Happy Fourth of July!

Each year we have a Fourth of July party at our home for our church and also some of our family comes. It's become a fun tradition! This year the weather put a small kink in our plans...we normally have everything outside in the backyard, but since it had rained earlier in the day and it was on the radar to hit again during the time of the party, we moved the tables into our garage and once it started back we moved everyone inside. Even with the threatening weather, we still had a great crowd! It is such a blessing to live in America where we can freely assemble to worship and spend time with friends...I am so grateful for all who have sacrificed to make my freedom possible. Here are a few pictures...some are fuzzy because of the humidity hitting my camera lens ;)We always try to get a family picture at the cookout...this time, Caleb and Bennett decided to go get their pajamas on by themselves before we had a chance and before everyone left...check out the pj's they chose :)

Nanny's Day on the Boat!

Nanny was in town for the Fourth of July weekend, and we convinced her to go out on the boat! This was a big deal since she doesn't like the water...a grandmother's love will cause her to do many things she normally would not do! Thanks so much Nanny for a fun day on the water...and for our new haircuts! I look funny in this picture because I'm squinting from the sun, but I absolutely love it because it's so cute of the boys...had to post it!

Constructors for Christ...Week TWO

We had a wonderful week two group of Constructors for Christ! They made a lot of progress, and were such a blessing! One really neat thing about this group for me is that some of them were from Middlefork Road Baptist Church where my dad was pastor when Constructors built their first building! Corey and I were already married at the time and living in Centerville, so I wasn't very involved in the process, but I do remember walking into a beautiful building and being amazed that a volunteer group was responsible! I had no idea that seven years later they would be building a church where Corey and I would be serving! We are so grateful for each of the amazing volunteers God sent us last week...we even had one volunteer all the way from California..."Hey" from here in Paris to Tim's mom who has checked out our blog...hope you enjoy the pictures!

Day One...Monday

Week two Constructors got started on the decking for the front of the roof first thing Monday morning. They also began the tedious process of drilling the holes and installing the electric lines and plumbing! We were very blessed to have several volunteers who are incredibly skilled in these areas! Caleb even helped Mr. Danny Greenway install one of the pipes! Thanks for teaching him your skills ;)

Days Two and Three...Tuesday and Wednesday

I know that I can't be there to take pictures every day...and these were two such days...I was out of town. I feel guilty that I can't post pics from these two, but I did manage to play catch up the rest of the week! I was able to go by after church Wednesday night and take a few shots of some of our church members writing their names/verses on the walls, and this one picture with the clouds at night, I love! The metal workers (not volunteers, but doing an extremely dangerous and skillful job) got the metal on the front of the sanctuary, too!Day Four...Thursday

This was a victorious day! After two failed attempts, we finally got the last two trusses on the roof! I truly have a lot of respect for Ray Dilbeck...the first time it was one inch off and the second time only a half inch, but he wanted it perfect...so the third time was a charm! Bless the volunteers' hearts that worked so diligently to get these last two trusses completed and off the roof! They also began to get the duct work put in the education building!
Day Five...Friday

The building is really starting to take shape! The doghouses on the front of the education space make it look like a different building! We also began putting nailing the wood boards on the concrete in the sanctuary so that the walls could begin going up in there the next week!

T-Ball Party

We celebrated Caleb's t-ball season with his Tri-Turf team two Saturdays ago...it was fun, but soooo hot! We had amazing sponsors...the Poolers with Tri-Turf Sod were so generous. They had a cookout for the team and gave each of them little movie bags with a gift certificate and movie snacks, and they even made up little movie snack bags for the younger siblings...so thoughtful! Our friend, George Miller, and Corey coached the kids, and they did a great job. The children on our team really came a long way...I was so proud of Caleb...he had a good attitude and really hit well this year! Caleb was so proud of the trophy he received! We had a great first t-ball season!

Constructors for Christ...Week One...COMPLETED!!!

