one of my favorite pictures of my niece ,  so true to my Maddie!! And I see so much of her mommy in those baby brown eyes

 we have more pictures with Abigail grabbing her sister's head to turn her to me to take a picture!

 Chloe's standard "I will rebel against my picture being taken" face  ....grrrr.

Had a great visit with Sue and her family this weekend.  Mom, and the girls and me headed east to enjoy some time away.   We had a blast with Sue and Dave and the kids.   Every time we get together the little cousins get closer and closer to each other as friends.  It motivates us to keep it up so they continue to develop those relationships.   We mostly hung out at their home and a trip to the ocean but we made some great memories together.   Chloe gave us a good scare (as usual) when we went swimming in the ocean that night.  The surf was crazy dangerous and the undertow was enough we probably shouldn't have let the kids in the water.  And I tried my darndest not to let Chloe in but it took all my strength and pulled my shoulders almost out constantly grabbing Chloe's straps on her little floatation swimmer thing as time after time she would bolt full speed into the surf.  It would break in her face and she just coughed and sputtered and laughed out loud.  I was exhausted trying to keep her safe.  So much that I swore I wouldn't go again w/o her daddy!!!  She just knows no fear whatsoever and the bigger the challenge the more she laughs and hits it harder.   Abigail had a ball dancing all over the sandy beach with her sweet cousin Maddie Anne.
  I think we all wore each other out and I completely lost my voice by the time we got back to Roanoke.  No one can talk like my mom and sisters!!!   Totally worth it though!!!! I love my family and watching the next generation of us all is a true blessing;

VBS time!

 The girls modeling their outfits for red night

The kids had a blast this week at our home church's vacation Bible school week.  It was an unexpected delight to be allowed to bring BOTH girls to the events.  We didn't think they would take little Chloe since she wasn't 3 years old yet but we slipped her in and she did just great.   I knew it would be a tough week if we had to drop Abigail off every night with her little sister feeling left out.  So we were elated when the head of it all said to go ahead and include Chloe.  As a result of it all Brian and I had 5 nights in a row of kid free evenings!  What a treat!!  It went from 5:30 to 8:30 every night and we got more quality time in then we had in years together.  One night we just drove a riverside park and sat on a rock and threw stones in the water and talked....for a long time uninterrupted.  I told him with surprise "wow,  you're fun to talk to, no wonder I married you!".   It was delightful and knowing the girls were having so much fun made it mentally relaxing too.  The kids learned a lot and I had so much fun showing up a little early to pick them up and watching them in the closing music dance around w/ glee.   I was so proud of our little church.  I know from my years at dads bookstore that you can buy VBS materials in packages, complete with music crafts, skits all to a chosen theme.  Our church, not being stocked with big money hand made, and thought through it all on it's own.  Even the decorations were all done by members,  the worship team wrote their own songs and the crafts were all made up to go with the LEGO theme.  It was more heart then I have ever seen in a VBS week.  So much Christ centered honesty that the workers just poured out God's love to those 130 kids each night.   It was such a blessing to watch.  I was so proud of all the work they put into it. As if the kids weren't tired enough,   we ended the maddening week with a late night Olympic kick off party with our good buddies Ryan and Alisa and little Cohen after the finale night of VBS.  We came home, put our sleepy lazy clothes on and they came over for fun food and to stay up and watch the opening ceremonies together.  It was a late night,  they left around midnight.  Chloe and Cohen were long gone passed out but Abigail, my little night owl was all about any party that kept her up after dark went strong all the way to the end.  It was a great close to a special summer week.

 my festive Olympic baked brie cheese complete with the 5 rings I was quite proud of,  Alisa gave me a gold medal but Abigail voted for Alisa's chocolate desert instead

Love lazy friends that come over in sleepy pants to party!

A 6 year old Bit!

We had a great time celebrating Abigail's 6th birthday this weekend.  We went with the easy pool party that just works so nicely for our July baby.   As always I gave her the choice for the theme and we agreed on her second choice of Tinkerbell (first choice being a Disney princess and I absolutely couldn't look at another princess).   It was a stormy weekend.  In fact our good friends the Floyds had a pool party for little Caroline 24 hours prior to ours that got thundered out on Saturday.  We were thankful for answered prayers and clear skies by 4:30 on Sunday so we could celebrate and not have to entertain with swim time.  I let Abigail pick her own musical playlist to keep the party lively this year and that was a hoot.  I gave her an itunes gift card and let her pick the soundtrack for the party. Her choices made me laugh.  She had everyone from Trichovski  to Michael Jackson, the Bee Gees to the Jets, a Spoon Full of Sugar to Get Your Sparkle On (Chloe's favorite) and a touch of Beyonce.  It was a nice background help to the party.  We had a good turn out and I think everyone had a great time.  On Monday we did a nice home family only party to celebrate with just us and it was very simple and fun. Can't believe we have a 6 year old.   What a blessing she is to us all.  Love that Abigail Grace and we thank God for her everyday!