April and May 2023

Alrighty, here are April and May combined into one giant post- enjoy!  :)

In April, Jacey, Timothy, Charlie, and Eli were all baptized at our church.  (Cooper had already been baptized previously.)  My dad performed the baptisms, and the morning was so meaningful and beautiful.

We took our annual family spring camping trip to Daingerfield and had a blast!

What they are usually doing...

And how they'll briefly cooperate...  :)

Our cover photo for our band album.  :)

Per Easter tradition, Eli helped me dye eggs.

And my mom hosted her annual Easter egg hunt and relay, which we all love!

Easter morning...

A photo with the Easter bunny.  :)

Eli got his braces off in April!  here's before...

And after!

CJ came to spend the night with us to celebrate his and Eli's birthdays.  We had cake and presents and nachos.

And then the next day they had their friends over to play airsoft and eat cupcakes and pizza.  We're so thankful for this group of kids.

At the beginning of May, the youth group spent a weekend at Sky Ranch.  It was an amazing weekend of playing, learning, and just enjoying being together.

We celebrated Eli's 15th birthday as a family with his meal of choice- crab cakes, roasted potatoes, and ceasar salad.

We ADORE our 15 year-old son!

Eli finished the 9th grade at Providence Academy.  The Lord abundantly answered all of our prayers regarding this school...  it has been a GIFT to us, and we are so thankful.

Eli also got his driver's permit in May!  

And we celebrated his birthday (and Phil's!) as a family.

We went to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee for our summer vacation.  It was beautiful, restful, and just a wonderful time to enjoy being together and being outside.

We hiked almost 40 miles in 4 days!

Part of our hiking included a little stretch of the Appalachian Trail, which was fun.

Smoky Mountain National Park sits right on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee.

On our last day in the Smoky Mountains, we took an 11-mile hike to the highest point you can climb to in the National Park.  It was TOUGH but worth it!

Halfway up we came to this giant cave bluff place- really cool!

And then at the very top we were ABOVE the clouds!  (Again- this is their standard behavior. :) )

The tippety top- above the clouds! 

The house we rented was in the mountains above Gatlinburg, which was a BUSTLING tourist town.  We ate dinners in town, and we also played mini-golf and let Eli play in the arcade for a while too.  :)

After our time in the mountains, we headed to Nashville for a couple days.  We rented a little house in an adorable neighborhood that was super walkable.  We walked and walked all around the city, and our major activity was EATING!  :)

We had the BEST food in Nashville!  LOTS of hot chicken, biscuits, chicken sandwiches, and other Nashville staples.

And that concludes our summer vacation and the months of April and May!  We're looking forward to what the summer has in store for us.  Love to you!