Library Skating Party

We participated in the LaVergne Summer Reading Program again this year and we had to read 100 books and then each week the kids got a prize plus at the end a skating party. Obviously, Joshua was too little to skate but he loved the arcade and Hannah did good skating (and by good I mean could walk in the skates!)

Fashion Show & Zoo

It was a big day for us, as we took the last Saturday before Aaron starts his new job and went to the "Ice Age" at the zoo. Plus the kids were in the fashion show at our church hosted by Stitcher's playhouse to show off the fun stuff you've made throughout the year. It was a great day just busy. The zoo had ice sculptures in with some animals and it really was pretty neat. They liked the petting zoo area-Joshua was adorable chasing the goats around. The kids loved it all, especially the free ice cream!

Visiting Amish Country

The Horne's (friends from Louisiana-possibly the nicest couple on earth!) were visiting family in Lawrenceburg, TN so we went there to hang out for the day. Paul & Aaron played golf and the girls (plus Joshua) were suppose to lounge at the pool. But it rained, so we went and checked out Amish country. When we got there, we had no idea that only an hour away from our house was the true Amish life complete with horse & buggy on the roads! So we bought some fresh bread and jam (we would have bought more but since we didn't plan on going me nor Jan had much cash and since they don't believe in electricity-no debit cards accepted!). It was so interesting especially after recently finishing a book in Friday morning Bible study regarding the Amish. Paul, Jan & Janie's family took us in as there own and we stayed through one of the best southern cooked meals we've had! It was a blast!

Hailey's Birthday Party

We had lots of fun at Hailey's birthday party. All of Hannah's friends were there to celebrate as well as a fun inflatable slide, pool and slip-n-slide. The kids had an absolute ball!

15 year class reunion

We traveled to Missouri for the weekend of July 11th for my (Julie's) 15 year class reunion. I know-I'm old!! The planning committee had a nice get together on Friday night (pictured above) then Saturday we had activities all day long, with our family then adults only. We were very happy with the turnout and can't wait to see people again in another few years.

Job Opportunies! Yes Plural!

We have great news! While we were visiting Minnesota Aaron received 2 job offers: Praise God! The first, from Edward Jones as a Financial Advisor based in Smyrna/LaVergne, TN. The second, from Ascent Performance Group a small but solid travel company based in Houston, TX. Both jobs are really great opportunities and we had many discussions and even more prayers over what to do. But just today, July 8th, Aaron officially accepted the Edward Jones job and starts July 27th. We are very excited and nervous at the same time as he will have a learning curve entering a brand new industry. But as we all know, Aaron will excel as he does at everything he does! I'm so excited to see how God will use him in this new position as he will be face-to-face with lots of people, what a witness he will be!

We know all good things come from God, and we are so excited that He would bless us this way. God is so much better than we can even comprehend; we were just hoping for a job but He gives us careers with options-what an Awesome God we serve!

As we were making our decision and praying with Hannah, we had been praying for Aaron to have direction and when it was her turn she prayed, "Please let my daddy turn left, right, or straight. Amen." The innocence of children!

Minnesota Slideshow

Minnesota Summer

We just got back from a three week trek to Minnesota for nearly the month of June & into July. We drove up the morning after the dance recital, so that Aaron could play in a golf tourney with his dad, his brother & his brother-in-law-which was a pretty neat experience for all of them (and they won 2nd place!)

Then I headed up north to Brainerd, MN to work a Maritz program for 2 weeks. I stayed at Madden's on Gull Lake which is this wonderful resort that included water bikes, kayaks, canoes, paddleboats, water toys, shuffleboard, croquet just to name a few. It was a spectacular place and for the 1st week I worked alone and then the 2nd week I had help-which made it nice for our meals and stuff just to have someone to talk to! I had one day off in between so Aaron & the kids came up for the day and we took a boat out and water skied and tubed, which of course is heaven on earth for me.

While I was up north, Aaron was busy interviewing in Minnesota (both for jobs there and on the phone for jobs elsewhere). Amanda and Kevin are back in Minnesota with Levi, and Andy was living back home till he finds out about PT school so it was a full house-but a fun one! Amanda babysat the kids while Aaron was job hunting and then as soon as grandma & grandpa could get home from their work days it was even more fun. They did all kinds of activities: Big City Little Kid, walks to the park, swimming (Hannah's getting so brave), Build-A-Bear, celebrated Father's day at a Japanese steak house, and the list goes on and on.

I came back from my work experience and then we decided to stay through the 4th holiday-and I'm glad we did. We ended up going to Aaron's grandparents cabin up north on Friday the 3rd for the best beer butt chicken ever, plus paddleboat, pontoon & Hannah's 1st fishing experience! She doesn't know that we never had a hook on it, but she was surprising good at the cast!

Then on Saturday the 4th we headed over to his aunt & uncle's house to see the Grapentine's (his mom's side) with tons of games: hillbilly golf, bean bag toss, bocce ball, badminton and more-it was so much fun.