a day at the lake.

the Lord has blessed hubs and i with some really great frineds.

when we left jacksonville three years ago we left a lot of them behind.
and with us needing to pick up and begin a new life so came with it the need to make new friends.

that's not saying we forgot about our old friends...we just made new ones in fort campbell.

thankfully, when we came home to jacksonville it was like we never left.
our old friends were there for us like they were three years ago.

that's what good friends do.
they never forgot you.

enter joe and natalie.
we love this couple and their four children.

nathan and jonah picked their friendship back up like we had never even left.
kids are resilient like that.

although there's a couple year age difference between jake and their oldest son, austin, they became fast friends when we got back too.

and since we've been gone joe and natalie have become foster parents to a sweet little boy.

we love this family!



they invited us to go the lake with them last week.
and i'm so glad we went.





to be honest, i wasn't sure i wanted to take all of my kids out to a lake and have to fight with them to keep a life jacket on in the boat, put sunscreen on {that's a whole 'nother post}, worry about one running away from me...it's a lot of work taking four kids anywhere near a large body of water.



surprisingly, it was one of the most amazing days we've spent as a family in a long while.



we jumped off of the dock, played football in the water, went tubing behind the boat, ate a picnic lunch, sat on the shore and "caught-up" with our toes in the sand, knee-boarded, water skiied, and had an all around amazing time!!!







there was even a little bit that the adults were able to go out on the boat alone and play!!
{praise the Lord for older kiddos that can watch the younger ones!!!}

by this time though...my arms felt like spaghetti and i had a headache that wouldn't stop from my tubing adventure earlier in the day.

natalie, joe, and hubs tooks turns skiing and knee boarding.
FUN TIMES!!!








{cute tushie!}











psa::when going to the lake for the day brings LOTS of sunscreen!
and reapply often.

six out of six members of my family came home with a sunburn that was painful for days....

so, wear your sunscreen.


thank you, joe and natalie, for a day that my family is sure to remember for years to come!!!