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Mother's Day
Strawberry Picking
Disney on Ice

We had a busy week.

We started off with church Mother's Day morning. Followed by lunch at Beast & Barrel. We then spent the afternoon at Coolidge Park playing in the fountain and ridding bikes. Usually when we ride our bikes only one of us gets to ride because the other has to help Finley. This was our first time ridding together as a family. Finley's biking confidence is growing everyday and I think we will be able to take the training wheels off soon!

During the week we had a field trip out to a local farm where we got to pick strawberries.

Friday we left for Atlanta to see Disney on Ice. Finley go to go to Frozen while we were in Nepal last year for the first time. So I was excited to get to do this one with her. We spent the afternoon at my parents and had our first pool day of the season!

And now I will leave you with the very intent face of Finley watching The Little Mermaid and destroying her cotton candy. 

6/52

Finally getting week 6 up! I am so bad about doing this on time!

We had a great Valentine's weekend. Friday afternoon Finley and I made cookie to go with her Valentine's cards for her friends at church. That girl loves to bake and help me in the kitchen! Friday night I was able to go out for a "Galentine's" night with some girlfriends. 

Saturday morning we woke up and Matthew suggested we go to breakfast. I am always about going out to eat and not having to cook! That afternoon Matthew helped some friends move into their new house while I got ready for our date night!

Finley got to spend the night with Kylie on Saturday. They have been asking to have a sleepover for weeks now and we have been telling them no. They haven't spent the night together since Finley's birthday last year when Kylie started to get sick. So this was a big treat for them!

Saturday night Matthew and I had a double date night with some friends. We went for sushi at Matthew's favorite sushi place. We had a great time and ate way too much! After dinner we came back to the house and had a relaxing evening just the 2 of us. It felt strange to not have Finley in the house.

After church Sunday we came home and relaxed some more. Finley was having a hard time at church and I could tell she desperately needed a nap. We were also on a winter storm watch. So we decided to just stay home and wait for the storm to hit.

The storm never came. The weather guy kept pushing the arrival back and we were suppose to wake up to snow Monday morning. All we got was rain. They said the rain was going to turn to ice, but again nothing happened. It was nice to stay at home and hang out though. We stayed in our PJ's all day. We watched a lot of TV. We played with every toy Finley owns. I made beef stew for dinner and we cuddled on the couch. 

I was very disappointed that the weather never developed into anything other then rain. But this is morning we woke up with snow!! There is nothing like an excited southerner when it snows :) Finley's face this morning was priceless. Her eyes lite up when she looked outside and instantly asked if we could build a snowman. Hopefully we will get enough today that we can make that happen!

Have a great rest of the week and stay safe if you are where there is a ton of snow!

When it is no longer your choice

If you have been reading for a little while, then you know I have been having some health issues. I have been in and out of doctors offices. I have had my blood drawn more in the last 2 months then I have had in my entire life and I have had every type of scan possible, except a PET scan.

Originally, just before Christmas I made a trip to the ER for pain in my side. We were expecting them to tell us in was my appendix. They quickly came back and said it was a blood clot in a vein going to my right ovary (Ovarian Vein Thrombosis). They sent for more testing and came back and said it was actually a ovarian cyst and instructed me to see an OB as soon as possible. Due to the holidays and it being so close to the end of the year, getting an appointment took a bit longer then wanted. But within a week I was in a OB's office having another ultrasound down. He left the room and took a bit longer then he should have if everything was normal. When he came back in the room he told me the original diagnosis of the blood clot was correct. The thing is, this type of blood clot doesn't just happen on its own. There is usually another medical issue that is causing it. I was told to take an aspirin a day and the clot should break up on its own. But my doctor wanted to find out what could have been causing the clot. So off for more scans and a full panel of blood work to find any kind of clotting disorder.

My scans came back fine, with no infection which was good news. A few weeks had passed since I had the blood work done and I was getting ready to call my OB to find out what the results were. That day I got a call from an Oncology and Hematology office with a referral to see them. I was confused because I hadn't had any results reported to me. I call my OB office and they explained that some of my blood work came back with a mild clotting disorder and they wanted a hematologist to take a look at my records. So off to another doctors office for more blood work.

I arrived and sat down in the room. The doctor came in and began the normal questions as he went of my file.

What brought you here?
Do you understand what is going on?
What is your medical history?

Then the less common questions began....

Have you been pregnant before?
How many miscarriages have you had?
So only 1 pregnancy and 1 live birth?
Were there complications?
Hmmmmm.... so no miscarriages? Really?

