Happy Birthday Lily and Jonas!

This joint-birthday party was a Luau. Bradley told me before the party, pllleeeasssee, let's not dress up...we will be the O-N-L-Y people that do. Well, we ended up being the only people who were N-O-T dressed up! It was fun to see everyone's outfits...these were the only two pictures I took that evening. We were busy have too much fun! :)

Kenlee GrubbEmily & Callie Edwards

What a great party Sobeys. Thanks for hosting!

Summer Dayz

Bradley was gone for most of July (we joined him for a couple of the trips), so the boys and I had fun around Amarillo. We swam 2-3 times each week and then had a "special" treat. Both Parker and Tate asked to go to Chuck E Cheese during summer break. I really don't like germ-infested places such as CEC; however, it's much cleaner and brighter than Mr. Gatti's. So, of we went. We had the best time laughing at each other and playing every game! Tate's last experience at CEC was no so great; this time he kept telling me, "No cry Chuck E Ezzz, Mommy." And we didn't have any tears...until it was time to leave!

Shooting Hoops!

Clock Tower

Swimming with Logan and Kenlee Grubb

We love you Logan!

We heart snack time!

We had to move our baseball games inside due to the extreme heat this summer! Such fun!

Tate is wearing his Texas Rangers shirt in these pictures. He wants to wear this shirt and his camp shirt everyday. On a day he wears one of these shirts and after his bath, he asks me, "camp shirt go? ranger shirt go? pick out clothes. rangers shirt. camp shirt." I kid you not, my two year old is not concerned about food, toys or the like, but with what shirt he wears each and every day! I love you Bug! :)

Gender Reveal Cupcakes!

This summer, I've been blessed to be a part of a Bible study with my bestie-s! I love Beth Moore and am thankful for her ministry. We are going through her study of Daniel. Anyway, Libby is pregnant and just had her gender sonogram. The sono just happened to be on a Bible study evening, so I threw a gender reveal party! Xoxo cupcakery (aka Whitney Davis) did a fabulous job on "hiding" the secret! I set-up the order and Libby let Whitney know whether to put pink or blue inside the cupcake...

Anticipation was awesome! I just couldn't wait to know if Baby Sobey was a girl or a boy!

It's a GIRL! Yay! Congrats Frank and Libby!
We love you and cannot wait to meet your newest little miracle!

Tradition

Growing up, my family and I went to North Padre Island every summer. I have so many great memories of our time together there. We loaded up in Amarillo and set out for North Padre to enjoy with the entire Parker family!

Here's a recap of what we did:

Our big swimming without floaties or a life jacket!

Throwing the ball with Tate... A LOT! And of course, jumping in!Corpus Christi Aquarium

Fun with seahorses!

Lots of fish, turtles, and other sea creatures

We were able to catch the Dolphin Show

It was so very hot; we ended our time at the aquarium with the splash pad!
The boys loved it!

Aim and shoot!

Happy Independence Day America! We spent the fourth of July playing games and swimming. Then, we headed over to Corpus Christi for fireworks! As we approached the huge bridge to take us to the USS Lexington for fireworks, we found that it was closed due to a big wreck on the bridge. Parker was thrilled! Emergency vehicles were everywhere...as well as every other person trying to get the other side! We actually had to stop for gas while we passed the time and Parker met a police officer. He told us when to head back to bridge...and we were the second car let through! Go Parker!

The boys were supposed to be able to swim at the 4th of July party, but it was too crowded. We treated them to light sabers instead!

Emer with Mom and Dad

Best brother E-V-E-R!

Maybin family picture!

Just passing the time! Tate held on tight as the fireworks show went on but he loved it. He said "fire-oks" about 1,000 times during our walk back to the car!

Tate hiding from Pops so that his messy face wouldn't be cleaned!

Parker thought the ice cream scoop was a spoon - honestly - it was hilarious!

Happy 29th birthday (a bit early) Chris!

Chris with Mom and Dad

Parker and Tate with their hero!

Make a wish...

BEACH TIME! The boys liked riding the waves and playing in the sand.

The tropical storm that hit the coast the week before brought up all kinds of seaweed...yuck!

Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory! :) Tate is pointing to the water. "mimming" = swimming - N.O.W!

So thankful for this sweet time with our family!

We ended our trip with a couple of days in Waco. Here is Carline (aka Nanny) with Tate, Chloe and Parker. Those three kiddos sure do LOVE to play together!

Camera Issues and Unexpected Blessings!

Between VBS and packing for our vacation, our trusty Sony camera was no longer working! We had it for five great years...so it was actually trashed and we purchased another! During our "non-camera" days, we enjoyed the pool, playful days at home, and I volunteered at the Perkins Center distributing food and clothing to those in times of crisis/need twice a week.

How blessed I was during this time! A precious lady brought her father in for groceries and clothing. The father needed a wheelchair to make it into the building and interview room. After all the goodies were approved and loaded up, the daughter asked if by chance a wheelchair had been donated. Usually, the answer is no. However, I double checked and a brand-new chair was donated earlier in the week. God blessed me by being able to tell this women, "take the chair, be blessed, we love you and God loves you. I hope it helps your daddy." She cried. The cry that comes from deep within one's soul. Deep. True. Heartfelt. "Thank you Jesus; God you are awesome; God you are good, even when it's hard, you are good," was her immediate response. I'm not sure who was blessed more!

Cars 2

Parker is back at it with his "Cars" cars. He never really put them away...but they are definitely back out...with a few extra now! He absolutely loved Cars 2; it was Tate's first movie! They did great. Tate had to potty (yes, we are potty training) three times during the movie but it was still wonderful. We purchased tickets early on the day of the movie release and showed up about an hour before to get the perfect seats! No disappointments in this house! :) A guessing game is now in place between Parker, Bradley and me as to when the movie will be released on DVD. Stay tuned!

Vvvvvv V-B-S 2011

The Big Apple Adventure came to FBC Amarillo mid-June! It was a blast. Our sweet twin friends Emily Kate and Joshua and Noah and Chandler Wright came to VBS with us! Such fun! This picture is taken at the end of the day when the music is turned up in the parking lot while kiddos wait on rides....Tate's favorite part of the day! We are blessed by our church who hosted over 1200 people at VBS this year. To God be the glory!

PS: We will still be singing VBS music from the Big Apple this time next year. My kids have made it a tradition.