Movin' On Up!

May marks the end of the school year in Georgia and this year also meant that Kamryn graduated from the elementary campus and Kathryn said good bye to middle school.  Both events were bittersweet, but we are looking forward to new adventures at the academy campus and the high school.

Kate graduating from Middle School came with a promotion pool party and a movie on the lawn. It was a great celebration with a great group of future high schoolers.

Seaside and Happy Birthday Joshua

We tried something different this year for Spring Break. We joined hundreds of other Atlantans and ventured to the gulf coast of Florida.  And.fell.in.love.  We hope to make this a new tradition. It was great family time and beautiful weather.  We enjoyed biking up and down 30A and watching the many spring break kids enjoy the sunshine for a week.

Joshua always celebrates his birthday over Spring Break. He marked his last year of being a non-teenager by eating raw oysters with his brother(gag). Other than this one instance of complete poor judgment, Joshua continues to make us so proud to be his parents. He is growing up to be a strong leader; full of compassion and aware of the great responsibility that comes with that leadership.  He's also one of the cutest 12 year olds we have ever seen. We love you Josh(ua).

A Florida Wedding

One thing our family does well is weddings. This year our cousin Denise tied the knot with Tim in Tampa and all the Voorhees invaded Florida to celebrate with them.  Lucky for us, knowing how to dance was not required!

Shake it off, Josh.

Cousin love

Special Guests

We are always thrilled when our friends and family come for a visit. Each year we get a few guests that surprise us with their willingness to make the trip to Georgia and share in our lives down south.  These times are always such a good reminder for me on what authentic hospitality really looks like.  People that truly love you don't require fancy accommodations or 5 course meals (thank goodness).  They just want to make memories together and enjoy our crazy lives for a few days. This past Spring Grandma Carol, Aunt Karen, Uncle Scotty and Aunt Mary were the ones that braved the busy schedule of our family and sat through rainy lacrosse games, endless rounds of Mexican dominoes and take out meals.  It was a sweet time of connecting with our family and remembering how blessed we are to have so many people that care about us.

The Sound of Music

One of the many blessings of being part of the school system we attend is the focus on the arts as well as academics and athletics.  Somehow, they have figured out how to make Chorus not only fun, but "cool" to everyone in the entire school.  There are some amazingly talented students and each year promises several quality productions at both the middle school and high school.  Kathryn and Joshua both participated this year in the classic "The Sound of Music." Kathryn was one of the ballroom dancers and Joshua was an Alpine dancer, complete with lederhosen and yodeling.  The show was very well done and the kids had a great time performing with their best friends.

Lacrosse 2015

With three-fourths of our kids playing lacrosse, we average 7 practices and 4 games a week from February to April.  Lucky for us, we love it and one-fourth of our children can drive himself to and from the school, usually dropping of or picking up at least one of his siblings along the way.  It is a busy and fun season and a time when we get to cheer each other on doing a sport that the whole family enjoys.

Jackson's first game of the season brought a win for the Wolves and a great game by Jackson.

Joshua had a great season full of goals and assists.

His team even went to the championship again.  Although they came up short, it was a well fought game and his best buddy Hunter was there to cheer him on.

Kathryn couldn't wait for her second season of the lacrosse to start and their team had a great year.  They all improved so much and even won some playoff games this year.

Valentines Day on Ice

Valentines Day always brings the usual chocolate, love notes, family, and an ice storm.  Wait…an ice storm? That's right, North Georgia doesn't like the snow too much, but we do a good "power-out-for-three-days" ice storm to perfection!  Thankfully we were able to get most of the love in before the storm came and still had lots of fun.  But then we lost power-that was miserable and huge aggravation. Enjoy the pictures of all the "good times."

And I forgot to mention…Kami had strep throat.  But at her school, they dress up like pirates and princesses on Valentines Day. And since there is no ailment under the sun that was going to prevent her from partying like the royalty that she is, I did what every wise parent would do-I gave her ibuprofen, put on her tiara and told her not to breathe on anyone.  She made it until lunch.

Grandma Carol came for a visit, but had to cut it short because of the impending bad weather that was due to roll in.

And our annual sweetheart dinner had to be moved to breakfast because Geof was traveling, Carol was leaving and we had two lacrosse games that day in the freezing rain.

Actually, looking back-it doesn't seem like Valentines Day was much fun after all. Oh well-these faces are still smiling and sitting around the dining room table together.  That's love in the midst of real life.