Saying goodbye...

Bosque started going down hill quickly.  He was losing a lot of weight having trouble moving around. The night before the first day of school...things took a turn and we knew it was the end. He made it through the night...and the kids said their goodbyes and headed to school. Mike and I were with him at the end....and it was so sad to say goodbye. He was such a good dog and a part of our family for 12 1/2 years. We will miss his sweet face so much but

we also know that he is not in pain anymore.

8th grade football...

I need to get some more pictures....but I am SO proud of Jake. He loves football. Loves it. After every game, he walks across the field with the biggest smile ever. It's so good for him to be a part of the time and I am so proud of him for trying so hard.

South Padre Island...

We had plans to go to Port A with the Dunlaps over Labor Day weekend. And then Hurricane Harvey hit...and it will be a long time until Port A is ready for tourists again.

So, we made Plan B and headed to South Padre. It was the first time we'd been there...and the drive was LONG but the beaches were beautiful. It's a very different feel than Port A. The beaches are cleaner, water clearer...much more of a resort feel.

Emmy loves the beach. She would collect a million shells if she could.

Lisbeth Anne is a master at sand sculptures! Each day she made a new creation.

 Joshua, Jonah and Jake...they played football and body surfed non stop!

Day one was a mermaid....

We taught the Dunlaps how to go crab hunting at night. The crabs are a lot bigger at South Padre. WOW!!! The Dunlaps showed us how to pull up ghost shrimps in the sand (using these PVC pipe sucker tools).

Day 2 was a shark....

 Look at his teeth....

 Day 3 was a monogram...South Padre Island. We used a new font called "mermaid." :)

They had parasailing and a banana boat ride by the condo we stayed at. John went with the kids on the banana boat. They all fell off...twice,

A rough day after the beach...possible broken toe(s) when Sophia kicked Jonah in the shin. He was fine...she was not. And Jake hurt his neck when they fell off the banana boat. Beach life can be dangerous!!

Feeding seagulls on the beach....

We had such a good time. So much fun to get away and spend time with good friends.

4th, 6th and 8th grade....

This is our annual first day of school picture by the tree. 2 headed to middle school and only one Wille left at Northwood Elementary.

It felt a little strange only walking 1 kid to school.

Joshua was not super thrilled that I wanted to take his picture. He has the same teacher that Jake had for 4th...Diane Taylor. I know he is in good hands! And he was happy to see some good friends in the class too!

Sophia and Finola went to school together on the first day. They were both super excited. We've come a long way since the first day of Kindergarten!!! They are so big and grownup. Hoping they love Garner as much as Jake has.

Joshua is 9!

Our baby boy is 9!!! Time flies!! He wanted to go to Splashtown with Christopher. So, I took these 3 for a day of fun in the water. They went NON STOP! I was worn out but they kept on going and had so much fun!

Birthday donuts for the 9 year old. He was pretty happy that his birthday was before school started this year!

His big present was a Lego set.

We had most of the family over for dinner that night. He was pretty pumped about his Groot cake.

                                                    

It's so hard to believe it's been 9 years since he made his early arrival. He brings so much laughter and fun to our family. He is our sweet baby...so smart, loving and FUN! We love you Joshua.

Turtle Basketball....

Mike played basketball again this season for the Turtles. These guys take it very seriously. The kids have a blast playing around at practices and games. There are a LOT of kids!! This year the team won the championship! They have won it before but were trying to get it back after they lost last year. So...this was a happy celebration to get the trophy back again!

8th graders at the lake!

How in the world are these kids old enough to be in 8th grade! A big group of boys and girls headed to Boerne Lake the week before school started. Jake has known most of these kids since Kindergarten. It's so much fun watching them grow up.

The lake was cold and it was an overcast day, but the kids had a great time. They even tried paddle boarding!

Caching up with friends....

We should have taken more pictures!!! We were going to stop at the Truwe's on our way back from Kansas. But turns out they had plans to be here! They all came over for dinner one night...8 kids and 4 adults is kind of crazy! Naomi spent one night with us and then Jamie and I got to spend time together another day. We miss them so much. They are the kind of friends that you can pick up just where you left off!! We love anytime that we get to spend with them!

Kansas Trip...

Our long family road trip this year was to head to Kansas for a family wedding. We hit the road...with Grammy...for an 11 night trip! We spent 6 nights in Kansas on the farm...and the kids loved it!!!

The weather was amazing. The week before we came, it was hot hot hot. But they had a cool snap while we were there and it was SO nice.

The kids loved driving the Ranger that Rich has. We did loop after loop around the farm with the kids taking turns driving!

 We got to celebrate Jake's birthday while we were there. The wedding was on his birthday. He got the KD shoes he really wanted.

Look at Joshua's face! He was so excited...he helped pick them out.

We went to Christa and Cory's house one afternoon. They built a beautiful house on some property. More 4 wheeler and go kart fun!

Sophia is very close in age to Ella...and they love to spend time together. Riley is a bit older.

Jake driving Beckett around in the go kart.

Rich and Mike took the boys fishing a few times. We even had a fish fry with what they caught.

This is Sophia standing in the middle of Palmer...the closest town to Rich and Dianne. There is nothing there...not even a stop light. I think they have 1 stop sign.

Playing on the hay bales....

And THEN....on the way home we got to stop in Pawhuska, OK to see Pioneer Women's restaurant and store. Sophia, Shirley and I were SO excited.

Imagine our excitement level when we walked upstairs...and Ree was there talking to people and signing books!!! It was so exciting. She signed a cookbook for Sophia and was so nice to talk to.

I loved the whole Mercantile trip. Mike and the boys were very good sports. We came at the perfect time (middle of the week) and got to eat dinner and breakfast there with no waiting. I thought they food was amazing. It was such a fun way to end a long trip.