The Graduate?.....The Speaker!

Joe and I attended the Graduation Ceremony for Open Campus for Virginia Beach Public Schools last night where Joe was the Commencement Speaker. It's a long story of how he came to be asked to speak at this event, but he was and he accepted. He did a wonderful job giving the students a charge to say YES. In the acronym YES he challenged them to do something for Yourself, Everyone else you know, and a Stranger. Although he wasn't allowed to speak about God, he did give a very clear message about seeking Truth. I was so proud of him and so amazed at how well he did in front of all those people. I know this will not be the last time Joe is asked to speak publicly, I think the Lord is going to use him in this way many times in the future. We are very proud of you Daddy - you did a great job!

This is Brandon, the student that Joe met through his involvement with Recovery for the City. He and Joe formed a special bond and his mother recommended Joe as the speaker.

Toofy Alert

I discovered today, Anna has cut her first tooth! The picture doesn't show it very well, so we'll wait until we can get a better one! Yeah for Anna!

Breaking the Rules

So we had already put Erin to bed last night when we walked outside to observe our neighbor organizing his newly delivered swingset. It's twice as big as the William's old set and we all know how long that took to put up. So Joe is kindly trying to warn our neighbor and give him some pointers. But, when we saw what was going on outside we had to get Erin out of bed to join in. There were 9 huge cardboard boxes in the driveway and his kids and our other neighbor had markers and were enjoying the empty canvases. Erin has a heart for art, so we knew how much she'd love this, and she did. Then, she went right back to bed and was asleep in no time. Summertime is all about breaking the rules!

The Aquarium a.k.a Museum

Petting a snake....Doesn't the handler look like Aaron Spelling?
Here Sharky, Sharky...
A few minutes of peace at storytime.
Our little builders...
Just training her up right, sometimes we just have to do it ourselves!

Erin absolutely loves the Virginia Aquarium which she calls the Museum, so she was thrilled we were going with her friends. She also loves being a tour guide, and took right to it yesterday. We went with Baba, MawMaw and cousin Samara, Jamie and her 2 and convinced Jessica to skip work and bring Cody(bad influence!). We went on a Tuesday so we could participate in story time, but that lasted about 10 minutes, whose got time for stories at the Aquarium. The kids all loved the new exhibit "Little Builders". Of course, my battery died, so only 1 picture. It was a great time with friends and grandmas looking at the sea turtles and sharks!

Memorial Day and a Birthday

We headed to the beach on Memorial day to soak in the rays. This was Anna's first encounter with the sand, and she loved it. We always take a kiddie pool for the little ones, so after the water warmed up a bit she and Carter were happy with it. We met the Judds, Saunders and my Brother's family there. That's a lot of kids, but it was great. Can't wait for our next beach trip.

After quick baths and a short nap we headed off to my parent's house for my Dad's 60th birthday party. The kids call him Bobble and made him a BBQ plate with their handprints on it. It was a fun night for a cookout and celebrating our favorite Bobble.

Small Group BBQ

We had a Small Group BBQ on Sunday afternoon to celebrate Memorial Day. We always plan a beach day, but the weather just wasn't warm enough. So everyone brought over some good eats and we enjoyed an outdoor picnic. The men took all the kids to the church playground right near our house so the ladies could enjoy a few minutes of talk time! We love having our small group friends over, especially for summer cookouts!

B.G. with the Judds

Saturday we started off early to head to Busch Gardens with the Judds. We were all able to pile into their Pilot, get some yummy breakfast and make it up to Williamsburg by 10:00. It was the absolutely perfect day to be there - not too hot and breezy. Erin and Anderson did all their rides together. Erin even tackled the big swings with Daddy. Carter and Anna just chilled and slept whenever they could get comfortable. It was the perfect start to our weekend. Thanks Judds for such a fun Saturday!