Creation Museum and The Ark

We were blessed to be able to travel up and see the Creation Museum and The Ark. Back in January we made the trip and had a great time! Bryan's parents had went last fall and talked about how great it was and they thought we would really enjoy it too. Usually when we go somewhere as a family we have to have two hotel rooms and that can get very expensive, this time we rented a house in Petersburg, KY. We have never rented a house before but we all agree that we enjoyed it and would do it again! 

Here we are walking up to the Ark. It was very cold that day but once we got inside it was nice and warm.

Here is the crew all bundled up as we entered the Ark. We all enjoy going on adventures together!

Bryan and I stop for a picture together. Love this man! Joanna, Bryan, and I have birthdays in the same week and this trip was around our birthdays.

Here is little brother standing tall!

Middle Brother makes a funny face!

Little sister is one crazy girl!

Big sister smiles for the camera while little sister is the photo bomber. LOL!

All the brothers lend a hand in holding up the Ark. LOL!

Here we are just coming out of the Ark. It was great! When reading through Genesis now it puts a whole new perspective on it.

Waiting for the bus to pick us up and take us back to our vehicles. Did I mention that it was cold???

We are outside the creation museum. Lots to see and do in there!

YES... it was cold!! 5 degrees!! We decided to spend one day at the Perfect North in Indiana, right across the river from where we were staying.

Because they weren't busy they let our passes be good for all day! We got there that morning and did a few laps on the tubes then for lunch we rode back to our rental house and had taco soup (put it on in the crock pot before we left). After lunch and warming up we headed back to snow tubing.

Riding back up to the top to snow tube again! As fast as we could get back up the hill we could go again! It was lots of fun and very thankful that God provided this opportunity for our family.

Time With Family, The Roughton Family

Father's Day weekend was full of family and fun! We met my cousin and her family at my parents house and was able to spend a couple of days with them. We usually only get to visit with them once a year. I posted here about our visit with them last year. We arrived on Friday night and had so much fun! My parents had purchased a used paddle boat and these kids had the best time! 

 Here are 6 out of the 7 kids on the paddle boat. Isaac decided he would sit this one out...too many on there! LOL!!

 Joanna caught her a fish! Fishing before breakfast and all through out the day...never know when something will be biting.

 Here is my cousin (Dodey), my dad, and me. We are pretty much all that is left of our family. My dad's two brothers and his parents have all passed...he is all that is left out of them.

We are first cousins and growing up were like sisters. We have so many great memories and now our children have some great memories too!

 Here are all the kids together! They have grown so much!

Here is our family with Dodey's family. Very thankful that we were able to spend this time together,  laugh, and just enjoy being together. Already looking forward to our next time together!

June was BUSY!

June has been one busy month! I can't wait to share all that has happened the last month. It has been busy but FUN! Let's just say that June was full of Camps (no pun intended)!! The month started off with a week of Youth Camp which all seven of us was able to attend, then Sarah led a cooking camp, four of our kids attended a soccer camp, and then we all were able to be a part of a Kids Camp!! Of coarse everyday at our house is a Camp day!! LOL! So much to share and I am very thankful to God for these opportunities we had!

I will start with Memorial Day weekend...I had an event/show where I had a booth set up to sale Lilla Rose. I took Elijah, Timothy, and Joanna with me. I wasn't busy and there wan't a huge crowd, but the kids had a great time!

 Right behind my booth was a pond and the boys got to fish. After the first few cast Elijah caught this and that was the only thing they caught while we were there.

 Here is Timothy fishing. He tried the most out of both boys but he didn't catch anything.

 Here is the U-Pin from Lilla Rose holding up a messy bun. Beautiful!

 Here are a few hair photos from the few ladies that stopped by my booth. This clip is called Freestyle.

Loving the Hues of Blue!

Joanna was playing with another little girl and I wasn't able to get any pictures of her. Since I wasn't busy this ended up being a chance to be with the younger children and the to enjoy playing and having fun.

The Fisherman

Isaac really enjoys fishing! Now that he has his drivers license he is able to go fishing at a lake close by or with a friend. Here is a fish he caught last time he was at the lake.

He enjoys fishing and was tickled when he reeled this in! His favorite fishing partner is his Paw!

2018 Tennessee 4-H Congress (Part 3)

 On Sunday after the Speech Competition Isaac had to stay and practice for his part in the presentation that all the finalist put on for all the 4-Her's that arrive on Sunday afternoon. Sarah and I didn't have to be at registration until later that afternoon. Once we registered they were able to mingle and play a few games. The picture above is of Sarah playing a game with a couple of others we met from our neighboring county. We were able to get to know them and spend time with them during Congress.

