Summer Camping Trip

We took our first (and only) camping trip of the summer this weekend! We tried out a campground on Lake Lanier that just reopened this summer, Van Pugh South. We have camped at just about every campground on Lake Lanier now. Old Federal is still our favorite, but Van Pugh was nice. We had an awesome campsite with a great view of the lake action and even had a nice breeze blowing the entire weekend! We cheated on this trip though and went to McDonald's for breakfast and even came home on Saturday afternoon to shower! That is the nice part about camping so close to home!

Matt's favorite part of camping....building the campfire!

We had a nice rubber mallet that we usually use, but the rubber head flew off of the handle into the lake. Maybe it wasn't so nice after all!! Matt resorted to caveman days and used this big rock to do the job!

Watching the storm blow in. It rained on us most of Friday evening and night. We didn't complain though, because the temperature dropped almost 20 degrees from earlier in the afternoon!

Harley doing what he does best.....eating!

We were on such a drop off down to the lake that we couldn't sit the camera low enough to get a good picture of us! Oh well, this is as good as it gets!

This picture makes me laugh. Look at Harley in the background....eating again!

No wonder the poor guy has so much trouble breathing! His face is so squished in!

Matt's big catch!

He was trying to hold it up for a picture, but it slipped out of his hands.

Watching the sunset.

I took my camera out to the point and sat in the grass photographing the sun setting. Over the course of about 10 minutes, I snapped about 30 pictures of the sun sinking behind the mountain. It was such a beautiful night out on the lake!

We packed up early this morning to head home. We were actually rolling out of the campground around 9:00. As much as we love camping, we also love getting home to get everything unpacked and washed before too late. Harley did not come upstairs until about 6:30 this evening! He was so worn out from the weekend that he collapsed in the basement and did slept all day long!

Celebrate!!!

Okay, so I lied in my last post when I said that my next Blog Post would be about our weekend camping trip. We got some SUPER EXCITING news today that I just had to share though!! MATT PASSED HIS NATIONAL REGISTRY EMT WRITTEN EXAM TODAY!!!!!!!!!!

I never doubted his ability to pass, but this has been a long 6 months! Matt has been worrying about this test for several months now. He has spent numerous hours studying and hitting the books. Today was his day to SHINE and he did!!! Now that he passed, he is Nationally Certified as an EMT-Intermediate. I am so proud of all of his hard work and effort and the fact that he NEVER gave up!! Thanks for the continued prayers and support!

Starting tomorrow he will be heading to the Fire Academy. In the dead heat of summer, his physical abilities are going to be put to the test inside burning buildings! A while back we went to a "Community Fair" that DeKalb Fire and Police were holding. There was a firetruck there with a sticker on the truck that said "We are running in when even the roaches are running out!" I think that sums up the job pretty good!!! Please continue to pray for him and his class!!

July 4th (and 5th)

With the 4th being on Sunday this year, we got to have an extended celebration of!!! As my last post said, we had people over to our house on Saturday night. Sunday we went to church then headed to the lake with a friend of Matt's and his wife. They guy's parents have a lake house on Lanier, so we hung out on the lake all afternoon, then waited on top of their dock for the fireworks. Once it finally got dark, we started to hear the fireworks, but never saw them! They were right on the other side of the trees, so we didn't get to see any of them. Oh well, we still had a great time hanging out!! Monday, we headed to the Dunwoody 4th of July parade with Cathy, Eric, Anna, and Cate. Fun times!!!

Me and Amy waiting on the fireworks

Me and Matt

Me and Anna at the parade

Anna waving at all the people in the parade

Cate is always so silly!

The whole gang!

Silly girl! Aren't her eyes beautiful in this one?

Sweet Sisters

Every year at the parade, Matt says "Maybe next year I will be able to ride in the parade." This year, he actually could have ridden in the parade, but he didn't. It was a good feeling to not have to hear him say "Maybe next year."

I hope that you and your family had an awesome 4th of July!! We are camping this weekend, so I am sure that my next post will be full of pictures of the lake, our dogs, and our camping adventures!!!!

4th of July Weekend (so far!!)

We had people over again Saturday night. This time we decided to make it easy and relaxing and ordered pizza. We had a mix of people from my work, Matt's work, friends, and family. The weather was so nice all day Saturday, so we hung outside for most of the night. Of course, Matt was the hit of the party with the kids! He filled up 200 water balloons and bought "Pop-Its." The girls had a great time screaming and playing together, while the adults enjoyed each other's company!

The girls, getting ready to aim for Matt!

Zack and Julie. Zack was not a fan of everyone throwing balloons at each other!

Zack, Spencer, and Julie

The girls had so much fun together!

Run Alli!

What a cute face!

Avery, enjoying some cake!

What a smile!

Zack and Spencer

Cate wearing her "microphones" on her ears.

Anna was sad to see Avery and Alli leave!

Sweet Treats for the DeKalb Fire guys

Happy 4th of July cake

I am sure I will have another post with pictures from our festivities tonight and the Dunwoody 4th of July parade tomorrow!! I love the 4th of July!!

Consistency

Warning: This is not a typical blog post for me. There are no pictures

associated with what is on my mind tonight!

I have been thinking this week how inconsistent I am in everything that I do. Honestly, the only thing that I am consistent with is being unconsistent! I get on these bandwagons doing things and stick with them for about a week or so, then I move on. Sure, there are some things that I continue to do on a regular basis, like take pictures, eat, play with the dogs, spend time with Matt, etc. My desire to do other things though just come and go.

I made tutu's for a while, and still do when I have an order come in. I scrapbook for a while, then put that stuff away when I get bored with it. I love to read, but there will be months when I don't pick up a book. Exercise is another thing that is so hard for me to do consistently! I had decided this summer I would get up early each morning and do my workout DVD before heading off to summer school. Yeah, that totally did not happen! I have the hardest time getting up in the mornings and would much rather get 45 more mintues of sleep than exercise! I have been going to the gym in the afternoons when Matt gets off work, but even that takes some serious motivation! Does anyone else have a problem keeping things consistent? or am I the only one out there who struggles with this???

I promise, my next blog post will have some pictures assosciated with it!!! Pictures are so much more fun than words!