Swimming, Fireworks, Water Park & Races

A little recap of the last week of our summer. We celebrated Independence Day very low key this year. We pretty much just spent the day at home, grilled burgers and made stuffed jalapenos. Then we spent the evening swimming before heading to the community firework show. I have this weird thing about watching fireworks - it always makes me think about the last time I watched them and how different life is since then. So, as I sat there and watched Noah reach over and put his arm around Ryan and her take his hand as we watched them, I remember thinking that I really hope that is one thing that does not change next year!

On Fun Friday we were headed to Ft. Smith to a nature center, but got a last minute call from my dad that he was taking my brother's kids to the water park and wanted to know if we wanted to join them. I left it up to the kids and they voted water park! It was hot, but the shade was nice and the water was cool so it worked out good. This was the first year Noah was tall enough to ride the slides alone. He was nervous the first time, but then rode them constantly for an hour! Ryan loved the kids area and loved having her cousins there to play with her.

After swimming we all went golfing together as a family. The kids now have their own clubs and really seem to enjoy it. We golfed a few holes and then had dinner at the clubhouse. After that we went to my mom's house for a birthday party for my brother Jeremy. It was a long, fun, busy day and the kids fell asleep in 5 minutes :)

Saturday the kids got to spend some time with their Granny while I went to the races with Nathan. It had been a while since I was able to go and I had missed it. I love watching Nathan do what he loves, seeing our racing friends, watching the races and people watching - plus the drag burgers are great!

Sunday was a busy day, so busy that I didn't take a single picture. After church the kids and I went to my friend Amber's house to give her son a birthday present. My kids love their kids and they all played so well together - plus I love getting to have some girl time with Amber! From there we went to my brother's baby shower. His wife is expecting their 5th child, Bodhi. He will be here by the 21st if not before! The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins and it was nice visiting with family - and even more special that my sister Jayla and her husband Dan made the trip down for the shower. We ended our weekend with getting the kids in bed early so Nathan and I could watch a movie together - Hickok (don't waste your money!).

Now for a week full of Peach Festival Pageant! We have Noah's Farewell dinner, rehearsal for both Noah and Ryan, family dinner night, Noah crowning the new Little Mister and Ryan competing for Tiny Peach, then another Fun Friday!

My Sister

Sometimes in life, you pray for something to happen for years and years and when you least expect it - there it is! Something like this recently happened to my family. The beginning of this story goes back almost 50 years ago. My mother gave up a baby girl for adoption in 1968. The circumstances were not the best for her to raise a child and she made the best decision she felt she could at the time and placed her with a family that could raise her and hoped she would have a good life.

Mom went on to go to law school, get married and raise 4 children, but not a day went by that she did not think about and wonder where her little girl was. In 2000, someone from my mom's childhood questioned Nathan about the baby and wanted to know if she ever found her. Nathan had no idea what she was talking about so he asked me. I also had no idea so I asked mom and she told me the story and that she has been trying to find her for several years and registered online with search companies and really hoped we could find her someday. I then also did my best to look for her with what little information we could find for years with no luck.

On June 20, 2017, me, mom and Deborah (our co-worker) were on our way to Ft. Smith to celebrate my birthday. Mom's phone rang and it was my cousin Eric. I listened to her talk to him and knew EXACTLY what she was talking about! My cousin registered his DNA online with 23 & Me. He was contacted by a woman because it showed them to be first cousins! He was unaware of my moms story so he asked his dad about it. He told him to contact my mom about it. She told Eric to please give her contact information to her if she was open to talking to her. We then got to Ft. Smith and got out of the car. I will always remember this moment - standing in the parking garage and mom got a picture of her on her phone and we looked at it together and both gasped - she was beautiful and the resemblance to us both was undeniable! It was such an emotional moment! About 10 minutes later mom was on the phone with her and I was creeping her Facebook account :)

Her name is Jayla and she lives in Tulsa - so close this whole time! She has been looking for us for many years too and ran into the same issues we did - lack of information, closed records, destroyed records, etc. I was so relieved that she was open to being a part of each others lives. You never know how situations are going to go and there can be very valid feelings either way on it, so I was so happy that she was so open and eager to be in contact with us.