 Bryan's parents took our three younger children home with them and were able to spend some time with them. Here is Gigi making cookies with them. One of their favorite things to do with Gigi.

 Then Pop took them on a jeep ride. They saw a train pass by and enjoyed the sight seeing.

 Love this picture of these three. I missed them so much but I know they had a great time with grandparents!

While at Bryan's parents they got to spend some time with cousins! These 5 always have a great time together. Yes, Joanna is one of three granddaughters, the other two are 14 and 21...so Joanna gets to hang out with the boys.

The three younger children were able to spend one night with Bryan's parents and one night with my parents and then my parents brought them home. Lots of fun and great memories were made!

2018 Tennessee 4-H Congress (Part 1)

On Wednesday Isaac, Sarah and I returned from a 4-H Congress trip. It was a great experience! I have lots of pictures! I will do my best to recap each day and all that we got to do. I will start by telling that Isaac was a regional speech winner, so that means he would be one of six 10th graders competing at the State level. Being a finalist meant he had to go up a day earlier than everyone else. He had to arrive at 1:00 on Saturday afternoon. The rest of us along with grandparents packed up and headed to our destination. We dropped him off and did some sight seeing. We went to the Stones River National Battlefield in Murfreesboro, TN. If you know anything about our family you know we really enjoy this kind of stuff! We enjoyed our visit there.

 We were able to see them shoot off the cannon! Pretty loud!

 Here is Elijah with my dad waiting for the cannon to fire. Not the one they are standing in front of
:-). LOL!

 Then we walked through the grave yard. There was around 24,000 soldiers either injured or killed during this battle.

 Checking out one of the cannons that were on display.

 Here is Sarah posing with my parents and being a silly girl. :)

 Timothy gets a ride from his dad. Bryan wearing Timothy's hat. Love these two!

Actually I love this whole crew!! After checking into our hotel we went to eat dinner. It was great to spend some time together!

Flying Kites

I can not wait for spring to get here! We love spending time outside! This week it was nice enough a couple of days to get some sunshine and fly kites! Here are a couple of pictures of our kite flying.

 Joanna enjoyed flying her kite. We have a great big field that was just perfect for this!

Timothy had lots of fun too! These pictures were taken at the end of the day and they were finishing up their kite flying. I hope these are times they will never forget! Elijah and Sarah enjoyed flying kites too but I didn't get their picture.

The Trip Home

 We had lots of fun and made lots of memories but we were also ready to get home to our animals and normal life. Each night we camped in our pop-up camper and never had any problems or issues. God is good!

 These were a couple of pictures of scenery on the way home. We camped in Nebraska before making the long trek home. The weather on our trip was pretty but windy. From the night at the Badlands to this last night in Nebraska it was windy the whole time, some days were more windy than others. Very thankful that God kept us safe and that He provided each and every thing we needed for this trip to be possible.

On our last trek home it was Elijah's birthday so we let him choose where we were going to eat for supper. He chose Golden Corral...he likes buffets! :) This boy turned 10 that day and enjoyed every bite of his supper! Love this boy!!

Grand Tetons

Our last sight seeing stop on our trip was at the Grand Tetons! It is just south of Yellowstone. Our big "fun" for the trip was renting a boat and spending a couple of hours on Jackson Lake.

Doesn't this look like a postcard? We were actually there and took this picture! Gorgeous!!

I love this bunch and we have some of the best times together!

Bryan and I along for the ride!

We enjoyed visiting the Grand Tetons just as much as we did Yellowstone.

Old Faithful at Yellowstone

 Watching Old Faithful was great...and even better was watching it as a family! There are benches around it for all those watching to sit on. When we first arrived there was just a handful of people walking around but the closer it got to time for Old Faithful to erupt you couldn't find a place to sit.

 A few more pictures of our time at Yellowstone. Seeing the views, animals, geysers, hot springs, and all God's beautiful creation makes you know that there IS a God!

 On our last morning at Yellowstone we packed up and headed out through the southern end of the National Park. We planned one more stop before heading home (I will post those pictures next).

 This is one of those trips that I will never forget and I am very thankful that God provided an opportunity for Bryan and I to take the children on this trip.

 We had a great time as a family making lots of memories!

Thank you Lord for allowing us this opportunity to see some of your amazing creation! Seeing and experiencing your creation makes us truly worship the Creator!