Jeffery's 8th Birthday

Jeffery's birthday was on Friday of the first week of school, so he as soon as he got home from school, he was ready to open his presents. We also let him choose where to eat that night: Pizza Hut and then choose what we were going to do afterwards: Amarillo High football game. We all had a fun night celebrating his birthday!

He was pretty excited about this set of baseball cards from his Mama Betty.

He was pretty sure he knew what was in this big, long box, but he was still super excited to open it. We made him save it for last too.

Sure enough, it was a new set of golf clubs!

On Saturday morning, James took the boys to a driving range for Jeffery to test out his new set of clubs.

William took in a little golf action too, but mostly he was just happy to be along for the ride!

James says he hopes Jeffery is a good enough golfer to support his parents some day! LOL!

Saturday afternoon was Jeffery's birthday party at the Family Life Center (FLC) at our church. He was fired up about playing a game of knock-out with his buddies. I think they played knock-out on each of the six goals in the gym, followed by a game of two on two. Such an easy party. All I had to do was serve cake and write down presents. They just played the rest of the time.

William and some more buds playing in the tunnel room (a huge indoor playground in the FLC)

Jeffery blowing out his candles on his cupcakes

Jeffery certainly had fun opening his presents, in case you couldn't tell.

He got two of these foam swords which he and William have really enjoyed.

Eight years have come and gone quickly. In eight more years, he will be getting his driver's license and dating. I'm not going to think much about that, but instead try to enjoy each day and be thankful for the joy that Jeffery brings to our lives!

Jeffery's First Day of School

We were all a little nervous about Jeffery's first day of school at a new school in a new town. We all prayed together about his first day many times before the day came, and James and I prayed all day throughout the first day. We knew ahead of time that there would be a few kids from church at the same school, but when he came home the first day, he said he saw lots of kids he knew from church and even two in his class. We were all very thankful that God answered our prayers and made this a good experience for our big boy.

He's on his way to a great third grade year!

Last Days of Summer

While James took a church group to Glorieta for a Golf Retreat, the boys and I played our own round of golf-miniature golf that is at Wonderland Golf.

We enjoyed all of the obstacles on the course even though they made it a little more challenging. This wheel catches your ball and then dumps it out on the other side.

William is about to hit the ball underneath this dinosaur.

Jeffery is trying to hit the ball into the windmill to get to the hole.

After our round of miniature golf, we took a walk along this creek through Thompson Memorial Park.

We are enjoying our last week together before school starts, having lazy mornings, playing games, and riding bikes. It has been a great summer!

Family Birthday Celebration

My parents and my sister came for the weekend to celebrate the boys' birthdays. We enjoyed a family game of horseshoes in our front yard and then a yummy supper at Blue Sky.

When we got back from supper, we let the boys open their presents from Mimi, Granddad, and Angela. William got this cool Blast Off Baseball set from Angela.

Jeffery was very excited to get Sorry Sliders which we have played every day since he opened it! I think he likes it. William got Uno Spin game which we have also played every day!

On Saturday, Mimi and Granddad treated the boys to a trip to Wonderland, a fun amusement park here in Amarillo. We had been to Wonderland for our first time earlier this summer, but we were glad for the rest of our family to experience the fun.

Our first thing to ride was the gondola.

The boys had so much fun! Granddad and Angela rode with them on the log ride.

They rode everything they wanted and then rode some several more times!
It was a great day of family fun!

Boys' Trip to Fort Worth

My family was planning to come in the middle of August to celebrate both of the boys' birthdays, and then my mom offered to have the boys for the week before, so we met my parents halfway on Saturday to send the boys to have fun with their grandparents!

Granddad was only home on the weekend so they spent lots of fun time with him, taking a tractor ride and swimming at our community pool.

On Sunday, the boys went to church at Wedgwood with Mimi and Granddad and got to see lots of their Fort Worth friends.

Mimi and the boys had lots of fun together the rest of the week!

On Monday, Mimi took the boys to meet their friends Ben and Brittin to swim and then later at the movies to see G-Force.

Swimming at the pool was nearly a daily activity! Cannonball!
(I'm just glad they are getting our money's worth since we are still paying HOA dues until our house sells.)

On Wednesday, Mimi took the boys to Main Event for bowling and arcade fun!

I think Thursday was the highlight of the week for the boys. They got to spend the afternoon playing at the pool with their big bud Nathan. Then Thursday evening, Mimi and the boys met Angela at the Ringling Bros. Circus which was William's first time at the circus! They loved every minute!

William is 5!

William celebrated his 5th birthday at Jump 'N Jive, an indoor bounce house place. He had so much fun running around and bouncing with his new Amarillo friends!

Blowing out his candles on his chocolate birthday cake!

He had lots of fun opening his presents and gave this one a thumbs up!

Birthday party friends!