Break on through to the other side

Briley breaking her first board at karate :-).

May/June happenings

May and June have been full of fun so far!!! Briley graduated from kindergarten at the end of May. It was sweet but a little bit of overkill in my opinion (especially since we already graduated from pre-school last year). I felt like I was listening to the high school homecoming court introductions when they started with "Briley is the daughter of ... her favorite activities are ... she wants to be a Mommy when she grows up ..." It was pretty entertaining, and now she's had plenty of practice to hold us until the real graduations from high school and college!!!Next up was Briley testing for her white belt with yellow stripe at karate. She had to break her first board, and she got it on the first kick. Chad did say the boards were super weak, but that's okay ... she did GREAT!
We rounded out May and began June with the Bube family beach trip to Orange Beach, AL. The weather was perfect; the condo was great; and the kids had a fabulous time playing together. We fought hard for these group shots so enjoy :-).
Nana and Papa with all their grand kids.

The whole gang ... 15 of us in all!

Blondies

Cutest blondies I know :-). Have a happy day!

Washed in the blood of the lamb!

Oh happy day!!!

Briley got baptized this morning. It was AWESOME! Thanks so much to all of our sweet family who came. I didn't get a picture, but the group consisted of Mom and Dad, Nana and Papa, my Uncle Jimmy and Trish, Shenoa, Pat, Landen and Palmer. Briley did so well, and despite being nervous, she was ready to do it again after it was over. What a blessing to know that her eternal home will be in Heaven -- Praise the Lord!!!

The happy family before church.
Getting her robe on :-).

Waiting to get started.

Here she goes!

Happy Mother's Day

We started the weekend catching up with friends and playing with our cousin. On Saturday, Shenoa, Mom and I got pedicures to celebrate Mother's Day, and then we met everyone for dinner that night in honor of my b-day, Dad's b-day and Palmer's b-day. Mom and Dad came to church with us and Sunday and then Chad, the girls and I headed up to Dollywood to meet Shenoa and her family (it was a great day to be there-no crowds!). I'm so blessed to be a Mom and to have such a wonderful Christian example of a Mom to follow :-).

Easter excitement

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating the resurrection of our Lord!!! Briley was off Friday and Monday so we headed up to Pigeon Forge to spend the night at Wilderness in the Smokies on Friday. We played in the water parks that afternoon and then headed to dinner, putt-putt and go-karts. It was a fun day and night, and the kids always love being at a hotel :-). Saturday morning we headed out to Dollywood bright and early. We got through all the rides pretty fast since the crowds were light that morning. Sunday we celebrated Easter at our own church and then went to lunch at Sequoyah Grille --- yummy brunch!!! The weather was beautiful all weekend so we hung out and caught some rays that afternoon. Briley came and told us that evening that she had asked Jesus into her heart --- the best news a mom and dad can receive! We also celebrated my birthday ... can't believe I'm already 30 --- ha ha ha! The kids and I spent the day at Shenoa's pool with friends. It was a perfect day for me, and the present of Briley's salvation was the best EVER!!!