ATL

I think I made my final trip of the summer this past weekend! It's been a lot of fun, but I'm ready for some down time before school starts. blah...school. Kyle and I drove to Atlanta for Jeff Graves' wedding! Kyle grew up with the Graves' family & I got to know them well in college. Jeff married an awesome, beautiful girl, Jenny. We were excited to be a part of their big day and it was great to hang out with some old friends & meet all the people that Jeff has gotten to know so well while in that area. Here are a few pics from the big day:

The groomsmen all wore black Converses:


Shawn, Jeff, and Kyle...college buds! (Kyle had already changed for our all night drive home)


The wives...me, Jenny, and Rachel!

Lone Star State

My trip to Texas this summer was crazy and all over the place, but I got to see alot of my favorite people...which made it WAY worth it! I flew into Dallas because it was cheap and allowed me to spend some great time with Nate & Laci and Mike & Jen! I hitched a ride with the Beals' to Brandi's wedding in Amarillo! She was a gorgeous bride!!

What better way to calm yourself before your wedding than play the Wii?!?!

I was able to stay a few days after the wedding to hang out with my family and go see my grandpa, uncle, aunt, and cousins all in the Abilene area, which was a special treat! In between all that I was able to squeeze in some brief visits with Elizabeth & her family (including her sis, Valerie, & her new baby, Annie!), Kyle's parents & some Plainview friends, and Jodee - who so lovingly allowed our special lunch to be at Chicken Express!! :) I am so lucky to have such great friends & family!!

I didn't go picture crazy (if you can believe it) and I'm kinda bummed! But, my sister and I did decide to take some pics on an old truck that is on my grandpa's land. Here are some of my faves!

Parker Family

After returning from camp Kyle's family came to hang out with us for a week. Mike, Valinda, Kevin, and Emily (Kevin's girlfriend) came up first & we went to Chicago for a few days. I LOVE Chicago...it is never enough time there! Then, on the 4th we came back to meet David, Misty, and Ryan (Kyle's uncle, aunt, and cousin) to celebrate & hang out a few days! They are all wonderful and we had such a great time!

It was hard for me to narrow the pictures down since we did so much! So, here's a glimpse at what we did:
The boys waiting for the train:

Chicago-style deep dish...the BEST pizza...

Cubs vs. Brewers....awesome, exciting game! (a little hard on a Cardinals fan!)

Eatin' at Eds! (very sarcastic place....)


The famous "Silver Bean"...super cool!

Our reflection in the bean:

One of the awesome views from the Hancock building:

Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier..sad day, it wasn't running when we were there!


Our hotel was close to the firework show they did on the 3rd & 4th so Valinda & I walked down...this is as far as we made it! The street was packed!


Once we got back we headed over to the arch in St Louis to watch fireworks on the 4th. Valinda is INSANE and bought us all this lovely gear! :)


Played some golf...even me...it was scary!


Em & I went to Union Station...very cool place! Google the "whispering arch"

St Louis has a great, free zoo...so we went there! This is my "appropriate" picture of the rhinos (the other one being them mating...that's a special experience to witness)

The monkey took that stick and tried to beat us through the glass.

Our last hoorah was the City Museum in St Louis. I've heard tons of great things but this was my first time to go. It was AWESOME!! Basically a huge warehouse and all this junk has been donated. You can climb through and explore...it is GREAT for kids and "big kids"! Definitely a must if you are ever in the area!!!


Part of the 7 story slide inside the cave area and the huge organ:

The rooftop. Yes, that bus is hanging over the edge!

Ryan driving the bus!

Some views of all the stuff you can climb through outside:



Kyle & Kevin having some brotherly fun!

Emily climbing through a tunnel

About to slide down one of the many slides

What day is it??

Oh. my. goodness. Is it seriously July 21st?!?! Where has summer gone?!?! It has been a total whirlwind and flown by! Vegas, almost Texas, Florida, Chicago, family time, Texas, weddings, more family time! It has been a lot of fun. I am definitely learning some good, tough lessons about being more of a "Mary" instead of a "Martha".

Tons of pictures to come!!

Youth camp was awesome. I think our kids were impacted tremendously and I'm excited to see what happens in Driven youth in the upcoming year. The theme was "TIME" and it had a huge impact on my life as well. (I'm sure I'll be blogging more about that later) Below are some pictures. And you can go to Driven Youth Blog to read more about stuff from camp and see many more pictures!!





The view from our room:

The stage was awesome!