Alexia's Baptism

Both of our moms flew in for this amazing weekend! We had so much fun with them and it will be a memory that I will treasure forever! Her baptism day was absolutely beautiful. Alexia is such a sweet little girl with a great big heart! I think she was more excited than any of our other kids for her grandma's to get here. It's been 18 months since we have seen them. I can't believe that my tiny little NICU baby is 8 years old. I feel so blessed that we have so many friends out here that are just like our family. Their love and support is overwhelming and I am truly grateful for them everyday! They make it a little easier to be so far from home. Of course nothing could ever take the place of our real family and I hope they know how much we love them and miss them. They make so many sacrifices for our little family and those do not go un-noticed and we are so thankful and appreciative. So many people helped contribute to this day being so special for Lexi and I am so grateful to all of you. ( Friends that helped watch my kids all week, all of the baking and cleaning, the beautiful flowers, absolutely amazing pictures, bows and bracelets that were hand made with lots of love, the beautiful talks that were prepared, grandma's that came bearing gifts...and ALL of our friends and family that came to support us that day!)

Long Overdue!

OK...so I'm a little behind! I am terrible at updating this thing. A recent visit from family and a good friend that just started a blog inspired me to get ours updated! I get going in my crazy mommy mode, and forget that we have family far away that misses out on so much!

We are in complete summer mode around here. Late nights and sleeping in...Yep, even mom! I have never been a sleeper, EVER! I treasure my early runs...but a recent health issue put me out of commission for a few months and it's been hard to get back into my early morning groove! Cam and Lexi are still up early, but we are lucky to see Ethan by 10:30! He is so crabby in the mornings, unless we have to be somewhere...we all let him sleep!

We put Jake on a plane to UT a few days ago and that's always hard! I know he is going to have soooo much fun...lots of adventures, but I miss him! This is his first summer at EFY and he's seems excited...but I can hear the anxiety in his voice! I know what an amazing experience it will be for him...but I'm secretly looking forward to it being over! I think he's excited to get to Washington. He'll get 3 weeks of Pickle Ball ( ???), White water rafting, video games with cousins and I hope Uncle Matt puts him to work!

In a lot of ways I feel like our summer just started this week. It has been an absolutely crazy couple months. All 6 of our birthdays, all of our parents birthdays, Friend's birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, End of the Year parties, Teacher gifts, Fieldtrips, Lexi's Baptism, Training for a race, LOTS and LOTS of baseball, etc.....We can finally breathe and enjoy the rest of summer. We are looking forward to a long week in the Outerbanks in August with friends and off to Wisconsin the beginning of September for Jarrod's race!

I will try to post regularly and I promise lots of pictures!
Have a fabulous summer!!!

It's not fair... why do I have to wear a face mask???

This die-hard little ball player of mine would like to know WHY....he has to wear a face mask when batting and none of his friends do!!!  I think the photo's will say it all!  Ohhh, to be 10 again...isn't life just rough Cam! : )

This little mishap was the result of a ball that tipped his bat and came up to hit him in the mouth. He actually finished batting and pitched the last inning....blood and all!  I don't want to see the dental bill on this one! (Update....we do have a grey tooth and hope not to lose it!)

This one....a toss up between kids being kids and absolute

stupidity!  He thought it was a bright idea to be catcher to 

an amateur pitcher...w/o a mask!

4th of July in Boston

This year we spent the 4th in Boston with friends from church.  Fireworks were amazing...but my favorite part was just watching all the kids!  All different ages and they had so much fun talking, playing games, laughing...and of course eating!!!  Love building family memories and this is one I will never forget!  Jarrod and I went running the next morning along the Charles River with friends...loved that! It was warm, we didn't get too far, but it was something new and a beautiful view!  We wandered around Boston, picked-up MORE food and found an interesting beach....Ok, who am I kidding... it was disgusting... but the kids still had fun and it was a new adventure! (ranked right up there with the infamous "Lake Powell trip"!)

Daddy Daughter 2009

2009 Promise Ball

 

A friend of ours was being recognized by the National Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and invited us to attend.  I rarely get the opportunity to get this dressed up and it was so much fun to enjoy the evening with Jarrod.  (FYI.....he actually picked this dress out all by himself!!!)  It's not the best picture...but the only one I have.  I am so in love with this wonderful husband of mine.....and the dress!

Hublein Tower.....Take 2!!!

Wow, what a busy weekend at the Neeley house...and this was the perfect way to end our 5 day long weekend! We could seriously not have asked for better weather and had so much fun with our friends.

I was talking with my girlfriend @ baseball on Sunday and we decided to do the hike again with the big boys. I absolutely adore this family and our kids get along great. Another fun day, the boys were silly, Lexi got to follow her little boyfriend around, and Ethan collected half the mountain and shoved it into his pockets....which I was so happy to find in my washing machine at 11:00 last night!!!

After our hike we went over to the cider mill for apple fritters and fresh lemonade (bad combo. for my taste buds, but kids loved it!) we had to make sure we put on all those calories we burned hiking! :)

I was just starting to think that we would not have time for days like this with our crazy schedules and then I realized that the time is always there, we just have to be creative and find it!

Lots and lots of pictures...........

Half way point.....happy kids, happy mommies,
and they are all still clean! (and yes, those would
still be workout clothes, why break tradition!)




They were all sooo good to pose
for my pictures all day. I tried to
just snap without telling them, because
if I asked they did obnoxious things!




What one does not think of.....the other does!
Love it! :)





Love Love Love this teenage boy
of mine, and his smile is so infectious!



This very nice man offered to take a picture
for us. Our kids were all climbing down the side
of the mtn. together and he thought it would
make a great shot! I had to post this one first
because I think we have 12 just like it! He could
not get anyone to look at the camera and then we
started laughing and couldn't stop!






Much better... AND...we even
managed a couple of smiles, of course
not by my little munchkins!






These big boys absolutely scare me sometimes!
I have to keep telling myself "He's not a little boy"
My kids downloaded a Miley Cyrus song a while
ago and everytime I hear it, I think about Jake.
(Get Ready, Get Set, Don't go.) I think I'm ready,
he's definitely ready, yet I still want to hang on
for as long as I can.....I'm such a sap, sorry!





End of the road! Could not get "The
Princess" in the picture. She was
behind me couting all of her "owies"
She fell 5 times and was so banged
up, cut's everywhere and I had left
the bandaids in the car!