Tammy' s trip to Florida July 23-28

I spent 5 days in Flordia with my lifelong friend, Shelly, and her fantastic family. Shelly & her husband Bryant, just had their first baby, Sara Elizabeth. This adds another child to their family. They have adopted 3 children (Hannah, Brittany, and Cory). They also have a foster son, Jakori. We had a blast!

Shelly & I ventured out on our first outing to an outdoor mall for some coin tossing into the fountain, and hot dogs. That was our goal with 5 little ones, ages 6 & under. We succeeded and had no melt downs, no dirty diapers, no lost kids, and everyone had a great time!

Hannah & Brittany decided to do my hair one night. This is a picture of them making me pretty. They tried their best but my hair is fine, thin and doesn't hold well.

Shelly does a fabulous job with her girls hair! Every Saturday night is hair night! It takes about 1 1/2 hours for her to do each girl!! Granted, it lasts all week, but still she amazes me. Here is her finished product with Hannah's. My finished product with Brittany's doesn't quite take the cake but not too bad for my firsttime. The girls were very gracious!

I was blessed to be able to assist Shelly with Sara's first real bath! She wasn't very thrilled with it but she survived. She is absolutely darling!

Bryant took the kids swimming in the river at his parents house. They loved being thrown in! Bryant shared his "FLAdora" with Jakori and Brittany modeled it with her new boots. I think it will be a new trend and Bryant is responsible for bringing it back!

Cory allowed me to capture his lizards on film. These two little guys are his pets. The King house is full of all sorts of pets. Dogs, Lilly & Fawn, lizards, a frog named Katie ,a bird, and lots of snakes. Bryant is amazing with his knowledge of reptiles but I haven't learned to appreciate the species, yet. I filmed him feeding one of the big ones a rat. Couldn't post it, I'm still having bad dreams about it. Just kidding, Bryant! It was something to see!!

I had such a great time with my precious friend, Shelly, and her family. I was blessed to be able to help out after Sarah was born. Shelly and I have been friends for close to 30 years! She deserves a medal for sticking with me for that long!! Or at least, an extra jewel in her crown in heaven. She is such a treasure to me. I am so thankful to the Lord for blessing my life with her. She's the best!! She is a fabulous Mommy to her kids and the way she foster-parents, is truly a gift from the Lord. She and Bryant make such a great team!

I came home challenged to be a better Mom, wife and friend! My sweet, Greg, took great care of our kids while I was gone. We all had a very busy 5 days having fun and making memories!!