Daddy's Helper....

Parker loves to help daddy with chores around the house.  My van is sparkling clean thanks to all of his hard work today!

A Day at Marble Grandpa & Grandma's...

We got to spend the afternoon at Marble Grandpa and Grandmas today with the whole family to celebrate Father's Day.  I love my dad so much and am thankful for the role he has played in my life...constant supporter, encourager, listener, best grandpa ever, funny, easy going, and doesn't give up when the going gets tough!  Thankful for what an amazing dad Joel is as well.  I feel blessed to have him as my teammate while raising our little ones!  I daily think of how thankful I am that God brought us two together!

Ooops...I might have taken a 2 hour nap while we were there too which left Joel and my mom on kids duty for our three! Being a mom is tiring!

Big Star 2015...

Every year going to Big Star is something our family looks forward too.  Parker didn't really remember previous years, but he was excited none the less!

Our week was wonderful!  We had the best weather we can ever remember having...warm during the days and cool at nights!  The kids loved playing on the beach and in the water!  By the end of the week Parker was swimming (floating!) around on his own in the deep with his Puddle Jumper on and loving it!  He actually even fell off the dock while fishing and didn't even freak out!  I looked over and he was just hanging on to the edge of the dock!

Even though many great memories were made it was a difficult year as we celebrated the first Father's Day and cottage week without dad.  There were many mixed emotions throughout the week and his presence was definitely missed.


The boys built a Lego rendition of the cottage before we left to get us pumped up for our week!  It truly was amazing!  It had the lake with a paddleboarder, people eating at a picnic table, a bonfire pit, a cottage complete with a pergala and a ceiling fan!  So creative!

We loaded down the van with all of the baby gear, clothes for every weather scenario, beach toys, every snack imaginable, bikes, and anything else that we could squeeze in and headed out when it was time for Sawyer to take a nap hoping he would sleep the whole way there.  Well, the napping plan worked but for the wrong kids!  Parker and Peyton slept almost the whole way there and Sawyer was awake the whole way there!  So, I spent the 2 hour drive entertaining him from the front seat, feeding him a bottle from the front seat, and doing whatever it took to keep him from crying!  No plan is ever kid-proof!

Parker and Connor played together all week and Parker loved having his best buddy there with him for the whole week...

A little baseball game after dinner...

Peyton helping me feed Sawyer...

The boys loved riding their bikes up and down and all around the sidewalk area...

Parker found a lot of "special friends" this week to play with too...

Much time was spent at the beach soaking up the sun and playing in the water and sand...

Best buds...

Family Dinners...

All the little cousins hanging out...

Boat rides...

Tube Rides...

Sawyer started rolling over at the cottage consistently!  He also woke up 3 times a night too which was a bit of a struggle for mommy and daddy!

Praise Babies...

Golf cart rides with wildlife spottings...

Family time...

We tried to do a little bit of everything throughout the week and fishing had it's turn too...even though Joel and I don't love fishing!  Our goal=catch one fish.  Size does not matter.  Well, after quite some time of fishing off the dock with a worm and lots of little fish stealing our worms we still had not caught anything.  Parker tried, Joel tried, then Mommy tried....and....got the fish!  My strategy was to yank the pole up when all of the fish were surrounding it.  I ended up hooking the fish in it's side!