Gracie's Beach Party and a visit to Perry

We drove to St. George Island to celebrate Gracie's 6th birthday along with our good friend Jacob who also turned 6. We got there kind of late and I didn't get any good pictures of the birthday cake. You ought to go to Kasey's blog to see a lot of good pictures! I will just have to describe how awesome all the food and cakes and decorations were! Kasey always throws a good party and this one had to be one of my all time favorites! It was so much fun to hang out with Jason's family on the beach together! We also enjoyed watching Wil and Elsie taking in their first ever beach trip. Wil went down for a nap as soon as we got down there, but Elsie was all over! She dug, picked up shells, made sand angels and tried to get out of her sun hat every chance she got! Wil woke up and found the sand dollars and hermit crabs that had been collected through the afternoon. We took them into the water and they were both like koala bears hanging onto us for dear life! That night we all went to bed early at Wes's house and Kasey fixed us all breakfast the next morning. We visited and found a tiny tortoise outside. We didn't want to go, but we had plans to see Mom, Grandpa and Uncle David in Perry later on. Mom was anxious to get us over to one of Grandpa's ponds where plenty of fish have been caught recently! Mom and I took the kids on a buggy ride while David and Jason finished up fishing (and Jason battled the ants!) We got back into the good old AC at Grandpas and continued to trash his living room! Mom got on the piano and played "Jesus Loves Me" with the kids. They helped her! We set out back for Gainesville and talked about how much fun the weekend had been!

Joe Joe's first Birthday!

After James's graduation party, we drove to Freeport for Joe's first birthday party! It was a GI Joe themed party complete with hamburgers, hot dogs, cake, ice cream, a pinata and pony rides (thanks Terry and Mable!) We partied down on Terry's new back porch-which I am totally envious of! The kids all ran off a lot of energy and then charged up again on birthday cake! Joe put on a good show for us and really tore into his cake! We are enjoying watching him grow up as he keeps us laughing!

James Graduates!

We took a trip over to Thomasville Georgia to witness my youngest Kimble cousin graduate high school! James is headed for Georgia Southern and we all celebrated at Mary and David's house with lasagna! Grandma, Uncle Richard and Aunt Karen came in from Tallahassee and The Farmers brought in Steve and my mom! Dad met up with us all later after driving straight in from Tryon! The kids were so happy to see everyone and we had fun meeting James and Sarah's friends. We are proud of you James!

Wil's first haircut!!!

By now you have probably heard...We finally cut Wil's hair! We thought it would keep him cooler in the summer. Jason grew his out with the intentions of having Wil watch Daddy being a "big boy" in the chair while he had his hair cut! Our planning worked-Elsie took a little nap in the waiting area, I filmed the whole thing on camcorder, and the boys sat really still for their haircuts! I love his new do! It makes him look like a little boy vs our little baby!

Mackenzy's Birthday party

Mackenzy (a good friend we know from A Child'd Academy) invited us to her 3rd Birtday party! Wil and I partied while Jason stayed home with Elsie (who was feeling a little under the weather!) We ate cake and ice cream, sang Happy Birthday and played on the playground with Tim, Kristie and Helena. Later that night, the Struekens stopped by to take a dip in the pool and have dinner with us. It was good to get caught up with all our buds again!

Birthday Party #2!

The Saturday after the family party, we threw a bash for friends! Wes, Kasey, Zac, Gracie and Wyatt were our family representation and it was nice having them stay with us! Michelle came over early (Thank you, Michelle!) to help ice cupcakes and watch the kids while Jason and I decorated the pavilion. Wes grilled our cheezburgers and hotdogs and one by one all of our dearest friends showed up! Good babysitters were everywhere since the kids were all little. Sabrina, Neil, Tanner, Eric, Lynn, Gage, Lily, Karen, Mackenzy, Rachel, Jason, Noah, Eli, Wes, Kasey, Zac, Gracie, Wyatt, Michelle, Tony, Olivia, Tim, Kristie, Helena, Chris, Ethan, Helena, Jake, Kim, Rose, Andrew, and Kim! It was a good mix of folks we have been friends with for years, worked with for years, went to school together and some we are getting to know better all the time through day care. At the family party, the big joke was me forgetting the condiments. This party found me scatterbrained again! We were lighting the candle and just about to sing Happy Birthday to Wil and someone pointed out that I gave Wil the 1 candle, not the 2! We switched them quickly and let the boy dig into his dinosaur cupcakes! Elsie got into her own rosy red velvet cupcake! It was laid back and so much fun to catch up with all of our best friends as we celebrated the kids!

