HAPPY BIRTHDAY DREW ! ! !

Happy Birthday Drew and Dada - shouldn't let monkeys take your picture! Ha! Alyssa took this one. We hope you have a great one, we love you more each day. Thanks for being the BEST husband and father anyone could ever wish for!

Fun July Weekend

We were able to extend our STAYcation a few days longer when Uncle Brad came to visit. Here are a few shots from Folly . . .

Uncle Brad, ready to take on the world!

I love this shot - I never tire of children at the beach, it was a pretty windy evening.

On Saturday we went with our buddies Lillian and Morgan to see Ice Age 3 in 3-D.

Alyssa, Morgan and Lillian - glasses, popcorn and ready for action! Then it was off to Chick-Fil-A . . .

Morgan enjoying her ice cream . . .

All the girls, thanks Drew for taking the photo and being such a GREAT Dad!

STAYcation July-2009

We are back from STAYcation 2009 in Merry Mo-town! We had a wonderful visit with family, friends, cousins, swing sets, pools, McDonald's, Poppy's Garden, boiled peanuts and the homemade ice cream churn! Above Holt and Alyssa play with Uncle Brad in the pool. Such FUN! AA is working on her photography skills and she took this photo.

The Messenheimers came over for a swim and homemade ice cream. Alyssa loved swimming with Molly. Kelly and I have been friends since junior high school.

Holt is such a sweet boy - here he is giving his daddy a "Hand Hug" - I had to get one too before we left for Charleston.

We went to visit the Jacumins and Eisens in Rutherford College - Donna and I have known each other since we were Freshman roommates together at UNC. Now her and Joseph have three girls - Julia, Elena and Leia. Alyssa had a great time swimming with Elena and Joseph.

Many trips were made to the swing set and many mosquito bites acquired!

Can't forget Tipper - she didn't seem like such a good dog until Jovi showed up!

Jovi drinking from the pool - no wonder there were so many "accidents!"

Alyssa and Marley had fun playing together and here Alyssa is showing how good she can eat (this never happens at home!).

Our second visit to a McDonald's where Alyssa had a blast playing on the indoor playground. We attempted a quick visit with Uncle Chevy and Granny on the way home to Charleston but the noise level was something else - Chick-Fil-A next time!

And last but certainly not least - a photo collage thanks to Drew's photography and Eya's beautiful flowers. Just a small sample of the beauty that surrounded us. Our STAYcation was wonderful - thank you Eya and Poppy for hosting us and having such a fantastic place to visit! We love you and hope to come back again very soon!

July 4th Highlights

We were happy to celebrate our Country's Independence but we were even happier to be HOME! This was a weekend at home after travelling for the past three weekends. One of our activities was watching the Wizard of Oz together - there's no place like home. Drew took this photo after catching the sunrise, a little artistry shining through.

Fourth of July festivities began at school Thursday afternoon. Here Alyssa and Piper are showing off their cupcake star rings.

Alyssa's class and teachers posing for a group shot.

On Friday, Alyssa went for a "New Summer Do." Here she is at the half way mark. Several people have remarked she looks like a "mini Meg Ryan." What a compliment, she's one of my favorite actresses!


Saturday night we celebrated at our neighbor's house with a Cookout and Fireworks - yummy food and much FUN was had by all!

Here's the new do ready for church in a lovely dress that Eya gave her.

Alyssa's reaction to any noisy fireworks, shooting the rest of them off on Sunday afternoon. Oh, it was sad for Monday to come, we had such a great weekend! Does this mean Summer is half-way over?!?!?!

Happy Birthday Vuvva!

By the look on his face, you can tell that Vuvva enjoyed his birthday weekend celebration. We celebrated at Lake Murray most of Saturday and Sunday. This is a photo of Vuvva and all his Grandchildren plus the delicious Banana Pudding that Lisa made - YUM!!!. Below are a few more highlights . . .



Alyssa couldn't wait to get on the Zip Line!





Another of Vuvva's unique inventions is the "Train" - the twins and Alyssa had a blast being pulled around on this vehicle.



They have all grown so much they're having to duck to get their picture taken.



Drew took time to sharpen his photography skills and took some great Sunset shots . . .





Even woke up early and captured the Sunrise.



Like the children who love the box more than the toy, another highlight of the weekend was the Robot Vacuum, Erica and Alyssa playing with it here.



Alyssa's favorite person of the weekend was Will, Heidi's boyfriend. I think she might have had a little crush on "Willed" as she kept calling him.


Once again Vuvva and Nana's Grandchildren from L-R - Alyssa, Emily, Miller, Heidi and Erica. What an incredibly FUN weekend! Thanks Nana and Vuvva for inviting us to the Lake. When can we do it again?!?!?!

We had an extra special "Date Night" last night, we saw Jerry Seinfeld in Concert at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center. Drew and I both LOVE him and his show was fantastic! I cried for two hours I was laughing so hard!

After this week of Governor indiscretions and 1980's icon deaths, we needed a good laugh and he had some great material. My eyes are still swollen this morning!

I swiped these photos off the internet, our seats were not close enough to see his facial expressions, but we felt we got our money's worth. Thank you, Jerry Seinfeld for an evening full of laughs!

Father's Day Weekend

It was another traveling weekend for the A-Team. This time to a place we had never been, Albemarle, NC.



We stayed in Albemarle for a wedding in Norwood, NC. Kathleen Kilbourne's daughter, Brooke Saunders, married BJ Harris. Kathleen was my UMYF Youth Director growing up and officiated at Drew and I's wedding seven years ago. She's a very special lady to us! I used to babysit Brooke, hard to believe she's a grown woman big enough to get married! The ceremony was wonderful, the Circle of Life.



Next stop - Walmart, no make that Super Walmart! Since it was conveniently across the street from our hotel, we had to get the WM List done. Alyssa enjoyed picking out a lunch box and thermos she needed for a Picnic at school this week.

Sunday - Father's Day, Alyssa made the design on a new coffee cup. And the aspiring photographer also received several digital photography books. We have spent quite a few Father's Days in hotels.

One last shot of Alyssa swimming in the hotel pool, she's really nailing that go under thing. She loved this pool! Another busy weekend for the A-Team, thanks for hanging with me on this trip to NC, it was a long one, but so much better when we're all together!