We started out the holiday weekend with a day of swimming and grilling with friends at the pool! 

Four on the fourth!

"Time to eat!"

"I’m hungry!"

Noelle always talks about how funny Sam is!

Jon & Heather going down the big red slide!  (To the tune of Wiggles "Big Red Car!")

In this first picture, Noelle is saying "Little bit of cheese!"

We had so much fun at the play pool today – We LOVE Arlington!!!

Noelle and Jillian having fun in the sun!

Mommy and Noelle love to say, "Cheeeeese!!!" 

Mike & Jon in the lazy river!

Jon & Heather are two of Noelle’s best friends in the whole wide world!

This picture just makes me laugh! (Jon’s 6’7")

So, we went to Marshall and Carol’s last week with Heather to go swimming and hang out with Carol.  I bought this swimsuit last year for 80% off (like $3.00).  Anyway, I thought it would be fun to practice swimming this summer.  Heather is a great swim teacher, but by the end of the day, we had her normal suit back on!

The animal lover within.  🙂

Carol & Noelle relaxing and enjoying the rays!

Jamie, Jillian, Noelle, & Sam had a blast Wednesday at the movies!

We saw Shrek 3!  See our little monkey? 

The kids had SO much fun dancing during the credits – the music was great for busting a move!

The kids held hands off and on throughout the movie – it was really sweet.

More dancing… 

We even ran into Danny from the library.

Afterward, we went to Burger King for lunch.

We had such a fun play date with our friends!

I was checking Matt & Courtney’s blog (The Rakes Family) and left the computer for a sec… when I came back Noelle was pointing at each picture and saying "That’s Beckett!" "That’s Beckett!"  We love seeing pictures of the Miracle Man!

http://www.pediped.com/Home/grandparents.aspx

Happy 4th of July!

Hope you all have a watermelon-filled weekend celebrating our country’s freedom and all the men & women who have made that possible.  Let’s go swimming!!!

April, my cousin Amber, her husband Brian, and Ralph

From my cousin Amber on June 19:

I just wanted to touch base with everyone quickly.  Many of you probably know my best friend, April Salazar.  Her husband, and very good friend of ours, Ralph Salazar, left Monday for Iraq.  He is a Blackhawk pilot and Captain in charge of many men and women.  He will be flying as a medic and will probably see more things than I ever want to fathom. 

My request is this – Please keep him in your prayers, and his platoon.  He is headed for Iraq this morning and is taking a flight crew over early to get set up and make sure everything is in order before his men and women arrive.

Please keep him, April and every service member in your prayers….

As a reward to the kids for being such great sports all day, we finished the afternoon at the splash park down the street.  Michele is posing with the kids on the left, and I’m giving Drew a kiss on the right. 

Drew & Noelle were having so much fun, and I couldn’t stop taking their pictures!

Drew is such a big boy now!  ‘The journey through the next tunnel of your life will be so much fun, and we’ll see you as soon as we can, sweet boy!’

We came home and let the kids take a quick nap while we were making bows and jewelry.  We took the Eberts to Mijo’s to finish celebrating the day and send them off on their journey.  We love you, Ebert family, and Godspeed to you! 

The time has come for Andy, Michele, & Drew to move to Japan!  Andy is an orthopedic surgeon, and he is serving for 8 years in the Air Force.  They will be living on Yokota Air Force Base right outside of Tokyo, Japan.  We are so excited for them, and the adventure they are about to have.  Most importantly, we are so very proud of our family for making this sacrifice to serve our country!

The Eberts came through A-town on their way to Jacksonville on Tuesday.  We had an action-packed day for the cousin’s last day together!

After going to get their picture taken together (which turned out super cute), we went to story time at the library.  Of course, Drew found a choo-choo book!

Mrs. Jacobs had a 4th of July unit for the kids – it was so cute, and they all got to make flags afterward.  She even had flag socks on – the kids love her so much!

Our next stop for the day was Chick-fil-A.  Michele was super-impressed with the service there – they have a wonderful little lady named Edith who takes care of the dining room… they even gave us free ice cream!

I love these pictures of the kids standing side-by-side.  They are pretty much the same size now.

Noelle has really taken to Aunt Michele, and she is now saying "Michele" instead of "Chele."  Michele is 23 weeks pregnant with a little girl.  We spent the afternoon shopping for baby girl clothes for her to take to Japan. 

A funny memory for me from today is when Rosie called to say hey and Michele told her we were about to shop for hair "adornments."  I busted out laughing at her version of  hair "accessories."  Michele is going to be a great girl mom – she has no idea how much fun she’s in for!