5 Down and 100 more to come

Tanner has survived the first 5 years of his life and that is definitely reason to celebrate. Tanner has been eagerly awaiting his epic 5th birthday because months ago he declared it would be a STAR WARS birthday since he will be a big boy. He started his morning off with a great banana muffin breakfast, fruit, and eggs, then headed off to school (pre-k). Daddy brought him McDonald's for lunch and I came in the afternoon with sprinkle cupcakes for the class. When he got home, he quickly declared that he would be able to play video games because it was his birthday. Guess what he wanted to play? - YUP, STAR WARS! We then had Pizza and bread sticks for dinner, the indulged in chocolate Star Wars cake. He felt like a super star with all the attention and gifts. He told me he wishes it was his birthday every day. Sadly, he must wait 12 more months before he can celebrate being another year older, - I'm fine with that.

Tanner was also really excited to share his birthday with is adopted cousin, Colton Campbell.

20 minutes of mesmerizing entertainment

So last night we we outside playing with the kids before dinner. Trent yelled loudly for me to come look at something. Low and behold he was watching a couple of bugs. I know that doesn't seem all that interesting, but it actually was. We watched and average sized wasp drag an enormous garden spider up the hill of our yard walking backwards the entire time. The garden spider was at least 4 times larger than the wasp, with a yellow body the size of a fat baby carrot, and it was amazing to watch this little bug drag the spider with such persistence. He got the spider up to the curb and dragged it into the street. Moments later my neighbor drove by and barely missed hitting or squashing the bugs. The wasp was able to get the spider two thirds across the road when 2 more cars drove by. the wasp flew away quickly. The spider remained in tact after the first two cars drove by, but sadly, the third car SQUASHED that fat big spider and left spider guts every where. I almost thru up in my mouth after watching that horrifying display of gut spilling.

Nonetheless, all of us just stood back and watched this bug excursion for nearly 20 minutes. We were fixated and couldn't stop watching. For anyone thinking that there is no entertainment in my little town in Mississippi - here is the cold hard truth staring you right in the face. I mean come on, bug guts are definitely eye popping entertainment.

SHOCKER, I know . . . Labor Day Fun in Destin, FL

Don't adjust your computer screen. Don't keep wiping your eyes. YES, it is true, I have finally done and ACTUAL blog post - equipped even with tons of pictures.

We were really fortunate to be able to spend the weekend in Destin Florida over the Labor Day weekend. Don and I really wanted to go somewhere for our 12 anniversary and it turned into a family beach trip. We were able to luck out on a great condo

deal right off of the beach because of the Oil Spill stuff. Of course Destin didn't

have any oil issues, but still people were more reluctant to book their vacations

for a potential oil contaminated area. This of course made it so awesome

condo's like the the one we stayed in much more affordable.

We left MS Friday morning and drove the 5 hours to get to Destin. we quickly checked into our condo (btw, we found it on vrbo.com), grabbed some late lunch, and headed for the beach. Trent and Kolby were a little displeased with the lack of "stellar" waves, but that didn't stop them from constantly trying to ride the waves. Tanner and Brook loved playing in the surf and in the sand. We stayed at the beach for a little over an hour, then readed back to our resort where we hopped in the pool for another hour of water fun. On Saturday, we got a late start (hmmm, something about Don and I really enjoying the care free time and the ability to sleep in and relax in the morning, lol) but headed off to the beach for a few hours before lunch. Then we headed back to the pool where we ate our packed lunches and played some more. After all that time in the sun and surf, we had mandatory nap time. That evening we drove along the coast line and finally stopped at a cool shack called The Crab Trap. Sunday we skipped church (yes, you read that right) and headed back to the beach for several hours. After lunch and nap time, we headed BACK to the beach and then finished off with the pool again. We quickly headed back up to our room so we could have dinner and a movie while watching The Chipmunks. Monday morning we packed up and checked out. It was really sad to have to leave, but that just means we had a really fantastic time. Before making it back to Mississippi, we stopped in Pensacola Beach for a few more hours of beach time. We finally made it back to our house around 9 p.m. after some intense stop and go traffic.

