Pine Cove 2015

Parker finished up a great week at Pine Cove Camp in the City today.  He had a great week and I feel like he enjoyed it even more than last year.  He had a great counselor this year- Giggly Bear- and he was excited to tell me about his activities when I picked him up every day.  His favorite day was Thursday when he got to do the trampoline bungee jumping and laser tag both in the same day!  He was also glad that his friends Cole and Trip got to come with him to camp again this year.  It is a week that he looks forward to all year and I am so glad that our church provides this opportunity for the kids in our community!

CEC Groundbreaking Ceremony

Today was the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Cleburne Eye Clinic.  This new building has been in the process of getting started for years and it is nice to finally see the work begin.  They closed down both clinics so all of the employees could be a part of this special day!  From this point, they are predicting eight months to a year for the new building to be completed.  I can't wait to watch its progress over the next few months!

HikeMS Lemonade Stand

Today was probably the best day of our summer so far!  We held our 1st Annual HikeMS Lemonade Stand to raise money for the HikeMS that we are participating in in two weeks.  Last year, we didn't find out about the hike until a few days before it happened so we didn't get to involve the kids in the fundraising at all.  This year, we decided to have a lemonade stand to help them raise the $75 that they were required to fundraise in order to participate in the hike. 

We started getting ready for the hike last week by making signs to put up around our neighborhood.  The kids were all excited to help with the signs.

Yesterday, Emily and the kids came over and we spent all day baking homemade cookies to sell at the lemonade stand.

My friend Ellen also made some of her specialty cookies for us to sell at the lemonade stand.  They were so cute and turned out better than I could have ever imagined!

Let's get a closer look at those awesome cookies:

This morning, we woke up early and got everything set up so we would be ready to go at 10:00.  The kids were so excited that their cousins came over to help them sell lemonade.  Our first customer came at 9:45 and we had a steady stream of people until we finally closed at 12:15.  We were shocked at the incredible turnout and could not believe how generous our friends and family were!

Lily and her friend Dylann Rose

The Benkes

Our goal for the lemonade stand was $200 and I'm humbled to report that we raised over $1700 today!  100% of the donations will go to help other families who are living with MS.  What a blessing to be able to raise that much money for an organization that is so special to our family!

 

It is safe to say that our first lemonade stand was a huge success!  It was a great way to get our whole family involved in the fundraising process and we will definitely be having another one next summer as we prepare for our next HikeMS!

Cinderella Kids at the Plaza

Tonight my mom and I took the girls down to the Plaza Theater in town to see Cinderella Kids.  All of the actors were local kids who had gone to a theater camp and were performing the play that they learned in camp.  The girls enjoyed the play and Lily loved getting a picture with Cinderella after the play was over!  It was a very fun Girl's Night Out and I'm so thankful that I have two girls to share nights like this with!

4th of July 2015

Happy 4th of July from this cute little firecracker!!

We started off our 4th of July celebration yesterday with the local parade in Keene.  This is the third year we have gone to the parade and the kids love it every time!  We always get there a little early and enjoy donuts in the back of Granstan's truck!

Aubrey and Lily were so excited when they got there and they were wearing the same dress!

My Aunt Gayle came down to spend the weekend with my mom and we were glad to have her join us at the parade this year.

After breakfast, the kids got ready to watch the parade.  They were most excited about gathering the candy that the floats threw their way!  They loved the tractors, fire trucks, and slug bugs, but the best float of the day was the patriotic dancing llama!  You just can't beat seeing a dancing llama at a small town parade!

Last night, we drove over to Emily and Jon's house for a 4th of July cookout.  After dinner, we let the kids do some sparklers and small firecrackers.

Today was a low key day.  Cory was off of work which is always nice.  We celebrated Granna's birthday with swimming, another cookout, and a patriotic birthday cake!  We are so thankful for my mom and all she does for our family and I hope she felt loved on her special day!

We had a great 4th of July spending lots of time with our family and cousins!  It just doesn't get better than that!