Fun at Kenlake State Park

Last Saturday, we went to Belew's Dairy Bar in Aurora, KY with some friends. (Belew's is very similar to Dairy Hill for those of you who are familar with that tasty eating establishment.) We all had their famous cheeseburgers and most of us had icecream/milkshakes as well. It was yummy!! We then drove down the road to Kenlake State Park to play. As you will see from the sampling of photos below, we had a fun time taking pictures!! Of course with Jen & Steph, you know there will always be a camera present!!

Al & Luke

(This is just after Luke fell and busted his lip...He soon recovered and was ready to pose for pictures.)

Luke with Uncle Terry & Aunt Stephanie

Uncle Terry & Luke skipping rocks in the lake.

Photography by Luke

(Although it is a bit out of focus, Luke for the most part is a pretty good photographer!)

A Family Photo in front of Kentucky Lake

Al, Jen, Luke & John David

Luke & Uncle Terry pose for a photo after climbing on the rocks.

We thank God for our wonderful friends!!

Fun with a Dandilion

Luke couldn't pass up the opportunity to enjoy this dandilion.
And I couldn't pass up the beauty of this moment---enjoying God's wonderful creation (sunsets, flowers & children)

Cute Cousins

Austin, Catherine, John David & Luke

It's always a challenge to get all four of them to smile and look in the same direction!! There is usually that small window of opportunity to take photos and then they're done. And it's always pretty obvious as to when they are done!

Fun with Austin

Scott, Joann & Austin came to visit in Kentucky for a week. We always get excited when they drive all the way from Texas to see us! Luke and Austin enjoy spending time together. Learning to share with each other was a lesson that had to be reviewed again and again. However, that didn't affect their love for each other. Luke misses Austin already!! Austin & Luke
almost 2 and almost 3 Aunt Joann had fun with our large bubble wand. As you can tell by the look on Luke's face, this was a cool bubble. In fact, this photo was taken just in time because I had to duck as the bubble came straight for me. No, I wasn't afraid.....I didn't want the camera lens to get wet!

Luke, Austin & John David

almost 3, 2, & 1 years old

Aunt Jen had fun pulling the boys in the wagon. I couldn't go fast enough. And they didn't want me to stop!!

Karen's Baby Shower

We hosted a baby shower for Karen last Saturday, April 14th. She & Russ have found out that they are expecting a girl. We were excited to get to decorate in pink.
Joann & Karen look so cute pregnant. Joann is expecting her second child on July 30th and Karen is expecing her first child on July 5th.

Decorating Easter Eggs

This is the first year that we have decorated Easter Eggs as a family. We had a great time.
Al and I had fun thinking back to when we dyed Easter eggs as kids. This is a great family tradition that I am sure we will want to experience again next year!!

Luke & Mommy were very proud of our Easter eggs.

Are We There Yet??

Al had Good Friday off, so we decided to go visit Mamaw & Dado in Mississippi. We told Luke where we were going and he could hardly wait to visit Mamaw and Dado as well as their cats Norm and Roxie. Every 5 minutes, Luke would ask us about Mamaw & Dado's house. Luke was concerned when we stopped in Jackson for lunch because he was ready to be at Mamaw & Dado's house. He continued to ask questions all the way to Mississippi to see if we were there or if we were still headed that way. After the 4 hour trip, Luke was very excited to reunite Libby (his stuffed dog) with Roxie and Dado!

Aunt JuJu & Uncle Jonny's House!

We decided to take a quick trip to Tunica, Mississippi to visit Al's mom & step-dad for a day. On the way, we stopped by to see Aunt Ju Ju (Jen's sister) and Uncle Jonny's house that they are building in Slayden, Mississippi.
Aunt JuJu met us at the van. She greeted Luke with a pink Easter Peep. This was Luke's first peep and he loved it! He is asking to go back to Aunt JuJu's house to get more peeps!!

This is the front of the Davis home in Slayden, Mississippi. On this particular week they added the large front and back porches.

It was exciting getting to climb the steps and actually stand on the floor of their upstairs! We are so excited for Julie and Jonny!!

Luke, Aunt JuJu and Uncle Jonny

Friday, April 6, 2007

Note: For more photos of their house, check out their blog. Look under "Some of our Favorite Sites" and click on Uncle Jonny & Aunt JuJu. They now have rafters & dormers!!

Daddy Built Us a Swing Set and We Helped!

"Our Swing Set"

By: Luke

Daddy & Uncle Aaron started work on our swing set one Saturday. Uncle Aaron was able to help Daddy build the platform for the slide and cut some of the wood. But Uncle Aaron had to go home so Daddy needed some help. John David and I were ready to give Daddy a hand. "If I had a Hammer. . ." (that's for you Grandma!) John David was quick to put the hammer to use.
It is important to keep a smile on your face at all times when you are drilling. You never know when Mommy is going to take your picture!!
Daddy gave me the task of carrying the wood to the construction site.
If you know me, you know that I have to line everything up just right. So, it wasn't unsual that I lined up all the wood in a straight line to make a "road." (Notice my new flip-flops. I am so proud of them!!)
We consulted the instructions to make sure that they were correct. :) Plus it made Mommy proud to see us reading the directions!
John David was quite the encourager. He had faith in our construction abilities!
With two of us using our drills, we got the work done in half the time.
Daddy needed Mommy's help with putting the long, heavy wood beam across the top. But other than that, I was Daddy's right hand man. We make a great team!

Finally, it was time to test our product!

I could not wait to go down the slide (It's really fast!). And John David loves his swing!

We love our swing set! Come over and play soon!

Luke, John David & Catherine

We couldn't pass up an opportunity to take photos of these three while they were dressed up and awake all at the same time!! Aren't they sweet!!!

John David--almost 10 months
Catherine--almost 9 months

The Annual Egg Hunt

Luke & Libby were both present for the Easter Egg Hunt at church. It was a beautiful day to have an egg hunt. Here a little boy is putting into practice how it is more blessed to give than to receive. He actually put the egg into Luke's basket for him.

Al and Luke pose for a father-son photo!

Mommy had told Luke that there would be cupcakes at the egg hunt. Luke could not quit talking about the cupcakes. He could hardly wait to dig into this chocolate cupcake.

Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma's

You are never too old to hunt for Easter eggs!! We pulled out our old Easter baskets and eggs and tossed them out in the yard for the hunt. Jen decided that it wouldn't hurt for Luke to participate in a "practice" hunt with other competitors before the big hunt at church on Saturday.

Catherine & John David cheered on the egg hunters!

Luke enjoyed picking up the eggs as you can tell by his full basket.