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During the week of the 4th of July, we went to Savannah for the first time in years. This included us in our car, Grams and Aunt Caroline in another car (Uncle Charles was hiking in the Alaskan tundra at the time with his family), and Aunt EA, Uncle Scott, Charlie, and Max flying in from Texas. This was our first long road trip since Molly got her Nintendo Switch, and we created a very fancy system of holding up the Switch for the girls to see the screen involving the case she keeps it in, kitchen twine, and chip clips.

The cars decided to split the drive down into 2 days expecting traffic and delays (though it ended up being not too bad). We did most of the drive on the first day, and stayed in Florence, SC. We were very happy to find a Mellow Mushroom and a Bruster’s right across the street from our hotel.

The big reason for our trip to Savannah was to attend the revival of my extended family’s reunion gathering. My grandparents held this every year for decades. My aunt and uncle, who now live in the same house, revived the tradition this year. Of course, we had to get a picture on the dock right away. And, as you can possibly guess, Jen made all the clothes here except mine.

Molly’s black belt test ended late, so we did not go out to celebrate that night. Fortunately, the next day was Grams’s birthday, so we went out to BJ’s Brewhouse to celebrate both Molly’s black belt and Grams’s birthday. After some delicious dinner, we of course ordered pizookies (which were also delicious). While waiting for these desserts, we gave Molly a present.

Earning her black belt was a really big deal, and we wanted to give Molly a big gift to commemorate it. We joined together with G’Mom, Grampa, and Grams to give Molly a trip to New York to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway. She and I will go up and see it in August. Molly was shocked.

Molly was so excited. She’s talked about wanting to see this play so many times, but didn’t see this coming at all.

When our pizookies arrived, Grams got a special birthday one. We’ll celebrate her again in a couple days when we’re together with my siblings, but it was nice to get to celebrate on the day as well. Happy birthday, Grams!

Molly’s birthday celebration kept going and going. After her slumber party, the girls woke up and headed home. Molly and Grace headed to karate and Leah headed to a birthday party (and brought a Squishmallow as a present, more on that later). Then Leah went to the Solo and Ensemble Festival. Then we had the Sellers side of the family over to keep celebrating Molly’s birthday. We also celebrated Uncle Charles’s birthday, so they were both blowing out candles. And yes, that is the same cake from the night before. It looks perfect, as if still whole…

Here’s a look at the other side of the cake (the side we ate from at Molly’s slumber party).

There were also presents to be opened.

Gather round for the multiple musical cards.

In our house, we love Squishmallows. So, when Jen’s friend texted her from Costco saying they had them in stock (and selling out fast), we got the girls another one each (plus got an extra one to give to one of Leah’s friends for her birthday earlier in the day). Aunt Caroline brought her own Squishmallow to our celebration. Squishmallows are taking over the world.

G’Mom and Grampa came in town for a visit, and their visit once again coincided with our elementary school’s Bingo night. We of course made it to Bingo, and Jen of course got Bingo again. Sadly, a kid did as well and the kid won the call-off (which also seems to always happen to Jen).

As a consolation prize for losing the call off, Jen got a Target gift card. Molly was still excited.

Madison just needs one more! (She sadly did not get it).

A fun night as always.

Our Christmas story continued much like the Biblical one. Visitors from afar arrived with gifts, though not gold, frankincense, or myrrh. G’Mom and Grampa flew up two days after Christmas to spend 8 days with us and continue the Christmas celebrations.

Molly has been on several overnight trips this Fall, and both girls spend the night out frequently, so these new duffles were very much appreciated!

Back in November, Jen was invited to a party to make creative wood signs. She came home with the how-to and decided to make wood signs for several family members. It was definitely a joint effort. I decided that simply screwing together some boards from Home Depot would not do. So, I bought some rough hardwood (this is Ash, others were Red Oak), milled them, glued up a panel, cut, stained and sealed them. Jen created the design and painted. If you have a keen eye, you may have caught a different version of this in the Christmas Day opening presents pictures.

We don’t see too many movies in the theater, but we’ve been excitedly anticipating the release of Mary Poppins Returns. So, we bought our tickets early and all headed to the theater to see it.

We love going to the movies with reclining cushy seats. It was G’Mom and Grampa’s first time in a theater like this.

Grampa’s birthday fell during their visit, so we made sure to celebrate. We had saved a turtle cheesecake from Molly’s pie sale with her middle school just for the occasion.

And there were lots of little fun activities around the house, like this elephant wood puzzle.

Grams’s cancer treatment included chemo for a couple of months, followed by giant surgery on December 21. This meant she was in the hospital for Christmas. So, we made alternate Christmas plans. Instead of flying up for Christmas, Grammy came early and we had some early Christmas festivities.

Part of this included some delicious treats. The girls headed over to Grams’s house to bake cookies (per tradition). Aunt EA and Charlie were supposed to be there too, but they’ve had a tough time with illness which kept them away.

Yes, the traditional Christmas cookies were a bit less traditional this year, including dinosaurs and narwhals.

There was also, of course, food (not pictured) and presents.

Leah was excited about this Harry Potter wand that works with an iPad, which she can program to do different spells.

Molly’s been so jealous of Leah’s Squishmallow, she was excited to get one of her own.

Merry belated early Christmas!

We were determined to get to Auburn this year, and homecoming ended up being the weekend we could make work. We flew in to Atlanta late Friday, spent the night in a hotel, rented a car, and drove to Auburn Saturday. We met up with Jen’s family and had a great time around town.

The Wesley Foundation hosted a homecoming brunch, so we got to hang out and see old friends. The kids especially enjoyed the ping pong tables. Then we got lunch, did a little shopping, and wandered around reminiscing.

Of course, part of homecoming weekend is the football game. Sadly, just before half time they suspended play due to lightning in the area. We left the stands and hung out nearby during the ensuing downpour for a while, but eventually decided to leave when it lightened up a bit. We ended up seeing the conclusion on TV as the kids got ready for bed.

We stayed the night (thanks Julia, Earl, and Daniel), then got up early to drive back to the Atlanta airport to fly home. Hurray for getting to Auburn!

Over July 4th week, Jen and the girls spent a few days at Lay Lake in Alabama, while I was on mission trip to VA. So, for the first time in forever, Jen had to sit with the girls on the plane.

It didn’t take long for the family to be out on the Dottie B.

Jen made all the kids festive July 4th tees.

She also made a patriotic fruit trifle for the July 4th dessert.

A trip to Lay Lake is not complete without tubing!

G’mom and Grampa surprised everyone by being the first out on the tube.

Molly's going solo.

Jen and Leah too.

One last picture opportunity before leaving.

Back at Aunt ‘Chile’s house, the kids had fun on the double Slip ’n Slide.

Back in June, we got a new nephew/cousin. Aunt EA gave birth to Max, and we got to see him that same day.

Charlie stayed with us for Memorial Day weekend while Aunt EA and Uncle Scott were out of town at a wedding. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a toddler in the house, but we had a great time.

The marble track saw a lot of use.

We mostly stayed close to home, but we did make one special trip. Krispy Kreme had special blueberry glazed doughnuts, and we figured that might be an outing Charlie would like. He stuck with a regular glazed, and loved it. He had trouble understanding why he couldn’t have another one though, since there was a box full of them in front of him.

Molly and Leah read him bedtime stories both nights.

While Charlie was visiting, our area had the second major flash flood in 2 years. We got about 27 gallons of water in out basement, which was not bad compared to many others. We had twin rivers merging in our backyard.

While I as vacuuming up water in the basement, Jen was using water for more productive use upstairs. After his bath, Charlie was happy and clean.