Two weeks ago, Brendan and I enjoyed some wonderful time away in Birmingham. I spent a fair amount of time, during his meetings, updating this blog. You can’t tell from this post, but I went all the way back to early May and added lots of posts with pictures. Now, I promise to focus on Sept-Jan. It will happen- it will! Keep checking back!!!!

It’s always fun to have a reason to get dressed up to go out on our town.

Our extended family spent a wonderful week at the Lake of the Ozarks in a great condo, right on the water. The kids raced back and forth from the dock, catching huge helpings of crappie and swimming. We even enjoyed a boat ride and a trip to Big Surf, courtesy of our good friends. It was a wonderful week! Here are some highlights…

After we returned from our daytrip, we let the kid do some sparklers to celebrate the fourth a little early..



Uncle Clay is to blame for this last picture….

Our good friend, Joann Sargent, organized a children’s musical at their church. So, we were able to join in with the crowd, so to speak….It was a lot of fun and the kids each did great with their parts.

Stars.

Jude was the whale. He created his own sound effects while singing at the same time…

Sadie was a star-studded angel/ Ninevite….

Seusserific yumminess…

The Dodson’s, Seilback’s and Chase’s helped us celebrate our big guy…11 kids total. (;

extinguishing…

The big 3 year olds minus Gus.

Leading the pack, Silas enjoyed discovering many treasures from nature.

Second in command was, of course, the other important men.

It was important to rest along the way..

…and study small specimen.

Of course it was fun to hitch a ride…

…and pitch a stone.

The best part of all was sharing a laugh…and perhaps a little tickle!

Silas had so much fun chasing after these winged creatures…

observations of the cockroaches..

Finding a friend for a moment…

Fun in the sun at Tower Grove Park- a fun spot to get wet and picnic.

A random early tomato found on the vine….