He then called his partner in to the room and we repeated the same conversation. Then they began to talk like I wasn't in the room. They are both Indian, so they were talking so fast to one another and I was having a hard time keeping up. I was able to catch bits and pieces of the conversation. They were talking about how it wasn't a severe clotting disorder, but it should have presented by now. They said I should have had a harder pregnancy and both seemed very surprised by the fact that I had had a successful pregnancy. They kept asking if I was sure that I had had no miscarriages. I told them I had taken several tests over the past few months before getting a positive test. And only had 1 positive test followed by a great pregnancy and a birth.

Then they began to talk about medications. The hematologist explained that if I were to want to get pregnant again it could be difficult and dangerous. The clot could effect my right ovary and make it stop working and the clotting disorder could put me and a new baby at risk. He wanted to start a round of blood thinners in order to "protect my fertility." The blood thinners would help break the clot up and keep another clot from forming. He said this should have presented before now. It should have been harder to get pregnant and stay pregnant for me in the first place. They were surprised to see the disorder present so late.

The things is, Matthew and I are more then likely done having kids. I would love to have a second baby and have always thought that we maybe would at some point, but I am also content with just Finley. But there is something about being told you can't, you shouldn't or if you do it could be dangerous to have another child that makes me say "but what if I wanted more?" Matthew and I are also kind of system buckers. So if you tell us we can't do something we respond with a "you don't know me!" (Not that this means we will be having a second baby any time soon!!) But your heart plays a funny trick with your brain when you hear those words and you start to run all the reason you want another baby and what it would be like. But now it is no longer your choice to not have another child. It was a choice that was made for you. There is something satisfying when you say I am done. This is a choice I am making for me and my family. We are happy and content and complete. There is something that breaks a little inside you when you are told it is no longer your choice.

2014

Well 2014 is just about over and I have to say I am not to sorry to see this year end.
I wouldn't say it was a bad year... but it has been a rough year.
We are ending this year with a second cancer diagnosis, this time it is close to home and it has been hard to take.
I also had my OB/GYN appointment yesterday and walked out with a few answers and more questions then I walked in there with. The doctor no longer sees the cyst they saw in the ER, but the original diagnosis of the blood clot is correct. Right now we are still doing pain management while the doctor figures out how to treat the clot. This is not a deadly clot, which means it is not in a major artery, but it is still very painful. The type of clot is called an Ovarian Vein Thrombosis, and is pretty rare in general. It usually only happens with other conditions (i.e. sever appendicitis), none of which I have. So the doctors are stumped.

OK. I am done with all the downer stuff... now on to a recap of this year.

January: We got our first snow storm since we moved to Chattanooga. Finley loved going out and playing in it.
February: We got our 2nd snow storm and got snowed in for 3 days! This is the most snow Finely has ever seen and she loved it! She has been asking for more snow every week since it melted.
March: Once the weather got nice we spent a lot of time out at Coolidge Park. We also had my best friends wedding shower.
April: I turned 30 and Finley turned 4. Erica got married and Finley was a flower girl for the first time.
May: We planted our first garden and it did wonderfully. We will definitely be doing it again this coming spring.
June: We spent a lot of time at the pool. By the end of the summer we had Finley swimming without her life vest.
July: July was hard. We had a great 4th of July cookout, followed by Kylie's (Finely's best friend) leukemia diagnosis.
August: Matthew and I celebrated 8 years of marriage!! We also went on our first family vacation since Finely was 1.
September: We spent a lot of time outside and at the parks. We were trying to soak up as much quality time as possible before we left for Nepal.
October: We spent 2 weeks with great friends in Nepal. When we got home we had a great family day at a pumpkin patch. Followed by the coldest Halloween I think I have ever experienced
November: We had a group camp out in our backyard. It was so cold, all the mom's and kids ended up inside and left the dad's out in the cold. We spent Thanksgiving with Matt's mom's side of the family. Matt's dad and nephew came and spent 4 days with us after Thanksgiving. We went and got our Christmas tree and got to see the light at Rock City while they were here.
December: We stayed pretty busy with a lot of Christmas parties. I wasn't feeling well this month, so we kept our days pretty low key. I spent the Saturday before Christmas in the ER trying to figure out what was going on with my body. We spent Christmas with my family and Finley made out like a bandit. We finally ate at the Taco Mac in downtown Chattanooga for Matthew's birthday.

