Life is just too busy!! Trying to recap the first 4 months of 2017 is hard! Mid January, Jeff once again had the honor of speaking at the Senior Adult Winter Bible Conference at Antioch Baptist Church, in Conway, AR. Mom, Jeff and I were blessed with staying with Kaye and Rob. The conference went well and it's always a joy to see our friends there at Antioch. They are very loving and gracious to us.
On our way home, we stopped and picked up Copeland and Eisley who stayed with us for a few days while Mom and Dad began the process of packing and moving to a new home.
Since I had the kids on President Trump's Inauguration Day, I had to get their picture in front of the TV to document the day.
When we took the kids home, we met the rest of our family at Chili's for dinner:
This was the realtors' pictures of Rachel and Jonathan's new home.
It's a pretty home and going to make a great place for them for a few years to raise their babies in.
Then it was February and time for our annual Valentines' outing at a hotel with the grandkids. Avi was at her Dad's and not able to come.
We had to continue the tradition of swimming in the hotel pool....
The next day was beautiful, so we took the kids to a nice new park in Rogers:
A week later, Avi came and spent 3 days with me. It was winter break for her. Jeff was in central Arkansas for a meeting, so it was just Avi and I. We had a great visit!
At the Southeast Nature Center - she wanted a picture with that snake in the background. Eeek!
Grandma and I taught her how to play Mexican Dominoes ♥
And a couple weeks after that, we had Copeland and Eisley again as Mom had several doctors appointments that week. I didn't get any good pictures of the kids during that visit.
However, on March 25th, the kids were part of their Aunt Jennifer's wedding. They looked so cute!
The middle of March, we kept Laine, Ellie and Shepherd during Laine's Spring Break. It was our first time to keep all 3 without their parents and it all went great!
Precious Boy! This Mickey Mouse airplane that Leigh Ryan loaned us for the grandkids has been the favorite toy for all the kids here at our house!
All dressed up for church ♥♥♥
We spent a little time down at Shoal Creek and the park there
Our middle son, Andy, turned 37 on March 25th. We weren't with him on his birthday, but here is a picture that day with the family. They were visiting Carman's family in South Arkansas:
One week in March, I spent with my Mom and sisters, Kaye and Bev at the lakehouse in Bella Vista. It's always such a blessing to wake up to this view each morning!
We worked very hard for the first half of the week deep cleaning the house......every spot from top to bottom was scrubbed. But we also had some sweet time to visit, enjoyed Kaye's delicious cooking and playing games on the wonderful screened in porch.
We also treated ourselves to pedicures
And with Jeff and Rob, we visited the Wilderness Safari one day (without kids!) We had a great time (and do want to go back soon and take the grandkids with us)
That night, we had a little birthday party for Mom's 88th birthday at Crabby's Restaurant in Rogers. My kids (minus Josh who was out of town working) and Kaye's kids were all able to come. We missed Bev's kids who live in Texas!
11 of the 18 great grandchildren were present
And because it's pretty rare -- I always insist on a picture when I do get all my grandkids together!
♥Easter 2017♥
Because the kids have their own church responsibilities on Easter and Jeff has his, we rarely get to spend Easter together -- but thankful for pictures!
Josh's family didn't take any pictures, so I don't have one to include.
We had a great day at First Baptist and Jeff, Mom and I enjoyed a delicious Easter meal with the Hall/Ryan crew
After going to Springdale for Jeff to visit a doctor there, we stopped and picked up Copeland and Eisley to give Mom a couple of days to get ready for Gideon's soon arrival. We took them back to NWA for the girls' birthday parties 2 days later.
Grandma took us to lunch one day:
April 23rd, Ellie Kate turned 4 years old!!
Such a pretty girl and a real joy to us!
She wanted a birthday party at Chic-Fil-A!
She loves Moana - so I got her the outfit and movie
And on April 26th Laine Virginia turned 7!
Such a joy and delight to us!!
This was the first year that the girls had separate birthday parties (both on April 22nd).
Laine's was at a skating rink with her "girlfriends."
Papa and DeDe with the birthday girls
And the birthday girls with Mom, Dad and brother ♥
In the midst of all the activities above, I was doing two in-depth Bible Studies:
John at BSF in Joplin and Beth Moore's Entrusted with the ladies at First Baptist.
Also helping Mom out as needed. My youngest sister, Kaye, came for a few days to visit Mom here in Galena and we enjoyed some meals and visits together.
And Jeff was really struggling with additional health issues that we have finally determined is caused from mold in his office at the church (vertigo, double vision, piercing headaches, asthma, worsen allergies, etc.). Because of the double vision, I was having to chauffeur him many places. We are so thankful to find a doctor in NWA who is helping him get well and that repair work will be done soon in the office to get rid of the mold.
The most exciting news the end of April was Gideon's birth. But I'll devote another blog posting to that and our May activities soon!
Busy days -- but blessed days!!!
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