Luke's 5th Birthday

Last night we had a WILD time as we celebrated Luke's fifth birthday. We were initially going to celebrate just as a family, but in the spirit of fun, I decided to invite a few 'regulars' along. We were a crew of about 27! After eating, we went to do some bowling! Everyone had a wild time and Diane bowled a career high of 167! Congrats Diane!

Third Annual Ferguson Family Fun Weekend

It seems anticlimactic now, but we had such a great Ferguson Family Fun weekend on the 14-16th. We stayed in a cabin at lake Murray in south central Oklahoma. Each year the trip gets better. There was so much to do and see!

The first night we celebrated birthdays for Luke and me. It was extremely windy so we decided to take the party indoors for gifts and cake. When Neil and Mary arrived, we all rubbed her belly. Baby Joel is really growing and we look forward to the day he arrives!

The next morning we boarded a pontoon boat and cruised about the lake a bit. We didn't discover we weren't provided with an anchor until we were underway, so in order to fish we tied off to several old tree stumps. With the first cast of the day, Liam caught the largest fish, a 3 lb drum. He did all the work himself and was really proud. Someone, I won't say who, got his line hung up and Neil volunteered to jump in to the rescue. When we weren't tethered to a branch, he also pushed and pulled the boat in the desired direction. We took a break from fishing and a nice lunch and Lily had a nap. At the boat dock we enjoyed feeding the massive and slightly creepy carp. In the afternoon, we split up and did our own things. Some played golf, regular and miniature. While Matt and Diane tried out their new boat motor and later were pulled back to shore by some nice people when the motor had a glitch. Meanwhile, Matt got a nasty gash in his foot when he stepped on some glass as he waded out to the boat. Later we had steak on the grill and made s'mores while we sat around the camp fire. Before bed we glued Matt's foot back together with some super glue made for surgical wounds. I almost got my fingers glued to his foot in the process!

On Sunday morning, we took a bike ride and then went to Tucker's Tower. The views were impressive! Every day we were there the weather was perfect. The breeze felt great on top of the tower. Lily was most impressed with the 'kittykittykitty' roaming the grounds. On our way to have lunch at the Ferguson's RV, we packed up our stuff. After lunch we Lily played in the water for a bit and then we were on our way home. Look for the fourth installment of Ferguson Family Fun in May!

Remembering Mildred

Today we got the news that Joel's paternal grandmother, Mildred, passed away from a sudden stroke. We will miss her so much! She had such spunk and wit! I know that Joel gets his dry sense of humor from her.

The past few years, she has lived with Darrell and Willa Rae. We are so glad that she came here from Pennsylvania so that we could spend more time with her. She enjoyed her great-grandchildren very much. In fact, I had a hard time finding a picture with out her holding Lily!

Over at Darrell and Willa Rae's home, we had a lovely dinner provided by some of the ladies from South Sand Spring Church of God. During dinner, Joel suggested that we honor Mildred by taking our time eating and making sure that we went back for thirds! For those of you who didn't know Mildred, she was a tiny little gal (about 4'11" and 90 lbs) who could really put it away! We often teased her that she had a hollow leg! I still don't know where she put it all.

I can't believe we won't see her again! But she'll forever be in our hearts. I smile when I think that she's seeing Virgil, Kathy, and her parents again. Most importantly, Jesus! Thank you Lord that she didn't suffer. We love you Millie!

Kevin and Mallory

I just had to share these precious pictures of my niece and nephew. I really wish that they were close, so I could see them grow. Their daddy has been in Iraq for over a year and should be coming home soon! We are all still praying for his safety and quick return!

For those of you who don't know, I am becoming a bit of a fanatic about my posts. So, if you haven't check the blog in a few days, you might have missed some stuff! Be sure to scroll on down. Also, I will be finishing the OFRT blog site within the next few days so click on the link to the right and check out Joel's adventures!

Girlfriends

I am blessed to have so many precious girlfriends! Each one is unique and makes me a better person in her own special way. I'm glad to have them around to get me through this crazy life. Unfortunately, we can never all get together at the same time to visit and eat. If we did, we would have to rent out a whole restaurant! Tonight, Carrie, Stacy, Janie, and I got together to catch up. We had so much fun! I think we were at Carraba's for about 3 hours. Our poor waiter! We took up his table for so long, but he was a good sport. Eventually, we just went and sat on the benches outside so we could visit longer. While we were out there, we got a nice man to snap our picture. We decided that next time, a slumber party is in order! Here's to all my girls! Love ya!

A laborious weekend

I think we packed as much in to our Labor Day weekend as we possibly could! We got an early start wtih Lily and Joel both sick on Thursday and Friday. Saturday morning I took the boys to the Lane's house for Owen's birthday party. It was a golf par-tee. There were adorable visors for all the kiddos and a mini mini-golf course in the back yard. Charla always out does herself and we had a blast.

As soon as we left, we headed home to load up our stuff and off we went to Wakita. While we were there the boys went dove hunting and we visited with some of my Schubert family. That night we a small celebration for Luke and my September birthdays. We were blessed to have Frank and Debbie Lambert with us. They were good sports around our crazy, grumpy toddler!

We debated on our many options of carnivals, parties, and chores that we could have done today, but ultimately we just drove home and got our stuff put away. With three children to keep up with, we had to come home to get a vacation from our vacation!