Saying Goodbye

We have lived overseas for 6 years and saying goodbye still hasn't gotten any easier. We leave in two days and have just finished saying goodbye to my side of the family. My sister Hayley had a baby in September. When we came home this month it was the first time I had met her. She is so sweet and I am really sad that I don't get to see her grow and change. Kayleigh loves her and tries to hold her but isn't so successful. We are not sure when we will be home again so saying goodbye is hard. We had such a good time here and our month flew by so fast. We can't wait to see everyone again sometime in the future.

I asked Kayleigh to open her eyes for this picture. This is the result I got!

Kayleigh and her cousins Savannah and Bryleigh.

My sister Hayley.

Joint Birthdays

We decided to do a joint birthday party for Kayleigh, Zeb, Hayley and Holly while we were home. Hayley, Holly, and Zeb's birthday was in April and Kayleigh's is in June. The kids had an awesome time and loved opening all the presents. My poor sisters where left in the shadows as my kids took all the attention. I think they still had a good birthday though.

We got this hat at Buffalo Wild Wings and thought it fit Zeb's personality well!

Cousins

One of the sad things about living overseas is that Kayleigh and Zeb miss growing up with their cousins. Terry and I decided to take Zeb, Kayleigh, Lily, and Graylyn to the park for a day of fun. We spent lots of time on the playground and then rode the train and the Merry-go-Round. We finished up our time with some Chick-fil-a for lunch, which is Kayleigh's favorite. I am so thankful for the time they do get to spend with their cousins. Kayleigh just adores them.

Family Cookout

Henry (John's brother) and his wife Alana decided to host a family cookout while we are home. We had a great time spending time with the family. We had some awesome burgers and hot dogs and then a fun after dinner football game. It was so good to spend some quality time with everyone.

Jay and Ethan

Henry grilling the burgers.

Kayleigh learning to play her first game of football.

Zeb decided to sit on the sidelines and play with his favorite cars "Mater" and "McQueen".

The women of the family, who spent most of our time around the snack table talking.

Strawberry Pick'n

Since we happen to be in the states in May we decided to take advantage of strawberry season and go pick some strawberries. We had a lot of fun. Zeb had a blast and was eating the strawberries almost faster than I could put them in the bucket. Kayleigh also had a great time eating them and both of them had strawberry juice running down their face and shirts by the end. We were glad to have a chance to eat some great North Carolina strawberries!

Holly's Wedding

Well much to my surprise Zeb did wonderful in the wedding! He walked down the isle just perfect and stood beside me as we watched Holly walk down. It was like he had practiced it 100 times but in reality none of our practices were a success. Kayleigh and Savannah did awesome too but most importantly Holly was a very beautiful and lovely bride. The ceremony was sweet and the reception was a lot of fun. Holly had all her bridesmaids learn a dance that we performed at the reception. It was a hit!

Getting ready for the wedding. Kayleigh enjoyed a bag of Doritos which was a very special treat.

Me, Johnathan, Holly, and Hayley

Isn't he so handsome?

Holly's Rehearsal Dinner

Here we are at the rehearsal. Kayleigh is the flower girl and Zeb is the ring bearer. Kayleigh did amazing. She pushed my sister's little girl ( 7 months) down the isle in a wagon. Zeb however was a different story. Despite several different tries on following Kayleigh down the isle we were unsuccessful. He either fought Kayleigh to push the wagon or my favorite, threw the pillow down the isle and kicked it the rest of the way. Not what I would call a promising rehearsal. I am a little nervous about tomorrow. I want my kids to do well for my sister's wedding. We will see how it goes!

Across the Ocean

We have flown across the ocean to America this time for my sister Holly's wedding. We have made it safely and are glad to be here. The kids did relatively well. They didn't really sleep very much at all but seemed pretty mesmerized by the movies they could watch. Zeb didn't really like the headphones so he watched most of the movies with no sound. I didn't mind as long as they weren't screaming. The reason I wanted to post about our trip is that I feel like many of our prayers were answered and our trip was not bad at all. The best part of it is that when we got here Zeb slept through the night the first night and has since we landed! Kayleigh was up the first night to eat some sort of meal since at dinner after we landed she literally passed out on the table and a hurricane could have come through the restaurant and she would have never known. We were only awake about an hour and that was it. She also has slept through the night the following nights. I think this is worthy of a post because I have spent many of a jet lagging night awake from 3 to 5 am watching my children play because they thought it was the middle of the day. It has been so good to see family. I am getting excited about my sister's wedding and she is keeping me plenty busy with things to do!