crab fear will be quickly forgotten!

I just can't get over how big this guy looks! He really enjoyed the water with Wilson. He also loves digging holes at the beach and trying to catch little fish to put in the holes that he digs. Andrew has also become quite the frisbee thrower! He and Wilson have a big time throwing the frisbee together. Another fun thing to mention is that Wilson and Bubby took the boys on their first sand crab hunt this trip. (We were hoping that catching a sand crab might help Forrest see that they really aren't that scary after all. I'm not sure if it worked or not. I guess we'll see next trip.) The hunt was a hit though, and I'm sure it will become a tradition with the boys - just as it was for me growing up.

Ann Evelyn was after my camera in this picture. She was coming as quickly as she could trying to grab it - and laughing the entire time!

I had to include this. Funny Forrest would walk to beach in his Crocs but then would sit in the chair while everyone else played. Sometimes Ann Evelyn would climb up in the chair with him. :) In this picture he had said, "I wanna build a sand castle." Here he is contemplating how to do this best since he really can't reach the sand! And I love Ann Evelyn's expression in the background... almost like she's thinking about how silly he is.

We always have fun setting up the pool under the cottage. It's like our own little beach under the house. Ann Evelyn thought she was big stuff wearing her brothers' swim gear!

It was a great trip!

Beach Pictures at Sunset

This is the day...

That the Lord has made!

... We've been singing this song a lot lately. Andrew sings it at school, and Forrest knows it as well, and we love to sing around the house. Of course, we should rejoice in every day the Lord gives us, but hasn't the weather just been amazing this week?!? The Lord has been giving us so many beautiful days this week that it just seems very appropriate to sing this song! We are looking forward to more beautiful weather as fall is upon us.

Happy Forrest

I pulled out my camera before I took Forrest and Ann Evelyn to MMO last week, and look who was in a happy mood! Well, he is usually always in a happy mood, but he's not always this happy to pose for pictures. I love his smiles! And even though Ann Evelyn is more interested in the legos, I still think it's a cute picture of the two of them together. Notice that Forrest has rediscovered his blankie. For awhile, he just didn't really care about it, but now it's back by his side! And also notice that precious owl clip in AE's hair. A birthday favor from her sweet friend Meredith. :)

And she's off!

Baby Girl is walking! She's been going strong for about a week now. So much so that we even had to go buy some shoes - some PINK shoes. Check them out! They are so cute and fun, and Ann Evelyn LOVES them! The first few days we had them she wanted to wear them all the time - even at naptime and bedtime she'd be holding that shoe up to her foot, trying her hardest to get it on.

We actually didn't have many choices with shoes because Baby Girl has a very wide foot. But she's just as happy as can be with these pink ones. I'll have to work on finding some church shoes! So far we are just going barefoot on Sundays. :)

Wilson came home today and said he felt like his baby girl was a toddler. We were outside and she was walking and exploring. She was reminding me a lot of Forrest at that age. One thing is for sure, she is very proud of herself. She loves being able to follow her brothers around on foot!

Lately...

A few recent pics of the babes...

in our monkey pjs!

Big smile from Andrew while playing at the park!

Ann Evelyn and Forrest looking out the window.

He sure knows how to make a chocolate ice cream cone look delicious!

My 2 babies before their first day of MMO. Forrest was SO excited to be going to "preschool". Ever since Andrew started, he has been wanting to go to "preschool", too!

Bubby and Ann Evelyn with the circus elephants! We drove down to the fairgrounds for an up close view.

My handsome boys before church Labor Day weekend. After 8 years, I finally convinced Wilson to buy a seersucker suit. :) I love it! They all matched for church this day, and I had to take a picture of course. I love these boys so much!

Summer Trip to Meridian

We were long overdue for a trip to Meridian! We finally made it to Ganny and Papaw's at the end of the summer after Wilson finished all of his trips. The boys had a great time - they are already making such fun memories at Ganny and Papaw's house. They love riding the mule with Papaw through the woods, going to "Papaw's Shack", and feeding the horses. "Papaw's Shack" is Andrew's name for the hunt house that Papaw built. Papaw takes the boys back and they eat snacks on the porch, work puzzles, and look for animals. On this trip they were excited to bring back turkey feathers to show us!

Here they are returning from a morning ride in the woods.

Showing their treasure - turkey feathers!

The horses enjoyed some leftover snack from Papaw!

Ann Evelyn watched from the back porch with Ganny for the boys to return.

We even enjoyed some fun cousin time!

Elizabeth and Forrest look like they are having some serious competition - airplane vs horse (or girl v boy?)!

Ann Evelyn is loving some hugs from Alexa.

Happy 4th Birthday, Andrew!

You are 4 today, Andrew!! Happy Birthday!!

We love you SO much!! You are a precious blessing to our family, and we thank God for you each day. What a wonderful few days we have had celebrating YOU!!