my dad's a star

ever since i was little.. i always remember my dad playing softball in the church softball league that is organized in this area.. i remember the time when my dad was the coach of the team.. and i tried to fall into the habit of calling him "coach".. but "daddy" always seemed to slip out before i could remember to say "coach" :)

this season started and my dad wasn't able to play at the beginning because of a few injuries he had from work.. but finally about 2 weeks ago.. he put on that old red shirt.. pulled out his spikes.. and headed off to the field..

until he got back into the swing of things.. he just played umpire.. but he ended out the game by playing first base..

my dad plays on the same team that my uncle plays on.. and so here's malachi my cousin looking on at the game.. probably wishing he was old enough to be out there..

here's my uncle paul..

hehe here's my daddy :)

i actually think that one of my cousins took this picture.. but i honestly can't remember :)

prayer after the game..

hehe i love this shot of eli after the game.. as soon as the game was over.. my cousins zeb.. malachi.. and nate run onto the field and play -- they run the bases.. toss balls back and forth to each other.. even try to hit a few.. and eli wanted in on the fun too.. he just wasn't sure how to go about it.. and thus i got this look :)

july 4 weekend

this 4th of July i had the amazing opportunity to go with my best friend and her husband up to his parent's house for the weekend.. i had such an awesome time and it went way too fast..

the 2 lovebirds :) right over the hill from where they were sitting in this picture is where paul proposed to naomi last december..

on friday.. we went to mr. abbey's church's picnic.. we had so much fun.. playing volleyball.. water balloons.. swimming.. playing games.. and derrick had to show off his sweet skills by doing back-flips for me :)

the abbey brothers.. right before they crashed into each other lol

hehe this is my new boyfriend.. his name is nate.. isn't he cute? he was so adorable :) i carried him around to give his mama a break that day..

what's the 4th of July without sparklers ??

haha doesn't it look like paul is holding fire?

pretty fireworks someone set off..

on saturday we went and watched mr. and mrs. abbey play in their softball game.. doesn't he look fierce?

mrs. abbey definitely looks fiercer tho'.. hehe :)

they honestly looked like this the whole time tho'.. it was inexpressibly comfortable to be with them.. they were so much fun to talk to and be with.. they totally put all of my fears to rest with their easy going ways and how they totally accepted me into their house for the weekend..

the view from the top of the mountain that paul proposed to naomi on..

speaking of the lovebirds :)

to sum up the whole weekend.. it went WAY too fast and i totally did not want to leave when it came down to it.. every night i went to bed with a sore face and a sore stomach from smiling and laughing so much the entire day..

weekends away

the weekend before last.. we had naomi & paul.. as well as the nelms' family down to the lake.. we had a really good time regardless of the crappy weather..

since it was a little too cool to go swimming saturday morning (as well as threatening to rain) we went over to hike around swallow falls state park.. one of my favorite places in the world..

this is muddy creek falls.. the first one you see on the trail.. and so why they call it swallow falls park? beats me..

this is swallow falls..

and this is trolliver falls..

if you can't tell.. they're standing right on the edge of muddy creek falls (the big one at the top).. literally.. RIGHT on the edge.. love the reflection off the puddle tho' :)

my dad.. mum.. and baby sister..

hehe i think this is why we all love my dad so much.. because when we were little he did crazy things with us to thrill and scare us to death.. which always ended in us clinging to him and laughing :)

hehe they're so cute :)

naomi & paul hiked way up ahead of us and sat at the top of swallow falls for a while.. mwaha i caught them :)

understand why its one of my favorite places to go yet?

the "under 30" crowd..

the "over 30" crowd.. LOL

yeah.. basically she's adorable :)

sunday it did clear up enough for us to take a nice boat ride down to the dam and back..

this is the inlet we live on.. i couldn't believe how huge the clouds were and how blue the sky was that day.. made me glad to be alive..