June 2017- In pictures

As it seems like I always do- I am playing catch up!

June was a little bit relaxed for us. well- as relaxed as we get at the Pool house! It'll be a long one- but let's see if I can do it all in one post!
June started out a little rainy. As in- it rained for several days!! That is not my idea of how to start out our summer days. No pool. No water park. NO SUN! But we made the best of it!
Macie joined her Daddy in some relaxing.

*We went to Za'Mariyah and Arleigh's birthday party! Of course Macie was Za'Mariyah's favorite guest.

A little rain never slowed these kiddos down!

These two did EVERYTHING together!

Love me some Arleigh G!

*We went to Kaleigh Swearingin's birthday party! (the same day! Luckily the rain stopped by the time her party started.)

Slip N Slide fun! 

We got to see Aunt Ashli and Bryson!!

*The girls attended the Weatherford volleyball camp.

They had so much fun!

*We got to keep Za'Mariyah and Arleigh one afternoon! Brenna and Macie were so excited!!
We took them to enjoy some Pizza Place goodness.

Of course she insisted on sitting by her Macie! And this smile...  oh my goodness!

Arleigh enjoyed her pizza too!

Arleigh made it about 5 minutes after lunch and she was OUT!

It took Z a little longer....and some JenJen snuggles.

Nothing beats an afternoon of playdoh and Mickey Mouse!

Snuggles and FROZEN!

Macie looks a little exhausted. She told me that afternoon...."Taking care of babies is a lot of work." haha!

*We had a fun family day outing. Just the 4 of us, getting out for the day together. No particular place to go- just enjoying some TIME.
Lunch at Mi Familia! Flaming Fajitas were a hit!

Then a stop at Steel City Pops!

Family selfies are Josh's favorite! (insert sarcastic tone here...)
Luckily he's a good sport.

And then a stop by the Botanical Gardens. I had never been before, and it was so pretty!

My favorite people.

Please stop growing up!

 Then we ended the day with a stop by Film Alley for a game of bowling! (No pictures though....because I was too busy loosing...) It was a wonderful day! Last minute things like this usually turn out the best anyway. We don't get enough of these days, and I am so thankful for a husband that says "let's go somewhere, just us".

*We had dinner with Chip, Mrs. Billie, Billy, and Celeste one evening when the Hughes' were in town. We always enjoy our visits, and the excuse to get a sitter and go out to dinner!
After an amazing Saltgrass dinner, we moved the party to Downtown Ft. Worth to enjoy dessert at the Cheesecake Factory! Except that after Josh read the calorie count to all of us for each slice of cheesecake..... it was a little harder to enjoy! Every party has a pooper..... and he was ours! haha!

Fort Worth Fire Department's finest!

*The girls went to the Peaster volleyball camp as well. They had a blast, and Macie learned the basic of the game at both camps. I think it really helped her during the volleyball season.

*After camp one day, Nina came over and brought pizza....and stuff to make slime. YUCK! But she had promised the girls she would make it with them one day, so we made a day out of it!

I do believe the look on her face tells how much fun she had! 

Why are there no pictures of me??? Because I was too busy cringing just looking at all that gooey MESS!!! My OCD hates HATES slime!!!!!

*My anniversary present for our 15th anniversary was to have my wedding ring re-done. I had been wanting something done to it for a long time. I LOVED my ring...but didn't like how it looked on my finger. It made it look so fat! I was always afraid to mention to Josh that I wanted to change the band to something more slender (to make my finger look less fat). I knew that we had picked out this ring together, and it was the one he put on my finger the day we got married. That alone made ME not want to change it....but I still wanted something that looked better on my finger.
I had Mom's wedding ring in my jewelry box, and I wore it some times. I absolutely loved how it looked on my hand. It was much more narrow, and it had the marquee cut diamonds like mine did. I have a thing for marquee diamonds. It was the one thing I wanted when we went to pick out my ring...nothing else would do.
So one day Josh and I were looking through some of Mom's jewelry and I had her ring on and mentioned how I wish mine was more narrow like her's. And much to my surprise he said he'd been thinking we needed to add to my ring for our 15th anniversary and upgrade it a little. I was shocked AND thrilled! So we made a plan and went and talked to a jeweler.  I decided to have a ring made that was SILVER. (why on earth did I think 15 years ago that wedding rings had to be gold??? I NEVER wear gold!) And I had it made to look just like Mom's. I used my big diamond in the middle, bought one diamond to match her biggest one, and then used the two on each side of her big one. I didn't use the smallest two because it would have made it too wide. SO I kept those diamonds for the girls one day. Not sure what I will do with them... but something.

