VBS 2025

 The girls were excited to volunteer at our church's VBS again this year, and they were put in storytelling again, alongside Grace and Xavier. They didn't complain about the early mornings or when their supervising adult quit halfway through the week. They loved it! 

Lake life

Summer is hard to get everyone to be able to be together for more than a day. Everyone has extracurricular activities or summer jobs. We put out an all-call for interest in some lake trips, and Donovan, Grace, and Cooper were available to join us for a few days. We had the best time, taking them to some of our favorite restaurants and breaking in the new boat. We hired a guy to come on our boat and teach the kiddos how to wake surf, and they had a blast. I also schooled them in tubing, taking one of our new tubes, (Big Mabel) for it's maiden voyage. Lake life is definitely for us, and we can't wait to bring another group again in a few weeks. Here's our fun in photos:

Our gorgeous new boat! 

5 kiddos can sit on a paddleboard... but not for long!

Gatti's for the win!

Boat ride

Wake Surfers

Boat Town

Before I showed them who's boss

After they were defeated by the tube... they had a blast, I promise!

Captain me!

Granite Rock

Not many pictures of fishing or napping, but they are pros!

One last boat ride

Cooper got to drive and I got to ride!

Summer Slow Start

We've eased into summer more this year than any other. We spent so much on our new boat and outfitting the new lake house. Add that to the insane band schedule and we decided not to do any traveling this year. 

The girls' summer actually started with the first percussion camp of the 25-26 year. The week ended with a percussion pool party at our house.

Marimba Line

Several of our favorite friends graduated this year, and we are trying to soak up as much time with them as we can before they go off to college. This included attending Kyle's graduation party. I think I love Kyle as much as the girls. Before they were able to drive, Kyle chauffeured them around willingly. He helped them with math when they didn't understand something. He's such a great kid.

While poor Adam celebrated his birthday at the fire station, we celebrated Callie on hers two days later with a Starbucks Pup Cup, a trip to Petco for a new toy, and a bacon cheeseburger for the birthday girl (and her golden brother of course).

Speaking of extra kiddos... they pop by our house with no warning. I used to worry about the house not being perfect when people came over. But, these kids have become family and they just walk right in. I'm not sure how this all started, but it is my very favorite thing about parenting teenagers! They pop by to say hi, to hang out on our couch, to swim, to take the girls to lunch, or to raid the pantry. 

The OG crew stopped by (AND let me snap a picture)

We are never lonely at meal time!

The buddies love the pool more than the twins do!

The only photo of a fun trip to Burger's lake with a bunch of friends... phones get stolen there.

Sometimes they come bearing gifts... Cooper brought shirts for the puppies!

Adam and I took a few kids to the Bishop Arts District for a fun dinner. Most days, we have extra kiddos for meals... and it makes me so happy. 

As usual, we love shows. We attended opening night for Moulin Rouge at Bass Hall and Shakira's "Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran" tour.

Kiddos in our little box. Casey and I sat in Grandmom's seats right in front of them.

Seeing Shakira at Globe Life Field

John Austin and Peyton took the twins on their first college tour, showing them around their alma mater, UNT.

We are trying to enjoy every moment with our soon-to-be grown babies. I love getting sweet moments with them together and individually. Adam has taken off lots of days this summer so we can enjoy them (and they truly are a joy). As they have been their entire lives, there is always more proof of Grayden, who whips out her camera everywhere we go. Cam is much more camera shy. Case in point, Gray-bug took these two cute pictures that I know I will treasure, and I hope she will too. I wish I had more pictures of me with my mom.

She was excited because I bought her a new record and CD

While Cam went on a date... Gray and I had a mommy-daughter day!

End of 11th Grade Interview

 

Camden Adelaide: 

How old are you?
"17."
What grade are you in?
"12th now, I guess."
What is your teacher's name?
"Are you kidding? Can you just copy paste Grayden's We had the same teachers and classes  this semester. One of us had English while the other had history."
What do you like about your teacher(s)?
"There weren't any strict due dates on anything. Mr. Maneikis was sometimes my favorite. He was really nice. He's retiring this year and he cried when he told us. He brought us donuts on the last day."
What did you do in school?
"Went to class."
Who are your school friends?
"Donovan, Grace, Yaretzi, Aiden, Kyle, Lilly, Xavier, Josh, Cooper, Jaden, Brayden, Chris, Charlie, Hailey."
What was your favorite part of school?
"Getting to go off campus for lunch. It made the days seem shorter."
What is something you learned?
"How to sneak out of 2nd period (Student Council)."
Tell me a story.
"Aiden Dawes and his girlfriend, who is a Sundancer, are having a baby. And they're keeping it. And he's hype about it."

 

Grayden Victoria:

How old are you?

"17"

What grade are you in?

"I'm going to be a senior."

What is your teacher's name?

"Mr. O (band), Mrs. Babek (stuco), Mrs. Epley (choir), and Mrs. Linn (AP Lang) were A Day. For B Day: Ms. Holland (APES), Mrs. Kopetsky (Pre-cal), Mr. Maneikis (APUSH), Mrs. Bolton (percussion)." 

What do you like about your teacher(s)?

"I liked that I didn't really have very much homework this year at all."

What did you do at school?

"I don't know. Schoolwork and percussion."

Who are your school friends?

"The same people as always."

What was your favorite part of school?

"Percussion."

What is something you learned?
"I learned how to write a good essay."
Tell me a story. 
"We finally got a new band hall, after them telling us that we'd get it for the past 3 years. And the new stadium will supposedly be ready by the first game."

Senior year, here we come!. 

Banquet Season

The girls wrapped up junior year percusson on Thursdsay.  

Gray & Cam - I love that they both wore blue!

Then they closed out choir on Friday at the Fort Worth Club. 

Cam & Brayden, Gray & Aaron

Choir besties Xavier, Kyle, Josh

Gray and Cam - looking like Christmas. Ha!

Prom

 

Martin is so large that only seniors get to go to prom. Both of the twins were lucky enough to be an exception because of some of their very sweet senior friends. I loved their beautiful dresses and how perfect they each were for them. 

Lilly & Aiden

I love the friendship of Lilly and the twins. 

Apparently, prom was pretty fun, and was held in Leowes by the ballpark. It was beautiful and spacious and a very cool venue.

About to go in (and my last glimpse of them until 3:30AM)

A few friends: Kayla, Xavier, Josh, Kari

Decorations

Hooray for a backdrop photo

But Bahama Bash (the safe after party at the school) was way better. The senior parents decorated every hall, cafeteria, and gym from top to bottom. There was food, games, bounce houses, a casino, and a million prizes. I wish I had pictures, but apparently, the kids were having so much fun, they only took 3. 

Junior parents are repsonsible for tearing Bahama Bash down, loading and unloading the decorations into storage for next year, so I spent 3:30 AM to 8:30 on Sunday doing that. Since our times overlapped by 30 minutes, I got to see the girls before they left at 4. They were all smiles, and all kinds of exhausted.

I know THEIR senior prom will be here in a blink.