Visiting the Hatches

We went to Lynchburg, Va to see Colby and Caseys
friend Luke get baptized. The Hatches moved away from
us last summer and we really miss them!

Donuts!!!! YUM!

Krispty Kream donuts give kids with A's on their
report cards 6 donuts each for free. So of course when I heard
free and donut in the same sentence I was in the
car driving to Richmond to watch them make the donuts and
then we ate the donuts. It was as simple as that.

Hanging out with our Friends

Over the past couple of weeks we have been trying to squeeze
in a lot of stuff with friends. We have gone golfing.

Went to Busch Gardens with a big group of friends. This
was the initial group but we had about 7 others show up later so
it was a fun time.

And of course we always make time for bowling.

Summer Swimming

I couldn't let the swimming season end without posting
some pictures of the kids enjoying the pool. I can't even count the
hours that have been spent in our pool. It is well used not only
by our family but the many friends and family we have come
over during the summer.

Football Season Starts

Now that football season has started, it basically
takes over our lives. Since August 10th the boys have
had practice 6 days a weeks for 2 hours each night.
You might be asking yourself what in the world Maddie and I
do every night. Well, I usually walk around talking (not a
surprise) and as you can tell from the pictures, Maddie has
her own little gang of friends that eat popsicles all night.

Here is Casey before a scrimmage game.

Here is Ryan in the maroon jersey.

Here is Riley with his hands up his friends butt playing
quarterback. (he'll love I put this)!

Here is Colby practicing with his flag team.

Here is the studly coach whistle and all.

Pretty Flowers

I wanted to show a couple pictures of my
flowers that I have worked hard on this summer.
Normally I am NOT a green thumb, but I committed
to keeping my flowers alive this year and actually
make them beautiful, So I overdosed them on water
and miracle grow. And it worked. It may seem silly to
some, but I'm even going to post more pics because I
am really proud of myself!

Pretty Girl!

Good Friends=Good Times

What is more fun on a nice hot day than having friends
over to swim, eat, play a little boys against girls (yes adults)
volleyball, and just enjoy each others company.
Normally I am not quick to put a picture of myself in a
swimsuit on this blog, but I needed to show the highlight of
the cookout which was the homemade donuts I made on the
grill.

Some of the kids piled on the trampoline.

Kelly and Dan

Lisa and Jay

Swimming with "Big Daddy"

Maddie LOVES to swim with her Daddy. Especially in her
birthday suit.

Casey's 9th Birthday

Casey had a great 9th birthday in July! It is hard to believe that
he is already 9 years old! He was thrilled to get a hamster cage,
but after declaring that the cage we bought him was
a piece of you know what, we took it back and
ended up with a new cage and a guinea pig Casey named
Rhino.

It's been a tradition for a few years now to take their
picture in front of our birthday sign. Check out the muscles!

Camp Doyle

We put the tent up and built a fire and let the kids be
kids. They had a blast. They looked at stars all
night and told stories. Casey had his best buddy Cole
spending the night with them. I lost a lot of
sleep that night because I kept thinking one
of them would be coming in during the middle of the
night, but none of them did. I'm not sure how they slept out
there though, the crickets and frogs were deafening!