July 3, 2017, is a new holiday for us. It is the day that mom, grandma and I got to meet my sister and her husband face to face! Thanks to technology we already knew a lot about each other and had got to talk on the phone some too, so that really helped with the nerves and made for such a comfortable and easy meeting. It seriously, to me, felt like catching up with an old friend that I hadn't seen in a while. It was fun comparing likes and dislikes, allergies, similarities and differences. Before we knew it, hours had passed and we had to go, but we were already planning our next visit and really hope my other siblings get to meet her soon too!

Me and my SISTER!

3 Generations!

Mom and her oldest Daughter!

I am so glad that Jayla came into our lives! It wasn't as fast as either of us wanted, but it was perfect in God's timing. Now we have the rest of our lives full of possibilities to make the best memories together. This has given me a big reminder that if I am faithful and never give up, God will not either.

Girls Night, Fun Friday & Pool Time!

Thursday night I had my first Girls Night dinner. A few of my volunteer friends already had dinner together on some Thursdays and invited me and another friend to join them this week. The food was amazing (Talen is a great cook) and the company was even better. It was really nice to just sit and talk, no kids needing attention or baths to give, and eat good food with friends.

For this weeks Fun Friday we had to make a last minute change, but it worked out good. It was supposed to rain most of the day so we needed an indoor activity. We decided to head to the Amazeum in Bentonville with my mother-in-law and nephew. Unfortunately, my nephew came down with a stomach bug and they were not going to be joining us. We really wanted to wait for them to go with us when we went to the Amazeum so we decided to head to Little Rock and check out the Xtreme Bugs exhibit at the Clinton Presidential Library. It was only going to be there a few more weeks and we didn't want to miss it. Our first stop was to All Aboard restaurant. I took the kids here over 3 years ago and Noah loved it, Ryan was just a baby. They both really enjoyed it this time. The whole restaurant is train themed and a train on a track near the ceiling actually delivers your food to your table - it is really cool!

The bug exhibit wasn't as large as what I was expecting, but the kids didn't seem to mind. There were 2 rooms of giant bugs with large signs of bug facts and a place to dig up bug skeletons. What really surprised me was how much the kids liked the actual library part of the building. We went to the Oval Office and through all the Clintons personal memorabilia and they really got into it. They were even asking when we could come back and visit again! Of course the escalators were the highlight of their day - it is the simple things :)

Ryan was not loving this giant tarantula :)

We ended our Fun Friday with dinner at Fat Dawgz, one of our favorites :)

Saturday was very lazy  - lots of playing with toys, watching movies and cleaning house. I even got to sit in my bed and watch a few episodes of Roseanne uninterrupted - it was so nice! Then we went over to the Country Club to swim and get some sun! I love that the kids are old enough to swim without me having to be in the water with them so I can lay out if I want to. After our swimming fun we had dinner with friends at Crosswoods - we love seeing Scooter, Melissa and "Nachelle"  (as Ryan calls her).

After church on Sunday the kids and I had a big lunch with family - I love that my family fills up an entire row at church now - it wasn't long ago it was just Nathan and I there. The kids and I then hit up the matinee to see Despicable Me 3 while Nathan golfed. Then I cooked spaghetti for dinner and attempted to make the green beans that Talen made at our girls dinner the other night - they were ok, but needed more seasoning - but, hey, I am learning ;)

"Pictures or it didn't happen" ;)

Now for a busy week of meeting a long lost family member (more on that later), celebrating Independence Day, possibly a float trip, dentist appointments, and a baby shower!

Movies, Baseball and a Kayak!

Our Fun Friday consisted of a matinee to see the new Transformers movie. I wasn't sure how this would go. Noah loves Transformers, Ryan insisted she wanted to go and I love Mark Wahlberg so we decided to give it a try even though the movie was over two and a half hours long. It turned out pretty good - Noah loved it and paid attention the whole time, luckily I thought to bring Ryan's ipod and ear phones so she watched that for a while when she was not into the movie and I got to stare at my boyfriend for a few hours :) We had planned some outdoor things for after the movie but ended up having to cancel since it started storming. We decided to have dinner at the Country Club - the kids loved running around and playing and going on golf cart rides and the food was really good.

