Strawberry Pickin'

Abbey took Will and Tuck along with Meghan (Kaleb and Chris), and Michelle (Caleb) for their annual strawberry picking. They got some really delicious strawberries from one of the local strawberry farms.




Tuck really enjoyed doing all of the taste testing to make sure that the strawberries were just right.




The boys were really good helpers, but even better strawberry eaters.




They got a big haul of strawberries. Fresh strawberries are always better than store bought ones.




Will enjoyed being silly. He was happy to be the monkey and to take his shirt off. It doesn't take a lot of Convincing to get Will to take his shirt off.




Abbey made a lot of strawberry jam. We give it away throughout the ear and eat a lot of it as well. When we went on our honeymoon, the B&B where we stayed had s version of strawberry jam that we had never had before and we both loved it.




We always wanted to have more of that strawberry jam, but didn't discover it again until we moved to Tennessee. We were at. Breakfast at church one day and Mrs. Mazella Melton had the jam that had alluded us for so long. We found out that it was called freezer jam and we were set!




Now, for years, Abbey has made her own freezer jam. We just absolutely love it.

The Lion King

The other night, the big boys enjoyed their first live theater event at TPAC. We started the evening by taking them to Demos' Restaurant. Nash had spaghetti and Reed had chicken tenders. Lola, Abbey, and I enjoyed the club steak.




The boys were so excited to be going to see the Lion King and that Lols was here to go with them. I was also excited because I have always heard how great The Lion King performance is. Abbey saw it when she studied in London.




Before the performance we took some pictures with the boys who were being really silly.




These two love each other so much.




Abbey, who is always amazingly beautiful, looked especially gorgeous for the performance. The boys did really well. Reed asked me a ton of questions. He wanted to know how the people were able to dress up like animals.




The boys didn't fall asleep through the whole performance. I think they were ready for it to be over at the intermission. I think that we probably should have let them watch the lion king cartoon first so that they would know about what was happening as the story was a bit harder to follow live. But they did so well. We were very proud of them.

Nash Graduates Preschool

The other night, we were happy to celebrate Nash's preschool graduation. He has really enjoyed his time at the FUMC Preschool. We love all of the teachers there and the Nash has loved his friends.




Nash did so well in his performance. He sang and he danced and he participated so well.





They sang lots of "surfy" type songs and they really got into it. We are so proud of him.




Everyone was excited that Lola came to watch Nash graduate. Will thinks of visitors as his very own and tends to make them his own personal jungle gym.




Reed was, as always, thankful for iPhones.




Tuck was a little wild, but he did pretty good throughout the event. It was so cute.




Nash performed his heart out.




Nash was so proud of his book that Mrs. Sheila his teacher made him. It is a very special memento of his time in preschool.




Reed was very happy to see his former preschool teacher Mrs. Browning.



Nash and Luke have a special bond. Nash is really going to miss Luke next year as we are not zoned for the same schools. We are crossing our fingers that Nash will get Mrs. Sarah like Reed had.



After graduation, we went to our froyo place and Nash was happy to see some of his friends, including Luke there as well.

Uncle Bill's Beach House - Day 7

Today was the big day! The boys got to go to their favorite souvenir shop. The Purple Octopus!




They were so excited that they would get some money to pick out what they wanted to take home as a reminder of their time at the beach this year.




They each picked a couple of trinkets that they could play with. Funny, they didn't really pick anything that had to do with the beach!




We also went to eat at our favorite seafood restaurant, Desotos and then got ice cream at scoops.




Today was the first day that it rained so we didn't go to the beach today.




That was ok with the boys. I think they needed a little break.




Reed is so into tradition. He remembered that we walkways take a mouth open picture of him and uncle Bill.




Our beach crew this year. What a great time.




We even made a new special friend, Mrs. Cindy.

Location:Ponce de Leon Ct,Gulf Shores,United States

Uncle Bill's Beach House - Day 6 (Family Pics)

5 Years ago we were working really hard to get out of debt and pay off the adoption of our amazing first son. Uncle Bill wanted a vacation and we did to, so he offered to rent a condo for us all to enjoy. That began one of our favorite family traditions we have ever experienced.




The next year, we headed back to the beach to enjoy another relaxing week on the beach. This year was a little different because our adorable kiddo no longer took naps, but it was still relaxing and the seafood was amazing.




Low and behold the next year, we came back to the beach and then year we were blessed to have our dear little ones, Nash and Will home with us. It was such a great trip to have our family together.




Then last year, we were excited to have our family complete with all four of our amazing boys with us. Each year the trips have been a little different all the while we have maintained a level of tradition. We eat the same foods, spaghetti, hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled pizza, bacon from Winn Dixie, and Rice Krispy treats.




The boys love their trips to Uncle Bill's Beach House and so do we. I hope that we can continue this tradition for our boys' entire lives.

Here is a snapshot of how our family has changed:

2009



2010



2011



2012


2013

Location:Ponce de Leon Ct,Gulf Shores,United States

Uncle Bill's Beach House - Day 5

Beautiful weather today. The boys spent a lot of time in the gulf. They loved it.




Reed was about the age Tuck is now when we came to the beach the first time. It is hard to believe he has grown up so much.




Uncle Bill is enjoying reading his book, when the boys aren't climbing all over him.




The boys are funny as they fluctuate between wanting to be right under our noses and as far from us as possible.




Tuck and I ventured out into the water. Tuck seemed to enjoy himself a lot.




Will really liked the water a lot. It was almost a little scary because he doesn't seem to have a lot of fear of the great big ocean.




The big boys were sweet to play with their little brother.

Location:Ponce de Leon Ct,Gulf Shores,United States