Baby, You're a Firework

I'm a month behind again in the blogging world. I do not know where July went. It seemed to fly by. Watch out, this one is going to be a long one, but for the others, I will try to break it up. Let's start at the beginning of July, shall we?

Which brings us to Seacrest Beach, FL where Mama T and her kids would spend the next week vacationing. Here's the beach house we all stayed in, don't be deceived, it might not look like much from the outside, but inside held 3 layers of fun!

Welcome to the fun house, where the party is just starting:

The beach house turned out perfect, everyone had their own room and we were right by the beach. Not to mention, it was located in this beautiful town, Rosemary, that I instantly fell in love with. It was a beautiful town with breathtaking homes and lots of charm.

So to kick things off, we hit the beach.

Where we built sandcastles and relaxed by the water's edge catching some sun.

And of course we enjoyed some water sports as well. Nice form Rob!

There was even time to squeeze in some family photos. Let's try that again, we squeezed in two sessions of family photos. Our first night, the photographer was late and it stormed, so we got to dress up again and headed back out to the beach the next night for session number 2.

Lots of picture taking...places everyone, places.

Grandma and the chitlins. So cute!

Well, by the end the kids had had enough and couldn't resist the water any longer, so they all took the plunge right in their outfits.

What's the beach in Florida without an "orange bowl?" Robert came up with this fun idea of beach bowling. It was a hit!

We played boys vs girls and I believe the girls won. To our surprise, the oranges survived the adventure and were still good to eat.

We even found some time for some light bike riding. It was the highlight of the trip for me. I love riding bikes, especially at the beach with the gulf in view.

My mom and sister even tried out the tandem bike. Teamwork!

Off we go, it felt like we were kids again. We were one huge bike gang.

We ditched them after hours in the dark of the night after a long day of riding.

We also caught some little critters. Robert loved catching the crabs and showing them off to the kids.

With all the fun we were having, we couldn't stop there, so we added more and celebrated two fabulous dudes' birthdays, Jason & Keaton.

They are quite the pair, father and son.

How many candles are on that cake?

Happy Birthday! Keaton turned 8 and well Jason, he turned...

What does everyone do after dessert and birthday celebrations? Well, continue on with a man show of course.

Look at these...um...handsome, strong, and super tough guys?

Bow chicka wow wow

Nice, I like the one on the left personally.

Time for us to celebrate the 4th of July.

Here we are getting ready to spend the night out on the town.

Everyone loves the 4th of July! What could be better?

Well, I will tell you...

Silly boys.

And matching t-shirts. Oh yes, we did. Mama T made us do it. We pulled the all matching family t-shirts. I believe we pulled it off in style??!?

Listening to live music out on the lawn.

Well, we all had matching t-shirts, except for Kayla. This pretty much sums up our family dynamics. I love this picture.

No, this is not a family team huddle. Lighting sparklers on the beach is harder than you think.

But don't hold your breath too long because it's going to be okay, we got them to light!

And we partied the night away.

This was just preparation for the real show:

I love 4th of July. It is truly one of my favorite holidays because I love honoring this great country. (cue music) I am proud to be an American, where at least I know I am free and I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me, so I proudly stand up...Who stood up? :)

Yes, I am in a silly mood, but I can't help it, really. Look at the people I have to live with?

Crazies.

Before returning home, we (the boys and I) went out early in the morning, so as not to die of a heat stroke, to play some tennis. It was a fun morning and a great way to cap off the trip before Robert and I had to leave our dear family behind to suffer through more relaxation, mini golf, days out at the beach, and great food while we had to hurry home for work!

Let's do it again soon!

Hit the Ground Running

When we returned home from Europe, we truly hit the ground running. Vacation was over and now we were back to the real world with a to-do list, work to go back to and catch up on, and things to organize.

Here are some things that happened just before leaving, as well as, what we have been up to and working on since coming home.

First things first, Robert completed his second year of law school. That's right folks, only one more year to go and he will officially be a lawyer (that's after he passes the bar of course). This last semester was Robert's best of all! He made the Dean's list for the first time (that means he was in the top 10% of his class of second years this semester). He did well on all his exams and we are very happy with his accomplishment. For summer break, he will continue working at Minor League Baseball as full-time employee until school starts back up again. He is still loving his role and the experience he is gaining at MiLB.

Before ending the semester his basketball team won the basketball intramural championship, not to mention he won the second tennis tournament as well.

Here is the championship team:

But honestly, where would they be without us ladies?

As for me, I have been staying busy with work. I have even had the opportunity to represent Simplifile, the company I work for, at a few trade shows. I attended two just before traveling to Europe. Seriously, I was in Grand Rapids, Michigan two days before leaving the country. It was a lot of fun and a great experience. I even ran into an elementary school friend at a show I covered in Orlando. Talk about a small world!

I think we planned our Europe vacation perfectly because that first weekend of being home was Memorial Day weekend. We both needed an extra day off to re-coup and catch up on things like grocery shopping, unpacking, etc.

We also found time to squeeze in a little fun like a having a sleepover on the porch under the stars.

We didn't last too long though. There's just something about your own bed and Robert was grumpy so we went in. He's not quite the camping type.

But this camping girl sure knows how to set up the perfect bed made from beach floats.

Shortly thereafter, we celebrated our three-year wedding anniversary.

We kept it low key since we took the cruise in celebration, but you still have to go out. We went out to dinner at Olive Garden and Robert surprised me with a dozen pink roses.

As busy as we have been, we still have had time to squeeze in some beach R&R.

And go to Busch Gardens with our season passes,

where we got to watch a male peacock try and catch the attention of the lady peacocks.

I know it looks like we have been having lots of fun even though I started this post out talking about how busy we have been, but it's true. There always seems to be something that needs to be done even if it may be fun.

Like my church calling, I am over the young women

ages 12-18 and we have been busy making sure they have lots of fun this summer. There are a lot of details to plan, but it always ends up being lots of fun.

We went fishing with some young men and fathers to celebrate Father's Day, where we caught some interesting bottom dwelling items like rusted cans.

Oh, and a catfish too. This was our biggest catch (and only, haha) of the night.

We also took the girls boating.

Here are my two wonderful counselors that I serve with.

Serving as Young Women's President has been a great learning experience for me so far, and I love each one of my girls for their unique talents and spirits that they bring to our group. They are a strength to me and by serving in this calling I have gained a deeper testimony of our Heavenly Father's love and plan for each of us.

Well, we are still enjoying the Florida sun and all the adventures this area has to offer us. Even with all the crazy things to do and catch up on we definitely manage to make sure we squeeze in all the fun we can. Robert's baseball passes have come in handy as we have attended many Minor League and Tampa Bay Rays games. Just this week, we had two of Robert's friends from Jacksonville stay over so they could all go to the Rays game together. What's summer without a few good baseball games to go to?

Well, I guess that about sums it up! I think I am finally all caught up. YEAH!

Hey, what you looking at?

Yes, that's right, we have even had time to host a few extra visitors like Perry the falcon.