Emma’s Graduation

Emma Jo graduated on June 5 and I am still trying to wrap my head around how that happened...It just seems like it was yesterday that she was starting Kindergarten...

We were a little nervous that there wouldn't be an actual graduation ceremony, but thankfully there was!  It was originally supposed to be outside on the football field, but it was also supposed to be 99 degrees so they changed to inside.

We are so proud of Emma, she graduated with honors all the while taking college courses and working her tail off at the nursing home.  During Covid!

I just can't even tell you how proud I am of all three of my girls!  Brad, we done good!!!

We were so fortunate that the grandparents could also come!  Brad's dad was having some back issues, so he stayed home.

Such sweet friends Emma has.  We love that they always want to come over and hang out!

Emma has the biggest heart and we are just so excited to see what God has in store for her!

We had Emma's graduation party on June 19th which is also Brad's birthday.  It was the only day we could make work and it ended up being the most perfect day.  Despite the weather being so hot and sticky previously, the day of her party was GORGEOUS!  Not overly hot and no humidity.

You can see in the picture below, my dad made a birthday sign for Brad with him and Josie, we were DYING when we saw it!  Turned out awesome!

As fun as these parties are, it is SO MUCH WORK haha!  Thankfully my dad and his wife came down on Friday and helped, along with Brad's sister.

Emma wrote out some of her favorite Bible verses and I laminated them and cut them out, loved how these turned out!

For food we had smoked pulled pork, sloppy joes and a couple salads.  Emma wanted cookies instead of cupcakes.

Of course she had to have her iced coffee!!

Thankfully we had a friend of ours who offered to make Emma a cake, I loved how it turned out!  And it was just as delicious!!

We had SUCH a fun night!  Barb and Darrin brought their karaoke rock box and we pretty much sang all night, so fun!  We were so grateful that everyone was able to come out and help us celebrate.

Alayna #15

Our little Mouse is 15!  It just seems like she should still be three, full of energy and shenanigans, but then that means should would be a handful again, and I think I'm told old for that kind of energy haha!!!

She's at the age now where birthdays are a little more low key.  She had a couple friends over and they soaked in the hot tub and ate their weight in junk food.

Alayna is just finishing up her first year in high school, and I think we'll all be glad to see that go!  Being in school during covid was not an easy feat.  With all the quarantine's and in school part time/home part time was tough.  But she handled it well and we're almost at the finish line!

This kid still cracks us up on the daily!  

She's still playing volleyball, how they managed to play with masks on is something I will NEVER understand.  It was so hard for them.

Dad is still happy she wants to hunt with him!

And of course the biggest excitement was getting her drivers permit!  She is a really good driver, and although it will take mom awhile before she can actually drive with her I know she'll do great!

Mouse, we love you so much, don't ever stop being you!!

Florida 2021

With each of the girls, we told them that the summer they graduate from high school they get to pick the family vacation.  Rachel chose to go to Colorado the summer of 2019, and Emma was SO excited to go to Mexico, which is her favorite place!  And then Covid-19 hit.  We discussed different options, and at the end of the day, what she really wanted to do was chill on the beach by the ocean.  So we looked around and decided on Treasure Island, Florida.  We had the BEST time!  It was the same area I was in late January for my girls trip.

We chose a Wednesday-Saturday and it was the perfect amount of time to be gone!  Brad and I started the morning off with a screw up at the airport, our flight left at 7 am.

Brad found an amazing condo right on the beach in Treasure Island.  It was PERFECT!  It had a full kitchen/dining/living room, and two bedrooms and two bathrooms.  Our balcony looked out to the ocean.

As soon as we got unpacked, we headed down to the beach, such a perfect first sunset!

We really had no concrete plans except for a dolphin sunset cruise on Friday.  We enjoyed getting up super early to walk the beach (mom and dad), sleep in (the girls and Jackson), and eat the best food!

Friday we drove into Johns Pass to walk the boardwalk and check out the shops.

Notice how lobstery red Rachel and Emma were!!  Someday they'll listen to their mama....

And more beach time.

Saturday night we had booked a dolphin sunset cruise and we could not have asked for a better night!  Our captain was AWESOME!!!  Seriously, he made the whole night!

We got to see several dolphins out swimming around, so cool!

Love, love, love this picture of Mouse!

One of the best breakfasts we've ever had was at The Frog Pond, we had eaten here on our girls weekend as well, soooo good!

And we got to celebrate Rachel's birthday a day early too!  And yes, they did finish all those crab legs!!

It really was such a wonderful, relaxing vacation.  I am so glad we started this tradition, so many wonderful memories with our girls!