Summer is ticking along and now it’s as hot as ever as we move through July and into August. This is my least favorite time of the year, when the heat is so oppressive that it feels like an oven outside. A wet sticky oven that will make you sweat in about 60 seconds. But in all that we are all dealing with this year, the year of Covid and all the other unrest that’s been happening around our country, I’m grateful to have a safe home to live in and escape to. These are unprecedented times. And I’m grateful for a good, good family on both sides, Mark’s family and my family. We have been able to continue seeing all of them and that’s been good for all of us.
So today I thought I’d catch you up on what we’ve been up to this summer with our families, the last few weeks anyway. I always get so many comments from y’all when I share family posts, so even though this is not that exciting and it’s a compilation of a few weeks events, here you go.
Family!
I shared a few weeks ago when Lauren and her family were home and I did share our trip to Bryson City when we went tubing. That was a lot of fun. Here are mom and dad after one of our family lunches.
We picked blueberries in mom and dad’s backyard while the girls were here and they loved that. Iris and Iris. The girls are growing up so much and are now 6 and 4. In case you missed it, Lauren is pregnant with baby girl #3, due early September. We are so excited about the new addition to our family.
Iris telling daddy goodbye one day. After leaving Bryson City, Lauren and Philip headed back home to New Orleans and Renee kept the girls for a week. Well, it was supposed to be a week, but then the day before she was going to meet Lauren 1/2 way and take them back, Lauren called and said, “hey can you keep them another week?”.
Of course, they said yes! Lauren is still working at home (she’s a lawyer) and they are both busy and didn’t have their usual child care help with the other set of grandparents out of town, so the girls stayed up here an extra week. Lauren and Philip used part of the time to get the new nursery ready for the baby.
We celebrated Dad’s 93rd birthday last week, July 14th. We took him fried fish for lunch which he loved and we tried to make him feel special on his birthday. I share a lot of them on my stories on Instagram every week, so if you’re not following me over there and want to see more of them, that’s your chance. I share them a lot more over there on video than I do here on the blog. I usually wait until I have an event or several good pictures to share before I do a post here, but you all love to see them so much, so I’m trying to do better over here and give you updates along the way.
Parker and Iris made him homemade birthday cards and sang Happy Birthday to him, which was a highlight.
The weather is heating up so to keep those girls busy and doing things, we took them to the lake and pool several days. We are surrounded by the lakes here in Acworth where we live and just behind our house and neighborhood is a great little park, Dallas Landing on Lake Allatoona, which is a wonderful place to take kids. We have floats and go down there and float pretty often during the summer and the girls enjoyed it too. Those girls have the cutest swimsuits. They have a pool at home in their backyard so they are swimming like little fish now and love the water.
They had a lot of fun in the lake, but they didn’t like the sandy feeling when they had to get back in the car and leave. That’s the only drawback of sand.
Iris and her snacks. Renee made sure she had plenty of snacks for them to eat.
Me and Iris on my float. She loves her goggles.
Eating grapes and taking a break.
Plenty of snacks are consumed.
Playing in the sand.
Sunset on Lake Allatoona.
Are you seeing a theme here? Lots of snacks and water activity.
Playing on the big watermelon slice at Renee’s neighborhood pool. Their house is across the street, the one to the left.
So, on to Mark’s family…..
{Mark’s parents at the outdoor wedding}
We had 2 outdoor family weddings in Mark’s family in June and July. Covid changed a lot of plans. His daughter, Traci married Tony in the backyard of my old house, the house they rent. I hope to be able to share those pics later. This outdoor wedding was Mark’s nephew, Ben who got married in Inman Park and then a reception was held at Mark’s sister, Kim’s house in downtown Atlanta. Yes, the same Kim who has a beach cottage and house on Lake Martin. They have a lot of houses!
Ben and Mary Katherine getting married. There was a nice breeze blowing that morning and it was the perfect day for an outdoor wedding.
The happy couple. We are so happy for them too!
The reception was here at Kim’s city house and it was very nice and cozy. It was a small wedding so not too many people were there. Her neighbors added this white tulle outside and it was so cute.
We kept Rose one day recently and she is growing up, now 2 1/2 and so darn cute!
We had a fun day with her and she loved the swing.
She watched me put on makeup and had to try it out on Pop. So cute!
Taking selfies in the mirror.
Last but not least, we’ve been enjoying the home grown tomatoes. Finally my dad’s and Mark’s dad’s tomatoes are in so we are gorging ourselves while they last. I had my first tomato sandwich and it was a banner day.
I also made Caprese salad twice as well as bruschetta.
There is nothing better than home grown tomatoes, is there? We are enjoying them as long as they last. We even stumbled on some home grown here locally at our local Acworth farmer’s market so if you’re in the area, he should be back there every Friday for a few weeks. He was selling Better Boys I think he said and they were really good too (not cheap at $3 a lb, but we paid it to have good tomatoes). We bought those first and then our dad’s tomatoes started coming in, so gorging, yes we are! Tomatoes every day for awhile!
That’s it for a family update this summer. I hope you enjoyed this post which was all over the place. I know you enjoy my family and I figured you’d enjoy seeing Mark’s mom and dad too. They are such sweet people and I love being a part of his large family, it’s a blessing!
One day I’ll look back on this post and remember the summer of 2020! It was memorable, that’s for sure.
