Memorial Day...a day to remember all the US military persons who died while serving our country. I want to thank each person who has been, or is, involved with our military. Thank you for selfishly making sacrifices that afford us the freedoms we have today!
Memorial Day weekend...a three day weekend that is graciously taken advantage of for vacations, parties, celebrations, and spending time with friends and family. Brian went to the beach for the long weekend, to help Greg out with more house improvement projects, relax, and party with some friends. He also managed to have a
little fun along the way. The kids and I had a weekend full of fun! Damon and I co-hosted a beach party, and we spent a lot of time on the lake. Check it out!
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| Brian with my good friends, JJ and Jenn Catlett, who ended up staying with Greg and Brian...I can't wait to see them next week when we go to the BEACH :) |
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| Toes in the sand. Cold beer in the hand. Ahhhh. |
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| Brian and their crew hanging at Greg's beach house. |
That's all Brian sent me from their trip, but it should come as no shock to you that I have a ton from our weekend at the lake. Sandbar, lake, Memorial Day beach party, etc. We had a blast!
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| Getting things set up for the Memorial Day party! |
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| Some of my lake crew buddies...Brian (aka-"Cootie Guy"...Payton named him), Me, Matt, and Brent |
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| Payton with her new favorite friend, Cootie Guy! |
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| Someone wore herself out swimming! |
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| Damon, JT, and Matt |
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| With Elsa (from "Frozen") |
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| Callie and her sidekick, "Bear" |
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| JT, Karen, Matt, and Marie |
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| Julie and Me |
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| Sweet siblings |
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| The kids paddled all day. Loved it. I can't wait to buy my paddle board soon! |
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| Matt, Diana, and Kim |
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| Monika, Nancy, Bree, Kim, Me, Rachel, and Diana (and Roman!) |
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| Ostrich? |
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| P, G, and MaTTie |
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| D, Kim, JT, Me, Marie, Matt, Chris, Rachel, Brian, and Brent...before the festivities began. |
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| Sweet "baby" Roman |
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| Cootie Guy!! Marie, Amanda, Brittany, and Me |
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| With Kimmy-poo |
I ran across this video, which has nothing at all to do with Memorial Day weekend, but is pretty rad. I hope our Griffin is ripping like this by the time he's ELEVEN!?!?!
11 year old Griffin at Mt Snow
Nick has been taking a few of us out on nice Wednesday evenings for a boat cruise. The sunsets are always pretty phenomenal, and now that we're practically into summer, the weather is awesome. I wish I hadn't sold my boat lift so I could go wakeboarding in the evenings! We tried out this new little gem on the lake recently...it's the only other place on the actual lake to eat other than TBones. It was delicious!! It's called
Riverview Raw Bar, and it's up in Belmont, near the Whitewater Center. Yum!
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| Nick and Mandi (and Tucker, of course!) |
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| Damon and Dougie...my neighbors. Feeling pretty short. |
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| Awesome view from Riverview |
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| A couple working off dinner and drinks |
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| Don't worry...we had our guard dog, Tucker, to protect us. haha |
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| Biggest oysters I've ever eaten. Dad, their cocktail sauce is as close to yours as I've ever had. YUM! |
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| Happy birthday, Nick! Cheers! |
Here are a couple pictures of a night at the Whitewater Center Riverjam. The kids all had a blast, and stayed up (happily and mostly well-behaved) much past their bedtimes.
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| I do not ask him to smile. Nothing. Every time he sees a phone or camera out, this is what I get these days. EVERY.TIME. It makes me laugh. |
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| With Braxton |
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| My friend, Crystal...beautiful inside and out! |
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| G with Braxton and McKenna |
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| Seriously cute. And very sweaty. |
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| With Rick and TIffany |
Mom hosted a baby shower for Jilly and Stevan's baby girl, who is due mid-June. I've known Jill since she was born, literally, and I know how much she, and her family, have wanted her to become a mommy. Her wish is coming true, and we couldn't be happier. How cute is she?
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| Jilly with her beautiful niece, Kate (10 yrs old) |
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| Kerry, Jilly, and Katy |
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| Sisters! |
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| Besties Forever! |
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| I love my Amy! |
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| Lifelong friends! |
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| Someone had just woken up from her nap... |
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| Beautiful momma-to-be |
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| Payton and Caroline |
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| Amy and Kerry...lifelong friends. Beautiful inside and out! |
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| Happy baby shower day, Jilly! We can't wait to meet the newest little princess of our crew! |
Well, we have a new resident in the "hood." I've heard snakes will be bad this summer, and I believe it! We saw 2 water snakes at the sandbar on Monday, and I've seen several dead on the road. I've heard about sightings from friends, and then it was our turn. This racerback black snake is about 4 1/2 feet and can move. He's not scared of us, and seems pretty comfy around our houses. I hope he remains friendly and keeps the "bad" guys away! Brian took these awesome pictures. We hung out and watched him climb around for about 45 minutes.
The 2013-2014 school year has drawn to a close. The kid's school has been doing so much fun stuff. Payton and Griffin's classes both had picnic days. Granby went to Payton's and I went to Griffin's. I can't believe next year Griffin will be in the 3's class (Payton's current class) and Payton will be in her last year of Mother's Morning Out before beginning KINDERGARTEN! Gulp.
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| Silly boy! |
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| With Ms. Sandra and Ms. Leslie |
I can't believe how much the kids have changed this year. I'm so proud of how much they have grown and learned. With each age, comes new challenges, and I'm so excited to see what the future holds for us!
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| The kid's first day of school. Wow. They've really grown up! |