I'm sure I won't be able to do this post justice...at least I won't fully be able to convey my emotions. This week has been totally overwhelming and incredibly exciting. Constructors for Christ arrived in town this past weekend and began their first official day of construction on our new church building Monday morning...at 5 am! Each day they start at 5 and work until 7am when they break for breakfast. Then they work until 12 when they break for lunch and finish up a 12 hour work day at 5pm when they stop for dinner. Some families are here with children as young as 3, some are teenagers, college students, many who are retired but continue to work for the Lord...and for some, this is their vacation...what amazing people! It has been so unusually hot this week too...temperatures in the mid to upper 90's. This group has been more of a blessing than I can express...their attitudes have been so uplifting even despite the heat! The boys have absolutely loved meeting everyone and have made fast friends with this week one group. It is so amazing what a group of believers can do when serving the Lord wholeheartedly! We have enjoyed every moment we have spent with the Constructors and are looking forward to the four weeks. This group is truly an answer to our prayers, and we have grown to love them even in the short few days. Here are a few pictures of the site and the progress they have made in only three days...I will update this post with the final pictures of week one, so check back to see this post completed later!

Sunday night before the first official day of construction...

Day One...Monday

The first support beams of the exterior wall frames (hehehe...that is my description...I don't know the official term!) going up...Corey and Ray Dilbeck (the man in charge of Constructors)
What a cutie! He's just happy to be where the action is!

I love this picture of Caleb...He thinks things through so deeply at times...I am praying that as he is taking all of this in it will make a permanent impact on him!

End of Day One...Exterior frames are all up!

Day Two...Tuesday

On day day two, the focus was on interior wall framing...amazing how much different everything looked...the building really started to take form!

Day Three...Wednesday

I didn't get many pictures of the work on day three, but a lot of the work was putting the horizontal braces between the wood they had framed (no clue of the technical terms for all of this, so bear with me ;) I did snap a few pics pretty early Thursday, so you can see the progress they made. Also, Constructors has a neat tradition of writing scripture and their names on the framing of the building...here are Caleb's and mine. Day Four...Thursday
On day four, a lot of the plywood on the outside went up, and the trusses for the roof went up. Every day was long and hot for the volunteers, but Thursday was extremely long for several of them. They were determined to finish the trusses, so after dinner, those who were working on them returned to the sight and worked until a little after 9 pm...a 16 hour day. There's no other explanation for that kind of dedication (for unpaid labor) than that they were laboring for the Lord!
I took this picture the next morning...it was written on the second to last truss...notice the time.

Day Five...Friday

Day five seemed to come much faster than I expected...we were having such fun getting to know our new friends, and it was already time for them to go! As they did the rest of the week, our volunteers worked so hard the final day to get decking on the roof and place supports from the interior walls to the trusses. The boys spent Thursday night with Aunt Michele, so Corey and I got up early (for us ;) and got to the property at 5:59...Corey wanted to be sure we were there before 6, hehe! We worked for the first hour, and then got to eat a yummy breakfast with the group...I forget how yummy gravy is! After we headed back to the site, I got up on the roof to "help" a little with the decking...by the end of the day, they actually got the decking on the back of the building complete and began the front...It is hard to process all that they accomplished this first week!
Around 9, Michele brought the boys out...once they saw Corey on the roof and heard that I had been up there too, they were determined they would somehow get up there too. The first picture isn't so scary until you see the second one...that is the lift they rode up with Corey and Barry to get on the roof...talk about making a mom nervous! I couldn't wait for them to get back down! Thanks to Mr. Gerald for giving them a safe ride up, but especially for bringing them back down!What an amazing week...Thank you to all of our week one Constructors! You are an answer to many prayers, and we pray God's blessing on your lives. You have truly become dear to our family and our church and we are so grateful to God for each of you!

Boating with Friends!

Up until last week we'd only been able to have our family out on the boat. We'd really been looking forward to enjoying some time on the lake with friends, too! Well, last Tuesday we had planned an outing, but we had a terrible thunderstorm around lunch time. We thought our plans might be foiled, but the weather blew through and we were able to go ahead with our plans! We took a group of our senior adults for a cruise up the lake to Cypress Springs for dinner. We had such a fun time! A few brave souls joined us on the boat (I think the weather Tuesday morning would've scared anyone!), and a few others met us at the restaurant. Thanks so much for a fun evening and for being our first friends out on the boat!
We keep our boat at a marina about 30 minutes from Paris Landing, so after we dropped our guests off at the PL marina Corey and I headed back to dock the boat...this was the beautiful view we enjoyed on the ride back! So peaceful!