We are now ringing in the new year having a nice low-key evening with family watching Georgia Tech whoop up on some Mississippi Sate at the Orange Bowl!

Happy New Year! Here is to hoping 2015 is a great year!

blogging break/ life lately

Well... it looks like I needed a little bit of a break. It wasn't something I meant to do... it just sorta happened.

We always come home from Nepal just before we get dumped into the holiday season and it seems like the weeks just go by faster after that.

We have also had a rough go this fall as far as health goes. One of us has been sick on a semi-regular basis. Luckily we haven't all been sick at the same time. You know you've had it bad when the pharmacist starts to recognize you. Matthew came home form Nepal with a virus that he had a hard time shaking and made getting over the jet lag much harder. Just days after he felt better, Finley came down with a cold. Then it was my turn and I think I got the worst of it. I either had the flu or strep throat. I'm not sure which... but it was rough. It was one of those sicknesses that you are praying for God to heal you or take you home. You know it will pass in a few days, but it seems like you will never get better. I woke up at one point with 103 fever! This also means we go into quarantine mode during our sickness and then a few days following, if we are able to.

When we haven't been sick, we have been on the go.

Here are some pictures of just a few things we have been enjoying recently.

We have had several bonfires and roasted lost of marshmallows.
We went to the aquarium for the first time in months.
We have spent a lot of time in Coolidge Park.
Matt's dad and nephew came and spent a few days with us over Thanksgiving.
We got to go walk through the lights at Rock City.
We cut down our first real Christmas tree since Finley was born.
We have had a camp out in our backyard (on one of the coldest nights of the year. All the mom's and kids ended up inside in beds while that dad's stayed in the tents.)
We traveled to see Matt's mom's side of the family for Thanksgiving. Sorry... no pictures. I left my phone at home.
We went to a birthday party at a trampoline park. That was so much fun! Finley did not want it to be over.
We had a mom's afternoon and attended the online ThriveMom's conference. It was amazing to participate it.
We had a baby shower for a new friend today and it was so cute! We did a superhero's theme!

So you see.... it's not that I haven't had stuff going on... I've just been to lazy to post anything about it. Hopefully I can get better about! The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

Currently

I was reading Treats and Travels this morning and saw she had done a Currently post. I've seen them before and have always found them interesting, so I figured why not do one myself!

CURRENTLY

Reading: Blogs, Proverbs31 Ministry emails, and a book called "Say Goodbye to whining, complaining and bad attitudes in you and your kids." So far so good... now just to implement it in our house.

Writing: My first Currently post of this type. I have done "currently's" on life updates, but not one like this. I am also working out the 2nd part of our Nepal trip.

Discovering: My camera, I have had it for almost 2 years and I take it everywhere but don't use it like I should. I am finally figuring out how I like to take pictures and how I like for them to look. Also, I am figuring out what I don't like and how to change it.

Watching: New Girl, when Matthew is home. And Gilmore Girls, when I am by myself.

Listening: My worship play list on you tube, specifically The Rend Collective "Build Your Kingdom Here."

Thinking: About how I would like to be back on my normal schedule. I am over feeling wiped at 7 pm and wide awake at 5 am! I'd really like my 11 pm - 8 am sleep schedule back now....

Needing: To go to the gym. I haven't been since the week before we left.... so basically I will be starting over because it has been a month since I've been.

Feeling: The funny disconnected/depressed feeling being jet lagged brings. It's funny... it is very similar to the feelings you have after a baby. Everyone around has continued in their normal routines, while you went off doing something else. And now that you are back you are trying to find your rhythm again with the normal routines around you. It's strange and I don't like it. This is my least favorite part of coming back from a trip like this.

Wanting: A diet coke........ so very badly......

Loving: Our time spent at the pumpkin patch as a family this past weekend. Matthew is never thrilled about doing those types of things, but once we get there he is always glad I made him do it. I look my camera and was able to get some really great pictures. You can see some of my favorites over on instagram. After I post the pictures to my personal facebook page, I got some messages from some friends that are legit photographers. They were very encouraging and gave me some great tips to keep getting better pictures.

Hilton Head, SC

It is crazy to think that we have been home from vacation for 2 weeks now! Wow.. how does time get away from me!

We had a great time. Our condo was small put recently re-done, so it was really nice to just sit and hang out in it. It wasn't the typical "old beach" theme that most places are. It got the job done as far as condos go. I would be thrilled to go back and stay in the same one again.

