Lake Days

We are loving our boat this summer! It was seriously one of our best purchases ever. We do our best to clear our schedules and head to the lake as often as possible.  It is a lot of work to get out there with three little kids but it is so worth it. I love that it means no electronics and results in quality family time.

Here's a few pictures from the lake season thus far -

 Dad getting ready to ski. After all these years he can still tear it up (as long as the water is pretty much glass).  He is a little picky about the water ;)

 We are so grateful to have a few fun boating friends. All of my boys love the Bradshaw kids!

 Having Sutton at the lake is a little stressful. I worry about him getting to hot. Also he has such fair skin I have to be cautious about how much sun he gets. Grandma bought him a fun little boat he likes to play in.

 Vance is determined to wakeboard like Mommy and Daddy. He hasn't gotten up yet but he is getting much closer and tries every time. I love that about him!

 Vance's favorite lake buddy is Colton of course! Those two love doing pretty much anything together.

 Vance also loves to kneeboard and tube. Him and Colton will just go and go until you finally tell them they have to let go and be done!

 Kyla and Vance double-kneeboarding -

 This is exactly how I remember growing up in the summer: in the back of the boat with my buddies.

 The only family member who isn't totally sold on the lake yet is Keller. He is just afraid of everything so the lake is a little scary for him sometimes. We try to find balance between encouraging him to try new things and pushing too hard. He has fun on the tube with Daddy as long as we go nice and slow and he also likes to drive the boat. Besides that he loves to play on the beach but really doesn't like to swim much. I'm hoping that will change as he learns to swim better.

Sutton has fun on his blanket just kicking around.

 Even though it gets pretty hot sometimes, a kick swim and you feel so much better!

 This is Dave and Cindy Rice. My dad and Dave are actually cousins but they have also been friends for years! We love going to the lake with the Rices. 

 Me and Sutton just playing on the beach -

 

 

 Two of my boating boys!

 

 Notice Keller playing on the beach again. I don't know how he doesn't get hot and swim more. He seriously loves to play on the beach though.

 These two pictures crack me up! Keller can wakeboard and ski...on land!

Thanks Mom for always taking your camera and capturing such fun memories together!

Sutton's 1st Camping Trip

For Father's Day weekend we went camping up at Mt Charleston with the Waldron extended family.  

This was Sutton's first camping trip. I forgot how much extra work it is to camp with a baby but the older boys have so much fun it was worth it.

Here is Sutton chilling in the baby seat (aka cooler) attached to our double chair.  Each of our kids have sat in that seat.  Kinda crazy to think that thing has lasted over 7 years!

 It was Sierra's golden 18th birthday so we gave her a gold-themed present ;)

 Keller was a gem this trip. He was seriously SO good.  Sometimes with my family he always seems to be the problem because he is so much younger. He wants to do what the older boys are doing but it just doesn't usually work. Well it is the opposite with the Waldrons. There are SO many little ones. Keller jumped right in, played all weekend, and we never had even one trip to time out. 

 Isn't he such a camping stud?!

 Vance had a lot of fun too. He kind of bounced back and forth between playing with the kids and playing games with the adults.

Unfortunately I was sick this trip so I didn't end up in any of the pictures. Even though I didn't feel good I was still glad we went camping because the boys enjoyed it so much. 

Kitchen Facelift

Our kitchen was definitely out-dated when we bought the house. We did our best to mask it with cute decor but it still wasn't the best. We didn't have a huge budget to put into the kitchen so I kept searching and searching for cost-effective ways to make it more modern.  After months of internet searches, phone calls, and work we finally completed our kitchen facelift.  I absolutely love it!!! 

Here is the before. I hated the cabinets and Chad hated the countertops. Plus the flooring was gross!

Here is the after. I can hardly believe it's the same kitchen!

I think my favorite part is around the kitchen window. We made the last minute decision to take the the backsplash all the way up to the cabinets and inside the recessed window. I'm so glad we did because it really makes the whole kitchen pop!

I can't believe how much we were able to do with such a small budget. The entire project cost just over $3,000. Now that this project is done we are ready to sit back and just enjoy our house. No major projects to tackle for awhile!

Donuts with Dad

Every time we go to Home Depot the boys insist on riding in the race-car shopping cart. Usually Chad takes the boys on those trips and I stay home. It's a boy thing...right? This last trip I decided to tag along because I didn't have anything else to do. 

Well on our way back to the car the boys start chanting, "Donuts! Donuts!" I'm thinking to myself "What on earth are they talking about. We aren't getting donuts!"  

Then Chad starts spinning the cart in circles (aka donuts). I look at Chad with the look on my face that says "Seriously?" He replied, "What? (insert shoulder shrug) They like to do donuts in the cart before we leave." 

This my friends is exactly why my kids need their amazing daddy.  Never in my life would it have crossed my mind to do donuts in the shopping cart before leaving Home Depot.

#boysarecrazy