Sunday, November 6, 2022

July 4th Weekend

July 2nd was the annual Forth of July Crawfish boil at Pam & Gene's lake house.  Dad and Gene are always in charge of the boil.  Liam showing interest in the process this year. 



Everyone getting their grub on.


Sweet Carson


Everyone stuffed ...


Old man taking an afternoon snooze...


Our annual group picture!  This family just keeps growing and growing!


Carson is a fan of watermelon!!  Me too Carson, me too!


I believe this should be new tradition.  Sack races!  They were so funny to watch!!


The guys reminiscing about the times they used to sack race as kids.  I think they should probably just keep reminiscing so no one breaks a hip!


Watching the Twin Creeks firework show.



Sunday, July 3rd we had a cookout at Brooke & Galen's house.  Mark took a gamble on the strength of the slide.


The slide held up but it sure was a tight squeeze


Nothing like a good game of chicken in the pool!


Oh no! Hudson goes down!  Nothing like the timing of this picture!! Haha!


Annalise and I hung up on the patio and watched all the craziness.  


I bought a bunch of poppers for the kids to play with.  Im pretty sure they were all gone in 5 minutes.



Declan had business to take care of during all of the popper shenanigans. 


Trying my hand at the gun popper.  It must have been difficult to shoot or maybe I was anticipating what could possibly go wrong.


Caleb and his friends put on a pretty good firework show!



July 4th was on a Monday so everyone was off of work and school.  That afternoon we took the boys over to David's to swim for a little bit. 


The fireworks show in town was this day so we put on our red, white and blue, stopped at the nearest fireworks stand to load up on sparklers, pop-its and doggy-do's.  We then made our way to the Farmer's Market building where we watch the firework show every year.  

Poor Brooks getting bombarded by tickle monsters


Sparkler time while waiting for the show to start!



Ryan helping Reid with a Roman candle


The crew ... in multiple angles :)





Annalise's first Forth of July!


I hope these boys remember days like this forever.  The time they spent together.  The meaning of July 4th.  These friendships can last a lifetime.  I hope every single one of us continues to invest in our friendships.  The new and the old!




My boys!



Happy Independence Day!!!

Sweet Summertime

We kicked off summer break with VBS at FBC - this years theme was Spark Studios!





I mean ... how precious are these pictures!



Two new additions to the Barker household!  Mouse traps! HAHA! 


Just look at this sweet thing!  He is so spunky and friendly.  I think we are going to name him Tux because he looks like he is wearing a tuxedo.  The little girl cat is still getting the feel of us.  She is slowly warming up to us and once we see her personality she will get a name too!


Friday June 17th - Family night at AMC to see the new Buzz Lightyear movie



Sunday June 19th - Ryan, Mark & John went to watch Top Gun for Father's Day.  The rest of us met them at Chuy's for dinner.



Their favorite thing to do when we pull into the driveway now!



Thankful for neighbors who just put in a pool this summer and lets us come swim whenever we want!  David and Rachel have been nothing but the best neighbors! 



A summer full of throwing kids in the pool!








These boys!  I love them all so much!  I pray they continue to stay close and be there for each other as they get older.   


Just a short drive back home ... 


I planted some cut flowers in my back patio flower bed this year.  Since it's my first time growing a cut flower garden I decided to do just something simple.  I did a pack of zinnias and a pack of "cut flower" blend for beginners I guess.  I have been able to keep a vase full of beautiful flowers so far this summer. 




I also planted Dahlias.  This was my first bloom.  


Our veggie garden was small this year.  Cucumbers, zucchini & squash.   I wanted to make sure we had plenty of cucumbers to make pickles to last us until next year.  



First round of pickles!


Liam putting on rollerblades for the first time.  He has some practicing to do! Lol!



Landon came to sleep over.  These boys can put away some breakfast!




They are trying their hardest to make these outdoor cats indoor ones.  Oh and the little girl cat's name is officially Luna.


Slow down Summertime!  You are our favorite time of they year!