Last Week...

...was extremely busy and wonderful! We were able to see tons of relatives during our 10 day trip. First stop was Great Granny Long's house! I think these pictures of my Granny Long with Mackenzie and Josiah turned out great.
Next stop was Great Grannie and Papa New's house!

These pictures of my Grannie and Papa New with the kids turned out great, too!

We also spent some time with my brother and his wife. Below is a picture of "Uncle Evan and Aunt Mia" with the kids.

Next picture is of my mom and stepdad, Nona and Mzee, with the kids.

We headed to their house and the kids obviously enjoyed their time doing things like making homemade play dough and being pulled on a blanket on the hard wood floors! We also enjoyed going to a pizza and game place. David and I enjoyed some date nights shopping and going to a movie while my mom and Mark had the kids! Thanks!!!

Nona and Mackenzie making play dough.

Josiah and Ollie (stuffed river otter), living the high life...

...being pulled by Nona on the blanket!

Nona and the kids enjoying sunset in their neighborhood.

Classic Josiah picture!

The four of us enjoying the sunset.

We took an evening walk in the heat! Fun times.

Sweaty times. The kids got tired on the way back to Nona and Mzee's house...so David gave them shoulder rides!

Mackenzie getting a lift back toward Nona and Mzee's house.

Then we headed to David's parent's house for a visit with Granna and Z-Pa! The kids just could not wait to get "Daddy's old toys" out to play with...they loved it!

Josiah and Mackenzie totally enjoying David's (and Uncle Zac's) legos at Granna and Z-Pa's house! Pretty cool that they kept all those toys for all those years. ;) David enjoyed playing with them, too!

While visiting David's parents, we were able to go see Great Grandma Watson at the nursing home. Extremely nice nursing home. She seems very happy and well adjusted.

David, Josiah, Mackenzie, David's Grandma Watson

Granna and Z-Pa with Mackenzie and Josiah!

Mackenzie is not six for a couple more weeks, but while we were with Granna and Z-Pa, they threw her an early party! She even got to decorate the cake. She loved it!

I love this picture of David's mom with Mackenzie. Fun times!

Then we headed to my dad's and stepmom's house next. We all had a blast going fishing and hanging out at their pool! So, thanks to Papa and Lili for the new fishing poles for the kids.

Of course, they had to try them out right away. So, my dad let them practice casting at the pool!

Mackenzie fishing at Poppie and Lili's pool.

Then, we all loaded up and Poppie and Lili actually took the kids to a pond to really fish for the first time ever.

Those were some excited kids!

My dad and Josiah.

Lili and Mackenzie.

After fishing, we went swimming to cool down from the heat!

Two kids in the pool.

Mackenzie doing a cannon ball off the diving board! She is a fish.

Josiah jumping off the diving board...and over the volleyball net...and swimming on his own! No floaties! We did have to be really close by to help him once he got near the wall. :)

David and me...enjoying some time together. :)

Me, Mackenzie, Josiah, Poppie (my dad), and David. Poppie and Lili had cool rafts and stuff for the pool!

A wonderful week. Wonderful family. We are thankful for everyone!

Congratulations to those of you who made it to the end of that extremely long post! Ha.

Catching Up

We were truly delighted to have my dad and Lisa (Poppie and Lili) come to visit this weekend. We loved getting to see them, and we appreciated the extra help with the kids while I'm still recovering from surgery. Josiah would not stop playing long enough to smile for the camera, so we have a couple fun pics!
Josiah, just being himself, with Mackenzie, Lili, and Poppie. :)

And a couple weekends ago, we met up with my mom and Mark (Nona & Mzee) for a weekend getaway just before school started. We were able to spend two night in a hotel, with was great fun for everyone, especially the kids, and enjoy some time together. We even visited the zoo and did a little shopping! I love the above picture of my mom coming down the slide at the zoo. She and the kids had a great time! :)

Here is the best picture I got of Nona, Mzee, Mackenzie, and Josiah together that weekend. I wish I had snapped more pictures, but this one of them riding the carousel will have to do!

We are thankful for family and the wonderful memories made together.

David's Family

While David's parents and brother were here visiting, we were able to visit Portrait Innovations for a group photo. That's something that we did in July of 2007 with part of my side of the family, and this week we were able to capture David's side of the family.
And my kiddos even got some new clothes out of the deal! Thanks, Granna, for shopping for all of us. :)

Mackenzie and Josiah with Uncle Zac.

Palace Park

The whole park is like a castle. The kids are riding a wooden train.
Josiah paused for a moment which turned out to be a great photo-op!
Mackenzie & Me
Mackenzie driving something. (They had a truck and a boat).


We had some wonderful family time this afternoon, in spite of the cold, cloudy weather. We decided to bundle up and go on an adventure...to a new park! David had noticed a new park in a neighboring county in route to a friend's house a few weeks ago. Today we loaded up and drove about 15 minutes to this fabulous park! We were the only ones there. (I'm sure that did not have anything to do with the weather; he, he.) The whole "palace" is made of wood and has many areas for the kids to discover. Who knew a park like this was so close to our house?! We will definately make return trips in the future! Above are several pictures we snapped while at the park today. Enjoy!