Noah's last ball game was Saturday. He says he loves to play and has his moments where he does pretty well, but he does not concentrate very well and was only able to get one hit off the machine all year. He did hit really well on the tee though, but his t-ball  games are officially over now. I will miss getting to watch him play each week, but I am glad it is over before the weather gets really hot.

After the game we went to Ft. Smith so I could finally get to eat at Texas Roadhouse - which I have been craving for 6 months. Then we went to get my birthday present from Nathan - a kayak! I really enjoyed kayaking last year at my friends bachelorette party but haven't got to do it since. I decided to get a kayak for my birthday and make it happen. I am also wanting to get some kayaks for the kids so I can help them get more used to it and hopefully go float with them in a few years. After going back and forth between the stores I finally picked one. I am not crazy about it being being yellow - but that way my friends can find me if I get lost ;)

Sunday we went to church and lunch then the kids and I went home to clean house and play while Nathan golfed. Then we all went to see Cars 3 - it was such a cute movie and of course the kids are begging to go back and see it again.

Ryan was not loving the sun and refused to take a picture - but Noah can always push through ;)

This week is looking like a normal summer week - baseball awards, golfing, swimming, kayaking, family dinner night and whatever else we can squeeze in!

Friends

So, over the last week I have been thoroughly celebrated for my birthday. My family included me in a party a few weeks ago (we combine a few months of birthdays altogether since we have such a large family). Then Nathan asked what I wanted for my birthday and I told him just a day with him shopping and out to eat. So, last Friday we had a day in Conway together. Then on my actual birthday Nathan took me to dinner and a movie. The day after my birthday my work took me on the traditional shopping and out to eat trip complete with gifts!

(Warning - this is where it gets a little sappy) :) But this year something different also happened - I had some very special ladies that I have gotten close to over the last few years plan me a special birthday lunch. This may sound like no big deal or a usual thing among friends, but this is the first time I have had this. My best friend lives in Hawaii and it has been a while since we have been anywhere close to each other on our birthdays. So, when I had friends get a secret group message going to plan a day and time and even get me a massage gift certificate (Alicia - I still may cry about that one) and pie - well, let's just say I was a little overwhelmed. I have been really busy raising kids the last few years that I have not had much of a social life to even really make good friends, but Noah starting school gave me the opportunity to do so and I am so thankful for it!

There are so many texts, inside jokes, belly laughs, crying on each others shoulders, mom story sharing, shocked looks, late night texts between us that I always look forward to any time I can get together with them. And we even added new memories at this lunch when we were informed the restaurant has "transitioned away from bread" (who does that?) and Amber pulled a Dine and Dash!

So, I may be late to the friend party but I am so glad that I have these ladies in my life now!

Football Camp ~ VBS ~ Father's Day

Last week was full of some fun summer camp/schools. First off was football camp for Noah. This was the first time they had football camp available for 2nd graders so we were excited to expose him a little to the sport and see how he did. It was only a 2 day camp but it was packed full of fun! Noah loved it and said he learned how to tackle, throw, "kick of that little thing with 3 points on it" and how to be part of a team. He was so sad it was over and has not stopped talking about it since.

Noah was one of the winners of the "Mean Face" competition at football camp :)

Overlapping with football camp in the evenings was Vacation Bible School. Our church does not have a VBS so I had the kids go to one of our friends church this time. Noah was really nervous when I went to drop him off and Ryan was of course ready to go no problem. That is just how those two are. Luckily Noah was fine by the end and had no problem the next day. One of my good friends was with both of my kids and sent me the cutest pictures  - they had the best time!

Noah and Ryan are on the front right - a little excited :)

Duck - Duck - Goose :)

Noah was loving being on stage singing and dancing to Praise music :)

Sunday was Father's Day. For the third year in a row we all met at Byrd's Riverfront Restaurant for lunch and swimming in the river. I am so glad the kids are big enough to get in without me now because that water was a little chilly after all the rain we have gotten lately. I loved just sitting on the rocks with family and watching the kids play with their cousins in the water - it is one of my happy places.

This is actually going to be a slow week besides the end of Noah's baseball games we are hoping to fit in some pool time.