10 years and 5 months with a little bit of an attitude... ❤️

Happy 10 years and 5 months sweet Aspen! 💛 

Summer is over but the temps were HOT in August. Many days had "feels like" temps of 103-106. SO MUGGY. But praise the Lord for air conditioning! I am so grateful our houses have kept up this summer. Some days have been too hot to go outside but most days we still sit outside in the afternoon. That's something I will treasure forever. I am forever grateful that I get to watch you grow. 

Every single day I pray for your health and your school and friend choices and attitude. 😊 You've become a "pre-teen" overnight it seems. You are sassy. You need to understand things. You are a little mouthy. But you are sweet and you are determined. You are smart and resourceful. You don't give up easily and you know what you want. You are my "bopsy" in so many ways. We often say to each other - BOPSIE! LOL  I am praying that you will make good choices as you grow and learn to be patient and to think things through. I am praying you will grow in your relationship with the Lord and think of what HE would expect from you. 

Your first day of Summit was supposed to be this month but you had a cold. PRAISE that it was a quick cold and didn't last long. SO grateful. I can't wait to see what you think this week when you go. 

You started the month fishing with your Daddy and Bennett at Lake Jackson. Paw-Paw gave your Dad his fishing boat. HOW FUN! You have loved fishing in it. You caught this fish the first time out. 

Dee Dee and Pops went to Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic National Parks this month. We were gone 10 days. We sure missed y'all. Your sweet Mama got y'all up at 2am to welcome us home. I was so surprised and so excited at the same time. HOW SWEET. I wish I had a video... you ran and jumped through the window of Pop's truck into my lap. It's a memory I will never forget. That was super special to me. I love that y'all missed us like we missed y'all. SOOOO incredibly blessed. ♥️ 

You are a very talented drawer - artist. SO impressive. You couldn't wait to show us your latest drawing. 

Nelly and Co-Chri came over to see us. I loved us all being together. You love to play with Truett. You are so good with him. He wanted you to push him - constantly. LOL 

You love hanging with Pops! We come down some days to see y'all after school. ❤️ 

SOOOO funny! You came up to hang with me in our bedroom. You say it's FREEZING 🥶 at our house. You climbed under the covers. LOL 

We went to Strange Taco for dinner... Not your favorite or mine either but we LOVE the atmosphere! 

Your Mama went to Alabama to visit Stefanie. She was so excited at what she brought back from a consignment sale. Y'all are ready for fall! 

You may not know or understand until you are older... but what a blessing you get to live your life outside - exploring and being creative and using your imagination. What a blessing your Mama and Daddy are giving you. I praise the Lord your Mom is able to homeschool y'all. I'm also praying you will be more cooperative with her and get your school done. I'm ready for some field-trips this year! ♥️ 

You love playing with your Daddy and you love pushing his limits! 😮 

You often follow us home on your bike or scooter. You can FLY! 

You love getting coconuts! You love the juice...

Pop's planted me some wildflowers. I love that we have fresh flowers in the summer. You helped him cut me some one night...

Always - ALWAYS making something. You are super creative and I will be shocked if you don't have a career using your hands! 💜 

How did this happen? You are cutting the grass!!!!! 😮 

I went to the library with y'all this month. You have so much fun going with your Mama! 

We have started paying you to cut our grass once a week. What a fun thing for you and what a blessing for us! You said you wanted $5 and we decided $10 would be fair 😆 It's fun to watch you earn money. You are doing a great job! ♥️ 

There is a new Varsity in Bethlehem. We wanted to give it a try because we haven't been to the one in ATL in years. Me and you = NOT fans. Your Mom and B loved it. 

Note to self... don't go back to Super cuts.  😳 

My sister, Rosemary, passed away in 1989 - two years before your Mama was born. 8-19-61 to 8-19-23. We came together to celebrate her life at Frontera's. 

You were bummed Steven didn't come. You helped keep up with Truett. 

This face!!!! 😆 

Your sweet Mama and Daddy took y'all to Lenora Pool one last time before it closes! 

You have been wanting a shadow box for so long. Your Mama bought you one. I love what you've done with it. ❤️ 

You did school in the car while B was at Summit Academy. 

Why shoot your real bow when you can make your own! 😂 

This picture cracks me UP! You found these in the garden. They are HUGE! 😹 

Perks of being with your Mom when B is at Summit! 💜 

What in the world is happening? The 5 of us went to Walmart! hahahaha! 

We love Butter'd Udder... you thought it was too cold inside! ❤️ 

Late afternoon roaming is my favorite. You drive us around the property these days... all by yourself. You are getting SO big. You do a great job! 💛 

You came up one day to look for some coins I have. We ended up dumping my drawers and letting you look through it all. You found this chain of Pops and wanted it. I told you that you could have it when you learn to take care of things. One day! 💜 

You found this picture of Pops in my drawer and stopped and said... "WHOA! I look just like Pops - well, minus the hair cut.!" 😂 Too funny! You do! SOOOO much! I think it's the cutest. 

