Our July

We spent a few days in Bella Vista with family.  Bret's family was there too vacationing so we got to do a couple fun things with them before they left to go home.  We showed them the "Bat Cave", Crystal Cave.  We all enjoyed waiting and watching for the bats to start flying out of the cave to hunt for bugs as the sun went down.

The next morning we took a short hike to a water fall.  The kids and the brothers liked walking around in the water and exploring.

The days after Bret's family went home were spent with my family.  My siblings were able to fly into Arkansas, Mom and Dad drove over and we all spent the next three days with my Aunt Judy and Uncle Ernie.

Some of us helped clean up the boat and the chairs on the dock.  We went back to the water fall.

We ate some great meals together on Ernie and Judy's deck.

We spent a lot of time in the water swimming, boating, and kayaking.

A highlight was getting to watch the fireworks being shot of the dam of Ernie and Judy's lakehouse.  Ernie took us out in the boat so that we all had a fantastic view.

Below, our whole family crew, Matt, Eric, Stacee, Phoebe, Sarah, EP, Paul, Gloria, Judy, Ernie, Lindsee, Will, and Silas.

Phoebe participated in a few middle school cross country practices with her friends Abigail and Shawna.

 Eric, Silas, and Sarah participated in a Hutton 5k one morning in mid July.  It was a pretty warm morning for a run, but they all made it.

Ready, Set, Go!

Silas took off like a shot and did not let up the entire race.  He was out in front of most everyone except a few adults.  Phoebe and I were the official cheerers.  I couldn't believe how hard Silas was running and running!

They all three did GREAT!  Times run:  Silas 26:26 (6th place), Eric 28:32 (9th place), Sarah 32:20 (11th place)

Sarah got her first ever driving lesson from Popee.  (He use to teach some driver's education courses.)  She has been nervous to even try, but this time we didn't give her a choice.  Popee joked around with her a little at first, (before she started to drive), and slipped a mask on as a blindfold when she wasn't looking.  We got a good laugh!

She was nervous and said some pretty funny things to Dad and I while she was practicing.... Something was mentioned about being a professional now.  Ha!

She did great!  High fives all around.

While visiting Mom and Dad the kids, Mom, and I all tried Sonic's new Red, White, and Blue ice cream slushes.  They were so good!  Red strawberries on the top, ice cream in the middle, and blue raspberry slush on the bottom.

The kids and I enjoyed playing games with Mom and Dad.

Phoebe was the Five Crowns winner.

We got to spend some time at the lake with Dad, fishing and boating.

Dad got us right over a great Crappie hole.  We caught about 20 keeper Crappie and Phoebe caught the biggest Crappie, a 16 incher!!!!  Wowza!

Lake days are some of the BEST days!

After fishing the kids got in some zip-sledding.

I (actually) helped clean the fish this time.  I have watched my Dad, my whole life, clean the fish we all have caught.  I know that I have watched so many times that I could do it myself, but I never have.  Touching fish and fish guts just really wasn't my thing.  (I could watch all day and even liked it when Dad would cut into the stomach, when we asked him to, sometimes, so that we could see what the fish had been eating, but touching those dead fish... No thanks.) Surprising, huh?!?  Yuck. This time though, It was hot outside, and there were fish to clean, so I DID IT.  I touched some dead fish, and guts, and helped Dad out.

Eric went on a fishing trip with his good friend, Roby and Roby's son.  They caught some fish and worked some on Roby's cabin.

The road to put the boat in was pretty muddy, so they used our truck.

Sarah and Phoebe both participated in the Campus volleyball clinics.  Below, Sarah is kneeling (second row), second one in on the right side.

Below, Phoebe is in the back row, second one in on the right.

Silas and Eric participated in the Campus football clinic/camp.

We took a family trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas and Branson, Missouri.  We went to the Great Passion Play and took the Holy Land tour in Eureka Springs.

In Branson we went to Silver Dollar City.  The Moonlight Madness festival had just started.  We got to see Chris Tomlin preform live, watch the fireworks, ride rides, and see some great shows.  Oh, and Silas was in a Globetrotters slam dunk contest and the kids got to meet four of the Globetrotters.  It was a fun trip!

Our church had a fun night for the kids.  Phoebe invited her friend, Haylee, to go with us.  Phoebe, Haylee, and Silas got some fun sports stuff painted on their cheeks.

We went farm pond fishing with Popee again and caught some big Bass and Perch.

We celebrated Dad's birthday at the end of July.  The kids and I made him a fruit pizza.  It was delicious.  Happy birthday, Dad!  We ALL love you so very much!

Dad took us to the lake again.  This time we took the torpedo for the kids to try riding on behind the boat.  It is a little more challenging to balance with two people riding it.  They had fun though and we got some laughs watching them try to hang on....and fall off.  It was a hot day so we all swam a little to cool off, and then I skiied.