4th of July Parade

So, I am a little behind on blogging, but had to share some fun pictures of the 4th of July parade. The girls and their cousins decided to decorate a patriotic float and have their Uncle Josh pull it with the tractor. Here are some pictures:





We are already making plans for our Christmas Parade Float.

Watermelon

"These seeds are ruining my watermelon experience!" ~ Olivia

Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th of July! We are proud of this great country that we live in and will celebrate today with a proud heart full of thanksgiving. For this great country, we thank our Father in Heaven, the Founding Fathers of our Country, all those who fought, died, and stand ready to protect it, and our ancestors whether long ago (my family) or just in the last generation (Osias' Mom & Dad) who sacrificed so much to be here.

We love you all and hope that you have a SAFE and HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!

May God continue to Bless America!

Louisville - Family Visit & Temple Service

On Friday, we headed to Louisville to spend the evening at my brother's house. Phillip brought his 3 oldest kids, Madalyn, Haley & Zach, to meet Osias, the girls and me at the movie theater. We saw the movie UP! The movie was good but not great. I actually got a little weepy in the beginning, but after that was bored. The kids were bored in the beginning, but liked the end. So, I guess there really was something for everyone. My favorite line of the whole movie is in the very beginning, when he 1st meets his soon to be wife. She has talked non-stop and the boy hasn't said a word. As she is leaving, she says, "You don't talk much. I like you." It just cracked me up.

After the movie, we headed to Phillip's to spend the night. The girls had a great time playing with their cousins. Samantha took this picture at 11:30pm, right before the kids all hit the sack.

Julia, Haley, Olivia, & Madalyn

On Saturday morning, we headed over to the Louisville Temple to do garden & yard work. It was a great opportunity for our family to do service and for the kids to begin to truly understand the imporantance of the temple. At one point, Julia said to me, "Why are we doing this?" I explained to her that this was Heavenly Father's house and that it needed to beautiful on the inside and out. I also told her that it was our responsibilty to keep it beautiful becasue Heavenly Father was too busy taking care of people. Julia's response: "I'm not his servant!" So, I was able to take the opportunity to explain to her that we are in fact his servants, whether we are doing physical labor, spiritual labor, or emotional service. It is so wonderful to have small teaching moments with your children. Hopefully, someday all the girls will look back and understand why working at the temple on a hot Saturday was important.

When we left Louisville, we had to stop in Lexington before heading home. We thought how better to cap off a great day than eating at Five Guys. We met my Mom & Dad at the restaurant on Nicholasville Road. Besides the long line to order, the food was delicious!!!!! The sign below says it all:




What a fantastic day we had! We had sweet moments with our children doing service for our Heavenly Father and teaching a little along the way. Hopefully, there will be many more days just like this one.

May Update - In Pictures

May is always such a beautiful month in Kentucky. We have enjoyed being outside, finishing up school, and exploring our new home town.


Osias and I finally turned into a old people and took our kids out for a drive in the country on a Saturday afternoon. They kept asking where we were going and I would say, "Nowhere, we are just enjoying the drive." Boy, they were not impressed with that answer. At least I got Julia and Olivia to smile for a picture.



On Mother's Day, the only gift I asked for was to be left in peace to read a book. So after breakfast in bed and a nice day at church, Osias took the girls to Blue Licks State Park for a hike. They had such fun and can't wait to go again. Sadly, they really want me to go with them next time. I don't think they understand that Mom isn't really an outdoorsy kind of girl. Oh well, I guess I'll have to do it for the family. :-)




May bring the end of the school year. This is Julia's last year of preschool and Samantha's last year of Elementary School. Olivia will be in the 3rd grade next year. It is so bitter sweet to watch your kids grow up. I love watching them become independent, responsible and loving, but at the same time it is sad to see them move away from the protective circle of their parents and family to spend more time at school and activities.

Julia's end of year Preschool Picnic.


Preschool Graduation

We had a fun visit with my Cousin Annie and her two children and my Aunt Gail. This is the first time we have seen Baby Adam, so we were very excited. He is so sweet and looks just like Abigail when she was a baby. It was also fun to see how grown-up Abigail is and how much fun she and Julia had playing together. I was sad that they could only be here for a few hours, but the girls and I plan on making a trip to Nashville this summer.




Finally, summer means playing in the water outside. Last year, at the end of the season, I bought this Slip-n-Slide for the girls. This was the first outing and Olivia and Julia had a blast. They would have stayed out there all night if we let them. I forgot how covered in grass you get when playing on a slip-n-slide. They didn't care, they just loved sliding and being silly. (Samantha took these pictures. I think she did a great job.)





The rest of the summer is already gearing up to be insanely busy. All three girls have birthdays, the 4th of July, the Blackberry Festival, family vacation, a couple of short road trips, and both Samantha & Olivia are on cheer squads, but not the same one, so I will keep you updated.

We love you all and look forward to seeing you or hearing from you soon.

Love, Osias, Jeri & the girls

A quick update...

We have been crazy, busy over the last few months. Between holidays, vacations and family visits, life has taken on a pace that seems insane.

Here are a few highlights (with pictures to follow in the next few days):

• Vacation to DisneyWorld
• Samantha & I taking a Mom & Daughter bonding trip to Washington DC
• My sister & her family visiting for three weeks
• 4 new additions to our extended family - a niece, 2 nephews and a cousin along with the baby blessings & baptisms
• Try-outs for cheerleading - Olivia is on the Twist Shout -N- Cheer Competition Team in Mt. Sterling and Samantha is trying out for Nicholas County Middle School the 1st week of May.
• Celebrating my parents 40th Anniversary
• and 100+ things I cannot even remember.

But through it all, we have been thinking about our dear friends and family. We are so blessed to know each of you. Thanks for all of your love and support.

Church Signs

As I drive to and from Paris or Lexington and back to Carlisle , I pass about 20 churches. Most of them have cute little sayings on there outdoor marquees. They run from slighlt funny, to thought provoking to totally wrong. It is interesting how these individuals will try tto share their religion.

Just wanted to share a few with you...

1. If you are not humble, you will stumble.

2. The best vitamin for Christians, B1.

3. Sign broken, message inside.

4. Jesus wants to give you a hug.

5. See you Sunday before the game.

6. The best Valentine is the love of Jesus.

Hope you are all having a fantastic week.