Grandparent's visit, Birthday Party, and the Naval Air Museum

We just had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa Joyner and Mom's sisters - Aunt Danna and Aunt Diana. I will only be able to post the pictures I have on my phone because I don't yet have everyone else's photos of the week's events. 

Anna got a birthday card from the Baines in the mail. 

James and I took Lily and Aunt Danna and Aunt Diana to the lighthouse. The climb was a little too much for them to finish, but Aunt Diana kindly watched Lily while James and I climbed up. It was heavy going, but the view at the top is worth it!

The Navy Hospital where James works is on the horizon.

Grandpa played with Lily under the table.

Anna got to hit her birthday piñata.

Lily got a whack at it. Aunt Diana is in the background.

We filled some water balloons at the birthday party.

Kylie and Alyssa were waiting for more water balloon ammunition at the Navy Boat Docks birthday party.

I didn't get any more photos of the event with my phone, but much fun was had by all!

This picture was taken just to make Aunt Becca jealous that she couldn't be there with us. :-)

We got to take everyone to La Hacienda for lunch - it was yummy!

Grandma took great care of Anna - during the entire visit! I was spoiled with lots of childcare. Everyone left Thursday morning leaving me with a very quiet and slightly lonely house.

This weekend was wild with the TBC Sunday School picnic and field day. James and I were in charge of preparing 130 hotdogs and 130 hamburgers with assorted sides. We rented an 82 foot inflatable obstacle course and a dunk tank and another bouncer. It was crazy and so much fun! I didn't take any pictures though. 

This morning James needed me to bring him something important at work, and he had Anna's car seat in his car so she got to upgrade! Thankfully we had one already from a yard sale. She is getting so big!

Lily in her seat.

Since we were so close by, we drove on from James' work to the Naval Air Museum.

Note: I tried to publish this post Monday but just discovered that it didn't work then.

Family Camp

Lily and Laura Alexander enjoyed each other greatly.

Anna and her church twin - Becca Alexander

I helped the Stearlys set up their tent since it is very similar to ours. It was fun!

We went swimming in Krul Lake both Monday and Tuesday afternoon. Anna looked so grown up sitting by herself!

I enjoyed the messages so much. Bro. Roth preached about the family on Saturday night, all day Sunday, and Monday through Wednesday evening. We weren't able to camp this year.  James was off of work Monday and Tuesday so we spent most of those days at Bear Lake. 

Water Spout, NICU Reunion, and Painting

On the way to Pensacola we saw a water spout! It would have been a tornado if it was over land. Excuse the poor quality picture taken with James' iPhone. There is a mark on the window, but you can see the waterspout beside that above the barrier.

We attended a NICU reunion at Sacred Heart Hospital. There were lots of twins there and even two sets of triplets! All of the attendees were treated successfully at the level three NICU at Sacred Heart. Several of those we spoke to were surprised and pleased that Anna got a clean bill of health from the Neurologist - many of these babies have on-going health issues.

We got to meet the Red Robin and Chickfila mascots. We also got to see the nurse that prepped Anna for her transfer from Baptist Hospital to Sacred Heart that memorable Sunday afternoon.

Anna almost a year ago as she visited my hospital room before being transferred by ambulance to the NICU.

This is a very fuzzy picture of the transport team working on Anna to stabilize her oxygen levels before her transfer. We got to speak to the nurse on the right at the reunion.

We painted our kitchen Monday and Tuesday! Lily saw me getting a picture of James and jumped in for her share of fame.

Lily joined Anna in crawling across the kitchen.

Anna likes her nightlight.

Re-trenching and family life

Anna has a cute neck. What can I say? I just had to take a picture of it. 

We bought a used (and a little dirty) swimming pool from Steve. It is so huge!! It says online that it holds 5,500 gallons of water. We cleaned it and put it in storage for the present. 

Since the men were done with it, we got to re-trench. Lily tried to assist, but every other second she said, "Ugh! Daddy, help!" The cuteness thereof cannot be described. 

Reading with James. 

James' amazing castle. This was taken mere moments before it was destroyed by the innocent-looking creatures pictured. 

Last night we re-discovered Lily and her baby doll's matching nightgowns. 

Lexie's Visit

Lexie Jackson stayed with us from Friday to Wednesday last week. We celebrated her parent's anniversary with ice cream for Sunday lunch. 

James got a workout playing with all three girls at once!

First you sit on his feet...

Then he flips you upside down and puts you over his head! It is a great abs workout - you should try it sometime. 

Steve came over at 5am Monday to install electricity in our shed. The first step was digging a trench for the conduit. 

The admiring audience eating plums. 

They were drilling holes for the conduit in the shed. Steve was making a fuse box. 

Steve got the fuse box installed and had electricity going to the shed by the time he had to leave that day. I got the experience of assisting while they pulled the wire. I've pulled legs before, but never wire. 

Shed Work

James had me help him install the window A/C unit in the shed. 

Your voice sounds funny in a bucket, did you know that?

James hung the ceiling Sheetrock with some of my minimal assistance. 

Cutting the Sheetrock to size. 

Aunt Emily came over to post some items on Etsy and brought Keith. 

Anna likes her sweet potatoes.