Saturday, February 25, 2012

Emily Turned 7!!!

 
Emily turned 7 this past Monday!  It's crazy how time flies!
 
We decorated and had a special birthday dinner for her
on Wednesday night.  I was so glad to finally be in town
for her birthday!  This is the first one in seven years that
I've been able to be in town for, so I was very happy :-)
 
She had lots of presents!  Spoiled?! ;-)
 

 She was excited to open up her card from Aunt Mary :-)
 I hadn't written on my present who it was from, so
Emily took it upon herself to do it :-)
 
Here it is! :-)
 Emy and Pab decorated the cupcakes.
Can you tell what this is supposed to be?!


 She cherished her gifts! ;-)
She went right to work on her gifts! :-)

Visit to WI Fam! :-)

 
This past Saturday, we traveled about ten hours from TN
to WI in time for me to go to a shower that some of
us bridesmaids and some close friends and family had for
Summer on Saturday night.  It was very nice and so good
to see everyone again!  Jessica and Kara did a great job
decorating - it was so beautiful!
Love you, Sum, and so glad I get to celebrate this time with you!
SO EXCITED for you!!! :-D
 I LOVE this picture of Sum & Dave!
Probably one of my favorites!
 I stayed with Tina & Steve over the weekend.
I was SO excited to see the kids on Sunday morning
when they woke up and I think they were kind of
excited to see me too! ;-)

Levi got Rachel Logan to read him a book on our way
to church!  What a little spoiled kiddo! ;-)
 
I loved Brooklyn's "little horns"! :-)
 Levi looked SO HANDSOME in his little suit! :-)
 
Levi enjoyed playing with the pastor's grandson, Tanner.
 The Camp Joy Quartet went to Greendale for the day
to sing and minister in the church there.
 Tina & Stephen sang a duet for the evening service.
They sound amazing together, I must say! :-)
 
We enjoyed Culvers after the evening service :-)
Levi went over to Brooklyn & kept giving her BIG hugs!
It was just too cute!  They really do love each other! :-)
 For this picture, Stephen was saying,
"We redheads stick together!" :-)
 Levi enjoyed watching the lady clean up.
I went over & was watching him watch her :-)
When he noticed that I was watching him,
he looked at me and said, "She's laughing!"
It was almost as if he'd never seen someone
laugh before or at least that he was so surprised
that this lady could laugh!  It made me laugh! :-)
 We were done eating and the kids tootled over to a
nearby table.  Levi went over and helped hoist Brooklyn
up in a chair and then went and got himself up into
the other one!  It was too cute!!!  I was laughing so hard!
A typical guy and girl - the guy watching TV and the girl
looking around at other things :-)
 We made breakfast & smoothies on Monday morning.
Can you tell Levi enjoyed his smoothie?! ;-)
Good to the absolute last drop! :-)
One happy camper! :-D

Clarksville, TN

 
The couple we stayed with this week, Bruce and Ruth.
 
Here is our home for the week!  It was so nice to be
so close to church, so we went home between services
everyday, which we don't always do because of the distance.
 My room for the week!  I love water & beaches, so I loved the theme! :-)

 The room had the cutest decorations..
like this little hat and coat (mini size, of course!).




 Here's "Princess Ariel's" room for the week! :-)
 Because Bruce works at Fort Campbell, an Army base in
Kentucky, we were able to go on base on Tuesday to tour around.
Dr. Jim enjoyed sitting in a Black Hawk Helicopter, I think! :-)
Bruce flies Black Hawks.. it was really awesome!  Kept thinking of you, Sam!



 
I'll admit.. I was pretty much in my glory, too! ;-)
 Leesie made a great co-pilot! :-)
 




 
Wouldn't you love a hangar like this, Sam?!
This picture is especially for you! :-)
 After we saw the helicopters, we went to Pratt Museum!
It was really neat & had lots of interesting things to see
and many interesting facts!  
Maybe I liked it because I'm a teacher? ;-)
 It was Valentines Day on Tuesday, so we went all out
for the occasion! :-)  The pastor bought all of us girls chocolates :-)
 Mom sent me a package!  I wore the socks :-)
Thanks for remembering me, Mom! :-)
 The Vans left some little treats at my desk :-)
 I got some balloons and candy for the girls and Ariel
gave them all some fun stuff too! :-)
(I love this picture of the three of them, by the way!)
 
Ariel enjoyed her little bear & gifts from the Vans, too! :-)
 Pastor's son, Chris, brought in something for the girls
to dissect!  Janna jumped right on in and the others
enjoyed watching for a bit :-)
 

 This people at this church were just so sweet!
I really enjoyed getting to know different ones
and spending some really sweet, special times in
talking to the different ladies.  I especially enjoyed
my time talking with Jenny (the lady in the picture
above).  She's been through a lot and definitely deserves
some medals, I think! :-)  Her husband was a police officer
for about ten years and then he joined the military.  His
story is absolutely incredible!  To keep a long story short
(and if you want to know more details then just let me know),
he saved his whole battalion from gunfire and he rescued a
fellow soldier from being blown up!  It's pretty incredible!
The wife has also been through a great deal with having a
husband who is a changed man since coming back from active
duty!  It was very interesting to hear her story.  I encouraged
her to write a book :-)  They're a precious family and I'm
so very thankful that I had the opportunity to meet them all!
Leesie came up to me the final night after church as we
were getting ready to leave, and said, "Look at me, Miss Tizzy!
I'm you!" :-)  Sure enough!  She had my coat on, scarf on, my purse on
her shoulder, was holding my water bottle, and was carrying my Bible!
As they say, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!" :-)