We arrived late Saturday night. Once we got the car unpacked we kicked off our shoes and ran down to the ocean. Wedding clothes and everything! It was after 11 and the moon was full, so it was beautiful!

We spent most of our time in the pool. I love the idea of the beach, but hate the sand. And we all were pretty content with the pool after we got stung by jellies within 15 minutes of being in the water on our first day.

We hit all the local hot spots for ice cream, lunch, dinner and daiquiris :) Our condo was right across the street from the major shops and restaurant pavilion. So it was easy to get ready and walk over. We barely drove anywhere the whole week because everything we needed was across the street.

One day we rented bikes and rode around the island. That was fun, but hot. We got to see an alligator while we were out. A guy passing by mentioned that they liked to eat little girls... so of course Finley spent the rest of the week worrying about being eaten by an alligator. So thank you random guy for that.

I got to have an afternoon to myself while Matthew took Finley to the pool. I packed up my computer and went to the coffee shop near our condo and sat there by myself with the quiet for a while. It was heaven!

We made the trip down to Savannah to see family one day. We spent the evening walking around River Street. We took Finley into one of the iconic candy shops and let her pick out a treat. It was hot and muggy, so we didn't hang out too long. Which made me sad a little bit. Matthew and I spent our 1 year anniversary in Savannah and I was hoping to get a family picture in front of the Forsyth Park fountain. Matthew and I took a picture there with just the 2 of us. So I would have like to have an updated picture, but we never made our way over there :(

Almost every night after dinner we would go walk the beach. Finley's favorite thing to do was look for the muscles that dig into the sand. I think that was the highlight of the trip for her. She is still talking about them, and says that they are in her food. Silly girl...

We took it easy for the most part. We really didn't have any specific plans we wanted to do, expect for visiting family the one day. It was nice to be able to take our time getting ready and going anywhere.

Now for some pictures from our trip!

Now we start the count down until we leave for Nepal!

6 weeks!!

Setting the bar for vacations

We have been home from vacation for about a week now. This year we had a great time! There was some hesitation and doubt when we planned this trip that it would be like the last one we went on.

So let me tell you about the family trip that set the bar for all family trips after that. Let's just say the bar wasn't set very high....

Let me set the stage for you....
We were headed to St. Simons Island, GA.
It was July 4th weekend (July 4th fell on a Monday that year).
Finley had just turned 14 months old.
The day before we left she decided to walk for the first time.
At the last minute we decided to add an extra day, so we left a day earlier then planned and had to priceline a hotel room last minute.
At some point the week before we left I had a migraine. You may ask what this has to do with the trip... Well one of my meds (unbeknownst to me) made me hypersensitive to the sun (i.e. it made me allergic to the sun) and we were headed to the beach. Fun times.

It was Wednesday night and Matthew suggested we leave Friday afternoon instead of super early Saturday morning. This way we do the 6 hour drive Friday night and are ready for a day at the beach the next day. I was all like "uhh... yeah! Let's do this!" So we priclined a hotel about 30 minutes outside of St. Simons. The plan was that Matthew would work until lunch, he would come home and we would pack the car and be on the road by 3.

That Friday morning I had a play date at the pool planned, so I still meet up with the other mom. I figured this would be good for Finley to tire her out. She wouldn't be going down for her nap because I thought she would sleep in the car. Around lunch time we packed up and headed home to meet Matthew. We quickly packed up the car and were on the road by 2! I remember this because Matthew was surprised I was so prepared and we were ahead of schedule. Like planned, Finley fell asleep and slept most of the drive. So far so good... the trip was starting off without a hitch. About halfway through the drive my scalp started to itch, then itch some more. I could feel a rash in my hair and it was starting to itch like something serious. I mentioned this to Matthew, but figured it was because I hadn't showered after leaving the pool. We made great time and arrived at our pricelined hotel on the later side of dinner time. We checked in, dropped our stuff off and went to get something to eat. By this time I am starting to itch all over my body. Finley also decided to eat about 3 bites of her crazy vacation expensive kids meal.

That night we went back to the hotel and got ready for bed. We put Finley down in her pack-n-play. She fell asleep pretty quickly and we watched TV for a bit. Some time around the middle of the night Finley woke up and would not go back to sleep. So we brought her in the bed with us. This seemed to help her sleep, but didn't do much for helping us sleep. Around 5 am the cleaning people started to get their stuff together to clean the room. I know this because we could hear them on the other side of the wall of our room. I itched all night and woke up the next morning with a full blown rash all over my body!

