“Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay. But we can honor their sacrifice, and we must. We must honor it in our own lives by holding their memories close to our hearts, and heeding the example they set.”

        —President Obama

I want to start off this post by saying that I am so thankful for all those who have served and who are still serving to protect our country. My family will be forever grateful for their service and do not take for granted the freedom that we have!

To say we enjoyed our four day weekend for Memorial day is the understatement of the century. We headed to my favorite place on Earth, the lake, on Thursday night after Jon got home from work. I held H off on her afternoon nap until it was time to leave, and she did great on the drive, slept the whole way. Friday morning, we slept in (thank goodness for a baby who likes to SLEEP) and did a whole bunch of nothing for the first part of the day… we just hung out and played with H. That afternoon, Jon went to play golf with Kyle, while Bekah and one of her friends came over. After playing a little bit with Hadley down on the pier,  I got to get in a little much needed time in the sun during H’s nap.

Jennifer came over during H’s nap, so we all hung out on the pier until H woke up…she was very happy to see Aunt Jennifer when she woke up! :)

Friday night was low key, my parents made us a delicious steak dinner and we just hung out…H definitely enjoyed some QT with Aunt Jennifer!

Zack, Kelley and family arrived Friday night, and we stayed up way too late, doing what, I’m not sure! :) Saturday, we slept in (“we” being Jon, Hadley and I) again, and headed outside soon after we woke up to play outside!  We spent all day outside, and it was a perfect day! My brother’s kids had a ball tubing and swimming… and boat rides put H right to sleep every time. ;)

Do you SEE those thighs?!!?!?!??!?!?!

Saturday was also my nephew Jacob’s 7th (so big!!!) birthday, so we celebrated at dinner (pizza and cake!) that night. Is he not the cutest?!

Saturday night was low-key, we just spent some family time and did some (continued) relaxing. Can I reiterate how much it was a perfect weekend? Mary also got some time to love on Miss H… not sure there is anyone who loves Hadley more. ;)

Sunday, we headed to church at UG. It was a special Sunday because my Uncle Butch (my Mom’s brother) and his friend were in town for the Fiddler’s convention, and they played some special music at church. My Aunt Teresa, cousin Derrick, his wife Lindsay, and their cute little boy, Nicholas (who is just 4 days older than H!) all came to church, too… I was excited for them all to meet H for the first time, to get to meet Nicholas, and to get to hang out with Lindsay and Derrick for the first time since their wedding! 

H didn’t make it through church (yet again…maybe it’s Pop’s preaching?!), but I got to catch up with Amanda and her sweet little Garrett during a little nursing session in one of the Sunday school classrooms, ha! He is so cute and I’m so glad that the Loftis’ are doing so well! :)

We headed back to the lake for lunch right after church, and got to spend some time with the Bosts. I would say that Nicholas and Hadley really hit it off, they just did a lot of looking at each other and smiling! :) The weather was absolutely PERFECT outside, so we enjoyed most of the afternoon on the pier!

We had a FABULOUS afternoon…can’t wait to do it again soon! Sunday evening, my Granny and Paw Paw came over for dinner. I was a bad Mama and forgot to take any pictures while they were there, but it was great to see them, as always! :) The weather was still perfect that evening, so we spent most of the evening on the porch. H LOVES to swing!

We definitely took advantage of our last opportunity to sleep in (again) on Monday. It was another day with absolutely perfect weather, so we spent the day outside again, of course! We also finally got a chance to blow up the cute little pool that Bekah got for Hadley, and she (and Mary!) loved it, despite the water being QUITE a bit colder than her bath water. :)

As always, we waited until the last minute to leave…I NEVER want to head home after a lake weekend. :( We have learned that it is best to bathe Hadley and put her in her PJs before we leave…she slept the whole way home, I nursed her when we got here, and she went back to sleep and slept until 10 Tuesday morning. Score!

Whew, photo overload, I know…but ahh, looking back at the photos makes me even sadder that the weekend ever had to end! I am glad that summer is HERE, and I am looking forward to the rest of it and many more weekends like this one. A big thanks to my parents for hosting and feeding all of us…I know there were a lot of us! :) 

Hope everyone had as fantastic of a holiday weekend as we did, and remembered that it was not just a day off of work…SO grateful for the men and women serving our country! 

-S