Happy July 4th!

For the 4th of July we went to a picnic at a park with all the rest of the people who are going through the training with us out here. I didn't get any pictures at the picnic since I was stuck in the chair wih my feet up, but I promise you there was running around, eating, playing football, flag waving, and LOTS of fun!

Rylie's First day of "school"

Rylie has been talking about wearing her backpack adn going to school like her brothers for the whole last year. So she was SO excited when we got to CO and she got to go to "school" everyday with her backpack and lunch bag.

Growing up so fast!

On the road again.....

On our way to Colorado for training, we stopped in Tulsa, OK to see my grandmother and invade the retirement community she lives in. Good news--no elderly people were knocked over or hurt in any way......but i was worried they might be! Those peeps haven't seen energy like my kids have in a long time!

And of course we had to get some Krispy Kreme doughnuts every some mornings.

My cousin and his sweet wife had our whole family--aunts, cousins, grandma--over for a cook out one night while we were there. They both are SO great with the kids--had books for them as presents, planned a water balloon fight, had oreo dirt cake with worms--in a sand bucket!-for dessert!

We all had such a great time!

Then one day we went down to see my other cousin and his sweet wife,  and their itty bitty week old yumminess, Jackson. We are so thankful that we got to see them and meet Jackson!

Greg, Jackson, and Mimi

Our family with Aunt Diane, Mimi, Greg, Jennifer, and Jackson

And of course....

the obligatory pictures on the beach. I don't know about you, but my family just loves taking these.

They acted like the camera might shoot spears at them....

So, this is what we got from the torture picture session.

Ry

Everett

(there wasn't even a postable one of Reid......)

the three littles......next summer there will be four.....

I'm sure the picture taking will be much easier then. sigh.

the fam

so this is the door to the boardwalk to the beach.

 I thought it would be fun to take a picture of the kids in front of it every summer to see how they've grown.

no one else seemed to want to sign up for annual picures......

one of my favorites and the only real smiles we got all night :)

Rainbow Connection

Some dear friends, Crit and Camille, came down to see us for a night while we were in SSI. Sadly, they came at the same time as the hurricane.....but in the middle of all the rain, we got to see a BEAUTIFUL double rainbow! We all ran up to the roof to see it. If you look clodely, you can see the second rainbow to the right of the people.....

and yes, I have a snuggie on. Don't judge people...who doesn't love a blanket with sleeves??

:)

Bike rides to dinner

One of our favorite things to do at the beach is to ride our bikes to dinner. It is about a mile and a half to the village, so not too far. We keep the boys bikes at the beach house since we moved, and Ry rides on the back of Matt's bike. There is a sidewak alomst the whole way and a beautiful view of the marsh.

Here she is showing off her seat!

Me and my littles

me and my girl

KK and Papa and the grands

Surfin USA

So one of the things Everett wanted to do this summer while we were home was learn how to surf. Um, yeah.....don't think he quite got to check that one off, but they did RULE the boogie boards on the GA coastline waves.

waiting for the perfect wave....

riding it in

Reid can even get a wave in at the end!

Papa and Rylie walking on the beach

Rylie "walking" the fish on the board....

and snuggling with KK

Playing on the beach

Before we headed out to Colorado for our training, we were able to spend a little while at my mom's beach house in St. Simons! What a blessing! We absolutely LOVE the island, the beach, the food, and fun friends and family!

The kids were collecting "animals" and keeping them in their buckets.

Ry showing hers off

All the kids LOVED swimming in the ocean with Nai Nai. Great one on one time!

And of course some family pics...

 Nai Nai and the kids

Our family

Family pictures!

Family pictures by the wonderful Michelle Edwards!

She's got them wrapped around her finger!

Laughlin, Party of 6

About two weeks after I got back to America, I had the shock of my life. I found out I was pregnant with baby #4. We were trying NOT to get pregnant, were talking about adoption,  and enjoying being diaper free. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE babies. And kids. But the growing the babies about. kills. me.

But apparently, God thinks a bit more of us than we do :) and thinks we can handle a bit more crazy in our lives!

Seriously though, we know that God's plans are perfect and that He absolutely knows what is best for our family, so we are really excited about what He has in store for us and this next little one!

If I can make it to delivery......pregnancy really kicks my butt.

Throwing up and bed rest were NOT on my list of things to do in the next 9 months. It looked more like run a half marathon and help with the PTA at the kids school. But through this complete upheavel of my plans, God has shown me just how much I rely on MY plans and how selfish they can be. Really? Running a half marathon is more important than growing a human life? Looking good in a bathing suit in Thailand or getting to show off my sweet 3 week baby? God has already used this sweet little one to teach me more about Him and refine me to be more like Him. We can't wait to see how else this precious one will be used!

Q and A---

1. I am due January 4th

2. Yes, we will be having the baby in China

3. No, we don't know what we are having yet.

Ultrasound is scheduled for the day before we head across the ocean.

And  this planner is loving how convenient that is......

4. The kids are SUPER excited about having another little one in the house.

5. I'm on bedrest because I have a prolapsed uterus. Should be better at 20 weeks

6. Yes, I am able to fly, even if I'm still on bedrest. Just can't carry anything.

Good thing we have so many kids to help :)

7. Baby will be a citizen of the United States and can still be president

These are some of the questions we've gotten, so I thought I would answer them all for everyone!

We really appreciate your prayers and support during this pregnancy!



My boyfriend Grady's house

Another fun thing we got to do in Summerville was go to Rylie's boyfriend Grady's house.

His parents and brothers are our friends too, but Rylie always refers to him as "my boyfriend Grady" and his house as "my boyfriend Grady's house".

Ry and Grady playing at the sandbox

sharing some craisins and relaxing after a hard swim!

Waterpark Fun!

When we had our too brief stop in Summerville, we got to go to the waterpark with some fun friends. Thanks to some other WONERFUL friends lending us their passes (wish they could have gine with us too!) My boys LOVED the waterpark every summer we lived there, and they were SO excited to be able to go while we were there!

Fun Friends--

Harper, Everett, Reid, Katie, and Jonah

Rylie loved going down the slide with her big brother!

Holding hands on slide

Ry had a huge little crush on Jonah that day and followed him around everywhere!

The boys with KML, as they call her. She is missed by our family A LOT!