Bennett is a Little Kicker!

Last week, Bennett was able to go to Little Kickers Soccer Camp! He was excited to actually get to play after watching Caleb get to be on soccer and t-ball teams, it was finally his turn! Monday night it was very stormy, so they had camp inside. It was a little overwhelming for him...he did well at first, but ended up sitting in our laps most of the second half. He left in tears, and we were worried that it would be a long week. Michele took him the second night and with it being out on the field and her bribing him with a slushy afterward, he did very well! Thank you Aunt Michele ;) He actually did great the rest of the week...here are a few pictures.
Bennett receiving his award for best shooter!

The 3 year old Little Kickers with the Henry County Patriots girls soccer team.

A busy week...

After Caleb's birthday weekend, Corey headed to Kansas City for his LAST DOCTORAL SEMINAR!!! I'm so proud of him and all his hard work...now he is entering the writing stage that will take him between a year and a year and a half....but he will be home for all this part! It is always a hard week for the boys (and me ;) , so we try to do lots of fun things to make the week special. Nanny was able to spend Sunday and Monday night so we went to the pool Monday and she got to see Caleb's t-ball game Monday night. Thanks for making the time go by faster, Nanny!

And then came Wednesday...it's always the hardest day. Halfway done, but still several days to go before he gets home. On Thursday, David and Michele took us to the water park in Eddyville, KY...it was so much fun and we all loved it! Thanks so much for a much needed day of fun David and Michele! I decided against taking my camera, so I don't have any pictures at the park :( But I did take this one on the way home :) My mom had wanted to do something special with the boys this week too, so on Friday we drove through Jackson, picked up Ge (my mom), Zachary, and Natiley and headed to Memphis to meet my sister Waverly and her five children at the Memphis Zoo! Even more exciting than seeing all the neat animals was getting to spend time with COUSINS!!! It was a really hot day, but fortunately they let the kids play in the water at the front entrance now! The boys were super excited! It was a great way to finish off a long week! Here is a picture of the whole crew...We love you guys!And then late Friday night, Corey made it home...ahhhhhh. Much better! I truly enjoyed the special time I was able to spend with my boys, but weeks like this remind me how blessed I am to have Corey...he is such a blessing to the boys and me and I love that he makes us such a priority despite all the other things that keep him so busy! We're super glad he's home!

Caleb's Birthday Party

Caleb wanted a "3 layer white cake with chocolate icing so that it will feed a lot of people."
"Concrete boots" that he has been wanting to work in out at the property...
I'm not sure what he was telling Ella here, but this picture cracks me up!

Just a few of the pictures from Caleb's bowling party...it was lots of fun with family and friends. Corey and I had thought that a Diamond Jaxx ballgame would be fun, but Caleb was set on the idea of a bowling party ;) It ended up being a great idea, and he had lots of fun!

Guess who is 5!?!

Our Caleb turned 5 on June 6! It is hard to believe how much he has grown and that we've been blessed to have him in our lives for 5 years! He has brought us so much joy and has taught us so much too. We had a busy week leading up to his birthday, it was VBS week at Maplewood. We had a great time on the Boomerang Express, and with Caleb's birthday that Saturday we had a full week of fun to celebrate! Here are a few pictures from his birthday morning....with his birthday being on a Saturday, we were able to have his party on his actual birthday! I'll post that separately. I have to say how sweet he was...when he woke up, I had made strawberry muffins for his breakfast and we had all his presents wrapped and laying in a chair and the "Happy Birthday" banner hanging. He looked at me and said, "Mom, thanks for making my birthday so special!" PRECIOUS! He was so grateful all day with each thing we did to celebrate...it just makes you smile. After breakfast and presents, we headed to his t-ball game where Pepaw, Grandma Sue and Michele joined us. Afterward the boys played at the park for a few minutes before we headed to Vallarta for lunch (the boys insist on going there for birthdays because they LOVE having "pie" in their faces...they think it is so funny!) Corey and Bennett even got in on the action!