Our April Birthday Babies!

Becka, Bill, Jason and I decided that April 17th would be an awesome day to have a big birthday party for Wyatt, Will and Elsie! (Wyatt was born April 2nd, Wil April 5th, and Elsie April 16th.) It was a good decision and we had such a good turnout! We kept it all in the family with the exception of our good friends Jesse, Sara, Adyson and Jon! Bill's family settled in on Friday night and we started the party prepping that night. While Bill and I ran to Publix, Becka and Jason got the kids bathed and somewhat settled down. We baked Wyatt's sheet cake-which became a cool construction site cake and we baked Wil's "Buddy the Dinosaur" cake. The frosting would be done in the morning! As we settled down, Ralph, Terry, Aubriyah, Jake, Abbey, Winter, and Justin came in late and went straight to bed! The morning brought in more good help as Becky, Sarah, Luke and Camden arrived. I am not a baker so Becky and Sarah really helped me in my time of need! Elsie tore through her smash cake made by Sarah and Wil adored his "Buddy" cake made by his Aunt Becky! Katie arrived with Melanie (Mel's first family gathering!) and by then I realized I had all my nieces and nephews under one roof! Aunt Mary, Uncle David and James arrived just in time to give us a lot of good help! Jake was called on for much kitchen and cake decorating advice and just about everyone either babysat or made hamburger patties! I don't know what I would have done without my good help! We started for the park to decorate and found that Jenny and Joe had arrived with her friend Andy and his daughter Mackenzy. Aunt Jeanie, Aunt Dee, Kelly and Abigail made the day trip over and Mom and Dad came in with Birthday balloons! We were ready to party! We sang "Happy Birthday" in reverse birth order-Elsie, Wil, and Wyatt and cut the cakes! Elsie made a big mess of both of us but she was as generous as usual and fed anyone that wanted a bite from her tiny fist! We had such a great time and I was so touched that so many of the family came and helped out in the celebration!

Happy Easter!

For Wil's 2nd and Elsie's 1st Easter, We took a day trip over to the Baileys for Cousin Luke's Christening. The kids were awoken by Mary Magdelene and Mary (mother of Jesus). I think Jason was Mary Magdelene! The towels on our heads kind of freaked them out a little, but Easter baskets changed everything! Jason got them some dinosaur eggs and we let them feast on chocolate bunnies and jelly beans for breakfast! We washed up the kids and headed for Jacksonville. The Easter worship was awesome! (He is Risen, indeed!) Luke wore Camden's hand-me-down christening gown-handmade by Mona Kimble! Wil was entertained and behaved nicely. Elsie was raring to go after all that chocolate! I loved getting together with family at Easter! Everyone was beautiful and we had lunch prepared by Mom and Joani. The Easter egg hunting was good! We had one hunt for the young ones and about 3 for us older children! I won of course, but I am still trying to forgive Becky for smashing an egg down my pants! We headed back after a Spirit-filled and fun-filled day with those we love!

Ady, Orange and Blue

After returning from visiting little Melanie, we headed over to the Orange and Blue game. The kids seemed to enjoy seeing the Gators again and Elsie has been doing the "Chomp" ever since! My favorite memory was having her picture taken in her cheerleading outfit with the cheerleaders! We stayed until halftime and then left for Princess Adyson Jackson's 2nd medeval birthday party! We had a lot of fun eating all the good food and playing in the sandbox, swingset, trampoline and infatable bouncey water slide! Adyson seemed to be enjoying having all of her buds around to celebrate! The Jackson's know how to put on a party and we didn't want to leave!