Dog Sitters

Stacie and Patrick volunteered to come stay at our house, to watch the dogs, while we're on vacation. The girls and I had already left for our trip, so Trevor and Trace picked them up from the airport. Trace made a fun sign for them. The had a nice dinner at U-Tiki and then went to Coral Cove. They saw some hatchlings trying to make their way into the ocean. Such an amazing experience!!!!

Wenzel's Visit

The Wenzel girls came to visit us for a couple of days. We spent time in the pool, at the beach, doing a puzzle, and eating a silly meal of spaghetti and meatball with our fingers. Sally took some convincing on the latter, but she went with it and we had some fun. Our time together concluded with the girls making us some yummy crepes. We had a nice visit with our friends. 

Feeding Stingrays

We went with Rachel, Kate and Colin Butters to the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center in Stuart. The highlight was definitely being able to feed the stingrays. Such a cool experience!!! 

Issa's Visit

Our good the Issa's came to spend a few days with us and we're so glad they did. We had fun entertaining them. We took them snorkeling under the Beach Rd Bridge and to Coral Cove. We took them to one of our favorite lunch spots, Blue Pointe Bar and Grill. We played some heated games of pool volleyball. We did a puzzle together. We got together with the Hayes and had fun reuniting our families. It was a great visit!!! 

Bella at the Beach

Kianna was so excited to bring Bella to the beach

Sandy girl

Bella trying to get out as fast as she can

Sleepy dog

All cleaned up

Rizzo has never liked the water, pool or ocean. He's scare of both. We thought maybe it was because he was never exposed to them during the first six months of his life. We had high hopes for Bella. However, despite multiple attempts in our pool and at the beach, she too, does not like the water. She sure is cute though!!!

Home Sweet Home

We're home and our life with two dogs has begun. Bella adores Rizzo and follows him where ever he goes. Bella is so tiny and so adorable. We love her so much!!!

Our Week in Iowa

Brothers Reunited- Rizzo and Miles

Oakland Worship Team

Gaskill family

Baking with Brittney

Skyline with Brittney

Skyline with cousins

Aliyah's softball game

Bowling

Kaylee's annual check-up

Surprise!!!

Our crazy family

4th of July

16th Street Baptist Church

Kelly Ingram Park

Kelly Ingram Park and Baptist Church

Our time in Iowa was both busy and exciting. Here are the highlights:

• Game night with Stacie and Patrick. We had a blast playing Sequence with them. It was fun to reunite Miles and Rizzo. We swear they know they're brothers. They jump all over each other and chase each other around the yard. They love each other so much. Rizzo doesn't act like that with other dogs.
• Worshipping at Oakland-The youth group was in charge of the service. Grandma Sue and Grandpa Wayne came to church with us. We had a great discussion and Kaylee had fun serving the meal with her friends. Trace and Kianna got called up onto the stage to help out with worship. It was a fun morning.
• Gaskill Reunion- I organized a get together at Dad and Sue's house. It was so nice to get everyone together.
• Time with cousins- Our kids adore their cousins and had so much fun playing with them. They went to Skyline with us and had a blast on the new Ninja Warrior play area. The warp wall is no joke!
• Fun with friends- Kaylee organized lots of sleepovers with her friends. She was able to spend the night with Brittney, Chloe and Lily. Kaylee is blessed with lots of good friends.
• Issa's- We always love seeing the Issa family. They're coming to visit us in Florida in a few weeks, so our time with them was brief.
• Grandma Becki and the Langfalds- We had a nice meal with the Langfalds. We always enjoy our time with them.
• Games with Grandma Jacque- We spent a nice afternoon over at my mom's house playing games. We also had pizza together at Fong's pizza, followed by ice cream. Aliyah and Grandma GG joined us. It was very nice.
• Bowling with Bree and Aliyah- We watched Aliyah's softball game. Unfortunately, it was cancelled due to lightning. We decided to go bowling afterwards and had a nice time with them.
• Kaylee's annual check-up- Not a highlight, except that the MRI hadn't worsened. Next year they'll repeat the angiogram and that will show us if the AVM is gone or not...
• Bella- After Kaylee's appointment at UIHC, we told her that we needed to go to Rizzo's breeder to pick up some paperwork. She's a go with the flow gal, so thought nothing of it. Once we arrived, I saw a puppy in the yard and said "oh look, there's a puppy maybe we can go pet it." The breeder let the puppy loose and Kaylee went and picked her up. We told her this is your new puppy and she couldn't believe it. We completely surprised the other two as well with a new mini golden doodle puppy, which we named Bella Grace. She was born on April 16th and is 11 weeks old.  She is a big drooler, which apparently is a sign of car sickness. Her mouth was soaked on the way back to Marion. Bella was so excited to meet Rizzo. Rizzo's wasn't quite as sure about her. He acts likes she's s a big nuisance and is ready for her to go away like all the other dogs he's been around on this trip. I guess he's in for a surprise too... 
• Birmingham, Alabama- On the way back to Florida, we decided to take a new route that would take us through some states we hadn't been through before and through Florida's panhandle. Trace and Kianna had never been in Mississippi before and the rest of us had never been to Alabama. We spent the night in Birmingham, AL which was a little sketchy. For starters, we had a hard time finding a restaurant that we could take our dogs to. Eventually, we found an outdoor restaurant that met our need. The following morning before heading out of town, we decided to visit a couple historic landmarks relevant to the Civil Rights Movement. We saw the 16th Street Baptist Church where years before a bomb went off killing two little girls. Across the street from the church is the Kelly Ingram Park, which was the gathering point for many protestors. The park is filled with statues that remember different parts of the Civil Rights Movements and has various quotes along the way. It was a great educational moment for all of us. We watched "The Watsons Go To Birmingham" when we got home. It was a powerful movie that helped give us more perspective.