Smith Family Lake Cottage - 4th of July

We enjoyed time at the lake with family for the 4th of July! So thankful for my parents and their generosity! We love being at the lake cottage!  Here are a bunch of pictures from our week!

So thankful for a few days overlap with my sister and her crew! So fun to see all the kids together! 

On the actual 4th of July the weather was so cool! We went on a boat parade down the lake and we had to bring blankets and sweatshirts! Crazy! It was fun nonetheless. 

Spencer really enjoyed fishing this trip! He's hooked! 

Mom, Andrea, and I went on a jet ski ride and laughed the entire time! I'm not sure what was so funny but it was a blast! I could go for that ride right about now! So fun!

Jeremy spotted some wild blackberry bushes in walking distance so a few of us went blackberry picking and made some yummy desserts with them.

We had a 2 day corn hole tournament which consisted of an adult and kid on each team. It was a lot of fun! 

One of the biggest highlights of the week was Carson and Bryn skiing! It was so fun! They couldn't get enough! Jeremy and I love slaloming so we've been waiting for our kids to fall in love with skiing! Yay! 

Here are a few videos of them skiing. They are probably out of order but so fun! 

We always love a day out on the boat! We went for a long boat ride, packed lunch, and stopped at different swimming holes. We also stopped for some ice-cream. It was a great day!

Thanks Mom and Dad for another great visit!

Chasteen/Elliott Family Vacation in St. Augustine, FL

We had a great time in St. Augustine with the Chasteen and Elliott clan for family vacation. We were all in one house which was nice and it was right by the ocean! Here is a picture overload of our week!

I love how kids tap into their free spirit on the beach. We spent lots of hours on the beach!

We were all so thankful that Kaleb was able to be there! He has been studying in Argentina this Spring and he flew straight to St. Augustine from Argentina for family vacation. 

It's so fun to see the cousins together. Our kids are blessed to have great cousin playmates on both sides of the family!

One day some of our group went deep sea fishing. Leigh and I hung with the 5 kids that didn't go. We took them for ice cream, walked around town, and went to a nearby pool.

Thanks to some friends, we were able to live the younger kids at the house and go out for dinner!

Lots of fun! Thankful for a week at the beach!

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My cousin Madison's wedding

 After a fun family wedding in Northern Virginia, my parents, siblings, and I joined up again the very next weekend in Lincoln, Nebraska for another fun family wedding! My cousin Madison got married and it was so good to be there and see family that we don't get to see very often. 

Thankful for time with family!

 Such a fun wedding! Isn't Madison a beautiful bride!? 

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Kids with Papa & Nana

During the month of May the kids got to go with Papa & Nana to Dollywood and they had a ball! So thankful for my in-laws and their intentional love and pursuit of our kids. Thank you for loving them and spoiling blessing them with this great time in Dollywood!

My Nephew Henry

On Thursday, May 12th I received one of the saddest phone calls. My mom called in tears to tell me that our Henry had just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. All we could do was cry! 

I immediately called my sister who was on her way to the hospital and all we could do was cry! 

Because I have a dear friend with this terrible disease I've seen the reality of living with type 1 diabetes. It's a terrible awful disease and not a good diagnosis for my 4 year old nephew. 

These are the times I wish I lived down the street from family! Thankfully, because of God's grace and providence and because I have an amazing husband, I was able to drive up to Virginia the next day and stay for 5 nights to be with my sister and her family as they began to adjust to this new reality. 

I cried off and on all the way up I-85! 

Although it wasn't a trip planned around fun and celebratory events, I am so thankful I got to be there! I will treasure those days with my sister and her family forever. 

Please pray for Henry, my sister and her husband as they continue to adjust to life caring for a diabetic child. They've learned so much already in this first month and I'm so proud of them! This is a game changer and there are many emotions and reasons to fear. Pray that God would show Himself strong and sufficient as they care for Henry and continue to learn how to care for him well.  They've already seen God do amazing things to care for them!  

Mother's Day

I was thankful to reunite at home with Jeremy after being apart. We enjoyed a nice Mother's Day at church and then went on a couple different hikes. 

I'm so thankful for my family! God has been so good to me in blessing me with a great husband and four amazing kids that I adore!

We first went on a hike to Pigpen Falls and Licklog Falls and Carson and Jeremy brought their fishing rods to do some trout fishing. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed being together outside.

We love exploring the waterfalls and trails in our area! So blessed to live this close to beautiful and free fun!

Spencer is a piece of work!

We then headed to Burnt Tanyard Shoals to swim which was really fun!