Fun in July

We joined friends for a BBQ on July 4th, and afterwards walked to another neighbor's house for some fireworks!  The special surprise of the night were these lanterns that the kids got to help light and let go.  They were beautiful!

We took a little family trip to a vintage furniture market.  In true Ryan style, his first stop with the kids after getting out of the car was straight to the donut stand! =)

The girls enjoying the chairs we brought home from the market 

Sometimes a book is just too good to put down!

Crafting sisters

Our church did VBS for our neighborhood!  Our family had so much fun taking part.  The kids had a great week, Ryan helped lead one of the groups, and I helped lead the singing. 

The girls got to join special little friends to a birthday party at the Yards Park splash pool 

G-Daddy came for a visit!  He was a perfect first guest for our new house: flexible, easy-going, and happy to explore (or swim!)

G-Daddy loves a good hike as much as we do, so we went to Harper's Ferry for some hiking before a storm blew in

Me and my crazies!

Time to Move!

If you've known our family long, you know that we have a history of moving about every two years (this started before the military!).  Our two-year mark was approaching, and we were earnestly praying for clarity on the next step when Ryan got a call about his new job assignment.  When the call came, Ryan was given a new job in the same building where he's been working the last two years!  We both immediately agreed it was good to take that assignment and stay where we are.  So we don't have to move, right?!  It couldn't be that easy =)  We did end up moving, but with a new exciting twist for the Paynes: we bought our first home!!  A good friend is a realtor and helped us look for houses in the same neighborhood we were already living in, but ultimately God provided a way to buy the house of our friends who were moving to a nearby town - win/win!

We signed all the paperwork in late May, but didn't move in for another month.

The excitedly scared smiles of first-time homeowners - ha! =) 

The Sunday leading up to our move-in day, I took Rooke to his first sleepover camp!  He joined a good buddy at Camp Ligonier for an entire week, and had a great time!  Thanks to loving family who sent letters and care packages, he barely missed home.  He left living in one house, and returned to boxes in our new house!

The last night in our rental house, I hosted a piano recital for my students.  It was fun to celebrate their hard work with one last event in the house we'd been so grateful for the past two years. 

Moving week was full of late nights for Ryan and I.  Our last night in the rental house was no different for the girls!  Several friends helped us move with a "minivan brigade".  Since we were only moving one mile away, we were able to shuttle almost everything in minivans!  

These sweet sisters enjoyed the week of moving, painting, and also getting to play with friends so Ryan and I could move and paint without the extra "help"!

Several dear friends offered to help knock out some painting one night.  The house would not have been ready for all our stuff without their help.  So grateful. 

Our first dinner in our new home, delivered hot and fresh from a kind friend! 

  

Boxes and morning coffee.

Another yummy meal in our house, delivered by and shared with great friends.

In the midst of all the boxes, our church's new electric piano was delivered to our house!  The girls helped me put it together for Sunday.

And then our boy came home!  Ryan went to pick him up and we were glad to all be together again in our new house! 

Rooke will tell you that he prefers the rental house to our new house (his room is smaller, and he's not big on change in general), but the porch is helping the house grow on him =)

Beginning of June

What a joy to celebrate with our good neighbor friends, the Mosts, in the culmination of Kerley's work towards earning her PhD!

Hard-working Bridgette finishing her math assignment in creative ways after badly smashing her thumb

Neighbor kids enjoying the hose on the trampoline and a little ice cream treat

I joined friends in a neighborhood garage sale and, while it was good to get rid of a bunch of our stuff, I think the best part of the sale was coming home with this childhood treasure of a game!

Shortly after scoring the game at the garage sale, Aunt Sara was in town for a visit and we played Masterpiece with her just like I used to play with her and my siblings!

We took school to the Arboretum

Birthday party time with little friends.

Rooke played in a short flag football community league.  Ryan started the season as one of the parent assistants, but after two weeks the coach stepped down and Ryan stepped up.  Both Payne guys did awesome with their Ravens team!

A trip to the zoo with friends . . .

Bridgette took this photo - doesn't it look like the elephant is smiling?!

A friend and I bought Groupons for a local go-kart track.  Our families had dinner together, then went out for some go-karting fun!  

Saturday family hike up to Sugarloaf Mountain

Jubilee Ice Cream at the Navy Yard - a special summer treat

Dabbing after completing his last math assignment on the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!  Yippeeee!

A Surprise Trip

Ryan's mom planned to retire this year after teaching for over twenty years!  We were trying to think of a fun way to celebrate this milestone in her life and Ryan came up with the fun idea to fly down and surprise Deborah.  I did a quick search for plane tickets and found a steal on a direct flight with an ideal itinerary.  We were able to get three tickets for less than we expected to pay for one - woohoo!!!!  So we surprised the girls with a special trip with their daddy to fly down and surprise Grammy Deb on her last day of school!  So much fun!

Passing time in the airport with a little game of Monopoly Deal.  Gretchen caught in the act!  But it didn't seem to matter  . . . .

. . . . Bridgette won anyway! =)

The surprise went over great!  And the girls loved their time with the Payne family, including cousins Phoebe and Cora, whom they met for the first time and were immediately smitten with!

They even got a cousin sleepover!  Aunt Jessica rolled out the royal red carpet with a pallet on the living room floor for group sleeping, and pancakes in the morning!

Uncle Ryan and Uncle Sean with all the girl cousins =)

Though we would have loved to go to Oklahoma also, Rooke and I made the most of our special days together back at home.  Food, games, movies, reading, more food, and a couple special outings made up our weekend.