Random May happenings ... friends, family and fun

I love my family.  I love having fun with them.  I'm so very thankful for the sweet ways that God has blessed us and allowed us to do life together.  :-D

My sweet Eliana loves to take photos!  She takes many with my camera of others and also of herself.  Some of them are quite good, many are funny and all just show a glimpse of our sweet and silly girl.

One morning Eliana woke up and got out many of our cups and filled them all with water.  I'm not sure how many people she thought might be visiting us that day.  LOL

When we saw them, we laughed.  And then the guys decided to have a contest to see who could drink the most water the fastest.

Silly fun.

We all enjoyed watching.

Summer is a great time for games.  I am thrilled that Eliana is starting to play a few more with us.

Isn't this adorable?  Rebecca made this lovely graduation gift for a friend.

Out to lunch with friends after church.  Just snapped a quick photo of 3 of my handsome guys.

Eliana wins a round of Pretty Pretty Princess and keeps on the jewelry for a few moments.

Movie nights are fun on the big screen.  We make our own with a borrowed projector and a sheet.  

The roses were so beautiful this year!  These were given by friends in memory of little ones that we have lost.  It is a lovely reminder of a gift we cherished briefly on earth and look forward to in heaven.

One evening I was driving along and saw this gorgeous rainbow.  You can see a faint double above it too.

Playing outside.  The temps this month were mostly delightful!  Surprisingly cool for this time of year.  The guys don't let a little leaf blowing wind get in the way of their basketball game.

I brought back potato guns from the conference for the boys to enjoy.

More fun and games.  Basketball.

Spot it.

Corn hole.

Food.  Always lots of food.  Especially when we have extras join our table.

Sweet Emily is such a good sport.  Isaiah played a trick on her.  Got her to hold an egg.  (See it to the right in the door frame?)  Then left her there - stuck - holding an egg.  (Not too long though.)

Christopher and his friend Justin heading off to work at  Camp Oak Hill for the summer!  Praying for you guys daily.

Shortly after that we waved good-bye to Emily as she headed off to work at a camp in Croatia.

We love you guys and pray for you daily that the Lord will work in and through you.  That He would teach you more about His love and grace and power and that you would fall more deeply in love with Him as you share His love with others.  Praying that He would use you to plant seeds and to show his love to others!  Looking forward to seeing you again in July!

Thankful for the summer.  Thus far, it has been anything but slow.  I'm hoping that maybe next week will be a calmer one.  We'll see.

Hope you are having a great one!

Blessings
Leslie

Beach - Trip 1

There were so many photos that I have delayed going through them all.  Time is slowing down a bit though after a very busy first 3 weeks of June.

When Christopher came home in May, we wanted to take a trip to the beach with him.  Our family is blessed to be able to go to the same spot that I've been going to since I was a teen.  I love being here with my whole family.  (Roger joined us after he had finished up week-end work obligations.)

 It was May so it was still a bit cool here.  Also not crowded at all.

Plenty of room to run and play.

The beach is a spot that everyone enjoys.  I will say that the littlest one just purely delights in the water and sand.  She would stay out all day until she was completely worn out!

 We love walking down to a little "river" that is a place where the ocean makes a gentle waterway.

 Its a great spot to sit and play.

To relax at low tide.

 To look for shells.  This is often where we find the best ones.

To get a helping hand.  I love this picture.  I've always loved seeing them together.  And can you see the huge smile on her face?

Its just such a beautiful place.

Room to explore.

To enjoy family.

To build and create.

Who can identify this one?

Just space to be happy and carefree.

The big holes we dig are fun in the day and also into the evening.

Sweet picture of brothers.

We like to walk down to the pier.

And sometimes go inside to play the arcade games.

Time to enjoy a family putt-putt competition.  (Christopher won!)

And frozen yogurt afterwards.

Beautiful girl.

More digging.  A tunnel.

And everyone (but me) took turns going through.

Tossing water on Daddy is always fun.

I love shots from the back.  So sweet.

Love the way she is looking up to her big brother.

My beautiful girls.

I love having my family all together.

This is becoming a new tradition.  A meal at the Trolley Stop on the way home.

It was just past Mother's Day and I wanted a current picture with my children.  Love it!

Sweet memories with my favorite people.  Thankful for this time.

I hope you are making sweet memories with those that you love too!

Blessings
Leslie