The weekend trip was simply perfect and I am so glad

we were able to spend it as a family.

Now check out our fun pictures from the trip. I know I posted a lot of pictures, but believe me when I say that I didn't even post HALF of them, lol.

Our master bedroom with a great view of the beach.

Kolby and Tanner in the "bunk room".

Trent and Brooklyne hiding in the pillows in the 2nd bedroom.

The kids were glued to the tv every morning. It was nice having cable for the weekend.

This is the view of the beach from our bedroom.

Kolby playing on the beach.

Brooklyne makes a sand patty in Destin.

Brooklyne getting some assistance while catching a wave.

She thinks she is the diva of the beach now, ha ha ha.

This is a picture of the resort we stayed at. It took 5 minutes from our door to the sand.

Kolby sacked out while reading on the patio.

Trent was diving to catch a fish, I think. ha ha ha

Donald had a great time playing at the beach - maybe even more fun than the kids.

Kolby really enjoyed trying to catch some waves.

Trent rides the wave to shore.

Kolby and Trent trying to catch some fish.

Brooklyne and Tanner loved playing in the sand.

I love being a mom, even if it means the kids like to climb on me at the beach.

Brooklyne and Tanner playing in the sand in Pensacola.

Trent and Kolby catching some fun waves.

Brooklyne, --- 3.5 years old.

Kolby, --- 7 years old.

Tanner, --- almost 5 years old.

Trenton, --- 9.5 years old.

Donald helping Tanner catch the wave.

Brooklyne and Daddy playing in the waves --- I think this wave won.

Tanner and I playing in the surf as we battled to see who was stronger, mom, Tanner, or the wave?

The jelly fish that was caught right where we were swimming.

decisions . . .

Well, I am so behind on this blog, and I trying to figure out what I am going to do. In my mind, I have a few options, so please help me decide what to do:

1. Start blogging from current events and don't worry about the past 6 months.

2. Work on the past 6 months, but paraphrase it all.

3. Stop blogging.

PLEASE help me decide what to do. I will say that I get rather frustrated with how long it takes to upload pictures onto blogger.com.

My baby girl is 3

It is so hard to believe that Brooklyne is already 3 years old. It is really strange because I have always had another child by now and it's just a bit odd.

We kept things pretty low key for her birthday, had the sister missionaries over for dinner, had some cake and opened up presents. she really had a great day.

A week of laughter with an awesome friend

I had so much fun when my friend Sarah Platteborze came to visit me in Mississippi for almost a whole week! It was so awesome to spend time hanging out together and laughing about everything and anything. I was a little nervous that she would get bored in our little town, but it never happened - we just had such a blast! here are some pictures from our fun time together.

Sarah trying to get a picture with my perfectly behaved, sweetly sitting children!

They loved having her here.

Yes, there are times when we look like normal sane people, lol.

Ya, I really have no clue why I look so darn attractive here.

Sarah and I went outside to play with the kids. Sarah made the

mistake of playing basketball in some tall wedge shoes.

We went to Birmingham to go to the temple and some good shopping.

Of course we had to go to Target, because I don't have one in my town.

Here I am sporting a sexy little hat.

Sarah is "rock'n" that hat, don'tcha think?

She was pretty tempted to purchase these sweet leopard print pants

from the clearance rack.

We picked up some eye masks in the dollar bins from Target.

Here I am setting the computer up with the movie we rented.

Our hotel was awesome. We seriously were like jr. high kids throwing

ice in the hallway running around.

Saturday morning we headed off to do some shopping.

We decided to try on some interesting dresses.

Here's my favorite purchase from the day!

Here we are at P F Changs for the second time in 24 hours.

Sarah is addicted to the computer just as much as I am, ha ha ha ha.

Ya, she is a total goof ball!

Donald was weighing her suitcase to make sure it wasn't too heavy.

I was so sad to see her go and I hate that we live so far away. I have decided that 5 years is way too long to go between getting to hang out together. Sarah, you rock girl!!!!