My wedding ring

Mom's wedding ring

And the FINISHED product...

I am absolutely IN LOVE with my new ring! It is exactly what I wanted. And I love how it looks on my hand (despite the fact that my hands look terrible! Geez...when did I get old looking hands??)

Pretty sure my face describes how much I LOVE my new ring!!!

*The girls and I put together our annual D A D picture for Josh for Father's day. This year, our location was the Middleton's pool!

We have been taking these pictures since Macie was 1. I think we have only missed one year. Here is the very first one...

I love this tradition!

*The girls and I celebrated MeMawMom's 60th birthday with some ice cream. We may have used her as an excuse to eat ice cream.... but I know she would have definitely approved!! Her birthday was hard this year. I kept thinking about how it was the big 6 0. And how she would have wanted a huge party of people making a fuss over her.... she enjoyed things like that! ha! Her birthday was always one of her favorite days, and she insisted on celebrating all month. She would start June 1st reminding us how many more days we had to shop for her gift! There was no shame in her game, and I loved it! I never dreamed that I wouldn't get to throw her a 60th birthday party.... but this year I did lots of dreaming of how it would have looked if life and the C word hadn't gotten in the way. I can assure you....it would have been BIG!!

Happy Birthday MeMawMom!
 I did just as you would have wanted....I spent the day having fun with your girls.

*We got together at Sue and Jeff's to celebrate Father's day, as we do each year! This is a highlight for the girls. They love to swim with their cousins!

Brenna and the rubber ducky!

Aunt Sue always has the coolest pool floats!

The Pool/Pope kids!!
We only took 97 pictures to get this one.....
I'm still not sure how we managed to get this one without Emily holding Walker up! She moved her hand really fast, I snapped 43 pictures and then she caught him before he fell.... After 4 kids, we are getting pretty good at this picture stuff!

Wyatt and his goggles....he never takes them off! Love it!

That's a lot of cousins on one float!

Walker loved the doggie door!

Fun with glow glasses and precious ladies!

One of the things I love most about this Jackson clan...is that there is never a shortage of smiles, laughs, hugs, and good times when we are together! I love these people and I am so blessed to be a part of this family.

Two of the most precious people you could ever meet.
Our Nana and Papa.

A love like no other.

See?? Never a shortage of smiles and laughs!

No one misses out on the fun around here!

The Jackson girls!

Whoa Nelly! That's a lot of kiddos! Poor Ducky!
Abel, Wyatt, Addie, Brenna, Heidi, Macie

*Josh and I did a little wine making....YUMMY!!!!

*And to end the month....Josh and I celebrated our 15th anniversary!

He had to work that day, so I took the girls out for ice cream. (see- we use any excuse we can think of to eat ice cream!) 

Then they went with Aunt Jana for the evening, and I enjoyed an evening at home alone! It was kind of weird. I'm not used to being alone like that. I had so many things I wanted to get done that I couldn't decide which one to do! So- I got a pizza and rented a movie. ha!

That weekend, Josh and I went to downtown Fort Worth to celebrate. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Del Frisco's Grill, walked around downtown, went to the flying saucer for a few minutes, enjoyed a show at the comedy club, and then ate a whole basket of fried pickles at Razzoos on the way back to our hotel room! HA! I couldn't think of a more perfect way to spend our Anniversary date!

This man.... There is so much I could say about him. He is a great provider, a wonderful Daddy, and an amazing husband. He puts up with me, and I'm pretty sure that alone earns him an extra jewel in his crown. (I'm not always easy to deal with!) He keeps me grounded when I want to freak out, comforts me in a way no one else can when I am upset, and knows when to just keep his mouth shut (a trait I do NOT possess....I MUST have the last word, always. Even when it is the wrong word....Sorry babe). Now- don't be fooled. It's not all roses and chocolates. Life isn't pretty and is downright ugly sometimes. I drive him crazy...he drives me crazy... But isn't that what makes the world go around? I firmly believe that the hardest times in our marriage is what has made our marriage stronger. I love you Josh Pool, and I couldn't imagine doing this crazy thing called life with anyone else! Thank you for putting up with me and loving me!! 15 down, a lifetime to go!