Goodbye Summer

Wow! Where does summer go?? We had a very busy summer this year. The day school let out in May Matt, my dad, and I drove to Little Rock to sign our life away on our house loan and move into our new house. I cannot believe we have already lived here 3 months. I told Matt during the middle of the summer that I was sick of living in this place. I couldn't find my way around and I was always getting lost. I was 30 minutes form my staple stores Target and Hobby Lobby. I told him that I was finished playing and it was time to go home. He just laughed at me and told me that he was sorry! I did not like that answer! Since then, I have become more acquainted with my surroundings and I don't mind living here! (However, "home" will always be "home" to me!)
This summer we moved, set up our house, Matt started his new job, I worked at a summer camp, we went to Julia and Josh's wedding, we visited home and friends, attended wedding showers and bachelorette parties, I set up a new classroom, and we went to Colorado on family vacation. I cannot believe we squeezed so much into a summer and I cannot believe summer is gone. Time sure does fly.

This summer we also got to see this baby swim for the first time. She loved the water!





I cannot wait to see what next summer brings..!

Last year we hosted a Christmas in July party. Before we were married I was given a pottery shower where everyone painted us Christmas dishes. Well, the summer after we got married my bridesmaids were wanting to see their painted dishes. So, we decided to pull out the Christmas things we had been given and have a Christmas in July party. This year we didn't have new Christmas dishes but we had a new house. SO we hosted the 2nd Annual Christmas in July!



I pulled out all of our Christmas things and decorated our house for Christmas for the first time.


Our things look so much better in this house than they did in our duplex!


Luckily, my sister and sweet LK came to help me set up. They spent the week with us, which is always lot of fun!


She was definitely the life of the party. Everyone "oohed" and "ahhed" over how precious she is...of course!! :)


I had several games planned. The girls were very busy searching for the hidden pickle in the Christmas tree while the boys, strategized in preparation for the beer pong tournament. They all knew prizes were involved!


We were so glad that our friends made the drive to come, it wouldn't have been the same without them!


Julia's husband made slaved outside at the grill making pork tender. He did a great job seasoning and grilling the pork. Everyone raved about how tender and yummy it was! We are so thankful that he came! :)


Berkley was a little overwhelmed but also very well fed at the party. He sported his Santa Claus outfit for a little while, I didn't make him wear it long since it is July!


All of our friends together reminds me of our college days!


We were so glad that Jennifer and Jeremy made it to the party. It is always fun when they are there!


The girls beat the guys several times at flip cup. The girls were just a little excited!


Chris and Christina made the long drive from Dallas, and we are glad they did we had so much fun with them!


I was so excited when Julia and Josh said they were coming I feel like we never get to see them! We are so thankful they came Josh cooked the meat and Julia, Claire, and Adrienne helped me cook the sides. I do not know what we would have done without all of them!




This is probably my favorite picture of the night. This little girl does not sleep...at all! This is after everyone had left and we had cleaned up, I think it was close to 2:30! She was happy as a clam and squealing! I love that smile! I hope that she will grow up to enjoy staying at Uncle Matts and Auntie Em's.


This year Matt and I decided that we wanted to do "something" with our party. I just didn't want it to be a fun get together and then everyone leave. I wanted something to show for us all getting together. In the spirit of Christmas, we decided to have everyone bring a child's toy. We debated over playing dirty Santa but we didn't want people to be upset that they didn't get to take the toy home that they had fought over. SO, we decided to have everyone just write a note to a child that had just been taken from an abusive situation.
We donated all of the toys to a local child safety center. It was very neat to see our party turned into something good.

I hope to continue the Christmas in July tradition and each year make our gift of giving bigger and better.