Fathers Day 2008

Father's Day was a little bittersweet for us this year as Todd and I spent it at the beach without either one of our fathers. My dad had to work and wasn't able to come to the beach until the Thursday after Father's Day. It was the first Father's Day that Todd hasn't spent with his dad, Mack, and I think that it was a little hard on him. Luckily he had the boys to help cheer him up! We surprised him that morning with a golf outing to a great course in Myrtle Beach along with his friends Richie, Lance and Donnie. After a great game of golf, they had a nice relaxing lunch at the clubhouse. When they came back from golf, the boys and I went up to the room for a nap and to get ready to go to dinner. We ate dinner at The Crab House at Broadway at the Beach and then let the boys ride a few rides while we were there. Overall it was a great day and I think that Todd really enjoyed himself! We hope that every father had a great day! Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of Todd and the boys from the beach:

Everything is better when you are holding Daddy's hand...
At least Carter and Jackson think so!

Daddy's Boy...

Myrtle Beach 2008

A couple of weeks ago, Todd, the boys and I headed to Myrtle Beach for a week of fun in the sun. This year was a little different for us as we spent the week with about 30 other people from our church. Although it was a little chaotic at times, everyone seemed to have a wonderful time! Mama, Brooke, Stewart, Ross, Hunter, Mason and Will were able to go for the entire week which was so special to us. We were unsure up until the last minute if they were going to get to go or not as Brooke has to have some additional surgery this summer. Fortunately her surgery is scheduled for July so they were able to see Cooper's very first trip to the beach. We didn't get to go any where last summer as Brooke had surgery and then had complications from it, so we were long overdue for some rest and relaxation.

While we were there we ate tons of wonderful food and had lots of fun at the beach and in the pool, playing putt-putt and just hanging out together. Cooper absolutely loved the water and hated to get out of his float! Carter loved the ocean and became a boogie board champion. Jackson had a great time jumping into the pool at our condo about a million times! He would make up jumps and would make us watch them all!! He didn't care too much for the ocean at first, but thanks to BeBe, he finally got his toes wet and then loved it!

Here are just a few pictures from our fun filled week:

Cooper's first time on the beach!

He immediately picked up some sand and...

Yes, he ate it!

Funny thing is that he kept doing this-I guess he likes the taste of it!

Our Boogie Board King

Jackson preferred the pool and was quite the little swimmer

Here Comes Trouble...

Six boys together can NOT be a good thing

Chan and Will Cawthon, Dylan and Dawson Coe and Carter and Jackson Zittrouer

at NASCAR cafe

Future PGA Champions??

Will, Dawson, Dylan, Chan, Carter and Jackson

get ready for a serious game of Putt-Putt

Ms. Tonya helped Jackson putt for the first time so that mommy could get a picture

He got a hole-in-one!!!

Jackson found other uses for his golf club...a make-shift pony

Also, instead of playing around the obstacles, Jackson became an obstacle himself!

Here he is standing in a tire that was on one of the holes

Look out Tiger Woods...

Carter made a hole-in-one all by himself on hole #12

Ironically, it was the Bill Elliott hole at NASCAR Cafe

Bill Elliott was his great grandfathers all time favorite driver!

Side note: The Pavillion at Myrtle Beach was torn down a couple of years 

ago and several of the rides were moved to Broadway at the Beach.

It is now called The Pavillion Nostalgia Park.

While it's not exactly the same anymore, it was neat to see

my boys riding some of the exact rides that I rode when I was little.

This ride below was one of them!

Carter and Will give a big thumbs up before riding

the motorcyle ride

Jackson and Dylan get ready to spin 

themselves silly on the teacup ride 

Carter and Jackson heading into the ocean

What A Life!!

Cooper hams it up for the camera while 

lounging in his pool float!

Our Sweet Family

Baseball Trophies

At the end of each baseball season, all of the teams hold a team party to give out trophies to the players. Carter and Jackson both looked so forward to getting their trophies and couldn't wait to show them off to everyone! Here are a couple of pictures of them and their prized possessions:

Jackson couldn't wait to show us what he had gotten! It was too sweet!

Carter loved adding to his trophy collection!

VBS 2008

The theme for Vacation Bible School at our church this year was Outrigger Island-Living God's Unshakable Truth. I was given the awesome responsibility of being the Director of the Preschool Department and Brooke once again was the Director of the entire VBS. I must say that things went very well this year and that all of the boys and girls that attended had a lot of fun while learning about God. On Friday night, the boys and girls put on a performance for the parents to show them the songs that they have learned throughout the week and to tell them a little bit of what they have learned. The preschoolers went first and sang three great songs. Jackson was the star of the show! He was definitely filled with the Holy Spirit and was quite a dancer and singer! It was too funny! The school aged children went next and did great with their performance! Carter did great and looked exceptionally cute as well! My how things have changed from the days that I attended VBS at Calvary Baptist. Snacks are more complex than some meals that I fix at home-whatever happened to the little butter cookies that you could stick on your finger like a ring and the red Kool-Aid that was extremely watered down? Holly, do you remember singing "I'm In The Lord's Army" for our final performance one year? It took us all week to learn the motions for that one song! The boys and girls these days really learn so much more during the week than I did when I was little. It is such an Outreach opportunity and also creates wonderful memories for the boys and girls that attend during the week. It is so rewarding to volunteer my time to help lead others to Christ! Here are some pictures from the boys performances:

Jackson shows off his latest Karate/Power Ranger moves during the middle of one of his songs-he was the life of the party, I mean performance!

