we're back!!!!

we had a blast. the drive down went so quickly and all three kids did great. our new dvd player came in very handy! we got to watch several fireworks displays on the way sunday night. we got to nancy's house around 12:30. the fourth was so much fun. we went to christy's new house and had a cookout and swam all day. both the kids and i made giant leaps forward in our swimming comfort levels. tuesday morning bret and i left to go to saint louis for our couple getaway. we had an amazing time the whole week! we went horseback riding, to the melting pot, shopping at union station, st louis mills, and the galleria, the arch, a riverboat casino, pizza at a little pub at 2am, to see bewitched, six flags, and a great italian restaurant called cunnetos. it was so much fun just beeing together and focusing our time and minds on one another.
friday we returned home for micah's 4th birthday. the kids had a blast playing with carson and caroline and christopher(their cousins.) saturday, my mom, dad, and sister leslie came to paducah for the big birthday party at chuck e cheese's. it was wonderful for everyone except poor anna who was terrified of chuck and the gang. after the party we went back to chity and clint's house to chill and let the kids play. my family went on back home. it was a nice evening and we of course got a visit to chings in before leaving paducah for bret. it is his favorite restarurant in paducah. we all listened to the barber shop international competition on line saturday night to see who would be the new gold medalists. realtime won. they were very good. maybe we will be there next year if all goes well. sunday we had to leave paducah family and it was not easy. we went to church at reidland and bret lead worship there. it was the first time he had seen all the new decor they have been working on. he really enjoyed leading them in worship with their praise team. it all sounded really good. it was also nice to see friends and mentors we have missed. we love you all so much. then we headed on to my family's house for an evening of fellowship. mom once again made and amazing supper. it was so wonderful to see my family. i miss them so much. bret got to see jack for the first time. he was so excited to hold him. jack is growing so fast. he finally passed rebekah up. he is such a handsome boy! we got to see mom and dad's new flawer garden next to the pond. it is beautiful almost like something you would see in southern living or something. they have been working very hard on it. we watched an awesome movie sunday night and we left monday morning when we got up. we decided to sleep in a little so we would be good and rested for the trip. it rained for about half of the trip and the sun shined for the other half. we took a break in memphis and texarkana to break the trip up a bit. it was a good trip home and the kids did very well. they love their new dvd player. it really helped the trip for us all. all of my children received way too many gifts but they love them all. thank you everyone for loving my children so much. they truly feel loved i know as do i. we got home last night around 10:30. bret fgot the van completely unloaded. the kids were ready for their own beds. there is lots to do today to get caught up. we are so grateful for a wonderful trip.

summer