Arkansas Summer 2012 Part 2

While we're home in the states we always take try our hardest to spend time with our friends!  Since we were going to Arkansas we made a stop in Texarkana and got to visit with some really special people in our lives.  We finally got to meet each others kids, we've been together a few times but without kids so it was time to get the whole gang together.  We loved the time we spent together with everyone!  We had lots of laughs, made some memories, and just got to hang out.  We met up at our friends Mali and Mitchell's house and our other friends, Bill and Malia came to meet us!  We've known these guys for almost 15 years, maybe even longer, so it's always sweet to have some time together!  Not only did we spend the day together, we went out to dinner and even drove to Hope, AR one evening to meet up for dinner, again!  YAY for fun times with friends!  

Arkansas Summer 2012 Part 1

This summer we spent a little over a week in Arkansas and had a great visit with family.  Brooks' mom, Grammy, had a ton of activities for the kids and kept them busy pretty much every moment of every day.  They had a blast and were always looking forward to the next thing!  Papa John loved having the boys around and got to play with all his toys with them.

I have no idea why all my pictures are out of order from when I uploaded them so just go with it!! =)

To say our time at Papa Johns and Grammys was jam packed, would be an under statement.  We all had fun fishing, playing outside, swimming, enjoying the outdoors, and spending some quality time together!  

Gavin got to paint some animals, play with playdough, painted and hung up a bird house out on a tree, fed the neighbors horse and donkeys, caught a fish, rode Papa John's tractor, attempted to sleep in a tent with Grammy, and practiced swimming without his floaties.  

Miles played in the mud, went down the big slide in the pool, chased the dogs around, and had a blast in the sand box.  

Both the boys LOVED getting to jump off the diving board, shoot a BB gun (even I got in on that one), light sparklers and make shapes with them in the air, and even climbed a BIG tree!!

Brooklyn was as cute as ever, going everywhere with us, watching her brothers play!  She was a great sport whether we were inside or outside, in the pool or out of the pool, riding in a wagon, and practicing sitting up by herself!  We picked up a baby swing at Walmart and hooked it up to their swing set and B LOVED, LOVED, LOVED swinging.  It was her first time and was a HUGE hit for her!  

We got to spend some time with Uncle Bran, which always makes everyone happy!  He had a good week and felt pretty good a majority of the time we were there.  He was working, but took some time off to be with us... thanks Bran!  

Brandon made the swing Brooks is sitting on!  How awesome is that?

Wait, I have a blog?!!?

I don't remember the last time I've gone this long without blogging or with having so much time go between my posts.  I love blogging and I love the idea of sharing with family and friends what we're doing in our lives on this side of the world.  In a strange way, blogging helps me feel connected with people.

I've actually made a list of all the events, topics, and happenings that have taken place in the last few months that I have all intentions of sharing on the blog.  I'd love to have it all done in the next two weeks before our family vacation!!  Hmmm.. let's see if that happens.  Life has become extremely busy with 3 kids all on different schedules and having their own things going on... I feel like we're always going in a million different directions and when we're not busy, I'm determined to spend intentional time with our kids and my man and not on the computer!!  But, when I do have some down time, I get extremely overwhelmed with the idea of starting all these various blog posts and giving each one of them the "attention" they need!  We'll see how it goes!  Until then just know that all these things have happened and one day I'll post about them:

- Summer 2012 Arkansas Trip (with family and friends)
- An engagement and a party
- Summer 2012 Lake Charles
- Brooklyn turned 6 months
- 2 year Saudiversary
- Gavin's 4th Birthday Party in Lake Charles
- Traveling Back to KSA
- Jetlag and a new bed
- Brooklyns nursery (since I never posted pics of it after we finished)
- Gavin turns 4
- Brooklyn turned 7 months-- crawling.. what!! what!!
- Day with friends- birthday parties
- Vacation Planning
- 1st day of school- Miles and Gavin
- 4 Going on 14-- a new Gavin and mommy's reactions
- Superhero Party
-House Organizing-- thanks to Pinterest and becoming OCD all of a sudden
- Bahrain

Family Pictures Summer 2012

While we were in Orange Beach vacationing with my family, my mom had a great idea to hire a local photographer and have family photos taken since we were all together and since no one was expecting another baby anytime soon-- these pictures would get to last a while! =) Our family is known for welcoming a new baby about every 10 months. HAHA.

One evening we went to the beach all dressed up in matching/coordinating outfits and the photographer was able to get some GREAT shots.  He did an amazing job working with us and getting all the kids attention.  The weather was beautiful outside and the beach wasn't near as crowded.  The only issue was the wind... it was crazy, but we still managed!  

We literally dug a hole in the sand for her to sit up in.

Oh Miles... he just couldn't resist all the sand and decided to put his face right in it!

LOVE THIS ONE!!  

Orange Beach Summer 2012

We got to take a vacation on our vacation this summer and headed to Orange Beach, Alabama with my family.  We had 7 kids and 8 adults in 2 condos and had a blast!!  

We spent a lot of time at the pool swimming, enjoying the lazy river, and of course the slide!!  With the kids there was never a dull moment.  We spent one morning at the beach, brought lunch down, played in the sand, and chased waves. The kids entertained each other and us parents had fun watching our kids play together.  They loved throwing water on each other, splashing around, and seeing who could swim fastest.

My mom found this neat little tent online and thought it'd be a great idea to have for Brooklyn while we were outside so she didn't have to be stuck in a stroller or carrier... it was an awesome idea and she loved lounging around in the sun. 

okay, now how cute is this picture?!?  just wish B was in it. 

On our first morning in Orange Beach it rained so we looked up a local museum to take the kids to and found the National Naval Aviation Museum.  It was really, really neat.  Actually, I might even say it was awesome.  All the kids were entertained.  They loved running around to all the different exhibits and seeing all the different types of planes from various eras.  There was something there for every age.  I even enjoyed learning some of the history.

As you can imagine, with 7 kids under the age of 4, we spent a majority of our meals at our condo, which was mainly for the parents sanity, but nonetheless, it was a great idea to bring prepared meals (thanks mom and dad) and just eat without all the fuss.  Our mornings were spent like this!

We did manage to go out to eat twice (maybe 3 times) and everyone did awesome and the food was delicious.  The kids had their breakfast together every morning and most of the time we'd feed them then we'd eat while they played.  It made for more adult conversation time and more enjoyable meal times for the adults!  Our kids LOVE being together and really have a fun time... they are wild and crazy and make each other laugh non stop!!!

One night we all headed to one of our favorite restaurants and had a nice, relaxing, enjoyable dinner on the water and decided to take advantage of the beautiful view outside.

My new favorite pic of me and my man!

My parents took the 3 oldest grandkids out to the beach one night and let them search for hermit crabs and other stuff in the sand.  They wore their new flashlight helmets and had a ball!  What a fun way to make new memories.  

Of course after long days in the sun there wasn't many better things to do then relax and chill!

Overall, we had a GREAT trip and a much needed vacation to just have fun as a family!  

As we were leaving Orange Beach we drove past this huge land area filled with American Flags.  It kinda made me tear up.  You just have no idea how wonderful the USA truly is until you live somewhere else.  We're proud to be Americans!