How sweet is this face? This was taken during a rare moment when he was being still-I think that he was trying to decide what moves to do next!

Carter danced and sang his heart out when it was his turn to perform!

I love this picture-he looks so innocent...

Brotherly Love...Jackson and Carter congratulate each other on a
job well done after the performance!

Jack's Last Game

Jackson's last game was at the end of May. For being three, he really did a wonderful job! We are so proud of him and all that he learned this season. Mommy was too busy videoing the game to get any pictures of him in action. These pictures are from after the game-hope you enjoy!

Jackson and his daddy

Jackson and Mack Daddy
This is probably one of my favorite pictures of Jackson playing baseball

Memorial Day 2008

This year we spent Memorial Day at the pool in our neighborhood. It was so nice to just relax and watch the kids swim. We really spent the day doing a whole lot of nothing, which was wonderful! Here are a few pictures of our boys swimming in the pool:

Carter tries out his new vest!
Daddy and Cooper get ready to splish and splash
Cooper loved his float but wasn't too sure about the temperature of the water...it was cold!
Carter shares a snack with Ms. Suzy-she is one of his Sunday School teachers!
Jackson can't decide if he wants to be Spiderman (the vest) or a Ninja Turtle (the goggles) so he created a new Super Hero-Teenage Mutant Ninja Spider
Jackson stops for a quick picture-I think that he may be a model in training-look at that pose!

Let's Bowl, Let's Bowl, Let's Rock and Roll...

On May 25th, Will celebrated his 8th birthday with a cosmic bowling party at our local bowling ally with lots of family and friends in attendance. Carter and Jackson had never been bowling before so it was quite an adventure. Carter was actually pretty good at bowling (he's had lots of practice with Wii bowling!) It is so hard to believe that my youngest nephew is 8! Before we know it, he will be 18! Here are some pictures from his special day:

The Birthday Boy gets ready to bowl!
Jackson's first time bowling
Carter gets ready for his first attempt to knock the pins down
HMMM...This looks like a good place to take a rest!
VICTORY!!
Mason tries to knock 'em down while bowling backwards
Come on Strike!!
Make A Wish!!

If you give a baby a cookie...

HE MAY JUST TAKE A STEP!
Last Friday night we grilled out over at our friends, Tonya and Donnie's house for dinner. While we were there Mr. Jim and Ms. Tonya tried to get Cooper to walk. He has been cruisin' around for a while but just won't turn loose and walk on his own. At first, Cooper wanted no part of walking but Ms. Kimberly thought fast and gave Ms. Tonya a cookie for her to entice Cooper with. It worked! Mr. Jim stood behind Cooper and got him to take three steps by himself to Ms. Tonya who was holding the chocolate chip cookie for him to get! Needless to say everyone screamed and clapped for him. He of course ate that up, along with his cookie. Oh the taste of victory! While he still hasn't taken off running around the house by himself, we know it's just a matter of time! Until then, we try to motivate him as much as possible by offering cookies and other snacks-what can I say, my baby loves to eat!! Here are some pictures of his big accomplishment!

Cooper is thinking long and hard about letting go of Mr. Jim's hand
to get the cookie from Ms. Tonya!

Wait while I get my balance...

Talk about a man on a mission...

Cooper taking his first steps!!
He really wanted that cookie!

Victory never tasted so good!

Whew...the things you have to do to get a cookie!

Strawberry Pickin'

A couple of weeks ago, Brooke and I decided that we would try something new and take the boys to go and pick strawberries. All of our boys love strawberries and we thought that they would have a good time picking their very own (and eating quite a few while we were there)! The boys had a good time but I think that Carter enjoyed it the most. He really got into finding the "perfect" strawberries to pick! Poor Will's allergies were really bothering him and Mason had spent the night before with a friend and was exhausted from staying up too late. Ross and Hunter really could have cared less if they picked strawberries or not but they were good sports and "took one for the team". Stewart, Brooke and I really enjoyed picking our very own strawberries. Jackson liked telling Mason which ones he wanted and Mason would pick them for him. He wasn't too good at pulling them off the vine without squishing them to death! Cooper loved eating the strawberries and could have cared less about picking them! Todd was a wonderful daddy that day and really helped out with Cooper. In all it was a good time and we made some great memories. I think that we will make this a tradition and do it every year! Here are some pictures of our fun day!

I LOVE this picture of Cooper. He is ready for the All-You-Can-Eat Strawberries!

Will tries to decide which strawberries to pick first

Carter finds a "great" strawberry for his bucket

Jackson finds a "real red strawberry" for his bucket

Cooper's first strawberry

Daddy helps Cooper eat a strawberry

He loved it so much that he wanted to eat the entire thing-stem and all

Yummy! That was good!

Mommy and Cooper pause for a picture!

Hunter and Ross go off in search of the perfect strawberry

Mason shows Carter and Jackson how to choose the best strawberries