Wow.  What a beautiful Memorial Day Weekend!  The weather was warm and dry!  I would have to say that it was pretty perfect.  The kids spent part of the day Saturday decorating our back patio with chalk!  Remember how, not too long ago, these girls didn’t want their picture taken?  We’ve come a long way, baby…

We spent Memorial Day at Kelly’s brother’s pool.  They have a lovely house and a beautiful pool  Next best thing to owning a pool is having both a brother-in-law AND a sister-in-law with beautiful pools!  Luke practiced his push ups in the shallow end!

Brittany and Nick worked on their early summer tans.

The girls talking to their cousin, Abby, who just had knee surgery.

My nephew, Daniel, takes a little dip in the hot tub!

Here is a view of everyone getting ready to head upstairs for lunch…

The family gathered in the kitchen to have some hot dogs and salads, your typical Memorial Day fare!

Then back out to the pool and the hot tub to burn off those calories…

Ali had surgery on her face this week, so in some of the shots, like this one with Nick, her face may look a little darker than usual.  But that is just the after-effects of the laser treatments.

Uh … could there BE more beautiful girls than this??

I am not sure if Uncle Todd appreciated jumping in from the hot tub into the pool, but when you invite little boys over, you get what you get.

Leah was a little tentative getting into a new pool, but this pool was really nice because it has an extended shallow area that allowed her to get in and sit without worrying about it getting too deep to quickly.  She is threatening to splash me and my camera for the excessive picture taking.

After the last pool party, when Riley didn’t get into the water, she “promised” that she was getting in this time.  And, true to her word, she did!

Brittany was helping her learn to swim, but became a little side tracked when her hair got caught in her sunglasses!

Ali took her turn trying to teach Riley to swim.

They enjoyed a little time under the waterfall also!

She isn’t heavy.  She is my sister.

Caleb took a little peek into the hot tub.

Jessie and I spent time “playing” together in the pool!  Jessie wants to “play” all the time!

The three amigos decided to make their way into the pool together.

Ali spent a little “swim instructor” time with Leah.

Sometimes swim instructions looks suspiciously like dancing!

And sometimes you need to use various tools to help you with your instruction.

Some pictures turn out cute …

… and some do NOT!

The hot tub seemed to get a lot of attention, especially by the “under 8 years old” sect.

Brittany’s legs look freakishly long in this picture!

Old Blue Eyes was in attendance.

The boys were being wise and making sure they applied extra sunscreen throughout the afternoon.  I am not responsible for what a goofball Nick is…

Late in the day, Uncle John spent a little time helping Leah also.

While the pool was beautiful, the hike in and out was a little rough for Leah.  She did great coming DOWN the steps, but going up proved to be a bit more difficult.

What a great day to honor those who have gone before us and sacrificed their lives in order that we can live free.  We tried to explain “Memorial Day” and “Freedom” to the girls this weekend, but these are concepts that seem to be lost on them.  How blessed we are to have been able to bring all these girls (and Caleb) home from areas of the world that do not have the freedoms that we do in the United States.  We do still live in a great country.

Cameron