926 BBQ

Last Monday night, we had a 926 BBQ! (If you recall, 926 College Dr. was the address of the house Benny lived at in college with 7 awesome guys.) The Hanlons were in town from Florida, so the Galemas and the Daughertys all came over to our house for a fun little reunion (although we were really sad that the Farmers, Whyes, Schulers and Lustig couldn't be there!)

Benny with Mabry Hanlon



Aden Daugherty and Mabry Hanlon playing in the AMAZING t-shirt quilt my aunt Brenda just finished for Benny and me.



Mabry holding Ryleigh Galema.


We took advantage of our new close location to AU's campus by walking over to "the Valley." Benny, with Aden on his shoulders and Jared tugging on his shorts walking through the soccer fields. (Benny is in his second of two weeks of soccer camps right now, and I was so thankful he was able to sneak away from camp for a few hours to hang out with us!)


The Valley is in the middle of the campus, has beautiful trees and a winding walkway. It also has this really fun fountain that the kids loved! Below are Cassity Galema, Mabry Hanlon, Benny, Aden Daugherty and Jared Galema.


Briley Hanlon, Mabry's precious new baby sister!


Owen Daugherty...what a great smile! He was smiling at his daddy!


Here are the kids "hiding" from Benny during a game of hide-and-seek.


Jared being silly for the camera.


Aden and Mabry trying to stick their feet in the fountain.


The 926 Kids (minus Avery Schuler and Ella Joy Farmer): Owen, Cassity, Ryleigh, Jared, Aden, Mabry and Briley! What a fun group!


The Ladies: LA, Ryleigh, Jess, Cassity, me and Leslie.


Back at the house, Benny and Travis manning the grill.


Aden and Cassity enjoying their yummy food.


The fellas decided to squeeze around the small table in the living room to eat their dinner. (Adam, Benny, Andy and Travis)


After dinner Jared, Mabry and Aden were playing a really cute game with Travis: Trav would peek through the blinds at them while they were out on the sun porch, they would laugh, run inside and look at him in the living room, laugh, and then come back out to the porch and do it again. The kids could have played this game for hours!



Briley and Benny.


The fellas, right before everyone headed out.


And the ladies...


We sure do love our 926 reunions...but they're even better when everyone is there!! Next summer?!?!

Texas/Louisiana Roadtrip

For the 4th of July weekend, Benny and I headed south for a little roadtrip! We left Anderson on Thursday (July 2nd) and rolled into Ft. Worth in the afternoon of the 3rd. Benny was in a friend from Ruston's wedding that weekend, so I dropped him off at "Stockyard Stations, " for the rehearsal. When we drove into the Stockyards, this was the first thing we saw:


So steriotypical Texas!! It was awesome!

Taking advantage of the photo opps in the Stockyards while we waited for everyone to show up for the rehearsal:



While Benny was doing wedding/bachelor night stuff in Ft. Worth on Friday night, I drove over to Dallas to hang out with some friends. I got to stay with Cari Cassell (a good friend from the Institute), Jenni Berryhill (she was a counselor in my small group at K-West), and Susan (her boyfriend Andrew Hudson was in my Institue class). I so appreciated the great conversations with these friends! Saturday morning, we went to a Highland Park neighborhood parade. It was darling, and there were so many people lining the streets for this annual event!


My FAVORITE part of the parade: This giant shopping cart from a grocery store in town!


Andrew and Susan, enjoying the parade:


After the parade, we walked down the street to a park where there were tons of booths and jumping houses set up. Here I am with Cari and Jenni at the park:


At around noonish, I headed back to Ft. Worth for the wedding at Stockyard Station. Christian and Mary (bride and groom) are both very creative/artistic individuals, and their wedding displayed just that! We loved getting to catch up with lots of our Ruston friends, as well as support the bride and groom, of course!

Benny and Chris Hanchey (Chris was on staff at Crossroads Church with Benny)


Benny and Matt Williams (Matt was one of our awesome volunteers with the kiddos our first two years in Ruston)


Benny and Jake Dugard (Jake was also one of our awesome volunteers)


Benny and Christian (the groom. Christian helped out with the kids also, and was Benny's assistant coach for the Ruston High Soccer Team.)


Me and Benny!


Me and Theresa Claunch (she got married this past weekend, so she is now Theresa KING!! Yeah Theresa!)


After the reception, we drove about 20-30 min north of Ft. Worth to Keller to hang out with the Ambuehl family. Benny met Ben at the Institute, and also lived with him for a year in Branson. Ben and Christi are amazing people, and they have such adorable children! We went out to eat with them, and then watched the fireworks in Ft. Worth.
Sunday morning, we walked to a little donut shop in the Ambuehls neighborhood before getting on the road to Ruston (and making a stop at the Ikea in Frisco!).

Benny playing with Liza Jane:


Christi and me (with my "its- sunny-out -here- squinty eyes")


Ben, Chaz, Benny and Liza Jane.


When we got into Ruston, we headed over to a Student Life swim party to see a bunch of our kids. It's crazy how much teenagers change in just one year, especially the boys...they get taller, look older and their voices get deeper. They were great, and we loved the opportunity to see so many of them.
Me with Alexis and Aaliyah Jones. (and no, they aren't muslim...they had wet hair from swimming.)


After the pool party, we spent some great quality time with the Peshoff Family.
Hanna, Sarah and Mary Peshoff:


Benny with Will and Jeff Peshoff


Monday night, the Burnetts hosted a get-together with some of our great friends in Ruston. We sure do miss you guys A BUNCH!!

The Ladies: Wendy, Alicia, me, Natosha, Erica, Ellie, and Amy


The boys played an intense game of water polo during the get together. Here's Wade, probably talking some smack to Benny:


Relaxing after the game: Wade, Brian, James and Benny.


Jake Burnett and Benny, on Tuesday morning before we left. I think Jake was pretending to drive Benny around "in the car" before this pic was taken (the remote was the steering wheel). I tell you what, every time I watch my husband interacting with kids, it makes me more and more excited to watch him invest in and bring up our own kids! He's amazing!!


We rolled back into town on Wednesday, July 8th, just in time for me to be back at work at 7pm. We are so thankful for the great quality time we had with so many people on our trip!