visiting with dear friends

my drummer boy



a little lift from taylor

loving lizzy!

contemplating life

playing a "find the pool toy" game with lizzy and uncle frank

we were able to go back to my sweet home alabama during our visit with aunt mere. while there we stayed with my dear friends frank and lisa. it was so good to see them and to see taylor and lizzy. i started babysitting for taylor when he was a little bitty cutie pie (did i embarass you, taylor?) and now he's 15 and driving me around in his cool car! :) i remember when lisa told me that she and frank were having another baby...hard to believe that sweet lizzy is now taller than me! i feel old!!! i absolutely adore these kids (who just happen to be my godchildren!). taylor and lizzy are super-special and i know that they, along with their family are a huge blessing to so many... especially brooke, scott and me. thank you, frank, lisa, taylor and lizzy for a wonderful visit!!!!

more at monkey's treehouse

digging in the mulch

brooke's finished artwork

playing with the trains

lainie's hands (i love kids' hands and feet)

scott's hands

here are just a few more pics from monkey's treehouse....

monkey's treehouse

brookie's artwork
sweet emmie...aka screech
scott and lainie doing arts and crafts

jumping into the ball pit....a favorite activity!

scott and lainie are two peas in a pod...these two are gonna be trouble! :)

while visiting mere and crew, we took a trip to monkey's treehouse. scott, lainie and emmie love it! brooke enjoyed the arts and crafts section, but she was a little old for the other things. so, gramma took brookie and treated her to a mani/pedi. she picked red polish for the fingernails and turquoise for the toes. mere has pics of it on her blog...if you click on "the salmon family" on my blog favorites, you can check out brookie and her fanciness! :) anyway, monkey's treehouse is lots of fun. they have two treehouses and a train set, an area of rubber mulch for the kids to dig in, a dress up area and stage, arts and crafts, a ball pit, etc, etc. the kids all passed out on the way home! they had so much fun that they wore themselves out. :) perfect!

lainie bug

love this girl!
she's so cute with that tongue...she sticks out when she's really concentrating or focused...or having lots of fun! :)

joyful!

she's very dramatic when she talks....see the hands in the air?

i love me some lainie bug! this girl will steal your heart. one of my favorite things that she does is to say, "oh, hello aunt kimie!" when i walk in the room. she says it like such a grown-up. i wish i could record it. it's so cute!!! lainie warms my heart when she runs up to me and hugs me for no reason. i could eat her up! i love you lainie bug and can't wait to see you again soon!!! hope you're still enjoying your handy helper! :)

fun in the sun

mere and j have the coolest pool ever just right down the street from their house! brooke and scott had a ball with the slides, waterfalls and other toys. aside from the outdoor pool...there is an indoor pool as well. so, when it thundered one of the days that we were there, we just headed to the indoor pool. that was so nice!!! here are a few pics of the kiddos loving summertime...

so refreshing!

scott going in!

love lainie's face...too cute

scott going down the slide

she's always been a little water baby...not such a baby at all anymore!

birthday party fun!

we had so much fun visiting uncle j, aunt mere, lainie and emmie!!! there are SO many pictures to post. these are a few favorites from emmie's party. the kids had a great time. the party was outside and there were many water toys for the kids to enjoy. it was planned very well by mere and j....fun was had by all. we enjoyed some good southern bbq which made me so happy. there is nothing like it....the bbq in nc could never begin to compare. so add that to with being with my family, celebrating the first b'day of one of the sweetest girls ever and seeing the kids having so much fun....it was wonderful!!! thank you mere and j for all you have done for us. we really enjoyed seeing you and can't wait to see you again! love you all!!!

scott loving the slip-n-slide

making a big splash!

brookie's turn...getting a little help from uncle j

splishin and a splashin! :)

exhausted!!!

emmie is 1!

brookie, scott and i were so happy to be able to visit emmie for her first birthday! it was so much fun and as you can see, emmie thoroughly enjoyed her cake. this girl loves to eat!!! :) we love you emmie and are so glad that God blessed us with you!