Olivia Leigh Photography

Sabbath was glorious. After a fantastic Sabbath School discussion and a wonderful church service, we headed home to set out the fixins for haystacks. What made Sabbath so very special, however, was having Tennessee relatives join us! My cousins Matt and Jesse brought their families down to spend the afternoon with us, and it was such a treat!

David got a little bored waiting for everyone to get here…

I know I’m biased, but I LOVE this smile!!!

My handsome father

Okay, I guess I got a little bored, too. Not a good picture of either of us, but had to share our fun…

Don’t ask…

We were all so excited to see cousins again (and eat) that Mom stationed herself by the front door

As soon as they arrived, the fun began!

Cousin Hannah

Cousin Lily

Cousin Levi

Another thing that made today special was that Hannah turned 10! To celebrate, we all enjoyed some strawberry cake and vanilla ice cream. Yum!

I have the world’s greatest mother. She knew that there were 6 energetic kiddos (not counting Dave, Tim, and I) headed her way, and wanted something fun for them. So all week, she’s been planning a spiritual scavenger hunt for them to do. At each stop, they were asked a Bible question, told to sing a song, or told a little Bible story before receiving their prize. It was a blast and the kids loved it! Great work, Mom!

The hunt begins…

Lily was so excited to have a bag like everyone else, but at age 2, she had a tough time keeping up…

Lily was still having a tough time keeping up, so I snatched her up and took off running with her

Aunt Karen reads the question to the adventurers

Before receiving their prize, they were asked to sing “Jesus Love is a Bubblin’ Over”

The prize? BUBBLES!

These three were “looking for something blue”

“Jesus is always there for us, even if we’ve pushed Him away before. Who wants to raise their hand and decide to never push Jesus away?”

Lily had no clue what was going on. When everyone’s hands were raised, hers was not. “Lily! Raise your hand!” Hannah whispered emphatically.

Lovin’ her some prizes!

Yo-yo’s to remind us that we are always connected to Jesus. Even if we stray, we can come right back if we ask Jesus to help us…

Next, Mom sent the kids to the rock, a reminder that Jesus is our Rock. Here, they found water guns. The spiritual application? Basically, by this time everyone was so blistering hot that we needed to cool off. So fun to watch everyone in action!

As soon as we got to the rock, Lily opened her bag for me to put a prize in it. She had the routine down!

Cousin Matt gets pelted by one of his boys

Andrew was quite the super-soaker

Lily couldn’t decide whether to shoot her watergun or protect herself from the assaults of her cousins

Lucky for Lily, Aunt Larisa came to the rescue!

Cousin Tim gets in on the fun

Hot and tired, Lily and Judah wait for the next clue

Listening intently to Aunt Karen’s instructions

A water balloon toss was our next stop. Another great way to cool off…

Lily was a little confused as to the object of the game. She squeezed the balloons as hard as she could and finally threw them to the ground, trying to get them to burst. As soon as one would pop, she applauded herself and run back to the bucket for more. Guess she thought popping them was the goal. Regardless, it was hilarious to watch!

Johnny was quite the pitcher! He was serious about the challenge and did a great job.

Andrew’s big grin followed an extra-high water ballon toss

After finding fishy crackers and glow sticks, we headed inside for a craft. These stickers were the coolest! Such bright colors and minimal mess.

Judah’s masterpiece

Levi sporting his beautiful smile

The Birthday Girl and her Daddy

Aunt Karen got Hannah this beautiful dress for her birthday. It looked so fun on her! We snapped these photos to document her fantastic 10th birthday…

Happy Birthday, Hannah! Thanks to Matt, Larisa, Jesse, and Carrie for driving down here to see us. It was a blast! Love you and your families. And thanks, Mom, for the super fun day!