Happy 40th Anniversary Papa & Granna!

My Mom and Dad celebrated their  40th wedding anniversary!!!!!! Amazing example for a family to follow. Granna and Papa are leaving a legacy for their children, and grandchildren. I am blessed beyond words to have parents that are as committed to their marriage as my Mom and Dad. They are amazing parents, and grandparents. We decided to celebrate that we would go with our families and stay together for the weekend at a resort in the Smokey Mountains! It was so much fun! We went with our family, Granna, Papa, Uncle Clay, and Aunt Justina! We played all day at the indoor water park, and then went to the Dixie Stampede dinner show!! The dinner show was amazing!! Jayne Elizabeth loved the girl trick riders, and the twins loved the bison!! It was a fabulous night of entertainment, the kids were excellent too! The next day we went around like tourists! Uncle Clay was chosen by Jayne Elizabeth to ride the carosel with her,  and the boys experienced race cars for the first time!! It was a busy weekend, but we created so many family memories!

Our view from the balcony, so beautiful.

 Johnathan went with Mommy early to get Starbucks. Everyone else was sleeping but Daddy, who was out running the roads, literally.

Uncle Clay is such a great guy, but he is thankful he will have a son !

 Jayne Elizabeth and Papa were the light weights, they were told to slow down on the course!!

At the Dixie Stampede

Jayne Elizabeth thought the Southern Bell was so pretty, but then she was shy :)

Brody turns 5!

Our friend Brody turned 5!! He celebrated his day with a "Construction Birthday Party!" This is a perfect party for Brody. He loves to build, just like his Pa! Our kids had a great time, the Lowe family are party planners!!!

Brodybuilt birthday cake, amazing!

 Joseph working hard on his wood work, a bird house!

 Construction zone, kids working!

 Break time!

 Briggs and Jayne Elizabeth, they did the "trim work" on this house!

 A perfect crew!

 Mrs Dana ALWAYS has the best snacks, including chocolate tools!

 Joe, Brody, and Dana. We love this family, Brody when did you grow up?

3 kids

our 3 kids. stair steps for sure.

Meet Cinderella

The farm is now complete, Papa found the perfect pony for the grandkids! Johnathan, Joseph, and Jayne Elizabeth now have a pony named Cinderella! Papa has spent time discussing how to care for the pony, and how to saddler her! The kids seem very interested, and enjoy riding her! Joseph prayed "help keep Cinderalla safe, and help her grow big and strong." Jayne Elizabeth is definitely the most interested in riding. The boys enjoy riding then lose interest and would prefer to play in the hay or gather chicken eggs! Jayne Elizabeth would ride her pony all day, and loves to lead her!! Jayne Elizabeth likes to brush her, and pick all the burs out of her hair. I think we have cowgirl on our hands!

Papa teaching Joseph how to "sit" and be centered in the saddle.

 Papa showing the kids how to saddle, and lead their pony.

This is our sweet cowgirl, pouting because she wanted her turn, now. Still cute~!

Air Force Half Marathon

Anthony decided a long time ago that he wanted us to go to Dayton, Ohio and run the Air Force Half Marathon. The race day would be amazing, but the best part would be his "grandaddy" there cheering him on! Grandaddy, John Warlick is a Navy pilot. He is the only Navy man, inducted into the Air Force hall of fame. At 86 years young he still lives in Dayton, Ohio. He has been instrumental in the engineering of flight. Grandaddy is a true aviation enthusiast. Grandaddy and Grandmother were the charter members of the Wright B Flyer. Grandaddy is an amazing engineer, pilot, father, and grandfather. Grandmother and Grandaddy would have celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in October . So of course I said "yes" when Anthony asked me to bring all the kids and run with him the the Air Force Half  Marathon in Dayton, Ohio. The day was gorgeous, complete with jets, bombers and the Wright B Flyer flying over you while running! The finish was between lined up planes, as you passed by the Air Force hangars! It was amazing, and we had our family at the finish line. Thank you Grandaddy, for being a "hero" in our family.

 Grandma Gail came back to Beaver Creek to help keep all the kids so that we could both run!

Anthony's cousin Christy lives with Grandaddy, and is a gymnastic coach!! She opened up her gym so that all the cousins could play!! They had so much fun jumping and twirling!

Oh, this is precious times. Grandaddy wasnt happy unless he was CARRYING Jayne Elizabeth on his hip, or reading stories to these two little boys. Grandaddy enjoyed talking about when their Daddy was a twin little boy too. I wish I could see this more often, what a legacy John(athan) and Joseph have in their great-grandfather. Wow.

You can take the boy out of Florida

....but you can't take Florida out of the boy! Uncle Clay returns to Florida regularly to fish and scuba dive with his buddies back home. Uncle Clay has spent a lot of time discussing salt water fishing, and lobster season with our crew. After his recent trip to the Florida keys he came to our house with a prize lobster! The kids were unsure at first, but with all the details on catching the lobster the kids were excited!!! Needless to say the imaginative play in the days following involved chasing the lobster out of the holes, and then bringing them home to eat on a boat! I am just glad a good dinner was involved!!

I think Joseph will be Uncle Clay's fishing buddy!!

Say it is not so! Double Casts.

Simply put, Johnathan has increasingly more been walking on his toes. What we thought would be a screen by the pediatric specialist turned into a day spent with doctors, therapist, and orthotist/prosthetist! I am so thankful that my Dad volunteered on his own to go with us to the "doctor appointment." We couldnt have made it through the long day, that we were not prepared for, without Papa! God truly did take care of the details that day. The pediatric physical therapist Julie, not only worked us into her late Friday afternoon schedule, but was amazing with Johnathan! Johnathan was eager, and excited that she was giving him new "boots" to help keep his heels down. She incorporated him into "helping" with the cast, he loved it. When she asked what was his favorite color he said, "green." But then hesitated, and said "but my brother's favorite color is blue." So yes, we came home with one green, and one blue cast! Johnathan is a precious little boy, who amazes us with his heart. We are thankful for a God who cares about the details, even down to a sweet little boy's cast. We will continue to pray for complete healing of these little feet!!!

 Ms. Julie, or like Johnathan says "my doctor, who put on my cast-es."

Johnathan calling Aunt Anne to tell her about his day, thanks Papa for carrying Johnathan all over Knoxville!

Johnathan enjoying a Gigi's cupcake, well deserved little buddy!

 Awe, welcome home brother! Joseph said "mommy, now him can walk!"