Ahoy Matey!

 We spent Monday in Arkansas out on a lake.  It was AWESOME!  The lake was huge and the water was so clear and WARM!!!  We all had fun floating in the lake to stay cool (it was about 100 degrees that day) and the kids and Nate went tubing and wake boarding.

 Mary's brother Mark has a sweet ski boat.  It was such a fun day on the lake with family!

 Shay wanted to tube, but wanted to ride on the tube with Tommy (Mark's son).  Tommy was an awesome cousin and played with the kids all weekend.  Shay and Tommy rode the tube together.  Shay had a blast...thanks Tommy!

 Our driver!  We stayed a couple days after the wedding at Mark & Kathy's home in Fayetteville.  We had a great time chatting, laughing, boating and just hanging out!

 Nate showed off his skills as a wake boarder.  It helped to have an awesome boat to get some major air.  Of course major air comes with some pretty awesome crashes, but I think he landed this jump.

 Isaac and Conley on the tubes.  The Lybecks left on Sunday but Isaac stayed to play with Conley.  The boys LOVED tubing!!!

 He looks like he hates it, but didn't want to stop.  Both boys fell asleep on the drive back to the dock.

Mark's boat...it is sweet!!!  Thanks for the awesome weekend, we had a blast!!!

Wedding in Arkansas

 The girls came up the aisle and marched right up the steps to stand by the bridesmaids.  They were supposed to come to the left and sit with Mindy and I.  We panicked because both the girls and the boys walked up the steps.  We had no idea if they could stand up there nicely the entire ceremony...we were in for a treat!

 The vase is glass...filled with water...on a wrought iron stand!!!!!  I DID NOT BREATHE THE ENTIRE CEREMONY.  ALL eyes were on the little blond girl about to send the vase CRASHING to the ground.  By the grace of God Shay never knocked it over!  She would touch it, walk around it, put her feet underneath it, swing her basket around.  It took years off my life watching the scene unfold!

 Kinzie, Isaac, Conley and Shay at the hotel before the ceremony.  It was an awesome hotel and the kids enjoyed swimming everyday!

 The dress overtook the car seat!

 When the ceremony was done, the girls were done being flower girls (that is what Kinzie told us).  They took off the dresses and danced the night away in their nude leotards.  They had a blast!!!

 Their sign they carried down the aisle reads "Here comes the bride"...they were so cute!

 Courtney and Daryl.  We are so grateful they let the kids be a part of their special day.  The kids had a blast and enjoyed the entire weekend!

 They had a table of glow sticks and sunglasses.  The kids may have taken half the glow sticks.  They thought that was awesome!

Hudson showing off his move on the dance floor!  All the kids danced for hours.  At 11pm they got to ride a stretch hummer limo back to the hotel.  They thought that was great!  It was a great weekend in Arkansas with family.  More pictures to come...

Day 1 & 2 in the books!!!

 They started on our house yesterday!!!!  YEAH!!!  Day 1 they foundation was dug out and ready for footings.  I have no idea what I am talking about so if during this process you don't understand my terms...they are probably wrong- call Nate :)

 That is the most beautiful home I have ever seen...OH MY WORD!!!  I'm taking a ton of pictures of this process because the end result will look nothing like what we are starting with!!!  For those who don't know, the existing house will remain but we are adding an addition off the back.  We will then remodel the existing...in the end it will all be brand new!!!

 Jill, Shay and I went and checked out the progress last night.  We are on the inspection team...yeah right!

 Shay was inspecting the work done that day!

 This is the water pipe coming into the house from the well.  They had to dig down a specific amount for the foundation walls.  They were 2 inches from hitting this pipe and costing us money and time with having to reroute how water comes into the house!  Huge blessing this did not happen!!!

 This is Day 2.  The footings were poured today!!!

 The dry weather is working to our advantage for the crews to be able to come and work!

They will frame up and hopefully pour the foundation walls tomorrow.  It is fun to watch the process and see progress.  We built MANY houses growing up but I was too young to know what was going on and definitely not interested.

The Big 6!

 Conley's 6th birthday was last Saturday the 16th.  He wanted a pool party with 6 friends...so that is what we did.  He had a blast swimming with his buddies!!!  It was a hot sunny day, the rain held off until after dinner!!!

