conleigh's 4th birthday party...7.15

just sarah and i went to conleigh's birthday party at chuck e. cheese...i thought having both kids there would be a NIGHTMARE...and i wanted sarah to be able to do what she wanted since it was her friend's party. we had a great time playing all the games. even if she wasn't so successful at them :) sarah and her friend anniston trying out a game...

sarah spent most of her time during skeeball retrieving her balls from other lanes or from the floor. the whole throwing in a straight line thing was a little over her head. as long as she didn't hit anyone...i was pretty happy!

the cutie birthday girl and sarah
conleigh and sarah "rode" this "roller coaster" twice...it looked like THE most uncomfortable thing in the world. it just jerked them around...but they were laughing and smiling the whole time!!!

a fun night with the higginbotham's...7.13

after nap time on sunday night, the higginbotham's came over for dinner and playtime... the kids were a little out of it right after naptime...
anna...the little model...
drew...in the middle of fussing about something...
mr. rhett playing with the kids...
princess kate...
everyone pile on mr. rhett!!!

ava's 2nd birthday party...7.12

ava's 2nd birthday party was on a nice, hot, sticky, humid day in july :) she had an arts and crafts/make a huge mess birthday party! the kids had a great time getting messy!!! griffin having fun with silly string!

drew really enjoyed the freedom to play with all the art media!!!
sweet birthday girl, ava, creating a masterpiece!
sarah and her favorite pass time...swinging!
beautiful anna leigh...

hot, sweaty friends...griffin and sarah
the birthday princess...
singing "happy birthday"...
drew diving into his ice cream cake...a man on a mission!
one accessorized little lady!!!

saying goodbye to uncle andy...7.9

on uncle andy's last morning in memphis, we were just going to have lunch with him. but, we decided at the last minute to go to the airport too. the kids were pumped to see the planes...


sarah pretending to be an airplane "just like uncle andy's"

the many hugs goodbye...


we really enjoyed our short visit with uncle andy. i think the kids wore him out :) we were able to spend time with him on monday-wednesday after he returned from louisiana with my parents and we returned from st. louis...did i mention we went to st. louis?!? the kids are still talking about the things we did with uncle andy! we are looking forward to his next visit after baby arrives! we miss you uncle andy!!!

our last day in st. louis...touring slu...7.6

our last morning in st. louis, we stopped by a st. louis bread co. for a bag of bagels and headed out to look around slu. saint louis university is always changing...adding buildings, renovating older structures, adding fountains or statues, etc. last year we took the kids by for a quick tour, and this year we wanted to continue the tradition. sarah was REALLY interested in "mommy's college" this year. when i pointed out one of the dorms i lived in, sarah said, "mommy, when i'm a big girl and i go to college, can you live next door to me?" how precious! we'll see how she feels about that in about 14 years :) we took a few pics of the kids in some of the beautiful flower gardens. and then the obligatory pics in front of a slu sign.

after touring slu, we went BACK to st. louis bread co. for one last meal. and i resisted the urge to fill the entire van with bagels before leaving town!!! we ate a final yummy lunch and hit the road! another great st. louis visit is history!

the rest of our day...7.5

after naptime on the 5th, we headed BACK over to the yost's house to hang out and cookout. the kids all lined up on the floor to watch cartoons. of course, it only lasted for about 3 minutes :)sarah has started this new "posing" thing for the camera. she is such a ham!
sarah gave crawling a try again...she wanted to see what norah was up to...
drew bullied norah out of her toy. he stayed in the exersaucer for at least 20 minutes. weird kid.

after dinner, we put in a movie for the kids hoping they would all settle down and the adults could visit. they just looked too cute all laid out in their pjs...

the kids also enjoyed some of their favorite sugar cookies...


we really enjoyed our visit with the yosts! its so much fun to spend time with them and catch up on the past year. on sunday, the 6th, we headed back to memphis...with a few pit stops first...