We stopped at a pharmacy for some oral and topical benadryl as I tried to figure out what I had a reaction to. We knew we couldn't check into our other hotel until after 3, so we headed to the beach. I lathered myself up in sunscreen, wore a massive hat, and an under armour shirt most of the day on the beach. We had to lug all of our stuff out, which included a tent. So basically we made about 8 trips to and from the car. The plan was to stay out until check-in time (3 or 4 pm), but by noon I was feeling awful. The sun made my skin hurt, the sand made it itch, the ocean made it burn. I couldn't leave the pop-up tent. Finley wouldn't stay in one spot and kept trying to eat the sand. The beach was PACKED. By lunch time I was done with the beach. So we packed up (8 more trips to and from the car), went to get lunch and then check into the hotel. Again, Finley didn't eat anything except her french fries. We finally got checked into the hotel and got cleaned up. We tried to put Finley down for a nap, which didn't work. That night we spent our time down by the lighthouse. There are tons of shops and places to eat so we enjoyed our time walking around. That night back at the hotel went pretty much the same as the last. We got Finley to sleep pretty quickly, but she didn't stay asleep for very long. It didn't help that there was a room full of drunk 20-somethings across the hall from us that was up partying until well after 3 am. The only reason they stopped was because Matthew called the front desk. I was ready to go out and start a fight... but he thought it best not to. Don't mess with a tired mama that has a baby awake because you are scream foul words at 2 o'clock in the morning. I was ready to throw down.

Our days and night continued this way. Drag our stuff out to the beach, be miserable by lunch, drag it all back to the car. Go back to the hotel, shower, eat lunch (which Finley wouldn't do), go find something fun, but not sun related to do, then eat dinner (again, no eating for Finley) and finally end our night struggling to get some sleep. One night at 3 am, Matthew had to take Finley on a car ride until she fell asleep. Then had to bring her back in the room in her (front facing) car seat an hour later.

So needless to say... it was the worst family vacation. On that trip I told Matthew if we can't stay in a condo on the beach, then we can't go. Also, Finley must be potty trained and no longer needing a nap. This was the first year that all 3 of those requirements were met. When we decided to take a trip this year we figured it couldn't be any worse then the last, am I right? This year was great! We had a wonderful time and now cannot wait to plan another trip for next year!

Finley also had a blast. She keeps saying "are we going to the beach tomorrow?" and I have to tell her every day that we wont be going back until next year *sad face*.

Now for some pictures that make it look like we had way more fun then we actually did.

Her first time touching sand and ocean. She was not amused.

That shovel was not putting as much sand as you would think in her bucket. Most of it went in her mouth.

If she wasn't eating the sand, she was flinging it everywhere.

She was so proud of herself! Walking was so new and awesome, you couldn't keep her from taking off.

A Heavy Heart

Today I hurt.
Both physically and emotionally.
Sunday I hurt by back somehow. I have spent the last 2 days trying to take it easy.

Then this morning I received a text from a dear friend. They are on vacation, and their youngest daughter hasn't been feeling well. They thought it wasn't anything serious, but she continued to get worse. So this morning they took her to the ER.
The text that followed were the kind that you never want to get.
Doesn't look good the Doctor is worried.
Doctors are doing blood work.
Testing for leukemia.
It may be something else. Not sure what it is though.
"I'm trying not to freak out."
"Don't worry girl, I will freak out enough for both of us. You stay strong."
Good news. Initial blood work looks good for it not being leukemia.
But it can't be ruled out.
They are moving her to a children's hospital for more testing.

And so throughout the morning I paced my house. It hurts to walk, but it hurts to sit too. Sitting is not keeping busy, and my mind would wander and worry. So I paced and cleaned waiting for the next text to come in. Constantly praying that the doctors were able to rule the worst case scenarios out.

A tearful phone call from my friends Mother. The hope that it is something not as serious as originally thought, but will still need lots of treatment.

Moments of falling to my knees and praying for this family and their little girl.

Prayer is not my spiritual gift. It took Matthew months, maybe even years, to get me to even say a blessing at dinner. I don't feel like it do it well or the right way, as if you can pray the wrong way.

Finley is slightly unaware of what it going on. She keeps asking why I am sad. I try telling her. She says OK and moves on. I guess that is the beauty of childhood, they don't dwell or worry like we do as adults. They are unaware of the pains of this world. As I tell her, her friend is sick she tells me she will be OK.

