BARBADOS!

Mom and Dad took the entire family to Barbados this month!  

And were off!

 Our luggage alone was record breaking I'm sure!

Adalyn's first time to see the ocean and beach.  She loved it!

And Jaxon loved it as well! He did so great in the ocean.

Adalyn & Mimi

My surfing dude!

The beach was beautiful.

Adalyn loves her uncle Justin

Just relaxing in the pool.

Silly girl trying to be like her brother.

My little model

Jaxon made a friend!

We went to the caverns of Barbados. They were so cool and so was the jungle surrounding it.

Enjoying the beach.

This is the view of the house we rented from the ocean. It was awesome!

Love our footprints in the sand

My silly boy.

 Family pic at the house.

 This boy loves his Uncle Justin

View from our porch

 The pool at the house

 My dad and I. 

 My handsome hubby.

We ate at the most beautiful restaurant called "Cin Cin" on the ocean.

 Mom & Dad

 One day, we took a glass bottom boat to see the turtles. So fun.

 Adalyn looking out the glass bottom

 Blair & Justin

The turtles were amazing. So big and would come right up to you.

 There's my hubby! ha.

 At four years old, Jaxon was the best snorkeler I've ever seen. He totally amazed me at how natural it came to him. He wore his snorkel gear 75% of the time we were there.

 And the boat put Adalyn to sleep.  Sweet girl. She was a trooper.

The kids loved swimming with their papa.

 Sweetest smile ever.

 Sibling love.

 Some of us took a sail.

 Jaxon got buried in the sand!

 and then he fell asleep..

 Adalyn had to get buried too.

 Family pics.

Such a great vacation! Thanks mom and dad!

Graduation

Jaxon graduated from the church Pre-k a couple of weeks ago.  His class did the cutest songs and Jaxon was too cute in his cap & gown.  He will be starting a "real" Pre-k class at a new school in the fall.  We will miss the wonderful teachers at FUMC.  They were so good to Jaxon and I am so thankful for them.

Mother's Brunch

The week before Mother's Day, our small group from church held a brunch for all our mothers.  We had so much fun planning the food and table.  And our mothers seemed to really love it.  

I always love setting a table outside on my patio.  It was pouring earlier that morning but turned out very pleasant during the brunch (thank goodness!)

We gave each mother a monogrammed mason jar filled with flowers.  

Reagan made a strawberry bisque that was amazing.

 And Lisa made this salad (or piece of art).  Not only was it beautiful, it was delicious!

And I continue to be amazed....

I'll admit...
the past couple of months, I had grown a little weary when it came to throwing these parties.  Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE them.  I just had gotten so preoccupied with other things that it had become "something else I needed to do this month."

So, as the party day approached, I began doing the usual preparations (buying decoration, gifts, etc.). I reserved a local party place called "Flippenbounce." Its an amazing gym with all kinds of fun stuff for kids to run, jump & play on AND it is right down the road from High Sky.  It's also a little pricey, but I thought it was worth the money for these kids.

Up until this point, sweet friends and family had always volunteered to purchase the gifts for the kids.  Because I had been so busy, I didn't spread the word as much as I usually do and I still had three birthday boys I needed to get gifts for. A sweet friend volunteered to purchase one child's gifts and I just decided I'd do the others this month.  As I was making my Target shopping list, I received a phone call from the owner of Flippenbounce.  She said that she had a lady standing next to her who wanted to purchase gifts for the two children at the upcoming party.  And... she had other friends who wanted to purchase the gifts for the next few months!  AND.... in addition to that awesome news, she informed me that Flippenbounce wanted us to use their facility each month at no charge until we grew tired of it! (picture my jaw hitting the floor here).

That same day, I got even more amazing news.  Every year, Odessa Mother's Club sell geraniums and donate the proceeds to a charity.  And guess who they donated them to??  I was and am still blown away by the amount of money these women raised for these children.

God never ceases to amaze me.  Even when I grow tired and weary, he is faithful.  I pray that God continues to guide me and lead me through this ministry. And, God knows where every penny of the money donated should go.  I pray that he shows me how and where to use it.

Thanks again to all of you for your support and prayers. Please see the next post with pictures of the party.

May Birthdays!

This month of birthdays was the best yet.  We had the party at Flippenbounce and the kids had a blast.  Flippenbounce is a locally owned gym with all kinds of awesome things to jump, bounce & slide on.

This is the sweetest little 5 year old. He had such a good time and I love this little smirk he gave me all night.

These two boys are brothers that both celebrated their birthdays together. They are almost exactly one year apart and are almost impossible to tell apart. Such sweet, handsome boys.

Present time!

Here are some pictures of the kids playing at the facility.  

They all had such a good time.

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