Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

I don't even have words to say how thankful I am for this woman! In a world where it seems that many in-law relationships are less than good and in-law jokes abound, I am blessed with the perfect daughter-in-law. Not only is she a great daughter-in-law, a wonderful wife to our son, a patient and loving mommy, a follower of Jesus, but she is my friend. How very blessed am I?!

 This was taken before she even married Drew, when we drug her up mountains and on hikes that never ended and she still went through with it!

The rest of the pictures tell their own story....

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

We love you and are so very thankful for you!!!!

Tom and Angela

Happy Mother's Day

Today we celebrate these 2 ladies for so many reasons! They gave us life. They have loved us unconditionally since before we were even born. They've seen the good, the bad and the ugly (many times) and still love us anyway. They've been our biggest fans and cheerleaders when things are going well. They've been our biggest supporters and encouragers when things aren't going so well. They are always there to listen and offer advice when asked or keep their mouths shut when they probably should offer advice but aren't asked. When each of us joined the other's family, we were loved and accepted just like any other member of the family and for that we are both so very grateful. So, thank you, Mom and Mother, for always being there for us, for teaching us right from wrong, for sacrificing time and energy and sleep and so much more, for being Godly women who live by example, for loving us and for loving our children and grandchildren, and for loving Dad and Daddy.

Happy Mother's Day to our Wonderful Mothers!

We love you and are so thankful for you!

Tom and Angela

 Little Tommy with his beautiful Mama when he was 2 weeks old.

 Tom at 14 months and his mom who is very close to delivering her second baby!

 My beautiful Mama and me at 10 days old.

This one doesn't have a date so I'm not sure how old I am here.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, but especially ours!



The Big 3-0!

I really, really can't believe that it's been 30 years since this guy came into our lives! He was such a loving, smart, creative little guy and still is all those things (maybe not so little) and so much more! A husband, father (to 4!), brother, pastor, teacher, counselor and a pretty terrific son, to name a few!

Happy 30th, Drew! 

We love you and are so very thankful for you!

Mom and Dad

Olivia is 5!

Olivia Grace turned 5 last Tuesday and instead of blogging about it, I drove to Memphis to surprise her! Actually, I got to stay with her and Ethan while their mommy and daddy attended a conference in Hilton Head. Since it happened to be that I was traveling to Memphis on her birthday, we decided to surprise her! It was so, so fun to see her face when she saw me at the door!

 This is her 2nd princess cake (the first was pink) and the "Frozen" cupcakes were for school

 Several grandparents and great grandparents collaborated to get her a tablet of her own (with long trips to Greenville in mind.)

 And since Ethan's birthday is right around the corner and to eliminate lots of angst, he got an early gift as well.

 Lindsay and Troy left early Wed morning and the fun commenced! We began with a trip to the park.

 Selfies at the park

 Climbing the "mountain"

 Walking through the beautiful flowers (weeds) at the pond

 If big sister is going to climb the mountain, of course, Ethan is going to attempt it, too!

 Doing one of the crafts that Grammy brought - sand art

 What to do on a rainy, gloomy day? Why, take all the cushions off the couch and jump on them, of course!

 Crazy boy!

 And, on Friday afternoon, we had another surprise for O and E - Pops showed up!

Pops did a lot of this

We went to Kids Play one morning and to the park again in the afternoon

 

 Pictures before church on Sunday 

 Ethan didn't want his picture taken but he was happy to race so I snapped a quick one as the race began

 Tried to get a selfie of all of us before leaving. Obviously, I need practice and longer arms!

 Hanging out and procrastinating the Goodbyes

Happy 5th birthday, Olivia!

O and E, thanks for letting Grammy and Pops come stay with you for a few days!

We had a blast and we love you very much!

Resurrection Sunday

We had a wonderful day celebrating our Risen Savior with our church family yesterday morning. Later in the afternoon, we enjoyed hiding eggs for the boys and grandchildren to find.

 The Three Handsome Amigos

and with the MOST Handsome Amigo!

 and one with Mom

 Daddy helped Langston a little 

 Brenna, going for a well-hidden egg

Ian really loves finding his eggs!

 Felicia spots another purple one

 Handsome boys

 Lucas really gets into it as well

Jeremy had to work for his eggs

We are so humbled and thankful for God's plan of redemption for sinners such as us!

HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!!

Spring (?) Break, Butterflies and MM&DD

The boys had spring break this past week and we didn't have any big plans but Mom-mom and Dad-dad came on Thursday for a visit. We took them (and Brenna and Felicia) to the butterfly pavilion at White River Gardens. It's a beautiful, tranquil, warm place and we all enjoyed it immensely.

There were several large owl butterflies that we could get very close to and one even landed on my leg.

There are also lots of beautiful flowers

Another beautiful flower! 

Teasing with Pops

Watching the butterflies and....

watching the fish in the little pond

Unique, tropical vegetation

Uncle Lucas in a rare pose with the girls

Handsome Ian

These fabric structures float around the ceiling, mimicking the butterflies

Brenna with the Make-your-own Butterfly board

This was the Girls' Chair and they were having a lively conversation

Thanks so much for coming to visit, MM and DD. 

We love you and can't wait to see you again!