Then as I pace the hallway looking for something else to do to keep myself busy, Finley fell and hurt herself. I sat down on the floor and pulled her into my lap and held her. She started to cry for her friend, as she does when she is hurt or in trouble. Because friends are able to make things better in a way that even Mommy can't. Hearing her tiny voice cry out for her friend made my cry. Heavy and hard, ugly tears. I ugly cried, because in those moments I don't think you can cry any other way. I sat there and thanked God for my daughter and her health. I thanked him for this family, what a blessing and encouragement they have been for us. I prayed that we could be those things for them now. I prayed the way only a mother can pray for a child. I let out a cry from my heart. The kind that has no words, but you know God hears it and understands it.

I am praying for our friends as they are out of town on vacation, not near their family or support system. Trusting doctors they don't know, but also trusting a God they do know.

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July. We stayed in town this year and had a BBQ with some friends.
There was a lot of yummy food and fun games.
There was also a lot of baby holding :)
The kids, and a few adults (I may have been one of them...) jumped on the trampoline.
We were able to see fireworks from a few different places around the city in our friends backyard. Which was the best. No crowds and no freak outs from Finley. She is not a fan of loud noises, so I have always been a bit hesitant on taking her to see fireworks. She loves watching them, just not hearing them. So this was a awesome option for her.
We played with sparklers. Finley wasn't too sure about them at first. Then she really started to enjoy playing with them. That was until she dropped hers and then tried to pick it up before I could stop her. Bad idea little one. She wasn't hurt bad, I think it just scared her that it was hot. But after that she was over the sparklers. She wanted to glow sticks and flashlights.
We were up late, obviously... who isn't up late on the 4th of July!?
I was hoping for a morning of sleeping in on Saturday. Matthew got up early the next morning to go boating, and Finley woke up promptly at 6:15 am. So much for my morning of sleeping in!

All in all it was a great weekend with friends!
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and was safe!

If every day could be like this past weekend

If you know me, you know I do not like summer. I hate being hot and sweaty. I can only handle summer if I am near water. Preferably a pool. Or a pool next to a beach. I love the beach, but not the sand. Strange I know. I want to be in a pool looking at the ocean from May through September.

But if every day could be like this past weekend, I might be able to make it until August when we head to Hilton Head.

It started on Friday. We spent the early part of the afternoon at the public pool. As I was putting our stuff down and talking to a friend, Finley B-lined it for the pool. Clothes and shoes on, no adult with her. I dropped everything, and chased her down. Told her she needed to wait and take off her shoes and dress before she could get in. So in the middle of the walk way, she stripped down and headed back to the pool. She is one determined little thing. It started to rain, so it cut our time a little short. But it was good while it lasted.

Friday night we went out to Nightfall. It is a local festival they do on Friday nights (duh). They have food trucks, live music, and all the motorcycles come out. It was a nice night to be outside, the rain cooled everything down.

 We had Italian ice's. I went looking for the frozen lemonade guy, but he wasn't there.

 Selfies

Finley loves to ride around on Daddy's bike.

Finley is currently obsessed with rocks and stones. She picks rocks up every where we go and says "I need this one for my collection!" While we were in Texas, my mom spent $6 on one of those little bags of rocks. She loves them, she has them lined up on her windowsill in her room.

Matthew has wanted to take Finley gem panning since we moved to Chattanooga. When he realized she had a interest in rocks, he started to plan on taking her panning.

So Saturday morning we got up and ate breakfast and headed to Racoon Mountain, which is litterally right around the corner from us. We did it as a surprise, and she LOVED it!

Look at the face. She was thrilled.

After the gem panning, we went home and had lunch. We grabbed our swimming stuff and headed out to a swimming hole Matthew has been wanting to visit.

Finley wasn't so sure about the river at first, but by the end of the day she didn't want to leave.

We found tadpoles, and I think Finley could have chased them all afternoon.

Sunday after church we all went to Coolidge Park for a picnic and fun.

The kids played in the fountain and rode the carousel.

This is most of our ladies, but not all. We took this picture towards the end of the day, so some people had already headed home.

We finished our day with a shaved ice. 

 It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

If every day could be like those 3, I think I could handle summer a bit better.

We were suppose to head out to Riverbend tonight to see Toby Mac, but we currently have a bad storm rolling through. So I am not sure if we are going to make it. Sad. Tomorrow Boston is playing and if the weather stays nice, we will definitely be at that one!

Here is a great start to summer!