 Aunt Jill and Nate doing a little teamwork to light the candles.  It was windy and they didn't want to stay lit.

 Conley and his buddies.  He got some great gifts and his buddies were so excited for him to open their presents...so cute!!!

 Piñata busted open and the boys scoring some candy, cars, army dudes and bouncy balls.

 Conley really wanted a scavenger hunt.  So we printed off pictures of things around the property and they ran in search of the clues to find the "X" marks the spot...that is where the piñata was.

 The boys running to the next clue.  They were so funny!  They each took a turn opening an envelope at the next clue.  They loved it!!!

 Grant running to the next clue.  You can see the two little sisters in the background trying to keep up.  Conley's buddy David has a little sister the same age as Shay.  Elizabeth and Shay love playing together, so they also had a fun day!!!

 Birthday boy taking a swing at the piñata.  Of course it was a pirate piñata holding to the theme of a scavenger hunt with "X" marks the spot.  Conley wanted Nate to dress up as a pirate and chase them while they did the scavenger hunt...that was nixed from the day :)

We had the grandparents, grammie and Aunt Jill for dinner and a few more gifts.  He was wiped out from a long day and was lounging playing his DS.  Aunt Jill got him a new game, so now he is hooked!

Sunday Conley, Jill, Shay and my dad went to the driving range to hit golf balls with Conley's new clubs (a gift from my parents).  It was a beautiful day for golf.  Shay of course took some hits with Conley's clubs...doesn't matter that the clubs are for left handed people :)  Hopefully my sister took some pictures of golfing that I can post soon!!!

Dirt Bike!

 For his birthday Conley got a dirt bike & the gear from Nana & Grandpa Tom and us.  Of course I was very nervous, but we have a the gear to keep him safe and the dirt bike has "training wheels" until Conley gets better riding.  It is the cutest thing!!!

 Here is our stud next to his new toy!  He LOVES it.  He rides around the circle where you first pull in to Mary & Tom's house.  It is so fun to watch.  I will work on getting video uploaded!  He isn't a huge fan of the chest protector so we are slowly getting him adjusted to that.  For now just the helmet and gloves are REQUIRED.  Tonight he rode with his Fox Racing boots on, but can also ride with his tennis shoes.

 It's a Yamaha 50cc (I think this is how you say it, Nate will die if I get it wrong:))

 Con ready to go.  He finally is able to get it started with the kick start.  He is excited to ride with his buddy Lincoln who just took the training wheels off his dirt bike. 

 Shay is racing Conley around the circle.  Shay is on the big wheel and Conley is in the background.  She did try out the dirt bike yesterday, per her request.  I'm sure when Conley outgrows this bike she will take it off his hands :)

Conley riding laps around the circle.  Of course now Nate needs a dirt bike to ride with Conley.  I'm sure that will happen shortly.  It is fun to watch Conley ride!

Nascar Nate...

For Nate's birthday, his parents bought him a racing experience at Newton Speedway.  It was AWESOME!!!  Nate had a great time and loved every minute of it!

 We parked in pit row and walked right up to the track.  We hung out and watched guys race because Nate had a class before he could race.

 Here is Nate in his class.  They had a class for about an hour before they were allowed to get in the car to drive.

 The kids checking out Nate's jumpsuit and helmet.  Conley and Shay loved watching all the commotion. 

 Nate standing beside his race car.

 The green flag.  He had to follow the pace car for 2 laps and practice passing with the 2 other guys in his group.  The green flag meant he could let it rip and he did!

 The checkered flag.  Nate did awesome!!!  He lapped both guys in his group.  He drove the max speed almost the whole time.  What an awesome experience!

 This is before he raced.  We love how the steering wheel is sitting on the windshield.  They were in full gear and strapped in pretty tight...very safe!

 Done racing!  All smiles!

 Nate paid to ride with a pro.  They had 2 professional drivers that drove anybody who wanted & paid 4 laps around the track.  Nate said it was CRAZY AWESOME!  These cars were faster than the cars they let Nate drive.  Nate felt that they were going to spin out at the corners they were going so fast. 

The professionals would drive with the "normal drivers" occasionally.  Here is Nate getting passed by the pro.  The pros probably would be going 50mph faster than the "normal guys"...so fast!!!!