Our House

      I haven't written about this yet, but it is a pretty big deal. We bought a house!  The process was very different from what we were anticipating.  The real estate market in this area is very competitive; if you see a house you like, you have to put a bid in right away.  There really isn't much time to think about it.  The real estate market in Indiana is pretty much the opposite!  Jim and I began to pray that when we saw the house that God wanted us to live in, we would know it right away. After a few houses, Jim and I were trying to not get discouraged.  Finally I found a house online that was a "For Sale by Owner" that seemed to match our interests.  We were able to see the house that evening with Joe and Heidi watching the children.  We met the current residents, who were an older couple looking to move back to their home state. The woman was a quilter, and the man had a work shop in his garage.  We quickly also noticed that they were Christians.  We felt that they had a lot of similarities with us since Granny is a quilter, and Grandpa Cole also does wood-working.  We felt that God was telling us that this house was where he wanted us!  The next day we found out that they accepted our offer!  We were so happy to finally have a house!  We were even able to close on the house earlier than expected!  So far we love living in this house, and the kids seem to enjoy having a nice backyard.

 

 

First day of Preschool

     The girls started preschool today!  They have been so excited to start school. I let them pick out their first day outfits, and they both decided they wanted the same one!  They did pick out different hairbows.  I painted their fingernails for the first time last night.  They had been wanting to have them painted for a while.  They picked out different lunch boxes. Jubilee wanted Batman, and Katie wanted Finding Dori.  I'm actually having time to write on the blog since I only have one baby here!  It's the first time in four years that I only have one baby!  I don't know what I'm going to do with all  the free time!  I'm hoping that I get good reports of having fun at the end of the day!

Jubilee

Katie

12-Month Portraits!

     Jimmy had his 12 month pictures taken. While he and I were there, I saw that there were two pictures of Jimmy up in the studio!!  I had signed a release, but I didn't think that they would actually use them.  He did a great job.  We got the bat with his name on it at "Silver Dollar City" in Branson.  He sure is a happy 1-year-old!

Jimmy's First Birthday!!

  Jimmy-boy has turned one-year-old! He's not our little itty-bitty baby anymore!  So much has changed in one year.  He has two little bottom teeth. He can say Mama, Dada, and sometimes Baba.  He'll occasionally wave bye-bye or give a high five. He waves his arms in a particular way when he's wanting something. He loves bath-time.

     We had a "bubble" themed birthday party for him in our new house!  Some special guests included Granny and Grandma Johnson, who drove down here together for the occasion.  It was the first "party" we've had at our new house.  Jim grilled hot dogs for everyone.  Everyone played with bubbles in the backyard.  Jimmy loved eating the cupcake. We let the sprinkler go after the party was done and all of the kids ran around in it.  Our little man is one!!!

The Birthday Boy!!!

Cake!

My first time using fondant!

Food

Yummy hot dogs!

Cake is yummy!

He loves this toy!

The barn was a hit

Mamaw and Jimmy

Daddy and the Birthday Boy!!!

Mommy and the Birthday Boy!

Granny and the Birthday Boy!

Fourth of July

     Our second Fourth of July in Texas was a lot of fun.  We went over to the Ford's house and had a pool party.  We had a delicious bbq dinner that Clint made.  All of the kids enjoyed swimming. Sarah had some fun activities for the kids.  They had a water balloon fight, and a tug-of-war game over a pool with shaving cream!  It seemed that Katie just wanted to get in the shaving cream and just let go and jumped in. Jubilee was competitive and did a great job trying to win.  Toward the end of the night the girls were able to play with some sparklers.  We watched big fireworks a few weeks later at the closing of NRH20 one evening.

Patriotic Katie

Jubilee playing peek-a-boo

Sr and Jr

Katie loved every second of it!

Uncle Joe and Jubilee

Jubilee putting up a fight!

Swimming

Jubilee so happy!

Branson 2016

     This year was another Branson year!  Katie and Jubilee have been three times already, but this was Jimmy's first.  The girls enjoyed getting to see all of their cousins.  We really enjoyed going to Silver Dollar City; the girls enjoyed going to the cave. Jubilee was excited to see the bats because she is starting to like Batman. Katie kept telling herself that God would protect her. They also loved going on the rides; they really loved the little roller coaster. We did an "Old Time" photo.  The girls loved swimming at Table Rock Lake while on the boat that Aaron and Kelly rented.  I think their favorite part of the vacation was seeing all of their cousins!

First Ballet Recital

This summer has gone by so quickly!  Earlier in June the girls had their first ballet recital.  The theme was "Noah and the Promise".  They were "tropical birds".  They were able to pick the color of their costumes. Katie wanted pink, and Jubilee wanted green.  I was a little nervous for Jubilee because she had taken to as she put it be "silly" during ballet class. With the promise of flowers after the recital, the girls performed their best!  We were so proud of them.  I was one of the volunteer Moms backstage, so it was my job to distract 7 little girls for almost two hours!  Luckily, the popular movie "Frozen" kept most of the girls entertained.  The recital was made even sweeter by having my grandparents and niece here!  After the recital we went to eat at "Babe's", and we all enjoyed fried chicken!  Jimmy was even able to eat a biscuit and mashed potatoes.