Sweet Shots

We drove up to Rocky Mount which is a hop, skip, and a jump from our home for some family pictures. My friend, Rebecca, did a great job. For more pics or to order some, just check out Rebecca's site at rebeccamarrphotography.com. She's really good and super reasonable. Thanks Rebecca!

Miss you Dad

Ryan is currently soaking up the sun in the Cayman Islands. We're totally jealous, but this is his celebrating the big 30 equivalent to my Vegas trip in May. We hope you're having fun Dad. Miss you lots. Here are some of our favorite shots of our favorite guy.

Senior League

Most of you know that Ryan is a big baseball fan. He loves following the Atlanta Braves and coaching Little League. You may not know, however, that he still enjoys playing. He and some of his buds plus a few youth group fellas try to get together occasionally (ok, once a year if he's lucky)for a game. This year we also cooked out to make it fun for the families too. Caroline was especially moody this evening, but everyone else had a great time.

Hit the Deck

Ever since we bought our house a couple years ago, we've been wanting to build a deck. Now it's finally complete and we're loving it. It's so nice to be able to step out of the kitchen to check on the kids playing in the back yard. We're also eating nearly every meal outside. Ryan's mom surprised me with a fire pit for my birthday, so the kids are seeing s'mores in our future and Ryan & I are seeing cozy fall evenings by the fire.

To celebrate the new deck, we invited friends over for dinner. I didn't take any pictures of our evening until after the meal when I just had to break out the camera. My friend, Lisa, and I had gone into the living room to relax and watch our babies play. We expected the guys to follow, but as we talked we noticed they were taking awhile. Those of you who know Ryan know that he is an amazing housekeeper ( honestly, he's teetering on OCD.) But when we have friends over, we usually enjoy the evening and worry about the dishes later. Imagine our joy when we discovered them doing this back in the kitchen. What a beautiful sight! Oh, and to be fair, George didn't make it into the pictures, but he's in there drying and putting the dishes away! You guys can come over anytime.

New Life

I had noticed that each time I went to water a hanging basket of petunias, a bird would usually fly out of it. I hadn't thought much of it until about a week ago when I took the basket down so Luke could water it. Nestled down among the flowers was a sweet little nest containing five tiny blue eggs. We were all so excited. We quickly placed it back on its hook and went inside to watch the mother fly back to her eggs. A couple days later, we took it down again and there was a tiny naked bird. It was the cutest little thing I've ever seen. Luke, our little tough guy even responded with "Aawh, it's so sweet!" He was so anxious to put it back so it's mommy could come back and keep it warm. This morning we found two more had hatched. Then this evening there were four. (We're hoping the fifth egg is hiding under a sibling.) How exciting to witness sweet new life.

Just the Two of Us

We thought our July 4th festivities were complete around 11PM on July 4. Anna and I, however, decided to take in a concert and some extra fireworks in Jonesborough on the 5th. This turned out to be such a special evening with Anna. When she is alone with me (and just about any other adult) she magically matures. Ten minutes before we left the house she was a silly little six year old girl. As we drove out of our neighborhood, she transformed into an observant, thoughtful, young lady with these words: "Mom, I'm so glad we're going out just the two of us. Isn't everything so pretty when the sun is almost down and there are plants all around? I love how everything feels so cozy and warm." This started our evening off well.
When we got to Jonesborough we parked on Main St. and lazily walked through the Jonesborough Days vendors until we arrived at the Trey Hensley concert. Some of you may not know that we have such a talented, young (he just graduated from high school) musician local to our area. He put on a great show.
Following the concert we enjoyed a root beer and a trip to the Lollipop Shop. My favorite part of the evening was waiting for the fireworks to begin. We spread out a blanket, sat down and chatted for awhile. The conversation we had was just so pleasant. She even commented on how she missed Luke and how he would have enjoyed the evening too. Just as I was thinking about how much Anna was growing up, she hopped off the blanket to dance to some music and catch fireflies. All of a sudden, she was a little girl. What an amazing, wonderful point in life. She can easily enjoy moving from young lady to little girl. She doesn't know she's changing and maturing. She's simply enjoying it.
When the fireworks began, Anna laid her head down on my lap and "oohed" and "aahed" over her favorite glittery fireworks. I, on the other hand, spent most of the time looking at Anna, playing with her hair, and "oohing" and "aahing" over the little beauty with her head on my lap.

Fourth of July Festivities

June is a very busy month for Ryan. With camp and two missions trips, he was only home for a week and a half throughout the entire month. So when July 4 rolls around, we not only celebrate Independence Day, we also celebrate the return of our husband and dad. This year, we celebrated with the Jonesborough parade, inflatable games and hotdogs at a church near Freedom Hall, then Johnson City's fireworks show. The kids love this holiday. Even Caroline enjoyed the festivities and was a trooper staying up way past bedtime. What a great day for everyone.

Happy Birthday Caroline!

Our family had fun celebrating our baby's first birthday. She devoured her yummy cake and had fun opening and climbing on her presents. Big sis enjoyed her role as assistant present opener. Caroline received diapers and wipes (yeah!), money, a safety gate, gift cards, a babydoll, bath toys, a beach towel, clothes, and sunglasses. Thanks to everyone for helping make it a special day!

Yeah Summer!

I was very excited for Anna's last day of school. Summer is our time to enjoy long, fun days outdoors. Most of our time is spent in the backyard. We're blessed with some sweet neighborhood kids who love to come over and play. And sometimes we're blessed with a break when our kids decide to go to their houses. Summertime also calls for swimming at Warrior's Path, friends' homes, or the lake, sleepovers, lightning bugs, Hawaiian ice, the Lakeside Cinema, and sleeping in our tent. Caroline is becoming one of the kids rather than the baby. She enjoys the fun right along with everyone. For us all, it's just a great time of year.

Dollywood (in Anna's words)

Anna is making her blogging debut with her memories of our annual trip to Dollywood with Gran. Enjoy.
Me and my family went to doly wood. It was fun.And my mom and me rode the sky ride. it was fun. And my granma rode the cars with me to.And my favrit thing to do was the water slide. And I love doly wood and Gran so so so much and I am very very very happy. Another thing that I did was play in the water area. I also rode blazing fury. it felt like everything was on fire. It was so so fun.