Gabby's Visit and T's 11th Birthday!!

Elaine (Gabby) came to visit recently and we had a lovely time together!  She brought her new puppy, Liberty Rose.

 

 

 

 Thomas shared his birthday party with his best friend, Hunter.  Hunter turned 12 on the day of the party (Aug 10th).  They had some friends over for water games, it was A LOT of fun!!!  Oh, we had pizza for lunch, and it was "redneck" style, as seen in the pic above.  I figured we should just serve it from the back of the truck, since everyone was outside anyway!!

 Water balloon fight from 2 stations that had buckets with water balloons in them.

 Corbin and I worked on improving our Bocce skills while we waited for guests to arrive.

 Thomas and Hunter....best buds.

 Julie & Kelly- remember those days of your boys building lego sets?

 On Aug 13, Thomas wanted to go to I Hop for his birthday meal, it was a special and fun time.

 

Satin Strings Retreat, Family Photo

Lane and Jake went to the New Mexico mountains for the Satin Strings Retreat. Lane took some great photos of Jake tackling the ropes challenge course.

Our friend, Montie, took these photos following Luke's last Sunday with us before heading back to Tech. She asked Luke to step forward for this one - looks kinda neat! We sure will miss him.

Jake's 16th Birthday

Our traditional picture by the "Happy Birthday" sign! This is his birthday morning. Then on to tennis for "two-a-days" at Permian High School. He ended the day with the #4 rank on the team.

 

We took a cake and cookie cake to Youth Group that evening, his actual birthday - here they are beginning to sing Happy Birthday!

 We are so blessed to have this wonderful youth group!

Tonight (Aug. 12), 17 members of the Permian Tennis Team came over, including Coach Bullard, and WE GOT HIM!

Since I didn't have a sister here, I asked one of the players to video while Lane lit the candles and I got my camera. Luke was with Jake in the playroom playing a video game - he made a big deal asking Jake to play a particular game after he got off work.

Lots of fun in the playroom waiting for Lane to return with the Chik-Fil-A party platter! That is Coach Bullard on the left in the gray shirt hitting the ball.

 Being silly, of course! The girl next to him, Megan, is a wonderful Christian young lady, and she and Jake have become good friends.

We were so blessed to have his classmates/teammates in our home. We told Coach he was welcome to host team events here, and we really hope he takes us up on it. Oh - almost forgot. We had home movies running in the background, and the group was in hysterics over some of the diaper/dancing video. I asked Jake if he wanted me to turn it off at one point, and he said no, that they were having fun watching.

Anderson "This and That"

Lane and Jake are part of the ABLE Team at 6th and Jackson, which builds ramps for the disabled.

LOVED my party time with the Crowell kids on my way to my Fort Worth conference!

As always, church camp was a highlight for Jake this summer. He was there for the first time without Luke or his parents. Since Mom wasn't there, my photo picks were limited to some I found on others' Facebook posts!

Lane and Jake are back in New Mexico this weekend (at a camp very close to our Pine Springs church camp) for a Satin Strings retreat. The orchestra will memorize their music and learn to stroll while playing. Lane was one of two chaperones assigned to ride the guys' bus!