Your family posts are my favorites! Love watching all the little ones growing up with more to come!
Oh Rhoda, I so enjoy my morning coffee with you. I’m not on Instagram so I get to see your posts via email. Loved this one today. You say it’s all over the place….I guess that’s why I enjoyed it. Great tomato pics. We are also loving our local farm produce. I must say I am grateful for a house to feel safe in during this crazy pandemic.
Before I forget, baby powder is the BEST to dust off sand for the kiddies when they’re ready to jump in the car for the ride home. Trust me on this. Take care. Be safe and stay well. Hugs. 😷🌸❤️
Thank you, Jeanie, I’ll have to pass that on and get some next time they are here. I’m glad you enjoyed this post. It seems a jumble of things but I knew you all would like it.
Rhoda, your parents look sooo great! Love to see your dad’s health so improved. He looks rested and happy. What an enormous blessing. And your sweet mom – never changes a bit. So happy to see them.
Thank you, Barbara, they are doing pretty well considering their age. We’re glad to still have them in their house.
Thank you for sharing, you see jumble I see lots of family love. The girls are growing up so fast. And another coming to watch grow up. Your parents and Mark’s parents all look awesome : ) Pray I age that well when I get to be their age : )
A great summer and the “theme” was awesome, gotta have them snacks, lol.
Thank you, Rhonda, it’s a fun family, we are blessed to have all of them.
I follow you on Instagram so get to see your stories and posts there as well.
I always love seeing your family posts, especially lunch with the parents.
It is definitely a summer that we all won’t forget. Have a wonderful rest of your summer !
Thank you, Sandra for following along!
Loved all these lovely family pictures. You are so fortunate to still have your parents and not only that but they both look happy and healthy.
Thanks, Kathy, we are very fortunate to still have all our parents. What a blessing it’s been!
Rhoda,
It was so good to see your sweet parents and thankful they are doing so well during this time. Happy Belated 93rd Birthday to your sweet Dad…he looks great! Those were such sweet pics with him and the girls. First thing I spied in the pic with your Mom and Dad was that delicious coconut cake in the background on their counter. I bet that was YUMMY.
Marks parents look great as well and you two are truly blessed to have both sets of parents doing so well. Weddings are certainly getting more intimate and creative during these times but I have always liked smaller, outdoor weddings over larger ballroom type weddings. My step-niece is getting married in the Smokies this October and it will be outside as well. Thanks for sharing all the pics and like you I will be glad to get over the dog days of Summer to some cooler, more enjoyable temps.
Thank you, Teresa, you all leave the nicest comments!
Such a lovely family. Thank you for sharing your family photos and those tomatoes…yummy!
Love seeing the posts with your family, esp. the ones with the grandkids and your parents! Just so sweet!
Diff topic: I saw the book “Where the Crawdads Sing” peeking out of one of your lake photos! I just finished that book this week! So so good! Lots of emotions…I really liked it!
Audra, that was my sister’s book, but I’ve heard good things about it, so need to get it too.
Rhoda, Thanks for sharing your family adventures. You are so blessed to have Mark, both your sets of parents, and those grandbabies! We lost both of my husband’s parents years ago, and both of my parents in 2015 (they made it to 89 and 92, so I can’t complain.) I had looked forward to grandbabies for years, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen. So disappointing.
These days, it’s mostly just my husband and me – thankfully we have each other. Our local daughter is a teaching tennis pro and her roommate is a hospital nurse. Since they both come into contact with a lot a people, and since we both have to be careful about our exposure because we are over 65, we have not seen them since the stay-at-home orders started. It’s been pretty lonely, but apparently it was a still a wise choice. Our daughter is now sick.
It’s fun to see photos of you and your family enjoying time together. I hope that all of you enjoy each other’s company, and appreciate what a blessing it is to be able to spend time with family.
HI, Linda, I’m so sorry you can’t see your daughter and that she’s sick. We are all dealing with so many issues these days, aren’t we? We are very grateful we are able to see both our families. We are trying not to live in fear, but be cautious without completely closing off from everyone. We all have to make the decisions we feel best. Hang in there, hopefully things get better!
Thanks for sharing your beautiful family, and so happy to see them well and healthy. WI has been hot this summer too, but trying to enjoy all the outdoors activities. Blessings to you and your family!
My favorite posts, love hearing about all of your family but especially your mom and dad. Blessings for all.
Rhoda, I just love your family stories and pictures. I can’t believe how big the two girls are getting. Can’t wait to see the 3rd one. They’re going to be knock-outs when they grow up!
Your folks look great too!
I love seeing your parents in your videos. Your parents are so sweet and I loved hearing your dad pray for the blessing. You can see how much your parents love their family and love the Lord!
Your family posts are my favorites! Thank you so much for sharing them with us. I follow you on Instagram too so I get to see your posts there. Makes me smile remembering my Dad and my husband’s parents. So thankful for all of you that you still have them!
Love hearing about yours and Mark’s family. Look forward to seeing what you are up to each day. You have a beautiful home, enjoy seeing all your projects. You and Mark are such a neat couple. Thanks for sharing with us!
this is the best sort of post. BUT I am drooling over the yummy tomato photos which my allergies do not permit. cannot choose any one part of this post to praise because i really enjoyed having a virtual staycation. thank you so much
Your Dad looks great! Hard to believe what all he went through not long ago. God is Good!