 Thankful for a healthy, happy, fun-filled month. It's hard to believe that the next month may bring some cooler temperatures and FALL! I am not a fan of shorter daylight hours but we are ALL so excited for cooler temps and some more time outside. The weather is calling for a rainy fall season. I hope not. LOL 

You go back to clinic on September 19th. We are praying for all the things. We are praying your lungs will be clear. Your PFT's will be where they need to be and that your CT scan and blood work will be good. The Lord has had His hand on you and we are forever grateful. I think you've gained some weight too. You have a great appetite... here's to hoping it shows at clinic. 

Happy 10 years and 5 months, Aspen! Your Dee Dee loves you to the moon and back and back again! 💛 

10 years and 4 months - and you are growing WAY too fast!

Happy 10 years and 4 months sweet Aspen! 

I can hardly believe how quickly you are growing up. You are acting like a teenager in so many ways. You are funny. You are hilarious with your expressions. You have a sarcastic side to you - not sure where you get that from. 😂 You are stubborn and you have a one track mind. When you start thinking about something you can't stop. You get that from your Daddy. You love fishing and hunting and all your weapons. LOL You love exploring and adventuring. You love to wrestle with your Daddy and dream about your YouTube channel with me and Pops. You can build anything you set your mind to. You like to try "your way" before listening or reading about help. haha! You are so independent. 

We started the month taking Bow Valley to the vet. She was attacked by that "stupid" dog next door. 😜 

You love to help. 

The hermit crab you got in Florida isn't very active so you got a new one. 

You REALLY wanted a fish for the creek. Me and Pops took you over to Lake Varner to catch some brim. We put your fish into a ziplock bag and brought it home. This is a REAL smile! You were so excited. It didn't live long... but we did what you wanted to do. 😊 

Hiding in the rugs at Home Goods! LOL

You are creative and always making new things to keep all your creatures in! 

We had chili-dogs! Yum! 

You love hanging in the basement... watching the hunting and fishing shows! 

You are very protective of Truett and love playing with him!

I think I surprised you by getting soaking wet with y'all! 

It's so much fun playing on the golf cart...

💛 

It was a beautiful 4th of July 🇺🇸 

You play corn hole with the big guys and hold your own! 

You and Pops won! 🥇 

We skipped fireworks this year but loved the sparklers...

Your Dad took the day off and we went to Helen for the day. We rode the coasters and went tubing! 

Thomason came over to spend 4 nights with us. He spent one night with y'all and you spent one night with Dee Dee and Pops! 

We ate Mexican in Monroe...

CoCo asked everyone to meet her at Stone Mountain to celebrate her birthday! It was such a great time!

You love hanging with the older kids... this is Steven and his friend! 

Cousin picture time! ❤️ 

Pops is working 3 days a week right now. We love having him home on Thursday and Friday. He went with us to Chick-Fil-A

You realized you were too big for the playground! 

 You acted like you didn't care but a few minutes later you asked if you could try it one time. Truth be known... if I knew I wouldn't get in trouble I would have joined you. 😂 

We went bowling! 

You're not the best at taking advice! LOL You like to do it your way. Pops was trying to help! 😂 

We played arcade games too! 

You ended up getting a STRIKE! 

You waited patiently for your turn! 

We stopped by Publix and I let you go inside with me. You picked out kinder eggs for y'all! You later told your Mom it was one of the best things of the day... going in Publix with me. I love that! ❤️ 

Our church had a night at the splash pad! You decided to get wet this time! 😆 

Y'all had fun playing basketball! 

You love game time on the I-pad! 

We went to Butter'd Utter... YUM! 

You love to fish with your Dad and Pops! 

Yuck! But you sure do love catching tree frogs! 

We went to Lenora Park... 

You eat a BUNCH of cucumbers! 🥒 

Wrestling in my bedroom! ha

You drive the golf cart all by yourself and do a great job! 

We took Thomason to his new apartment in Atlanta! 

Always pushing the limits...

Y'all found some cows in your back yard! hahaha! 

You do a great job picking things from the garden...

When you snuggle with me... it's my favorite! 💛 

Late summer nights are my favorite! 

You are really good with your blow dart gun! 

Learning to play disc golf...

You went to a special summer event at church! SO fun! 

You are so sweet. I love your heart. I love how passionate you are and how determined you are. You can be very stubborn and you love to pester... but you are loving and caring too! You love to come and visit Dee Dee and I love that you do. You love all things outdoors. You are a dreamer and love to try new things. You are getting better at school and realizing it needs to get done on time. ❤️ You are friendly and talkative and you aren't shy at all. You will ask anyone anything. You love to talk travel and right now say you want to go to Hawaii. I would LOVE to take you. Maybe one day soon we can take a trip on a plane. #goals 

I'm thankful for you and all that you are. You have been doing great health wise and we give the Lord all the praise and the glory! You go back to clinic next month. We're praying that you can keep your weight up. You seem to eat ALL the time so.... 💜 

Happy 10 years and 4 months sweet boy. Your Dee Dee loves you to the moon and back and back again!