Beach Portraits

I'm sure it's no surprise that I am addicted to beach portraits:)

Pipes and Sydney
A few of my favs of the Scurlocks...
Maggie May

Brother and Sister


Danny was kind enough to take some of us too...


Daddy and his girls

I love this man! It was my birthday this weekend we were at the beach and he worked so hard to make it special for me.

Friends are such a blessing

Beach

We went for a last beach fling a few weeks ago with the Scurlocks!

Here we are taking the boat out. The kids were more excited about this than they were about the beach.

Reese loves the sand. And we saw it again the next day. ahem.
They spent a good deal of time out on the sand instead of in the water. The water was warm but the air wasn't when you got out:)

Pipey

Little Pipey has a new addition...

She broke her big toe. She was sitting on the bench at the kitchen table Mon night and she fell off and turned the bench over on her toe. The bench is super heavy:(

She broke it good! Across the growth plate and in two places. At first they thought it may need surgery since it was through the growth plate, but the lateral view still showed the toe is aligned properly. whew!
She's been a trooper but she does NOT like wearing the boot! She is getting better about it as time passes:)

Pumpkin

This is our pumpkin. No really, it is our pumpkin! We grew it here in our little garden:) The girls were thrilled to see it grow. And they were super excited to paint it.

Here they are working away....



They are so proud of their little pumpkin:)

Madison Ruth

Dear Madison Ruth,

You! Little girl will always hold a special place in my heart. From the moment I saw your picture, I knew why your momma fell in love with you:) You are SO precious. That smile would melt anyone.
See?
When your Mommy and Daddy decided it was time to go to Uganda to get you, I couldn't have been happier! We were all thrilled and praying and longing to meet you!
Whew! Your mommy was there for nine weeks fighting to bring you home! It felt like an eternity. A few weeks in, we found out your mom would need to bring you home alone. I couldn't have that. Mr. Jeremy and I prayed and God opened lots of doors for me to come and help you and your mommy home.
What a relief it was to step foot onto the Ugandan soil and see your mommy's face! And then it was off to meet you....
When I first met you, you were in class with your friends. You came right up to your mommy and squeezed her legs, begging her to pick you up. It melted my heart to see the two of you together.
I admired you from a distance until you were ready to get to know me. The first time you let me hold you, total sweetness.
The more time I spent with you, the more I saw your mommy's love for you, the more I have learned what God's love is like. It's unconditional, it breaks all barriers, and it's fierce.
I feel so privileged to know you Madison Ruth. To love you. To get to babysit you. To get the chance to watch you grow up. Right here, in North Carolina. Whoa.
Our God is Big Madison Ruth. He's Big and He's awesome and He's the author of your Life!

Homecoming

I still have more Uganda pictures. Yep, still sorting through.

The day we left, We threw a going away party for Madison Ruth. It's a time for the mommas to be thanked and they all say their goodbyes.

Kim had to go get the visa, so I got to babysit Madison and throw the party!

Madison is helping me cut the cake!

They sang, "Bye, Bye Ruth, Bye Bye Ruth, Bye Bye Ruth, may God Bless You."

Kim came with the visa, and we hit the road!

Madison conked out on the way to the airport.

She did amazing on the plane. Our first leg was overnight and she slept in this little thing the whole flight. It was so sweet.

24 hours later, we see these precious faces waiting on us!!! Our families and dearest friends, there to welcome us home.

Sweet little Sydney
The boys and one totally excited hubby and little girl waiting to see their mom and new sister!
The pics aren't good from here cause we were too excited to see our families:) Here I am trying to keep videoing Kim, but I didn't do a good job.
Their first embrace. There wasn't a dry eye among us.

Tis sweet to be home. But I do miss Uganda too.