A Summer to Remember!

Create a digital slideshow

WOW! To look back on these pictures and remember the amazing summer the Russell's had has been fun. Realizing that I am a bit behind on my blogging I will try and highlight the summer o' fun for you guys!

June... does anyone remember June... OH MY!
Justin and Athan were taking a break on the laundry one afternoon to enjoy a good book... I can't complain about that!!

Athan in a grand act of heroism allowed me to pull her first tooth... this was a BIG deal, because ever since Caedmon lost his first tooth a few years ago... everyone else WANTS to have a loose tooth. Athan smiled for a week after she lost it... proud that now she entered into the ranks of toothless wonder! Lucky for them all I LOVE to pull teeth... and at this moment Athan has a top and bottom tooth that are loose and Justin's top two are getting ready to fall out! Needless to say we are SOOOOOOOOOO excited!

Going back to July...

We celebrated the 4th by going to our town's parade, which was really nice. Balloons, candy, and what better way to top of the afternoon than with ice cream for lunch! YUMMY! As the holiday weekend continued on the brad russell's stopped by, the herman russell's swing in, and the tina lyon's roared into town. We enjoyed the long holiday weekend and celebrated Herman, Brad and Caedmon's bday's with GREAT food and two cookie cakes! It was wonderful having everyone over! The Russell's make for a pretty intimidating crew, though we are a bit girl heavy, if war every broke out Holland and Charisa would lead us to victory NOTHING can stop them!!
We thought that we would end the night with a bang... so Ryan headed out and purchased fireworks and sparklers! Uncle Brad took the job of explaining the rules of sparkler fun by reminding the kids not to stick them in their eyes, ears or noses... We were, in this time, able to capture a rare moment... while helping Holland out of the top bunk Brad was actually able to hold Holland and get a smile from her... Good thing we have a fast shooting camera :)

Here is our coming home from Holland story (as explained in an email to Myrna)... I hope you enjoy!
Well, our hotel stay was really nice... we put the kids to bed... took showers and got everything ready for the next day... our phone rang at 4 am... and as I went to answer the phone I tripped and fell over a stool and our luggage (it was really funny at the moment) however, I had a bump and bruise on my hip! So, we got up and met our driver at 5... we checked everything in made it through customs scans etc... only to find that our flight had been delayed an hour and half!! So we went to McD's for breakfast... and waited and waited and waited... FINALLY we got on the plane and took off around 10:00! While we were in the air someone got really sick and they where asking for a doctor... the kids did well... wiggled a lot but enjoyed being awake for the trip. The flight felt very long...Holland was sleeping on me and I had a fever... THEN... when we were suppose to get our lunch... they announced that they couldn't feed us because the sick person was where the food was and they couldn't not serve it. Really, typing it sounds worse than it was... but we were hungry... THEN as we prepared for landing they asked that everyone stay seated because medical personnel had to come on board to get the man off the plane. Again, if I was the one sick I would want to be taken care of too... So, as we were finally able to get off the plane, they gave us all $50.00 vouchers for another flight... OH YEAH... EVERYONE on the plane missed their connecting flight! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So, we got our bags, went through customs and stood in the Delta line for a while... when we got to the counter we asked if they could schedule us on a flight straight to Richmond VA instead of Baltimore; foregoing the train ride home, and they did! Only it was leaving in 40 minutes and was on the other side of the airport! So, off we went... took our shoes off, got scanned, and then we "ran" okay... fast walked with four kids! Down the escalator, through Terminal A, and then underground we went... walking at least a mile... then up the escalator... Ryan turns to me saying "Take the debit card and just grab some burgers and drinks for the flight" Well, everyone had the same idea and there was NO way we were going to get food... so we kept running to the terminal... to find that our flight had been delayed one hour! So, we took a deep breathe and praised God that we were going to be able to sit and eat and we did!! It really was a miracle that we were all able to be on the same flight... six seats next to each other on a FULL flight! This flight has a single isle with one seat at the window and two seats on the other side... so the kids sat on the two seat side and Ryan and I sat on the single seat side and we SLEPT! We are in the air and the kids are strapped in with no where to go... It was the best sleep! When we landed in Richmond, Ryan's brother was there to greet us with our van and we got home about 4 hours ahead of schedule!

Okay there is more to tell... but that at least gets us to August!